site like a bear with a thorn in its paw, I got a message from Annie.
She'd had her first SAR call-out. She was home, but going to go straight to bed.
I wondered who she'd been called out for.
Hoped her hunt had been successful. She'd worked damn hard to get Urso up to snuff. If anyone could convince the brass that volunteers might serve in a pinch, it would be her.
Hal came onto the site, looking like he hadn't slept.
“Have you heard?” he asked me, interrupting Owen in mid-sentence.
“Apparently not,” I said. “What's up?”
I figured there was another permit problem to deal with, or something had been stolen from another site.
“Another kid was killed,” he said. “Girl named Kelly, fourteen fucking years old. Son of a bitch.”
“Son of a fucking bitch,” I swore.
Didn't seem like enough.
“Any arrests?” I asked.
“Nope,” he said. “They have no fucking clue. Only reason I know anything about it is Kelly's mom stops in the library a lot.”
“Fuck,” I said. “Death's too good for someone who'd do that to a kid.”
“Poor kid only went missing last night,” Hal said. “They searched for hours. Finally called in the bloodhounds, found her body around dawn.”
“Shit,” I said. “I think my neighbor found her. She said she was out on her first search-and-rescue op last night.”
“Shit,” Hal agreed. “Hell of a first one.”
“If I had a daughter,” Owen said, “I'd be moving out of here so fast it would make your head spin. I wouldn't care if she was five years old and black like me, no way I'd be counting on the bastard sticking to his type.”
“I think people are starting to,” Hal said. “My Sarah says half the kids that used to come into the library don't anymore. Lot of them've been sent to stay with relatives.”
“They need to catch him before no one's left,” Owen said. “He could ruin this town for good. Tourism goes, we've all gotta go.”
“You're not wrong,” Hal said.
“I'm more upset about the girls,” Owen said, quickly. “Fuck, of course I am.”
I shook my head.
“No shame in being practical,” I said. “Everyone in this town's gotta eat.”
Owen looked relieved.
Everyone was so suspicious, poor bastard probably thought we'd think he was the killer.
“Who the hell do you think it is?” Hal asked. “Quinn, you were a cop. What kind of son of a bitch could do this to our girls?”
I shrugged.
“Probably hides right in plain sight,” I said. “Seems normal, right up until he doesn't. I'd bet anything he's not like one of those stupid lowlifes we just kicked off the site. If someone like them were killing girls, they'd've been caught by now.”
The other men nodded. Owen kicked a piece of stone lying on the ground.
“Looks like we need to wait for him to fuck up,” I said.
“And in the meantime, more girls will die,” Hal said.
There was nothing else to say, really.
Owen drifted away to yell at one of the idiots. Hal sagged and headed back to his car. Looked like all that had been holding him up was having a mission to share the news.
I didn't blame the man.
I'd seen a lot of bodies, a lot of pointless cruelty, and the Blue Ridge Killer's victims gave me fucking nightmares.
It wasn't that he'd made a big display of them, like in the movies.
It was the way they were just… discarded. Thrown out like fucking trash. Like someone else would toss out a can after drinking a beer.
No fear, no compassion.
That was a man who only thought about humans as things.
There would be no redeeming a man like that, no re-ha-bi-li-fuckin'-tation. A man like that needed to be put down like a mad dog.
I wouldn't mind doing it myself.
My thoughts strayed back to Annie. If she was the one who had found the body, she'd be pretty broken up.
I spoke to Owen, told him
She'd had her first SAR call-out. She was home, but going to go straight to bed.
I wondered who she'd been called out for.
Hoped her hunt had been successful. She'd worked damn hard to get Urso up to snuff. If anyone could convince the brass that volunteers might serve in a pinch, it would be her.
Hal came onto the site, looking like he hadn't slept.
“Have you heard?” he asked me, interrupting Owen in mid-sentence.
“Apparently not,” I said. “What's up?”
I figured there was another permit problem to deal with, or something had been stolen from another site.
“Another kid was killed,” he said. “Girl named Kelly, fourteen fucking years old. Son of a bitch.”
“Son of a fucking bitch,” I swore.
Didn't seem like enough.
“Any arrests?” I asked.
“Nope,” he said. “They have no fucking clue. Only reason I know anything about it is Kelly's mom stops in the library a lot.”
“Fuck,” I said. “Death's too good for someone who'd do that to a kid.”
“Poor kid only went missing last night,” Hal said. “They searched for hours. Finally called in the bloodhounds, found her body around dawn.”
“Shit,” I said. “I think my neighbor found her. She said she was out on her first search-and-rescue op last night.”
“Shit,” Hal agreed. “Hell of a first one.”
“If I had a daughter,” Owen said, “I'd be moving out of here so fast it would make your head spin. I wouldn't care if she was five years old and black like me, no way I'd be counting on the bastard sticking to his type.”
“I think people are starting to,” Hal said. “My Sarah says half the kids that used to come into the library don't anymore. Lot of them've been sent to stay with relatives.”
“They need to catch him before no one's left,” Owen said. “He could ruin this town for good. Tourism goes, we've all gotta go.”
“You're not wrong,” Hal said.
“I'm more upset about the girls,” Owen said, quickly. “Fuck, of course I am.”
I shook my head.
“No shame in being practical,” I said. “Everyone in this town's gotta eat.”
Owen looked relieved.
Everyone was so suspicious, poor bastard probably thought we'd think he was the killer.
“Who the hell do you think it is?” Hal asked. “Quinn, you were a cop. What kind of son of a bitch could do this to our girls?”
I shrugged.
“Probably hides right in plain sight,” I said. “Seems normal, right up until he doesn't. I'd bet anything he's not like one of those stupid lowlifes we just kicked off the site. If someone like them were killing girls, they'd've been caught by now.”
The other men nodded. Owen kicked a piece of stone lying on the ground.
“Looks like we need to wait for him to fuck up,” I said.
“And in the meantime, more girls will die,” Hal said.
There was nothing else to say, really.
Owen drifted away to yell at one of the idiots. Hal sagged and headed back to his car. Looked like all that had been holding him up was having a mission to share the news.
I didn't blame the man.
I'd seen a lot of bodies, a lot of pointless cruelty, and the Blue Ridge Killer's victims gave me fucking nightmares.
It wasn't that he'd made a big display of them, like in the movies.
It was the way they were just… discarded. Thrown out like fucking trash. Like someone else would toss out a can after drinking a beer.
No fear, no compassion.
That was a man who only thought about humans as things.
There would be no redeeming a man like that, no re-ha-bi-li-fuckin'-tation. A man like that needed to be put down like a mad dog.
I wouldn't mind doing it myself.
My thoughts strayed back to Annie. If she was the one who had found the body, she'd be pretty broken up.
I spoke to Owen, told him
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