Free Haunted (A Bishop/SCU Novel Book 15) by Kay Hooper

that?”
    Even though the sub shop was less than a dozen doors down the sidewalk from the bank, it made Cathy feel better. She managed a laugh as she fell into step beside him. “Still watching out for me even after all these years.”
    “Maybe I’m just watching out for me,” Jackson murmured, but so softly she didn’t hear it.
    —
     
    “SO THAT’S WHY you reached out to the FBI?” Deacon ventured. “Less because of this murder in Sociable than because there’s a serial in the mountains not so very far from here, maybe heading this way?”
    “I had several reasons,” Trinity said. “As I’ve noted, there are some unusual elements about the murder of Scott Abernathy. Enough to make me wonder if his killing was personal . . . or the start of something a whole lot worse.”
    Deacon hesitated, then said, “According to Melanie, he was the kind of man who might have enemies.”
    “He was that. A womanizer, everyone knew. But charming, and tended to keep things civil, at least with the women. Though I’m sure there are a few men out there who wouldn’t have minded beating the hell out of him.”
    “But not breaking his neck?”
    “No, not in a locked room early one morning. And not without disturbing his very neat apartment. This wasn’t a killing in rage.”
    “Not your average murder,” Deacon murmured.
    “Exactly.”
    “So you reached out.”
    She nodded. “I reached out to some cops I know, asked who I could trust to help me figure out this unusual murder, and without running roughshod over me or this town—or turning it all into a media circus.”
    “And Bishop’s name came up?”
    “Quite a few times. Especially when I made it clear I didn’t believe I was dealing with an average murder. At that point, most everybody said to call Bishop. And he seemed to almost be expecting my call.” She smiled slightly. “I’d say he’s earned his sterling reputation in the law enforcement community.”
    Deacon wasn’t surprised. That tended to be a fairly universal reaction—though usually
after
the SCU assisted with a case.
    “Did he say who he was sending?”
    “Not by name. Said a team, no number mentioned, and they’d introduce themselves when they arrived. Sometime today, he said. You don’t know?”
    He frowned. “No idea. I just put in for some accumulated leave time, that’s all. Officially, through channels, right after Melanie called me about this murder. And after asking Bishop if the timing was okay for me to be away a couple weeks. I wasn’t on the team working the serial up in the mountains, and nothing else urgent seemed to be in the offing. He said fine, didn’t ask where I was going. I didn’t tell him I was going to visit family, or even in which direction I planned to head during that leave time, Sheriff.”
    “Trinity, please.”
    “I will if you will.”
    “Okay, Deacon. So you didn’t tell Bishop you were coming to Sociable?”
    “No. As I said, no pressing cases and I had leave coming. I had leave time piled up, as a matter of fact. And we’re encouraged to take that time, especially doing the type of work we do. We need time away, time to . . . decompress. I hadn’t been taking any breaks to speak of, and we’ve had a few rough cases in the last few months. So I told Bishop I could use a break. When one of his agents says that, he listens.”
    “He doesn’t know you’re here?”
    After a brief silent debate, Deacon said, “Oh, he probably knows exactly where I am.”
    “That’s the
special
in Special Crimes Unit?”
    Deacon wondered just how much she really knew. “You said you talked to other cops. I’m assuming at least some of them know exactly what the unit is all about. Probably from experience.”
    “Some pretty remarkable experiences, I gather. Details were a bit sketchy, but . . .”
    “But at least a couple of cops you trust vouched for the SCU.”
    “More than a couple. A bit sheepish about it all, but convinced. I gather they all