In Hot Pursuit (Nydanna & MST3K 4ever)

[fieldbox= Cynthia, teal]The news that they now had three out of the three cases all connected in some way didn't really come to much of a surprise at all to Cynthia. What she did wonder was if the same attorney was involved with the three. The lawyer was someone that she wanted to talk to, and definitely wanted to keep her eye on, but she needed more details about the court cases before she could go any further down that route. There was definitely something involving the police or labs involved with the police, but was it a lawyer who had gotten frustrated trying to prove the labs were not following procedure? Was it one of the officers of the case who was angry because a case was overturned? There were now more possible leads and not nearly enough to narrow down the list. It was getting smaller though, which was certainly a good thing in her opinion.

"You're forgetting one very important thing, Kevin." Cynthia pointed out, not even taking notice that she'd actually used his first name for the first time since they'd been paired up together. "We still have a fourth victim out there to find. I have a feeling that she was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time….or perhaps used to lure Tyler out of the campground. Either way, we don't know her story until we find out who she is. If she's been dumped, he'd used a different method to do it, and that's straying from his usual method. What bothers me is what her relationship to Tyler was, and how the killer knew about it when his own family did not." There was no proof yet that the missing victim was truly connected to Tyler, but Cynthia was almost positive that she was. "It's too soon for him to have taken another victim and killed them, and the bodies are usually found within the first twenty four to forty eight hours after death. Mark's body was found a little under twenty four hours, and that was only a few days ago."

Three days was the best guess for how long he kept the victims, but Cynthia was beginning to believe that it was much longer. Right now calculating the time wasn't a top priority, at least not until she had the female victim who was currently missing her uterus. "You're right though. He's most likely already stalking his next victim. Friday is when he'll snatch them, by this time next week we'll have another body down at the morgue." While she was visiting her parents' grave, someone was going to be starved, tortured, and murdered. It almost made her want to call off her plans and focus entirely on the case.

"That's fine. I don't sleep much anyway. I can be here by four thirty." Her brows flattened with an expression of exasperation, the detective rolling her eyes at West's insistence on driving. "It's only fair considering I've been driving you around all week. I get to sleep on the way down, while you get to deal with traffic." Smirking, Cynthia turned to head back to her office after her attempt a humor, calling over her shoulder to her partner. "I'm going to see what I can find out about Del'Sandro. If you learn anything about Hahn's case, let me know. Might want to write down any cases you want pulled up from the courthouse tomorrow too. I'm stopping there before I come in."

Del'Sandro was top on her list, although she had a feeling that West would not agree with on that. Time would tell which one of them was right, but as her partner so aptly pointed out, they would not learn the truth until there were more bodies in the morgue.[/fieldbox]
 
While Cynthia was making her points Kevin couldn't shake the feeling that somehow there was still all in an attempt to get to Cynthia. That in reality whoever was behind this was after her attention, and that very soon it would reveal itself and when it did it was going to be in a very ugly manner. Regardless though Kevin couldn't focus in on that right now. Cynthia did make a good point about another body dropping, and this was something that Kevin had been saying would happen for a while. Kevin wasn't going to be saying, "Told you so" when it happened though. He began to dread the prospect of hearing a phone ringing because he was convinced that it would be either a call saying that there was another body, or the Captain saying they had to step things up fast because Miller was ready to call the Feds.

When Cynthia made her attempt at humor Kevin shook his head and rolled his eyes and said, "I didn't see that coming I must be losing it." He had to give credit on two things one she was showing a nice sense of humor, and Cynthia had a pretty nice smirk.

Kevin walked over to his desk and shut down his computer as he said, "I'll do a little more digging on Hahn and her case, but I'm not sure if there's much else I'll find out about it. I can only get so much from a computer screen." Kevin wrote down the case number one note and put it in his pocket.

Kevin walked out into the hallway and said, "I'm heading to Records and maybe the evidence archives to look over some of the items from the Hahn case. If you come up with anything or you're leaving for the day let me know please." With that Kevin was on his way down to records. It would've seemed that he was going to have to go back to the Precinct to get the information he wanted, but that was another perk to MCU. They got their own private records department which contained copies of case files, so this way MCU was a self-contained unit. Kevin liked how everything was right here when he needed it, but he did have to admit it would've been nice to see other officers. Yeah part of it was ego too being able to walk back into the Precinct flashing his MCU credentials.

One thing didn't change though from MCU to the Precinct and that was that the Records were kept in the basement, and much like the Precinct the desk was being manned by someone who looked so happy to be there. This balding red-headed gentleman was typing and transfixed on his computer screen inside of what might be called a ticket booth by some.

Kevin walked up to the window and the attendant without looking asked, "Can I help you?" His nameplate read, "Atkins"

Kevin replied, "Yes you can Officer Atkins. I need this case file please."

Atkins looked at the note and took it. He typed in two key strokes and waited for a moment. Atkins replied, "Be back."

Kevin watched as Atkins walked away. Kevin looked around the room and began to wonder would it have killed someone to put some color in the room? Or at least give it a window so poor old Atkins could have some daylight to work with.

Atkins returned with an actually fairly sizable folder. For a simple domestic case the folder was pretty thick and Atkins came out of his booth with a set of keys. He walked over to a door, unlocked the door and opened it, motioned for Kevin to enter the room. Atkins gave him the folder and said, "You can only read this in here. You need anything knock on the door, and I take a break for ten minutes every other hour."

Kevin took the folder and walked in the room as Harvey cut on the light closed the door and locked it behind him. Kevin looked around the room and said, "Perfect place to get away from it all, or to stash a body." Kevin walked over to a table opened up the folder and sat down as he began reading through it. He was looking for a blip of some kind something that made this case stand apart from the others. Something that would catch the attention of the killer if nothing else. Kevin then remembered that Joint Task Force that took down Judge Stone. He had a feeling that file would more than reveal something about Penwall.

Kevin pounded on the door and stood back waiting for Atkins to arrive. Atkins arrived and asked, "What do you need Detective?"

Kevin asked, "A few years ago there was a Joint Task Force involved in something called Operation Foxtrot. Since we were involved with it we have to have a file detailing our involvement can I see that file?"

Atkins nodded and walked away. Kevin began to pace slowly and then Atkins walked back in with no file, but just a single sheet of paper.

He said, "Sorry Detective. " Atkins handed him the paper and said, "A couple years ago the files were confiscated, and those that weren't we ordered sealed. This is all I can give you. Need anything else?"

Kevin took the paper and began studying it as he walked away Kevin replied, "No not right now." Kevin heard the door and on a certain level he was hearing that door close on any information concerning Operation Foxtrot. It listed the gist of the operation and those involved. Nothing more jumped out at Kevin until he saw one name. The Judge who was involved one Dan McCoy one of Stone's chief rivals, and of course the current Lt. Governor. There was something in that file no one was supposed to know about. Another case of a bad guy getting away with something and someone becoming frustrated with the legal system in the big picture perhaps.

Kevin put the paper on the table and leaned back in the chair as he said, "It'll be easier for me to have a baby than to get anything on Operation Foxtrot if McCoy is involved."

He shook his head and went back to reading the file.
 
[fieldbox= Cynthia, teal]Cynthia thought the shit storm from earlier was going to be the highlight of her day, but as she stepped into her office to the sound of the phone ringing, she would learn that it was just the tip of the iceberg. Dropping into her chair she swept the phone off its cradle and quickly spoke into it. "Detective Matthers, Major." There was quite a commotion on the other side, and Cynthia knew that she was on speaker phone which was certainly not typical of any call she received. Then came an unfamiliar, business like voice that soon had the detectives nerves on edge. "Detective Matthers? This is Joy Cravin from the Miami Herald, I was wondering if you had a few moments to answer some questions about your investigation." Cynthia froze, her fingers tightening around the phone in her hand. "What investigation?" She managed to sound calm, but on the inside she was in an outrage. Every bit of her wanted to reach through the phone and slap some sense into the woman, but since that wasn't possible she settled on making the woman's job a nightmare.

"Are you referring to the car theft ring investigation? I'm sorry, but there's no story there. The subjects have all been apprehended, now if you'll excuse me, I have some paperwork to do." Cynthia slammed the phone down, silently using every four letter word she could think of. Perhaps she should have hung on the phone a bit to see what the woman knew? No, that wouldn't have ended well at all with the mood Cynthia was now in. She was pissed, even if she didn't know what information the woman had. Quickly she got on her computer to look up the local newspapers, searching for any mention of a serial killer. So far there was nothing, but for how long would that be?

Shaking her head, she pushed herself from her chair, torn between going down to find West or warning the captain of a possible leak. Cynthia actually tracking down her partner, uncertain if that was the right thing to do or not. She was certain the Holsted was probably already well aware of the fact that there were reporters calling; he was probably the first person they called. She trusted that West would not let anything slip, but just in case she wanted to give him the same story she'd used to continue to throw the reporters off.

Finding him in the dungeon, at least as she referred to it, Cynthia frowned at the folder in front of him, certain he wouldn't find many answers there. "Looks like someone's let the cat out of the bag." She stated quietly, hoping not to startle him away from his reading with her presence. "I just got a call from a reporter over at the Herald asking about my investigation….I claimed the car theft ring was my investigation, but that line of B.S is only going to work for so long before someone figures things out." She doubted the Robbins had anything to do with the tip to the media, although she wouldn't have put it past his lawyer to have gone straight to the press after leaving the office.

