fit as a forty-year-old. “I don’t know about the cholesterol, but you could stand to lose a pound or two,” he joked to ease the tension.
“Unlike you, I don’t have access to a fancy gym. Besides, you’d be thickening up, too, if you had Celeste dropping off her baked goods all the time.”
Another jolt of regret, along with jealousy, had him reaching for the Scotch. What would it be like to sit with her, maybe over a cup of coffee and a slice of pumpkin roll, as he listened to her talk? About her day, about her life. Bypassing the drink, he touched the closed folder. “How is she?”
“Something went down tonight that had left her pretty shaken up. When I took her home though, she kicked me out the door because she said she was tired of me acting like a worried old woman.” He released a chuckle. “She’s a strong one. Stubborn, too.”
She sounded so much like her mother. Janice had been strong and stubborn. She’d also had an issue with over analyzing, and not letting things lie where they should. Did Celeste share those traits? God, he didn’t know. He stared at the folder again, which only gave hard facts, not the emotional connection he sought.
“What happened?” he asked, now questioning how sound his judgment had been when he’d allowed Celeste to be part of the investigation. He’d witnessed the heart-wrenching turmoil, the emotional and physical exhaustion Janice had endured while working cases for the FBI. Some of those investigations had left her raw, her mind scarred with the memories of her visions. While he wanted to see Wissota Falls cleared of a killer, Celeste’s safety, both physical and emotional, came first.
“I’ll get to Celeste. Let me bring you up to speed first. Of the four victims, we’ve ID’d two. Both were prostitutes known to work truck stops, and John suspects the others are, too. He also thinks the killer is a trucker, likely an owner/operator, and his recent contract was with a company where he used a refrigerated trailer, which could explain why all the victims were decomposing at the same time. Hell, he even managed to pinpoint a window when the bodies had been dumped. He’s as good as you’d said,” Roy added, a hint of admiration in his tone.
Yes, John was very good at his job. Recruiting him to CORE had been a decision he’d never regretted. One he’d made years before John even knew that Ian had been watching him, waiting for the right moment to make him an offer he couldn’t refuse.
“The autopsy done on one of the victims revealed she’d been raped, beaten, then strangled,” Roy continued. “The ME is currently working on another as we speak. He’ll have the other two finished tomorrow, but he’s suspecting he’ll find the same results. He also hopes to have their toxicology reports within the next few days.”
“Excellent, if you have any issues getting them sooner, let me know. I have—”
“Connections. Yeah, I know. Anyway, there’s more. A necklace was found tangled in the hair of one of the victims.”
“Let me guess,” he interrupted Roy. “You had Celeste try to gain a reading from the necklace.”
“You said to use her, and she was willing. She didn’t get anything from the dump site and was eager to try with the necklace.”
“And?”
“I gotta tell you, I haven’t seen anything like it since Janice. While she wasn’t able to pinpoint the location where the woman had been taken, she saw the killer’s face.”
Ian raised a brow. “Do you need me to send a sketch artist?” He could whip one up in a second if need be. His resources never ran dry. Money, influence, and power were sometimes a beautiful thing. Sometimes. Because none of those things could give him what he wanted most. A cup of coffee with Celeste.
“No. State Highway Patrol out of Eau Claire had one. Celeste was able to give her the description, and I’ve already sent it out on the wire. That man’s face is now plastered on the wall of
“Unlike you, I don’t have access to a fancy gym. Besides, you’d be thickening up, too, if you had Celeste dropping off her baked goods all the time.”
Another jolt of regret, along with jealousy, had him reaching for the Scotch. What would it be like to sit with her, maybe over a cup of coffee and a slice of pumpkin roll, as he listened to her talk? About her day, about her life. Bypassing the drink, he touched the closed folder. “How is she?”
“Something went down tonight that had left her pretty shaken up. When I took her home though, she kicked me out the door because she said she was tired of me acting like a worried old woman.” He released a chuckle. “She’s a strong one. Stubborn, too.”
She sounded so much like her mother. Janice had been strong and stubborn. She’d also had an issue with over analyzing, and not letting things lie where they should. Did Celeste share those traits? God, he didn’t know. He stared at the folder again, which only gave hard facts, not the emotional connection he sought.
“What happened?” he asked, now questioning how sound his judgment had been when he’d allowed Celeste to be part of the investigation. He’d witnessed the heart-wrenching turmoil, the emotional and physical exhaustion Janice had endured while working cases for the FBI. Some of those investigations had left her raw, her mind scarred with the memories of her visions. While he wanted to see Wissota Falls cleared of a killer, Celeste’s safety, both physical and emotional, came first.
“I’ll get to Celeste. Let me bring you up to speed first. Of the four victims, we’ve ID’d two. Both were prostitutes known to work truck stops, and John suspects the others are, too. He also thinks the killer is a trucker, likely an owner/operator, and his recent contract was with a company where he used a refrigerated trailer, which could explain why all the victims were decomposing at the same time. Hell, he even managed to pinpoint a window when the bodies had been dumped. He’s as good as you’d said,” Roy added, a hint of admiration in his tone.
Yes, John was very good at his job. Recruiting him to CORE had been a decision he’d never regretted. One he’d made years before John even knew that Ian had been watching him, waiting for the right moment to make him an offer he couldn’t refuse.
“The autopsy done on one of the victims revealed she’d been raped, beaten, then strangled,” Roy continued. “The ME is currently working on another as we speak. He’ll have the other two finished tomorrow, but he’s suspecting he’ll find the same results. He also hopes to have their toxicology reports within the next few days.”
“Excellent, if you have any issues getting them sooner, let me know. I have—”
“Connections. Yeah, I know. Anyway, there’s more. A necklace was found tangled in the hair of one of the victims.”
“Let me guess,” he interrupted Roy. “You had Celeste try to gain a reading from the necklace.”
“You said to use her, and she was willing. She didn’t get anything from the dump site and was eager to try with the necklace.”
“And?”
“I gotta tell you, I haven’t seen anything like it since Janice. While she wasn’t able to pinpoint the location where the woman had been taken, she saw the killer’s face.”
Ian raised a brow. “Do you need me to send a sketch artist?” He could whip one up in a second if need be. His resources never ran dry. Money, influence, and power were sometimes a beautiful thing. Sometimes. Because none of those things could give him what he wanted most. A cup of coffee with Celeste.
“No. State Highway Patrol out of Eau Claire had one. Celeste was able to give her the description, and I’ve already sent it out on the wire. That man’s face is now plastered on the wall of
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