Dark Wings Descending Read Online Free Page B

anything to point her in the right direction. “It’s just a shame the bastard was dead when this killer struck again. My being used as his punching bag would have been worth it if these killings would have stopped when Dean took him out.”
    “So we take out one scumbag and keep searching for another.” Dean patted the computer behind him. “Maybe the killer resides somewhere in here and we just enter the magic word and he will appear.”
    Alona snorted. “You haven’t had much to do with computers, have you, Detective?”
    Dean smiled disarmingly at her. “I’m a beat cop at heart. All my data gathering is garnered on the street.”
    Rafe spared him a quick glance. “Well, old man, the rules have changed since you walked the streets. High-tech is the new law.” She couldn’t take her eyes from the one photo. The body of Andrea Mason, the previous night’s victim, had been turned over and her back was flayed wide open. The skin had been pushed aside as if it were silk from a blouse. The woman’s insides were all on view; the muscles were crudely chopped at and the revealed spinal column had been laid bare to the elements. The whiteness of the bone contrasted with the surrounding bloody mess of violated flesh.
    Rafe deliberately looked away. She tried to find something else to focus on other than the last hellish moments of the three women posted on the screen. “I’m not seeing a sexual motive here. Usually they’d go for the breasts, or cut open the chest to get at the heart, but exposing the backbone doesn’t ring any spurned lover kinds of bells for me.” She looked at Alona. “Has there been any word from the profiler I contacted?”
    “The agent you were in touch with was away on a case last week, but she contacted me this morning and said she was ready to present her profile to you as soon as you want it.” Alona chuckled. “She mentioned something about you owing her big-time seeing as you’d issued an unofficial request.”
    “Have you got video linkups on one of these screens?” At Alona’s nod, Rafe got out her cell phone and pressed a button. She waited to hear a familiar voice. “Detective Rafe Douglas here, I believe you have a profile waiting for me?” She couldn’t help but smile at the excited tone that assailed her ear. “Have you got time for a conference call? We’re all set on our end for a video link if you’re up for it.” She checked her watch and made a mental note of the time she was given. “We’ll speak to you then.” She closed her phone and gave Alona a thumbs-up. “Three thirty we have a conference call with Special Agent Kent. Can you have everything ready for that for me, please?”
    “Absolutely. Wait until you see what this tech can do in that respect.”
    Rafe nodded distractedly, her mind already racing ahead. “Okay, now we need to gather this latest victim’s last known whereabouts. Let’s see if we can match anything from hers to our other victims. Let’s check her friends, coworkers, Facebook buddies, places of employment from the start of their employment history. The answer has to be in there somewhere.”

Chapter Three
     
    Hours later, after sorting through what seemed to be endless reams of paperwork, Rafe was relieved when Alona announced she had the video link ready. Nothing matched in any of the victims’ private lives. They didn’t work in the same jobs, didn’t frequent the same clubs, and had never had cause to meet in one another’s social circles. All were respectable women who had apparently been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Rafe shoved the files to one side, glad to rest her eyes from all the print. Alona directed their attention to a large monitor placed to her right. The screen’s department logo disappeared and a small woman, arms covered in tattoos, appeared on the screen.
    “Not what I was expecting from a profiler,” Dean said, taken aback.
    “Detective Douglas, Special Agent Kent will be with you