"You might catch a break. No one is aware that I have a partner, at least not really. I've been working solo for years…." If they could keep that under wraps, things might not be too bad, but there was something bothering her about that. The killer somehow knew she had a partner, and who it was. She and West hadn't been together long enough for anyone to know that they were partners. For all anyone knew, they could have simply been assigned together temporarily. She would have to wait and see if he was contacted as well to narrow down the list of possible sources for the reporter.

"I know I don't have to tell you not to say anything, but if they do call you, let me know, and just give them the same thing I did. It might hold them off for a few days, but it won't hold them off forever." Before Cynthia could turn to leave the room, she turned back to West with an odd expression on her face.. "You might want to watch who asks you out too. There's been a few reporters who have tried getting the inside scoop by playing house with detectives, if you catch my drift. I'm not saying turn them down if you're interested, but you may want to keep work out of the pillow talk."

Now that West was adequately warned, she needed to go talk to Holsted. The captain would have a better idea of how to find out who was whispering into reporters' ears, and giving away clues that their investigation was something that should be on the front page. Cynthia had hoped for a little more time without the press, but in a city like Miami, it wouldn't be long until someone took notice. Hopefully by the time the reporter she'd spoken to caught on that something else was being investigated, they may actually have a few names on the suspect list. She doubted she'd luck out that way, but Cynthia was determined to keep everything hush hush for as long as possible, even with an outside source giving away details.[/fieldbox]
 
Kevin was starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel dimming ever more rapidly. This lead wasn't getting much more traction, and he was resigned to the fact that there was no way he was going to get anything useful about Operation: Foxtrot. At least not without a Court Order, the blood of a virgin, one of his kidneys, and more money than he was worth. At least there was something to work with, but the crushing part of it all was that probably the next usable lead they would get would be from the next victim. Just then Cynthia came in and delivered the bomb that he knew was coming, and that was the Media was starting to call about this. Cynthia was smart enough to stick to the script of this being a car theft ring and nothing else. Credit to her for not giving up any real discernible information as of yet, but like him Cynthia knew that story would only last so long.

Kevin shook his head slowly and said, "You and both know this is only the beginning. That once they get the scent of blood in the water it'll be a feeding frenzy. By this time Tuesday we're gonna be needing the PR Division to handle this. In terms of pillow talk hey…" Kevin stood up and said, "The last relationship I was in was over a year ago. I was engaged to her let's just leave it at this the wedding happened" he looked at Cynthia and said, "but I wasn't the Groom. She thought that my best friend at the time should be the Groom instead." He shrugged his shoulders and said, "That's life. They are living in Atlanta right now, and in Marriage Counseling already." Kevin pounded on the door and Atkins opened it up he handed Atkins the file. Something inside kicked Kevin and he felt his anger starting to roll up. Kevin looked back at Cynthia. He said, "Thanks for the warning about the Media. If you'll excuse have a phone call to make. I suggest we talk to the Cap next together, so I'll meet you there in about 10 minutes."

By the time he turned to leave Kevin's anger was evident. He was convinced that this came from one person; Miller. This was straight out of his playbook, and not to mention that he swore one day that Kevin would pay for his sins. His first sin was when he was a Patrolman and managed to fix a seemingly busted Laptop that CSU was ready to write off. The CSU head tech was personally picked by Miller, so that he could keep an eye on the CSU Department. Once Kevin showed him up the tech was reassigned, and then there was when he and Larry showed him up in front of the FEDS. If looks could kill Hannah would've been burying Kevin in the same cemetery as Nathan was buried in.

Once he got back to his office Kevin composed himself, to a degree, and put in his Springsteen live CD in his computer. He cued it up to a live recording of "The River" and had it on standby. Kevin then typed in a couple of commands to his computer and once he saw the commands were accepted he called Division Chief Miller and started a countdown on the CD.

Miller answered as the CD played in the background, "Hello Division Chief Miller."

Kevin replied, "Division Chief Miller this Detective West of MCU."

Miller replied, "Ahh yes the boy wonder of Homicide is finally on the big stage." Miller's voice was anything but soothing. It was as though he was enjoying this.

West decided that being civil was only going to go so far, and he decided to get to the point. He said, "You are aware of the current case I am working on along with Detective Cynthia Matthers."

Miller replied, "Yes I am I have found Detective Matthers to be quite the Detective. Willing to follow her superiors unlike her partner."

West nodded slowly and said, "Okay so we have history and it's not exactly something you hold in high regard."

Miller was now start to seethe as he said, "That's being kind Detective but go on and get to the point. I am a busy man."

West replied, "Fair enough. Detective Matthers got a phone call about our case. You are aware of every step in our process as dictated by protocol, and I am calling to find out one thing. Did you leak anything to the Media? Considering our history and that you know how to work the Media I figured I would try to cover my bases."

Miller was now angered as he asked, "Are you accusing me of compromising an investigation to satisfy some vendetta I have against you?"

West replied, "No sir. I am just conducting my own investigation in this matter."

Miller said, "If I was do you think I would be foolish enough to tell you? You are really not as bright as I thought you were Boy Wonder. All that being said there are somethings you should know. First off I was the one who made sure your transfer happened. I was the one who had you assigned to Detective Matthers and this case. I thought you would either help her or you two would get nowhere on this case and I could call in the Feds. Second if the Feds are called in you two look incompetent. Although since you are still new to MCU you will probably be transferred back to Homicide and Matthers…" Miller let out a chuckle worthy of a Mad Scientist as he said, "well it was a brilliant career. She couldn't close the case and her reputation takes a sizable hit possibly even a demotion. Lastly I was on the rise within the ranks until you came along. Now I have been stick in this position for almost a decade. With my connections and the way I do things I should be the Chief at the very least by now. Not that old fart who thinks you and Matthers and cops like you actually make a difference. It's all about the system and who you know."

Miller paused and West said, "You want me take me down fine. Just leave her out of this. It's between you and me. "

Miller once again chuckled and said, "West she is a mere casualty of war. Her career is going to go down in flames and you are the one who lit the fuse. Me leaking things to the press? No but I am having fun watching you kill a fellow officer's career. Even if it's unintentional and if you two do solve this then I look like a genius for pairing you two up. West, it's getting close to you cashing in your chips, and guess who's your banker Boy Wonder?"

West said, "You know what I like about you most sir? You have no idea when to shut up. You hear the music playing in the back? It's to verify one thing."

Miller asked, "And what's that?"

West replied, "To show that this wasn't edited."

Miller asked, "Edited?"

West pressed two buttons on his computer and the middle of Miller's rant filled the room. West heard Miller gasp as he said, "Oh no. Oh Dear Lord."

West replied, "That's right I've recorded this conversation. So even if you haven't told the press I now have something to keep you in check. If you interfere in any way with our investigation or I find out you were the leak. I will bury you with this. Understood sir? I am recording three copies of it as we speak. Stay out of our way. Deal?"

Miller said, "Deal. One day though West you will pay for this."

West replied, "Yeah yeah and you'll get me and my little dog too."

Kevin hung up the phone and stopped recording. He then sent a copy of the recording to Larry, one to his mother, and one to Captain Webb. The E-Mail stated it was insurance and it wasn't to be listened to unless directed by Kevin. Maybe Miller really was the leak and maybe he wasn't, but if nothing else he just got what could've been a very nasty roadblock removed from the investigation.

Kevin was much calmer now as he made his way to Holtby's office.
 
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[fieldbox= Cynthia, teal] The news about the leak was taken with every bit of anger and frustration that Cynthia kept hidden away, the captain nearly shattering the bones in his hands as he slapped them down on the desktop. "Where do you think it came from? How do you know the killer didn't send a message out to the papers himself?" The psychologist in Cynthia who already had a good understanding of the mind she was up against. This wasn't an attention scheme. The killer did not want the press involved at all, if he had, there were plenty of other ways for to make that happen. Cynthia could tell her captain this until she was blue in the face, but she knew it was pretty much pointless. All she needed to do was assure him that it wasn't the killer giving away his crimes to the press. He trusted her opinion, and she knew this killer better than anyone, even West, although that was because he'd only been on the case a few days.

"No. That's not his style, captain. He doesn't want anyone else looking at him. He only wants us knowing who he is and what he's capable of." She could have admitted that the killer didn't want anyone else's attention but her own, but she kept that bit to herself. West had his attention, but that was because he wanted her partner out of the picture. Eventually, the longer they were on the case the risk that the killer's anger would turn to her when she not only kept West as a partner, but did not give him the attention he wanted from her. West would become a target first, whether for death or simply to get him temporarily out of the way, Cynthia couldn't answer yet. However, she could tell her captain that at some point the killer would come after her with the full intention of adding her to the growing number of bodies he was responsible for.

"I'm not usually the type to point fingers, so I'll keep my opinion quiet for now. However, I do have a feeling I know who's responsible for it and why. It is a tad bit silly that they decided to do it for that particular reason." Sylvia Robbins was at the very top of Cynthia's list, and she knew it was to keep her focused on the case. Mrs. Robbins had taken a disliking to her, and she didn't care if she made Cynthia's job difficult or not. All that she cared about was that Matthers found her son's killer, and to keep all eyes on the detective she involved the press to ensure she kept on track.

"The media is going to be a problem. If too much attention gets attracted to him, he's going to hide. He's not doing this for publicity. He's doing this to get a point across." Cynthia was already pacing in front of the captain's desk, trying to put a useful spin to the leak. Normally with killers who wanted to be known by the world it was easy to lure them out using the press. Slip in a few facts that would infuriate the killer. Give the profile to reporters so that the others in the city were aware of what to look for. But in this case that would scare her killer away.

"Have you finished with your profile yet? Three murders with similar motives has to get you close." The man asked, the detective pausing midstep to consider how to answer the question. She did have a profile, one that she was fairly confident in. However, it was not complete, and there was still plenty of aspects about it she wanted to work on a bit more.

"Yes, and no. First I need to look into the court cases that are connected to the victims. I have a feeling the same lawyer is involved, which….."

"Which would make him a suspect, but that sure as hell doesn't explain why." The captain responded for her, Cynthia shrugging her shoulders nonchalantly.


"True, but there are a few reasons. Maybe the losses cost him money, or it could be an ego thing. Most of the trials resulted in the defendant being imprisoned, at least for a brief period. He couldn't strike out at the people he felt were responsible for his losing streak, so he took it out on the easiest members of their family." Cynthia didn't know how true that was, only time and further investigation could answer those questions. For now she was focused on the barest essentials of the profile, the ones that would begin to narrow down her search. The pieces were there though, now they were just waiting for her to put them together. "By the end of next week I should be able to give you a full profile, depending on what we find in the Keys."

"And what about this supposed fourth victim? Any ideas where we might find her?" The question was expected, but Cynthia couldn't answer it. Victim number four wasn't one that had been planned, but one that was carried out to cover the killer's tracks. The body would turn up soon enough, but it wouldn't be in the usual dump sites.

"No. I think all the clues for that will be at the campsite, along with who she is. I know she's connected to Tyler in some way, but exactly how though…." She shook her head, sighing out her frustration. "The family didn't know anything about a girlfriend or even a female friend going with him. The relationship was either new or they were keeping it quiet. Possibly an affair." Cynthia had already considered a few possibilities, but she was waiting until she got to the site to see if she could learn anything for certain rather than moving on assumption. She and West were going to have to do a thorough investigation once they got down to the Keys, and hope that it would produce the answers that they needed rather than give them more questions.[/fieldbox]
 
Kevin was outside the Captain's office as he heard most of what went on between Cynthia and Holsted. Once he heard that Cynthia was wrapping up her statement he knocked on the door and Holsted basically growled, "Yeah."

Kevin walked in and closed the door. He stood just off to the side of Cynthia and said, "I heard what was said and I gotta agree with…" Kevin almost called her Detective Matthers but changed his mind and said, "My partner about this leak not coming from the killer Captain."

Holsted leaned back slightly in his chair and said, "All right West I heard her side of it. Now let me hear yours."

West nodded and said as he began to pace slowly, "Well first off leaking information to the press is low rent armature night stuff. From what we've seen this guy is far from low rent. Low key in terms of drawing attention to himself, but not in terms of his methods Captain. Secondly I know how the Media works to a degree because my sister is a reporter for the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Something like this crosses her desk she isn't calling the Police to confirm anything. She is calling the Police to be in on it. To be a part of this not just telling about it." He stopped and looked at Holsted and said, "Don't judge my sister too harshly Sir she's a reporter it's in her nature she's a loving wife and mother. Not to mention she makes killer Deviled Eggs for Easter, but I digress. Anyway…" Kevin resumed his pacing and said, "Lastly, and sadly for my sister, not too many people read the Newspaper anymore. Our killer is smart enough to know that no no he would choose a different way. Like a You Tube video channel so that he could set it just for us to see." Kevin stopped pacing and looked at both Holsted and Matthers and asked, "So what do you think?
"
Holsted shook his head and replied, "Webb was right you are a major wiseass, but smart as whip and glad that you work for the Police." He looked at his desk for a moment and nodded. He looked at West and Matthers and said, "All right I'm convinced it didn't come from the killer. Still doesn't change the fact that someone leaked it to the press, and that eventually it will be an issue, but for now we have to move on." Holsted looked at West directly and asked, "Your partner is convinced that you two will find some new leads at the campsite. Do you agree with her?"

Without thinking West replied, "No doubt sir. Our killer is smart and methodical leaving just enough behind for us to keep going and not get stonewalled. However not enough to just spoon feed us our clues. He's making us work for this. It wouldn't surprise me if we found information about our, sadly expected, fourth victim at the site. We now though have a semi-common thread to work with, and I suspect we will find another thread at some point."

Holsted nodded and said, "Profile is in progress. Just make sure you two give me something to take to the gang at the Commissioner's office at some point."

Just then Holsted's phone rang, and he said, "Great Miller is calling. This could be fun." Every part of Kevin wanted to leave the room, but there was something inside that told him to stay.

Holsted answered, "Yes Division Chief Miller…yes sir…yes sir…why thank you sir…you can count on us sir…thank you for your Faith in us sir….of course sir I wouldn't have it any other way….goodbye sir."

Holsted hung up the phone and said, "Miller just called to offer his complete support to MCU in this matter and stated that the Feds will not be called at any point. He also stated that if we don't solve this case all three of us are out of our jobs." He looked at Kevin and said, "You two have a history I am well aware of what it is, and most Captains would avoid you because of it. However I am not most Captains." He shook his head at Kevin and said, "Don't make me regret this West."

West waved his hand down his suit and asked, "Do you think I would do anything to disgrace this uniform?"

Holsted closed his eyes and said, "Matthers take your partner and get going on this case. Before I have a Heart Attack."

Kevin looked at Cynthia and said, "Okay what's our next move?"
 
[fieldbox= Cynthia, teal]The mention of Miller's name made Cynthia's skin crawl, and every nerve in her body feel as if it was being plucked on their ends. She hated men like Miller, the ones who thrived on the power that came with being a cop. He was the type who would bully suspects for no reason at all other than to rub his authority in their faces, and then brag about it to the others like him. He gave good cops everywhere a bad name, and she wanted to stay as far from him as possible, and she certainly didn't want him anywhere near her case. "Tell him to shove his praise where the sun doesn't shine and keep his nose out of it. Fucking blowhard is probably the one running off to the press so he can kiss the feds' asses when he calls them in." Annoyed, the detective didn't even bother hiding her animosity toward the man, but shook it off and focused on her captain's dismissal.

"I can give you the rough draft of a profile now. It's not much, but it'll help narrow down the suspect pool quite a bit. I've got eyes in Homeland keeping a look out on sulfuric acid, although with the way our guy's escalating, it won't be his weapon of choice for too long. Anything heavier and he'll be noticed, that's if he's not concocting his own brand of poison by now." Cynthia knew at some point the killer would change things to throw them off, but she was almost positive that wasn't going to come until she and West were getting closer to catching him.

Following West out into the hallway, the female glanced up at her partner with a forced frown, her head shaking gently in response to his question. "I don't really know. It's nearly five, which means most of the footwork we need to do is off limits. Court's closed up for the day, and the internet will only give us so much. We're going to have to wait a bit longer for the Robbins' DNA results. Right now everything's pretty much on hold until we can either get a hold of phone records, which most likely won't be until sometime tomorrow." As much as Cynthia hated to cut out early, she knew that she should give the signal to do exactly that. The next few days weren't going to give them much of a break, especially once they got to the Keys.

"Why don't you head home, West. I'll meet you here tomorrow morning, hopefully with the subpoenas we need, and the warrant to search the campsite for Friday." Cynthia might be heading home, but she planned on working from her office there. She had a profile to type out to hand to the captain, and of course there was always whatever she could find on the net to help At least at home she could sit back with a glass of wine while she worked, and after the past few days she was going to need quite a few of them to help her unwind.

"You'd better take the time off while you can." She warned, looking sternly at the man as if she expected him to argue with her. "The doc knows to call us first thing if there's any more bodies dumped matching our guy, and there's no telling when we'll be getting a ring at three in the morning." For a moment Matthers almost considered inviting West over to her place to help her work on her profile, but decided against it last minute. It was one thing having him in her office on the job, in her home? It felt far too personal, and unprofessional for her to consider it for more than a second or two. She wondered exactly why her mind was so out of sync, instantly blaming it on the time of year it was. The truth be told, she didn't really want to be alone at all, not when she knew she was going to sit and think about her parents all night. She could always call up…..

'Not going there!' Cynthia cut the thought off before it could form, returning back to the conversation at hand. "Just take it easy for the night. Who knows when we'll have an early night again." There was always a chance that they'd get called in that night, but Cynthia wasn't going to throw that out there and jinx everything.

"Bye West. Have a good night!" She called out, walking past him to head to her office for her things. It was going to be a long night for her. Hopefully her partner would get enough rest for the both of them.[/fieldbox]
 
Kevin didn't like agreeing with Cynthia about leaving early but considering he saw a picture of him that basically said he was marked for death, called in a favor for someone, managed to get further up on the shit list of a Division Chief, watch his partner get on the bad side of a woman who knew how to play games, potentially establish a contact in City Hall, and in a subtle way tell this contact his son was probably dead to Kevin that was a pretty full day. He let out a slight exhale as he nodded and said, "You're right. Let's call it a day. See you tomorrow Cynthia." As he watched Cynthia walk away there was a part of him that was thinking of asking if she wanted to work on the case a little more. Off the clock and at one of their places, but he shook his head as made his way back to his office.

Kevin called Father Tony and this time he got a hold of him. Kevin said, "I'm gonna be working down in the Keys tomorrow and won't be able to make it to confession as planned. Do you got time this evening perhaps?"

Father Tony replied, "I was getting ready to leave but if you're here in the next 15 I think we can take care of it."

Kevin smiled as he said, "Thank you Father I'm on my way."

With that Kevin was out the door and on his Harley in what seemed like the blink of an eye. When he arrived at St. Matthew's Father Tony was waiting for him out front taking care of sweeping off the front steps.

Kevin dismounted from his Harley and asked, "Don't you have a staff to do that?"

Tony replied, "Oh just a little something I like to do for myself. A bit of self-care and a chance for some fresh air."

The two men shook hands as Father Tony said, "Good to see you again Kevin."

Kevin smiled and said, "Likewise Father."

The two men went into Father Tony's office and made a bit of small talk. The weather, Kevin's family, and sports but nothing about the case. Which is what Kevin wanted for a moment. Just to put it down and let things simmer for a moment. After about twenty minutes of small talk Kevin made his confession and Father Tony granted him absolution and stated his penance. Kevin took care of it as he walked out to the Sanctuary and knelt before the Altar.

Once he was done Kevin and Father Tony began to part company, and Father Tony prayed that Kevin and his partner would find the killer and bring them to justice.

Kevin stopped on his way home at an Italian restaurant called "Vito's". Kevin loved Italian cooking it came from his mother's side who was full blown Italian. He knew the owners Donnie and Carla Antonelli who always greeted him with a smile and a, "Hey big K! How you? Come here!" Followed by a big bear hug, and Carla saying, "You too thin! Come here! You need a good woman to cook for you!" Kevin ordered his usual a Chef Salad and an order of Spaghetti and Meatballs to go. It didn't seem like much but seeing and connecting with people like Father Tony and the Antonellis made Kevin feel human again. After the day he had Kevin needed to feel alive and hopeful again, and this did it for him.

Kevin arrived back at his loft and thanked Angela for taking care of Roxanne. He mentioned that he might need her again, and Angela said that was fine she was gonna be home for the next week. Kevin gave her a Merlot as a thank you and Angela was grateful considering her girlfriend was coming into town tomorrow for a week.

Once Angela left Kevin took care of Roxanne by letting her sit next to him on the couch as he ate his dinner with a bottle of water. He turned on the news hoping there was no mention of anything about their case, and there wasn't so Kevin was relieved and Kevin finished his dinner in relative peace and quiet as he listened to Springsteen live in L-A in 2008.

After dinner Kevin decided it was time to burn off some excessive energy, and changed into his workout gear. He put in his workout CD and began to hit the heavy bag in the corner lightly at first. As he hit Kevin began to review what was going on in his mind about the case. He tried to block it out, but there it was again on his mind. The image of a faceless psycho dumping a body in back alley was an image that dominated his mind. After about thirty minutes and several attempts to shake the image from his head Kevin stopped.

Kevin knew he was done with his workout. The case was on his mind as he looked at Roxanne and said, "I need to take care of somethings in my mind Roxy." Kevin took a shower, slipped into a pair of blue jeans and his favorite "Batman" t-shirt, and then got out a dry erase board. He quickly began writing and drawing everything pertaining to the case. Once he was done with that Kevin picked up his bat and putting it behind his shoulders he began to pace in front of the board.

Kevin was looking for that one piece of information that was going to spring out and scream, "Here I am! Solve it!" Larry would be the first to tell him it's never that easy. Although he was starting to see some more things to add. In order to get these materials it wasn't easy, but a good bank account makes life very easy. To have a working knowledge of the human body like him it made him very smart which they already knew, but to plan out a crime scene just so indicated more than just book smart. There were no signs of bruising or any other trauma that indicated he was overly strong so he probably wasn't a physically imposing person.

Once Kevin had some more to go on he walked over to his window and just stared out at the city. All he could think about was out there right now this sick monster was prepping a body to be dumped somewhere, and at the moment there was nothing he or Cynthia could do to stop it. Kevin shook his head slowly in frustration and said a quiet prayer for the one who had suffered, and for their family. He didn't know who it was but it was something Kevin needed to do for himself if nothing else. Once he finished he crossed himself and then look at Roxanne who rubbed her head against his thigh. Kevin scratched her behind the ears and shook his head.

Kevin looked at Roxanne and said, "Okay I'm gonna hate myself in the morning for this but I gotta do it Roxy."

Kevin walked over to his phone and dialed Cynthia's number. He waited until he heard an answer before he said, "Hey Cynthia its Kevin. I got stop thinking about the case, and if I had to guess you're working on a profile like me. Let's not worry about appearances and all that crap. Let's get together right now and start putting together a profile we both agree on. Your place or mine I don't care…"

He waited for her reply.
 
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[fieldbox= Cynthia, teal]Cynthia headed straight out of the building and to her apartment, only stopping when it was necessary. For several long moments she leaned against the door simply catching her breath and letting herself slip out of work mode. She didn't rush straight to the shower, although everything in her wanted to do nothing more than stand under scalding hot water for a good half an hour and burn away the stress of the day. Instead she headed straight for the kitchen and her fridge, pulling out a bottle of red wine to pour herself a drink. Well aware of the hazards of alcoholism among cops, Cynthia usually watched how much she drank and limited herself to two glasses a day at most, but today wasn't a two glass kind of day; in fact it wasn't even a wine kind of day. After a moment of thought she tucked the wine back into her fridge and headed for the cabinet above her reaching for a bottle of single malt Scotch she kept hidden away for days like this one. She poured herself a drink and replaced the bottle before exiting the kitchen to head out into her living room for another long breather.

The glass was half empty by the time Cynthia found the willpower to get back to her feet, her body moving sluggishly back into the kitchen to peruse through her fridge for something to scramble together for dinner. Cooking for herself was often a luxury that she didn't have time for, and rarely did she have anything pulled out to prepare when she did manage to make it home early. Tonight she had a few chicken breasts, some broccoli and potatoes, and opted for a small meal that was literally thrown together at the spur of the moment. With the chicken marinating in some Italian dressing waiting for the oven to heat, she rushed off to take a quick shower, grateful to finally get out of her customary work clothes and into a pair of shorts and a tank top. She was at home in her own little comfort zone with no one around she needed to impress, what did her choice of attire matter? Cynthia even left her hair down to air dry without doing much more than brushing out the knots and tangles.

She made a quick pause into her office to retrieve her laptop on her way back into the kitchen, deciding to work on her profile while she was cooking. Truthfully, Cynthia had no idea what to do with herself with the time out of the office. She kept herself occupied with a half dozen small tasks; cleaning up, reorganizing her cabinets, and cooking all while typing a few lines on her laptop. The silence of her apartment should have been helpful. She should have been able to think up everything she wanted to put into her profile without an issue, but the longer she tried holding herself at her computer the more difficult it became for her to focus.

Her meal was cooking when her phone rang, Cynthia frowning at the device in annoyance that someone was intruding on what should have been her personal time. 'Like you're really doing something important.' Her mind supplied helpfully, further annoying the woman.

"Hello?" She spoke tentatively into the phone, surprised to find West on the other end of the line. Her frown deepened at his words, her eyes straying to her laptop then to the glass sitting beside it that with a finger width of liquid calling her name. As much as she'd been hoping that unwinding completely would get her productive juices going again, the silence was hindering her far too much for that to happen. Her thoughts were far too jumbled, her mind straying from one thing to the next, trying to focus on the case, but with the images of her past staring down from the walls, it was next to impossible. While Kevin talked, Cynthia played around with the mouse on her laptop, the small pointer zipping around the screen to land on an all too used button that had been calling out to her since she'd turned the computer on. She could have spent the night staring at her parents' case while trying to figure out the missing pieces, only to have ideas about her own pop into mind. Or she could let Kevin come over to her place and see what he might have to add to her ideas, and hope that maybe they could finish up the profile before the deadline she had set for herself.

'Forget appearances?' Cynthia might have questioned that had it not been for the steady stream of alcohol flowing through her veins and dulling her senses. Instead she shrugged it off, having no idea what appearances would be questioned. "I guess you'd better come to my place. I can't really drive right now." She replied hesitantly, gnawing on her lower lip nervously that she'd somehow given the wrong reply. 'Jesus, he's asking to work on the case, not come over for personal reasons!' Her logical mind broke though the Scotch induced haze, snapping Cynthia back to reality and the device in her hand. "I've got dinner cooking, right now, so it's probably better for you to come over here." Better for her to be in her comfort zone during an already awkward situation than to be in strange territory. Now all she had to worry about was changing into less casual attire and she might actually feel somewhat less comfortable with the idea.[/fieldbox]
 
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Once he heard her response Kevin replied, "All right I'm out the door in about 5 minutes, and hate to disappoint you but I'm just in T-Shirt and Jeans not the usual suit and tie. Whatever you are wearing is fine I'm not coming over to judge you or to pry into your personal life. I'm coming over to make some headway on this case. See you in a few."

Kevin hung up the phone and was actually somewhat surprised that Cynthia agreed to meet, and telling him to come over was an even bigger surprise to him. Granted it was to continue work on the case, but this was progress in their partnership. Kevin also had to remind himself not to stare and gawk at Cynthia's apartment or the items in there, but to get some work done and get home. They still had to be up at an Unholy hour to drive out to the Keys and forge through the woods for clues. While also dealing with Park Rangers who probably had foggy memories and lovely attitudes to boot. Somehow going to Cynthia's apartment and feeling, possibly, slightly socially awkward was starting to feel like the more pleasant of the options.

He went into his bathroom and was followed by Roxanne. Kevin checked his hair, made sure he had on deodorant, put on quick spray of body spray, and then shook his head at Roxanne. Kevin said, "Really I'm worried about how I look and smell going to my partner's apartment? This ain't a date right Roxy? Right." Roxanne whimpered slightly and Kevin shrugged his shoulders and said, "Yeah I know need help, but since you don't have a Psych degree, and my sister Susan won't consult with me so that ain't happening." With that Kevin gave a vigorous scratch behind the ears and said, "You're better than a therapist you know that? You don't tell me an hour is up, and you are a way better listener and…" Just then Roxanne walked away and Kevin said, "Hey I was complementing you on your listening skills." He shook his head and let a laugh as he walked down the hall way.

Kevin stopped off at the dry erase board and began snapping several pictures of it with his digital camera. The master shot was the key because it was showing how everything looked in the big picture sense. While the smaller close up shots gave perspective on the details. Much of this Cynthia knew already but Kevin added some new points, and not to mention Kevin knew Cynthia well enough that she would be working on the case as well. It was time that they started working as a team because only by that were they going to solve this case, and prevent a fifth victim from turning up. Kevin reviewed his pictures and once he saw he had workable shots he popped out the SD card from his camera and put it in his pocket. As he got ready to leave Kevin gave Roxanne a part of a bone and said, "Don't know when I'll be back so be cool." Kevin took one look at himself in a window as he got ready to walk out the door. He gave consideration to losing his Batman t-shirt, but decided Cynthia needed to see how he was away from the office. He was t-shirt and jeans kind of a guy, and he liked his comic book collection Batman being his favorite of course. Once he saw that he looked at least socially presentable Kevin closed his door and locked it up.

Once again in the parking lot he was faced the dilemma of Harley versus Durango? In this case it was somewhat easier, because Kevin noticed the tires on the Harley were slashed. This was not something Kevin wanted to see, and Kevin studied the scene carefully. He took a few pictures and then said, "All right now I'm a little worried." Kevin figured there was nothing more he could do at the time, and contacted Jack Edison. He was someone in the building who could reinstall the tires for him at cost. Jack said he would bring the bike in and have the new tires on in 24 hours. Kevin was okay with that and took off in his sapphire blue Durango to Cynthia. Kevin knew he should've called the slashing in, but there was no evidence and if it was the killer he would be careful enough not to leave any discernable clues. Kevin had the pictures and that was enough.

After an uneventful ride over Kevin arrived at Cynthia's and said, "For God and King Richard." He got out of his SUV and went to the door. Kevin took a deep breath and knocked on the door.
 
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[fieldbox= Cynthia, teal]The plans to change were put on hold when her phone rang after West's call, the detective glaring at the device before snapping it up from the table to answer it. Why was she suddenly so popular? "Hello?" She greeted questioningly, wondering who could possibly be calling her. "Detective Matthers? This is Ralph Teller from the Ledger. I know that the time is rather late, but I was wondering…." A reporter? Cynthia rolled her eyes, grumbling under her breath about the press and just how much of a pain in the ass they could be. She naturally assumed that the call was about her case, but was surprised when the reporter pressed on to inform her exactly why he was calling. "We're doing an article about unsolved cases, and wanted to feature the story of your parents' murder. Since you're a detective now, and it's been twenty years, we thought it'd be a good idea to spin the fact that even cops can have cold cases in their history. Would you mind speaking with me for a few moments?"

Cynthia was debating the idea. There really wasn't anything that could hurt if she did talk to the man. Her parents' case was as cold as it could get, and there were absolutely no leads at all in the past twenty years. She knew the ins and outs of the case, although there were things that had not been released to the public, like the fact that her father had been robbed of his wedding band while her mother's wedding ring which was worth far more had not been touched. Cynthia had always had her suspicion that the person who killed them had been obsessed with her mother, possibly a stalker, but Cynthia had been far too young to notice, and if her mother had a problem with someone, she'd never informed the police. There was no harm in sharing what she could, and soon Cynthia was answering the reporter's questions without hesitation.

She shared details of the case that she could, and a bit about the investigation and the few leads the detectives had followed along the way. She ended the interview once the reporter began to dig into her personal feelings about the case, and how her parents' murder impacted her life. "Is that why you became a detective? Looking over your records, you could have gone straight to the Bureau if you'd wanted to." Cynthia frowned at the phone, her frown darkening her face when the knock on the door came before she could rid herself of the man on the other line. Sighing, she pushed herself up to her feet and opened the door, waving West inside before turning to reenter the kitchen with the phone still pressed firmly to her ear. "Look, you stated the article was about cold cases, not about my history. I'd prefer if you stuck to that and kept me out of it." She snapped when the man on the other end of the line continued to press on about her life, Matthers growing more and more agitated until she finally let her temper get the best of her.

"Understand this, Mister Teller. I will not have you trying to twist the story around to focus on me. If you want to write an article about my parents' murder, then fine, focus on that. Maybe it'll generate some leads or jog someone's memory. That is the only reason I agreed to talk to you. Now that I've shared what I could I'm going to end this call and pretend you weren't some sort of idiotic weasel trying to turn it into something it wasn't meant to be. Good night, Mister Teller, and off the record, you can go fuck yourself." Ending the call, Cynthia let her phone drop on the table beside her plate with a growl, her appetite gone, but she knew she still had to eat. Sighing softly, she dropped into her chair finally acknowledging West. "Sorry about that. Make yourself at home."

Cynthia was about to offer her partner something to drink or eat when she was suddenly struck with the idea of searching for the reporter she'd just gotten off the phone with. Why hadn't she done that before? Her eyes swung away from her laptop screen onto the glass beside it, her hand absentmindedly reaching out to grab hold of it and gulp down the last swig of liquid before turning her attention back to the search results popping up on her screen. There were a half dozen Ralph Tellers in the Miami area, most retiree's, a few with other occupations but there was absolutely no reporters by that name. "What the hell…." Her fingers were flying over the keyboard again, searching the Ledger's staff listing that was available online with not a single trace of the name Teller at all.

Her partner was ignored as Cynthia took up her phone again, this time dialing the number for the paper. She flashed West an apologetic smile as she motioned around the kitchen for him to help himself, her attention quickly snapping back to the phone when someone answered. She disappeared out of the room, going through dozens of people in search of anyone who could answer her questions, but no one had any idea who Ralph Teller was, and they certainly weren't aware of any story on cold cases. Several minutes later a frustrated and rather spooked Cynthia returned to the kitchen, heading straight to the cabinet to retrieve her bottle of Scotch and pour herself another glass. "I believe the killer just contacted me….or had someone he knew do it." Cynthia was ready to cuss, mostly at herself rather than anyone else. She should have known better, but her mind was far too scattered on everything going on at once that she hadn't even considered the killer might try to contact her this early.

"Shit…" She growled out, taking a quick sip from her glass. "Sorry, normally I'm a bit more organized…it's an unusual week." She could easily go into details if need be, but West had already witnessed enough odd behavior from her so far, and she had no plans on putting her foot in her mouth any more that evening. "I'll have forensics put something on my phone tomorrow. For now, let's focus on the profile, shall we?"[/fieldbox]
 
The door opened to Cynthia being on the phone, and clearly it was not a pleasant conversation. He didn't know Cynthia all that well but he knew when something was hitting a little too close to home. Kevin right from the start was suspecting this wasn't about their case, and there was a part of Kevin that felt like he should apologize for being there. Then Cynthia let whoever this person was on the phone have it like a force of nature. So much so that Kevin tried not to notice that Cynthia's dress was way different than the office, and the wet look for her was impressive to say the least.

During her verbal beat down Kevin did what he could to avoid direct eye contact with Cynthia at the time. Mainly because he didn't want to seem like he was prying into her personal affairs, but at this point it there wasn't much he could to avoid it. Kevin looked around and began to get a sense of who Cynthia was from the pictures of her with whom he assumed were her parents, the diplomas, even the somewhat cheerful furniture. Kevin was slowly realizing that Cynthia wasn't a Robocop after all, but a real person who had actual likes and dislikes. She did what she could to try and make Kevin feel somewhat welcomed at the time, but clearly Cynthia was off of her game.

Then came the phrase that stopped Kevin in his tracks, and he had to tell himself "No eye contact now! You weren't supposed to know about that!" The phrase was "Parents' murder" suddenly the mask that was Detective Cynthia Matthers was stripped away, and the person under it who was Cynthia Matthers was in her place. There was a part of Kevin though that felt like Cynthia might've revealed this at some point, but this clearly was not the way for him to find out. Cynthia finally settled down and then fixed herself a drink. Normally Kevin didn't drink mainly because of his type II diabetes, but in this case it was an exception. He got himself a glass and poured himself a drink as well, because after what he had just seen and heard Kevin needed it. Having seen a little bit more into the world of Cynthia Matthers helped take the edge off of the awkwardness. That and the Scotch was helping there too.

When it was finally okay for Kevin to say something for a moment he had no idea what to say. Did he express sympathy for the death of her parents, excuse himself and say "see ya tomorrow", or "nice place you got here Cynthia." Kevin took a drink and said, "Face it Cynthia both of our weeks are straight out of 'The Twilight Zone' right now." He stood across from her and said, "In terms of what I just heard I am sorry for you loss, and I won't pry into it I don't have the right to ask about it. It has nothing to do with our case, and you have a right to your privacy that's all I'll say about that. However this guy knows about your history and is using it to get inside of your head. That being said you're not the only one who had contact with him tonight, or someone who is in contact with him, for that matter."

Kevin opened up the photos in his phone and showed Cynthia the slashed tires on his Harley. He said, "There are at least 15 other vehicles in our parking lot and mine was the vehicle that was touched. Luckily I don't drive my Durango that much otherwise I hate to think what would've happened to it." Kevin threw back his drink and without even thinking he made himself another as he said, "In terms of our profile right now we need to catch our collective breath for a moment, and realize something." Kevin leaned on the counter and rolled his neck as he looked up at the ceiling for a moment. He then looked back at Cynthia and said, "His upping his game is now including mind games with us. The packages today were just the beginning now he is trying to get to us at our homes." Kevin shook his head and said, "He won't kill us right now, because to him this is still fun but once the fun and game aspect wears off and we get closer just remember…" Kevin looked at Cynthia and said, "Nothing is more dangerous than a caged animal. It will do what it has to do to survive."

