Chapter Eleven. Casey juggled four cups of coffee as she hurried into the squad room, stopping up short at Sikes's vacant desk

Casey juggled four cups of coffee as she hurried into the squad room, stopping up short at Sikes's vacant desk.

"I finally stop for coffee and he's not here?" She handed Tori her cup, accepting her smile as a thank you. "Les, since I didn't know your favorite, I took a chance on mocha. I mean, everyone likes mocha, right?"

"Good job, O'Connor. That actually is my favorite."

"Cool, I scored points." She turned on her computer before sitting down, then glanced at Tori. "Anything new?"

"There was a Peeping Tom report last night."

"No kidding. Where?"

"Twin Gables."

Casey looked at Leslie and winked. "Twin Peaks."

"Anyway, by the time patrol got there, our guy was gone. Sikes is interviewing the woman who called it in."

"So maybe it's time we do surveillance for real. I mean, that's how it started before. We can concentrate on that area. Beef up patrol maybe," she suggested.

Leslie shook her head. "But if we have patrol units cruise by more, that might scare off our guy. He may move somewhere else and lessen our chance to nab him while his offense is only peeping."

Tori nodded. "I agree. And let's see if Sikes can get a good description. Because what you guys got yesterday sucked."

"I swear, three people said it was a woman," Casey said.

"Try convincing Mac that a woman left semen behind."

Casey looked at Leslie and grinned. "She's in good humor this morning. Did you have a real nice evening, Hunter?"

"Probably better than yours, O'Connor."

"Oh, now you're just being mean."

"Yeah, that was low. And Sam's coming by after work. She's in the mood for Mexican food. She said to invite you."

"Okay, sure. You know me and margaritas." Casey turned to Leslie. "I'd invite you to come with us, but I guess Michael would be at home waiting."

"Actually, he's out with his buddies tonight."

"Great. Then why don't you join us?" Casey arched an eyebrow at Tori.

"Yes, join us. Sam would love to meet you."

Leslie looked from one to the other, then nodded. "Okay, thanks. I'd love to."

"Good." Casey motioned to her monitor. "Why don't you pull up that map thing you did? Isn't this the first call from Twin Gables?"

"I think so."

Casey stood behind her, waiting. "It's obviously in our target area since we were cruising by it the other night."

"So, taking into account both murder scenes and the Peeping Tom calls, we have an eight-block radius?" Tori asked.

"Yes. And what I find odd," Leslie said, "is that he's targeting apartments so close to the downtown area, where it's more congested. Why not apartments on a major highway where you have more escape routes?"

"That's true. I mean we saw the other night, parking is limited. Where does he stash his car? How far does he walk to get to his target?"

"Both murders were at conventional apartments, with ground floor windows."

"And outside entry," Casey said. "Most of the refurbished apartments in downtown have a central entry. The newer ones have gated entry. That would be harder for our guy to get in."

"But the apartments that he's targeting, he has more choices," Tori said. "And it's right at the edge of Deep Ellum. Maybe he doesn't use a car. Maybe it's all on foot."

"And easy to disappear in Deep Ellum."

"I've only been to Deep Ellum a handful of times," Leslie said. "But during the week, there's not a lot of street traffic, is there?"

"Certainly not like on weekends, no. And even then, it's tamed a bit. A lot of the clubs and restaurants have closed down in the last several years. But there's still enough people walking the streets, going from bar to bar, for him to blend in with," Tori explained.

"Okay. So what's the plan?" Leslie asked.

Casey squeezed her shoulder as she walked behind her, then pointed to the monitor again. "Since you're so good with that thing, how about a spreadsheet or something of all the apartments in that eight-block radius? Then we can set some guidelines. Which ones have outside entry? How many floors are there? Which ones have those tiny patios? Ground floor windows? Things like that." She went to her desk but stopped when fingers wrapped around her arm.

"I'll do the spreadsheet, but let's drive the area later. It'll be much easier to log all this information in the daylight instead of trying to figure it out at night while we cruise by."

Casey was conscious of the fingers still clinging to her arm, and she was conscious of Tori watching them. For some reason, the touch on her arm made her shiver. She nodded, trying to find her voice. "Sounds good to me." The hand finally slipped away and she moved again, glancing briefly at Tori who still stared.

Casey splashed water on her face, then looked up as the door to the ladies' room opened and Tori stuck her head in. Their eyes met in the mirror.

"What's up?"

Tori grinned. "Been a week, huh?"

"A week?"

"With your new partner."

"Oh." Casey reached for the towels and pulled two out, drying her face. "Yeah. A week."

"Watching you two out there, it reminded me of Sam."

"What do you mean?"

"When Sam first got here, it used to drive me crazy. She would always touch me when she talked to me." Tori laughed slightly. "But you're different than me. You touch too."

Casey frowned. "I do not."

"You probably don't even realize it." Tori walked past and into one of the stalls. "It's kinda cute."

Casey met her own eyes in the mirror. "It would help if she was frumpy, you know."

"Yeah. Frumpy. And what was the other word you used?"

Casey smiled at her reflection. "Portly."

Поиск по сайту: