Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 132962 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 665(@200wpm)___ 532(@250wpm)___ 443(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132962 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 665(@200wpm)___ 532(@250wpm)___ 443(@300wpm)
“Can I use my laptop?” Connors asked her.
“Yes, sir, but if it gets bumpy, make sure you hang on to it. I’ll be in the back if you need anything. They’re requiring me to stay buckled in as well,” she said with smile. Connors was all business, his laptop was on his lap and opened within seconds. Since they sat side-by-side, Mitch left his bagged. If he needed information, he’d get it, but he knew these cases too well. He thought he could answer whatever question was shot his way.
“I read you’ve interviewed the family and friends of all the victims,” Connors said, logging in.
“Yep. Every neighbor, co-worker, all the witnesses I could find.” Mitch stretched out his legs and laid the seat as far back as it would go.
“All on your own time?” Connors seemed impressed. Or that could have been shock. Mitch had no way to know.
“Yep, pretty much,” Mitch responded and closed his eyes.
“But I didn’t see any possible connections or theories?” Ding, ding, ding, Connors was finally on his page.
“Correct.”
“Hmmm,” Connors mused and sat back in his seat. “I didn’t find any either. There are no patterns, nothing in the profiles, and each incident is executed with precision. The Greyson kid escaping the car is the first mistake I’ve seen. It’s such a large one that I question if his case is related,” Connors said. Mitch turned his head and stared at his partner.
“You’ve got nothing to add?” Connors asked.
“I do. The Greyson kid fits the profile from the standpoint that he’s a pretty good guy. He didn’t leave that coffee shop on his own free will, no matter what the Secret Service says. And besides, at some point, there’ll always be a mistake. It’s why I kept digging. This is the only break we were ever going to get; these people are too good.”
“I understand that, and I can even agree, but we play nice with each other in DC. You shouldn’t have just walked out of the meetings,” Connors lectured.
“Forget the fucking meeting, man. That was so two hours ago. There’s a reason I’m not in Washington. Now, concentrate on what’s important. Keep focused on what you read in the case files. The sooner you’re fully on my page, the faster this will go.” He gritted his teeth, stopping the rest of the words threatening to spill out. Fuck! What was up with these people? After a minute, he started repeating out loud what he remembered about the cases.
“We have eight individual crimes. Each different with the exception of Greyson and Justice Bennett. Those both included bombs—different styles I think, but still bombs. One car accident. One home invasion. One pilot error. One blood poisoning. One gunshot. One hit and run. Two bombs. Absolutely zero witnesses, which is incredibly hard to believe.” Connors lifted a finger to halt Mitch’s words.
“But clearly you’ve pounded the pavement searching. I focused on Kreed Sinacola’s report on the justice’s bombing. He’s thorough, but that bomb was homegrown. It was made in America so to speak. I’m supposing you have him heading to Kentucky?” Connors asked and Mitch scowled. Dammit, he was good.
“You’re smarter than you look.”
“We’re supposed to be a team. I need to know the decisions you’re making. The FBI has more than qualified…” Mitch cut Connors off.
“Then they can take a look too, and I’m absolutely certain they already have.” Mitch adjusted his seat, getting more comfortable in the leather recliner. He hadn’t slept more than a couple of hours on the flight from Texas to Washington, and he was determined to take advantage of their luxury ride to Kentucky to get a little shut-eye.
“You don’t work well with others. It’s in your file,” Connors shot back. Mitch didn’t respond because it really just depended who those others were.
“Let’s talk possibilities,” Connors continued.
“It’s more than likely organized,” Mitch responded. He closed his eyes and relaxed his head against the headrest.
“I may disagree. Organization means multiples, and no one’s talking, and someone always talks when it’s organized.” Mitch had thought that very same thing.
“It’s more than one person. No one person is that skilled to pull off all those different accidents. It’s organized, even if it’s a small unit.”
“Okay, I can see that. It’s also well-trained. Military, law enforcement…” Connors trailed off.
“Or YouTube. Seriously, you can learn anything on the internet. And it’s hate-driven,” Mitch added.
“Not necessarily. Could be psychosis, probably not, but I’ve called in a behavioral analyst, Dr. York, to review the case. Have you heard of her?” Mitch ignored that. He had learned quickly with Connors not to engage, he would go on for hours talking about nothing but theories if Mitch fed his random thoughts.
“There’s a message and meaning in these deaths. It’s hate-related,” Mitch said, still not looking at Connors. “They don’t want recognition or fame; they’re doing a service to the world.”
“There are bigger ways to make that statement, not one by one isolated cases,” Connors shot back.
“Individual deaths hide under the radar, much like the distance between each incident helps keep it hidden. They aren’t picking the highest profile gay men, but high enough that they make the local news for their deaths.”
“Colt Michaels is a very high profile gay man,” Connors retorted, and Mitch slowly turned his head toward the guy.
“I thought you read the cases. Colt wasn’t out yet. It was his now husband, Jace Montgomery, they targeted. That was his rental car they tampered with.”
“The husband doesn’t make sense,” Connors argued.
“Each case has had the victim recently in the local news for some reason. Jace Montgomery had appeared on ESPN before the accident occurred. Tony Johnson had just sold his software company to Apple for an ungodly amount of money reported all over the cable news networks. Justice Bennett had just been given the trial over racial profiling. And on, and on, and on. They weren’t necessarily on national news, but they were each featured in the news,” Mitch explained.
“I don’t remember reading that in the case information,” Connors said, and Mitch totally thought he was covering his mistake.