Kevin took another drink and said, "Profile…" Kevin showed Cynthia the pictures he took of the board and said, "Some additions we can add wealthy because to get the stuff he is using it ain't cheap, or he could be bribing people. Face it a large bank account goes a long way in helping make new friends, or willing followers. Secondly he is not only book smart or in terms of procedures, but overall smart in terms of the streets. He knows where to and when to avoid leaving any real trace evidence. Lastly he does have Achilles Heel now." Kevin looked at Cynthia and said, "He is arrogant and vain he is playing all these games and so on with us thinking we won't catch on at some point, but the more he does this sooner or later he's gonna make a mistake."

Kevin took another drink out of his glass and said, "That's what I've got so far. How about you?"
 
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[fieldbox= Cynthia, teal]How was it that West was unaware of her history? She laughed bitterly at his claim that it wasn't any of his business, her head shaking slowly. How could he have not been warned about her past? It was in the papers for anyone who wanted to look through the archives. There had even been a small story on her when she finally graduated from the academy, and of course several articles on her throughout her academic career. No one had even bothered informing West that not only was he dealing with the lone wolf of the department, but he was also stuck with a brainiac who had earned her high school diploma before most people got their driver's license, and two bachelor's degrees under her belt before she could even join the academy? Cynthia almost pitied the man sitting across from her, and probably would have if it weren't for her continued aggravation that the killer managed to sneak past her enough to talk to her on the phone.

"I figured it'd be common knowledge by now." Cynthia sighed softly, taking another sip from her glass. "The anniversary of my parents' murder is Saturday. I kind of expected someone to come out of the woods to ask questions. There was a huge fuss when I joined the force, then made detective. The little orphan who became a cop to revenge her parents….at least that's what they all thought. I look over their case from time to time, but I don't get involved with it. Most likely it's never going to get solved, and I've already come to terms with that, but every once in a while some reporter will get the itch to ask me about it, still wanting to assume that I spend my nights going over their case trying to solve it on my own." She gave a rather unladylike snort, rolling her eyes at the idea. The topic needed to be changed, and Cynthia was the first to switch it back to their case rather than a past that could not be changed.

Glancing over at West's ideas for the profile, Cynthia found a few flaws in his logic that she was quick to make note of. The first was the assumption that the killer was rich. "Rich, possibly, but not necessarily." Nodding to her computer, she leaned forward in her seat, finally nibbling on her food that had already started to go cold. "It's possible they're good at hacking. For people who know what they're doing it's easy to use someone else's card to make purchases. Or they could have access to it at work. However, they need a house, or a warehouse….some place they can keep the victim for more than a few days without them being noticed."

Kevin asked for Cynthia's opinion of the profile, and she glanced thoughtfully at him. Was he really ready to hear what she had? Well, that's what he was here for after all. It wasn't like he had made up the excuse to come over and see her, right?

"Well, the killer is definitely male, most likely Caucasian, ages thirty to forty five and in very good shape. He's intelligent, and educated, possibly with some sort of medical background, but definitely with a background in the legal system." Clicking her tongue, Cynthia pulled up her own file of notes, going over the list for what she had thought on the latest killer. "The killings are revenge motivated, with no sexual undertones at all. Victim demographics show he's an indiscriminate killer, which makes him far more dangerous than most serial killers. He has either knows someone on the inside, or he's keeping a very close watch on the case, which again adds to the idea that he has experience in the legal system. The fasting he submits his victims to is most likely his own psychological torture. A punishment, if you will, although for exactly what I'm not certain yet."

Scrolling over the screen on her laptop, Cynthia continued, barely taking notice of West as she became engrossed in her reading. "I believe that the victims are willingly ingesting the his choice of poison, although I have yet to find any logical reason why anyone would do this. It's possible that he is threatening harm to someone the victims care for if they do not do what he asks of them. Which also leads to the fact that he studies his victims carefully. He already has his list of names, and if we searched his house or office we would find detailed files on each and every one of them, complete with family trees, histories, the works. Because of the time involved, and the amount of time he spends with his victims it would suggest that he is either wealthy, has access to the materials he needs, and is unemployed or retired."

Letting out a sharp breath, Cynthia finally turned her eyes away from the screen to look over at her partner. "Not much detail, but it will at least keep the brass off our asses for the time being. I was hoping I might think of a few things I missed with the time to relax, but clearly relaxation isn't going to be happening for me anytime soon."[/fieldbox]
 
Kevin was grateful for one overriding fact right now. That fact was that Cynthia wasn't behind the wall of a car. She wasn't bombed or hammered but with where her mind was at the moment mixed with the booze it wasn't a pretty picture for her mentally. As she began to talk about the case, their case not her parents, Kevin noticed that Cynthia was starting to come back to herself. It was focusing her and giving her some place to put her energy, and Kevin was clearly starting to get a clearer picture of Cynthia. It was a picture that was on the surface pretty cut and dry. Girl's parents are murdered she decides to become a cop, and tries to solve their murder. Not having a lot of success there she helps others, and in the process alienates everyone with anti-social behavior. That was on the surface, but under the surface there was a lot more there than met the eye. Kevin was somewhat interested in trying to see what else was there.

Kevin said, "Cynthia they didn't give me a lot of background information on you. Just the very basic things. You gotta remember I was brought in very quickly and I was amazed that they gave me what they did. Which wasn't much. I prefer to find things out in time, and let the things present themselves."

Kevin then had a thought and it wasn't a pleasant one. After she finished Kevin nodded and said, "I can't find anything to disagree with you over, but there is one thing that has occurred to me." Kevin got up and this time fixed himself a glass of water. For all the great gifts he inherited from his family a great love of booze was one of them. If he didn't stop now two drinks would quickly become four, and after four it would be him rather inebriated and asking Cynthia if he could crash on her couch. After he fixed his water he said, "I have to know when to say when. Otherwise I won't be driving home tonight, but my thought was…" Kevin let out a sharp exhale and said, "What if we are dealing with more than one person. That what we are dealing with is a tag team. One can watch during the day one watches at night. If they're both from the middle class then they pool their resources financially. One knows the human body one knows the legal system. One knows one set of victims the other knows another." He shrugged his shoulders and said, "Just a theory hopefully our trip to the great outdoors will reveal a little more."

Kevin sat back down and pulled out his phone. He said, "You're my partner and I trust you, so with that in mind. I think you should hear this." With that Kevin played the rant from Miller for her and when it was over Kevin said, "I was guessing he was the leak, and in the end he just might be inspite of his denial. I mean come on what was he supposed to say, 'you got me Kevin.' Yeah right." Kevin looked at Cynthia and said, "If nothing else I got him out of play along with the Feds being called in. So now we are really on our own which also means we probably can't count on Miller helping us if we need help from a higher up, so if we need help I hope you know someone in the Admin side. No way Miller will help us unless I agree to destroy the recording, and this is the one trump card we have over him right now. If you want I'll send you a copy of this."

He got up and began to walk around a bit, and stretched his arms out. Kevin said, "If I was in my loft I would be swinging my baseball bat. It helps me think a little clearer it's one of those things." Kevin began to swing an imaginary bat and then stopped after two swings and asked, "What if our victims had something else in common besides the legal angle?" Kevin looked at Cynthia and said, "With his knowledge of the body what if the bleach and all that is to purify the body in some way? That there was some kind of abnormality or disease or condition that the killer wants to relieve the victim from." Kevin shook his head and said, "That's a stretch to say the least. Forget it Cynthia sorry about that."

Kevin then sat back down and said, "Do I sound like a complete idiot to you? I mean I see your diplomas and I realize that you are brilliant. Me, I know enough to be dangerous and not to shoot myself in the foot when cleaning my gun."
 
[fieldbox= Cynthia, teal] Cynthia looked oddly at West as he went to get a drink of water, the detective lifting a brow in a silent question. Did he really think she would have let him drive home if she thought he had too much to drink? Apparently her reputation for being cold was far more renowned than her history. She took the assumption like she did everything else, letting it slide off her back with little more than a fleeting moment of guilt. "There are bottles in the fridge, or juice if you need some. Help yourself to whatever you want." She hadn't forgotten about West's condition, but she really hadn't thought too much of it either. She was going to have to make a note that if West was going to make a habit of coming to her place, to get some food that he could eat without having to worry about him passing out on her floor.

Back onto the profile, Cynthia chewed thoughtfully on her lower lip, her fingers tapping gently against the edge of the table as she considered West's idea. "I don't know about a partner. This guy likes his control. He controls everything from start to finish with each victim, even controlling how we can identify them. A partner is a stretch….but someone on the inside, not too much." She had the same thought herself, although exactly where on the inside was the problem. "Other than you, me, the captain, the techs on the case and the ME, there's not a lot of people that could give him the full scoop." Cynthia paused, letting her thoughts gather once again before she spoke. "The medical training doesn't have to be extensive. Hell, if you want to go that way, we can consider anyone in the ME's office a suspect. They're on the inside, they have enough medical experience, and they would certainly know what we look for." Cynthia hadn't really given that much thought ntil that moment, but then again, her mind wasn't fully on the case either.

