Guarding Light by Cate Mckoy

her eyes to Jack.
       "That hurt! What the hell was that for?"
       Simultaneously Jack and Sanchez spoke.
       "Catlyn doesn't care about NFC!" Jack gave Tasha a meaningful look.
       "What's NFC?" Sanchez wanted to know.
       Tasha looked horrified. "OhEmGee! Catlyn, I'm sorry I wasn't tryin' to score points or anything. I swear. I just wasn't thinking." Tasha looked miserable as she put her chopsticks on her plate.
       Silence reigned after Tasha's last words. Sanchez looked from Catlyn to Jack to Tasha and back again. "What? What's NFC?"
       Beseechingly Tasha looked at Catlyn, "I'm sorry. I swear I wasn't tryin' anything."
       Catlyn had stopped eating, losing her appetite after hearing her al mater mentioned. "It's ok." She assured Tasha, looking at Sanchez she said. "NFC is Newburgh Free Campus, my old high school."
       Confused Sanchez frowned. "And, we hate your old high school, why?"
       Catlyn's throat worked nervously as she fought to keep her emotions under control.
       "Hey, man, who doesn't hate their high school." Jack cut in, standing he gathered some of the food to put it away. "How about we clear this and get back to work?"
       The mess was cleared quickly with all of them working together. Soon they were back at the table.
       Jack stared at the whiteboard. "This asshole is smart. The forensic counter-measures he uses is gloves, dumping the body leaving us without a primary crime scene, even the murder weapon is so common it can be picked up at any local sporting goods store, Wal Mart even has it, simple hunting knife. And, I can't figure out how this guy picks these girls out of all the girls he can pick from." Jack stood. Going to the board, he tapped the first picture. "Our first victim Ashley Ford was a teller in Keys Bank and was taking accounting courses at SUNY's Newburgh Campus at Kaplan Hall." Then he tapped the next four pictures. "Becky Lions, Carrie Stint, Deanna Manelli and Ebeth Troy, although having similar backgrounds didn't know each other and their paths didn't cross. Besides the teller we have a, Target frontline manger, cosmetic counter girl at the Bonton, a Destines Movie Theater manager and a kindergarten teacher at Rainbow on the Hudson."
       Sanchez stood too and began to pace. "But we have determined that each woman visited an establishment on the Newburgh waterfront regularly and within a week of their murders."
       Jack nodded. "So he is coming in contact with them at the waterfront. But, what makes these girls the one . I mean, come on, do you know how many women are down there at any given time and how many of them are black? What was it about these women said 'come kill me'?"
       Catlyn stood and joined her partner in pacing. "Well, they are all black, young."
       Sanchez added. "Pretty, and although different grades of pay, they were all professionals to some degree."
       Jack nodded, considering. "Yes, but they aren't just pretty. They're exceptionally so." He stared at their pictures. "Any one of these women could have been a model."
       "Hmm, that could be why team one hasn't had any luck." Sanchez said to Catlyn.
       Catlyn paused giving him a thoughtful look. "Could be."
       Jack looked at the agents and questioned, "What's this now?"
       The agents held a non-verbal conversation, ending with Catlyn giving an approving nod. Sanchez turned to Jack. "Chief Gard, although you didn't request the FBI's assistance on this case until just recently, we've had a team assigned to Newburgh. They've been undercover here for about two months."
       "What?!"
       "Now before you get all riled up let me assure you…"
       "Are you fucking kidding me?" Jack advanced on Sanchez. "You've had a team of two or more women here in my jurisdiction without telling me? What if the killer had gotten one of them? I would have had no idea!" Jack looked at Catlyn. "You went along with this idiocy?"
       Catlyn understood his being