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scenario. You
could get picked up for loitering.”
    “And Hoyt would get me out of jail before
they brought me breakfast.”
    “True, I guess.” Teague yawned widely.
    “Stop that. Now I’m yawning.” Which he did,
prodigiously.
    “No wonder. You should be beyond beat.”
    “Naw. I think I fell asleep before you did.”
Keir started toward his bed, saying, “I don’t suppose you picked up
breakfast.”
    “Yep. Sorry. It’s in the bag on the desk.
This place in sorely lacking in amenities, like a fridge and a
coffee maker.”
    “I doubt it could have gone bad in a couple
of hours,” Keir commented as he grabbed the bag to check the
contents. “Cold. Yeah. But still edible.”
    Keir was halfway through his breakfast
sandwich when there was a knock on the door. Teague went to answer
then let Hoyt in. The detective did not look happy and for a second
Teague thought it was because Keir was there. He found out
differently when Hoyt asked perfunctorily why Teague and Keir
weren’t answering their phones.
    “Because I turned mine off while we were at
the park last night,” Teague replied, immediately taking it from
his pocket to turn on again.
    “Same here,” Keir said although he did
nothing about it at the moment.
    “There’s been another killing,” Hoyt told
them angrily. “Before you ask, not at the park. The body was found
by a man walking his dog, three miles north of the park, in a
forested, unpopulated area close to the river.”
    “Same MO?” Teague asked.
    “Naked, hogtied, sodomized, hung. And this
time, according to the county coroner, it looks like the boy was
partially hung three times, undoubtedly as part of the
killer’s…games,” Hoyt replied angrily.
    “Just like the killings in Grande County.
What about torture?”
    “Broken fingers, like Grimes. Two on the
right hand, one on left.”
    Keir commented with a weak grin, “Maybe the
killer’s given up smoking.”
    Before Hoyt could lay into Keir for his bad
joke—and he looked as if he was going to—Teague asked, “When was
the victim found?”
    “Just before daylight,” Hoyt replied.
“According to the guy, it was actually the dog that discovered the
vic. As soon as the guy saw the body he called us.”
    Keir started taking off his hoodie and shirt
as he asked, “Is the body still there?”
    “No. It’s at the morgue,” Hoyt said. “And
what are you doing?”
    “I can’t go look at the victim dressed like
this.”
    “Who says you’re going to, no matter how
you’re dressed?”
    “Me,” Keir told him. “I want to know if
it’s…If he’s the same kid I saw two nights ago in the park.”
    “Young? Dirty dark blond hair? Maybe
five-nine?”
    Keir nodded. “Close enough but I still want
to take a look at him.”
    Looking resigned, Hoyt told him to wear a
watchcap if he had one, to cover his head as much as possible. “We
don’t want anyone seeing you with me and recognizing you from the
park.”
    “Uh-uh,” Teague said. “Keir, put on what you
were just took off. Hoyt, if he looks like you picked him up
because he’s been hanging in the park and you want to question him,
it could put him right in the killer’s sights, which is exactly
what we want.”
    After a moment’s thought, Hoyt nodded in
agreement. “That means I’ll have to make a show taking him in. So
get out of here, Keir. You don’t have to go back to the park. Just
shuffle your way into town.”
    “Shuffle? I don’t do ‘shuffle’. I’ll walk.
Hell, I’ll make it look like I’m trying to hitch a ride. That’ll
give you a legit reason to stop me.”
    “That works.”
    Keir asked Teague, “Are you coming, too?”
    “I can’t. There’s no reason for me to be
viewing the body.”
    “Okay.” Having finished redressing, Keir
headed to the door. “Give me five minutes and then come get me,
Hoyt.”
    “Go.” Hoyt watched Keir slip out of the room
and shook his head. “Bossy, and a smartass, but he knows what he’s
doing it