The news about Miller wasn't surprising, although Cynthia had to admit she hadn't realized how much of an ass the guy truly was. She wasn't bothered that he was willing to ruin her career, not when she had her captain to back her up. "Miller's an idiot. I'd rather ask the devil himself for help before I went to that ass. Besides, I don't step on toes. I've never been in trouble with the brass, and I don't plan to start now. Worse comes to worse, the feds will be called in and we'll do all the work while they get all the glory. Either way, the case gets solved and the killer ends up with a nice shiny needle in his arm down the road. Not much of a loss if you ask me." Did Cynthia want the Feds called in? Absolutely not, but it wouldn't be the end of the world if they were. Sure, she wouldn't get to delve a bit deeper into their killers mind, but at least no one else would lose their life.

Listening quietly while West continued, she waited until her began on his bout of self-pity to hop to her feet and stroll out of the room without a word. Sure, it was probably a bit awkward for Kevin, but Cynthia never could handle personal confessions that well, and she was absolutely horrible at pep-talks. She returned a few moments later with a tennis racket which she held out for West. "Not quite a baseball bat, but it's all I have."

Taking back her seat, she shook her head slowly, realizing that wasn't going to be enough to help the guy out. "You're not an idiot, West. If you were, you wouldn't be on the unit. You're from homicide, right? You're used to random acts of violence and crimes that aren't completely thought out. Serial killers aren't like that. It takes a lot to get inside their heads, and what you find there isn't pretty. Even when you think you know what's going on, you'll eventually find out that you're nowhere near the truth." Cynthia couldn't quite explain why it came naturally to her in some cases. Perhaps because of her solitary lifestyle, or maybe she had all the makings of a serial killer herself but simply never had the trigger to set off that part of her psyche. Either way, she wasn't about to call West an idiot because he had an idea that sounded logical.

"The truth is, we'll never know why he does the things he does until we catch him, and even then, only if he decides to share. Some killers love to brag about their work, and others like to make us guess. The only thing they all have in common is that murder for them is an addiction. The first one, the one we have the best chance to catch them on, the one where they make the most mistakes., that's also the one that gives them the most thrill. Each murder after that is simply trying to recapture that feeling again, to get that same high, but they never can. Everything else….that's the parts we have to figure out, what's unique to each and every one of them. It's not hard once you've been at it for a while, and you'll pick it up eventually. For now, just go with your gut and try not to let it get to you when you're wrong about something, because we all are at some point."[/fieldbox]
 
Kevin nodded and said, "Thanks for the offer of the juice right now I'm okay. Having dealt with this since I was 14 I know certain ins and outs on this. In terms of dealing with me and the transfer and having a new partner…" He looked over to Cynthia and said, "Thanks also for being patient with me. I forgot what it's like to be the new kid on the block. You are really a very tolerant person when you could use your intelligence and experience to intimidate someone. I'm grateful for that."

Kevin saw that there was wisdom in what Cynthia was saying about the difference between the killers homicide dealt with and the psychos that MCU dealt with. He said, "When I was in homicide everything was cut and dry. The number of times I dealt with a psychopath in my five years in homicide, you can count on two hands, and not use all ten fingers. Luckily we knew someone who was a great psychiatrist and consulted with us on profiling."

Kevin stared down at the floor for a moment and shook his head slowly as he closed his eyes. He opened them again and said, "She deserved better." Kevin looked at Cynthia and said, "She was the last victim of the North Star Slasher. Her name was Dr.Carrie Ellis she got tricked into thinking we called to meet with her, and she went and…" Kevin let out an exhale and said, "She never saw it coming. After that Miller wanted to bring in the Feds. Larry and weren't gonna let that happen. We two broke an unwritten rules one we made the case personal. Luckily that didn't come back on us, but it could've. Second we went against Miller who already had the Feds on their way. It wasn't anything we were proud of on either count, but we were able to finally figure out the killer's M-O and with that we tracked him down to a warehouse on Grand and Baxter. Bringing him in as Miller was making his grand speech about his connection to the Feds was what was going to be the key to bringing the killer in was priceless." Kevin took a drink of his water and said, "Carrie and I were dating at the time. She was the first woman I went out with after my broken engagement to Kristen. We were very discreet about it Larry didn't even know about it until the case had been closed for six weeks. In fact you're the first person outside of him to know who's associated with the Police Department."

Kevin realized he had just shared something very personal to someone he barely even knew. It was probably a reaction to the booze. A couple of drinks in him and Kevin had a habit of letting his mouth get away with him. In this case Cynthia had shared a part of her life with him this evening even if she didn't mean to. So Kevin figured quid pro quo dictated likewise. It probably wouldn't register too much with her maybe at most a polite nod, but more than likely she was probably fighting the urge to ask, "Why are you telling this?"

Kevin lightly began moving the Tennis racket thru the air as he began to walk around and said, "You're right Miller he is an idiot, but a dangerous one. Dangerous in the sense that he knows how to play the games of politics. I have seen and heard stories of him destroy good cops who he didn't like with records comparable to yours. We're talking 25 years plus Cynthia. He knows how to manipulate the facts to a certain advantage for him. Hell he could make it look like I was involved with 9/11. Not to mention having his Brother in Law being forth in the food chain at City Hall is a nice perk. The recording though…" Kevin shook his head and said, "He can't dodge that. Not even his Brother in Law can save him from that, and if anyone he's ever burned found out about this it would be blood in the water. Miller will be looking for any friend he can…."

Just then another possibility struck Kevin. He looked at Cynthia and said, "First off the Tennis racket not a bad substitute. Secondly friends. What if our victims had one mutual friend? Someone who knows all of them, and they know him but they don't know each other. He knows their stories and their routines and they trust him. Someone who bridges all the economic barriers and ethnic barriers. Like someone who is active in the community."
 
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[fieldbox= Cynthia, teal]Cynthia kept silent, not wanting to point out to West that was the reason why she did not become personally invested with anyone involved in a case. She would have preferred to work solo if she had the choice, but now that was no longer an option, and she could no longer really complain about West. He wasn't hindering her in anyway, and he hadn't needed her to hold his hand yet. Still, there was always a risk with having a partner, especially one close in age and one of the opposite sex. Maybe it was the alcohol doing the thinking for her, but West wasn't exactly an ugly duckling. She doubted that things would ever get unprofessional between them, or she might have. Given the fact that he was sitting at her kitchen table at the moment and it was after hours Cynthia knew she couldn't quite claim that was the full truth. It was definitely unprofessional for them to be having a drink together in her apartment, and it was 100% out of her comfort zone as well.

West's story wasn't as cut and dry as simply becoming friends with someone on the job, and Cynthia could have pointed out exactly where he went wrong; it was the reason why she kept a strictly professional relationship with everyone. If it didn't ruin the job, the person could always be used against her and that was something that she wasn't willing to take a chance on. It was hard enough for her to even consider getting involved with someone, throw in work and it awas impossible for her to even think of it. West was a different type of person though, and Cynthia could not tell him what to do. It wouldn't be a problem as far as she was concerned, but then again she couldn't see the future either.

Listening to west talk about Miller and then suddenly switch topics, the detective could only shrug at his idea. "It's possible that they have more than one connection. We'd need to do a thorough search of their background to see what other connections they might have. Right now though, the only thing we have one thing that ties them all together. I'm not saying that won't change in the future, but it's best to look at that first before we start digging into other possibilities." It was definitely safer to stick with the facts of what they knew now and find other things as they went on than search for the threads that could lead to a dead end.

Laughing quietly, Cynthia actually managed a grin at Kevin's approval of her tennis racket, deciding to divulge a little tidbit of information about herself. "I always preferred tennis. I usually play on the weekends I actually have off. For a while I was in a mentoring program and would often play with some of the kids I worked with. The boys generally found it boring, but the girls usually enjoyed it." How long had it been since she'd mentored anyone? Cynthia couldn't remember how long it had seen since she'd done anything personal at all. Her work was her life, and she rarely, if ever, strayed her attention from it. Which is why her trial of thought went straight back to the case even after speaking of things of a personal nature.

"I think when we come back from investigating the campground we need to start focusing more on our victims' histories. Especially Tyler's. We still have to figure out where in the world the fourth victim is. I know she's connected to Tyler, but I don't know how. She could have been a girlfriend his family didn't know about, or maybe an ex that he was trying to rekindle a relationship with. I know for a fact that she is not a planned victim, and I also know that we're not going to find her in the usual dumb sites. He doesn't want her found. He wants us to know that he killed her, but he doesn't want her to be discovered."

Cynthia couldn't explain exactly why she thought that. She hated relying on gut instincts, but that was exactly why she was assuming that was the truth. The woman he had killed wasn't a part of his master plan, and he was ashamed that he had to resort to killing her, but proud of it as the same time.

"What do you think? I have an idea why he killed her, but why keep her body hidden? He gave us just enough evidence to know that she's dead, but not enough to prove it. Women can live without their uterus if the removal is preformed properly….but you and I both know she's dead. Why do you think he'd keep her hidden?"[/fieldbox]
 
Kevin was, dare he even think it, semi-enjoying the time with Cynthia. A far cry from earlier in the day when he was ready to keep everything in the boxes at his office, and view this as merely a temp assignment. Hearing her talk about mentoring and playing tennis drew a smile from Kevin. He could play tennis, but not really that well and it usually involved him and several beers and college friends. It would start out as a serious game, but in the end it would devolve into a round of Home Run Derby. The winner would be the last person standing, and that was determined by who hadn't passed out drunk. The prize was getting to carry the others off of the court before anyone called the cops on the drunken idiots. Thanks though to his medical condition Kevin's days of getting hammered were long gone.

When Cynthia posed her question Kevin had to stop and think for a moment. He wasn't exactly sure why this was the case, but he had an idea. Kevin got up and fixed another glass of water and said, "Two reasons. As you pointed out, and I agree with you, number four wasn't planned so he needs time to make sure everything is just so. I also think it's because we are making progress. He doesn't want CSI or anyone else screwing up before we get there, and what I mean by that is…" Kevin took a drink and then said, "Tomorrow we're going to get to the camp site. There will be a trail of bread crumbs along the way as it were, and we meaning you and I Cynthia, will be the ones to find the body. It's almost like we've passed some sort of initiation phase and now he is ready to continue playing with us, but now it's going to be on a different level. The uterus for you, the picture of me with the slash, the call this evening for you the slashing of the tires on my Harley. It's starting to go to a new more personal level Cynthia. We are crossing into a dangerously personal area with this guy, and though it will be a while before we actually see him or have direct contact with him it's going to soon start focusing in on us. Along the way though there will be other casualties of this game he is playing with us That would be my guess."

Kevin took another drink and said, "Look Cynthia. I go from one theory to another like switching channels, and that's from my years in Homicide. Down there we are, for lack of a better term, assembly line cops. Meaning we get a case and we go to it by getting just enough to get a warrant, an indictment, and then an arrest and we gotta do it fast. Not saying it's the best way to conduct an investigation, but it is what it is. Our back log down there is staggering. If we worked 24-7-365 by the middle of the next decade we might be caught up." Kevin took another drink and said, "Here at MCU we got time to be more thorough to build more on case theory and not worry about back log or the killer who is lawyering up to take our case apart with a technicality or a horrid plea deal."

He finished his water and said, "I agree also that our fourth victim is connected to Tyler as well. As close as he was to his brother I tend think he was having an affair with another woman. Out of town, meeting in the middle of nowhere, it doesn't add up to a love affair that everyone would've approved of on some levels. I also agree that we should stay right now on the common thread of the legal cases. That seems to be our strongest thread, and if we play our cards right it might lead us into seeing other threads along the way." Kevin smirked a bit and said, "It's what we call being a detective we detect these things. Amazing how that works. Captain Webb would be so proud of my making a connection like that."

Then one more thought hit Kevin as he said, "Speaking of connections. You mentioned court orders I think you should know something. I am very good friends with Judge Rankin downtown. He and I attend Mass together, serve on a couple of committees at St. Matthew's, and we usually try to play a round of golf a couple times a month. I've called him at 3AM more than a few times to get a warrant or a court order signed off. So if you want those taken care of now one phone call is all that'll take."

Kevin looked at watch and said, "Oh wow. We gotta be up in about 4 hours." Kevin shook his head slowly and said, "What if you pack a bag. We swing by my place and we go on to the Keys now? Face it a good night's rest right now is shot, and I can make the drive now with no traffic on the road. We get there we check into a room each one at their lodge get a bit of rest and go from there. Going over that scene is gonna take a couple of days if we are going to be thorough about it. " He shrugged his shoulders and said, "Unless you got a better idea. Which of course I will listen to."
 
[fieldbox= Cynthia, teal]Cynthia didn't want to agree with West about the killed wanting them to be the ones to discover the body, but she didn't like the logic behind it. He was aiming for them directly now, rubbing his kill in their faces and daring them to track him down. Cynthia didn't want to think about what that meant for her or West, but she already knew the truth. They were no longer anonymous faces investigating his crimes. In their own way they were targets. He would be stalking them the same way he did his victims, only it would not end with him attempting to kill them; at least not for a while. Someone was going to end up getting hurt though; anyone that the killer thought was close to them that would cause a shift in their demeanor during the investigation. The killer was going to try to make it personal, and with West it was much more likely than it was with her.

"You're not too far off the mark, Kevin." Cynthia pointed out, trying to convince her partner not to get discouraged. "Yes, this is different than homicide in a lot of ways. Most of the crimes you dealt with there are spur of the moment, crimes of passion types." She doubted West had ever had to deal with analyzing each and every single aspect of a crime, from the time of day it was committed, down to what the true motivation was behind it. In homicide that was easy to figure out, nearly everything opportunistic, but with serial killers, every minute detail was planned out, and they needed to pick about each one to figure out what was going on in the killer's mind in hopes of stopping him before he could strike again.

"We don't have a choice on being thorough. The crimes committed aren't simple. They're not cut and dry. Serial killers, they enjoy what they do. This isn't an impulse to kill someone that they simply follow through. They want to stretch out the body count for as long as they can. The longer it takes them to get caught, the longer they can do what they like best. We're also not dealing with cut and dry trials either. There is a lot of evidence that the jury needs to hear about and try to process. The more we can find, the clearer the picture becomes. A jury isn't going to be able to comprehend how someone can go off killing another person the way some of these serial killers do, which is why most trials rely heavily on evidence and the motive that we give them. The killers themselves, they rarely share the reason why they do what they do. They are only worried about people knowing that they committed the crime, and the details of the crime. The whys….well, those are what they don't want known."

Cynthia had lost complete track of time, realizing at the last minute that it was now almost Friday and not Thursday as she had thought. She frowned at the realization, trying to figure out exactly when she had missed a day, only to remember that she had spent nearly twenty four hours on the job and her lost day was found. "That's alright, I'll call up the D.A and have them send over a copy of the warrant to the campground tomorrow. I think the guy I talked to was one of those guys who like to throw their weight around." With only a few hours until they were supposed to leave, Cynthia couldn't argue with West's logic and after quickly dumping what was left of her dinner into the trash and dropping her plate into the sink, she headed off to her room to pack up some clothes for the voyage out into the wilderness. While she was in her room she changed into a pair of jeans and a tee-shirt, which was far less casual than the shorts and tanktop she'd been wearing.

"Just so you know, I need to be back on Sunday." She returned into the kitchen, gathering up her laptop and phone to add to what she had already packed. "I have plans with some friends." She had already told West about her parents' death, but wasn't quite ready to reveal that she still kept in touch with the detective that had worked their case, and she certainly wasn't ready to share her yearly tradition. Everyone on the unit knew that it was the only day of the year she requested off, but they didn't know why, and she preferred it that way.

"I didn't realize I wasn't the only night owl." West didn't look tired at all, and she certainly wasn't. She spent most of her nights awake lately, although that really wasn't anything new. She normally suffered from insomnia whenever she was on a case, but this time around it was much worse than usual. "I can book us some rooms on the road if you want. I think you're right that we'll be there for a few days. Although I have a feeling that everything is going to be pretty clean either way. We'll find more evidence from Tyler than we will the killer." This wasn't the first time she'd gone on the road to search for clues, but it was the first time she had someone else coming along with her. West was becoming a regular factor in her life, and she wasn't entirely sure how to feel about that.[/fieldbox]
 
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Kevin stood up and put his glass in the sink as Cynthia went to change. Kevin took advantage of the moment and called Angela.

She answered, "Yeah? Do you have any idea what time it is?"

Kevin replied, "Yeah and I know you're coming in from going out."

Kevin could almost hear the smile in her voice when she said, "Hey there Miami Vice. What's up?"

Kevin replied, "I'm working a case and I'm gonna be out of town for a couple of days. Can you…"

Angela interrupted and said, "Roxy's in good hands. Go make the streets safe for us Kev. I'll stop by in the morning and let your girl out. We got her Kev she'll be fine besides Tina loves her."

Kevin replied, "Thanks talk to you on Sunday Angela."

Kevin hung up before Cynthia came back in the room. Kevin had to admit that Cynthia rocked the jeans and t-shirt very nicely. He said, "Yeah being a night owl dates back to my days working the grave yard at Campus Security. Okay like I said we'll swing by my place and we'll get going. We'll be there and out in less than 20 minutes. In terms of booking the rooms go ahead that's fine with me I trust you." Kevin had a sense of what Sunday meant to Cynthia and said, "I'll have you back here no later than 12:01 am Sunday morning I promise."

Once they left Cynthia's apartment they made it over to Kevin's loft. As they approached the Kevin saw that Jack had already taken it inside. He looked at where it was usually parked and just shook his head for a moment. Kevin said, "The guy damaged my ride Cynthia. Between two guys that's personal." He looked over at her and said, "I know sound real petty right now, but it's a family connection each family member, including my Father, who's been dead since I was 7 (Kevin crossed himself) may he Rest In Peace, helped make that bike possible." Kevin shook his head and said, "Okay enough of that. Come on in although stay behind me for a moment. Roxanne needs to know you're with me."

Kevin led the way up the stairs to a sizable door. He unlocked it and as he slid it Kevin heard the familiar growl of Roxanne. He knew he had about three seconds to say the command or risk getting mauled. Kevin quickly said, "Buttermilk, Mitten, Sword." The growl subsided and Roxanne a trained attack German Shepherd trotted out as peaceful as a lamb. Kevin cut on the lights and led the way into his loft which looked like a typical loft with a large living area/dining/kitchen area, with a back deck, and a hallway leading to the rest of the loft. There was some sports memorabilia, a workout area, and of course Kevin's autograph picture of him and Bruce Springsteen. Kevin said, "Come on in" as he slid close the door and Roxanne looked at Cynthia for a moment. Not looking for a weak spot or anything but just studying her. Kevin knelt next to Roxanne and gave her a gentle scratch as he said, "Hey girl. This is Cynthia she's my new partner. She's a good person it's okay." Roxanne walked over to Cynthia and sat next to her. Kevin said, "Cynthia this is Roxanne my best friend had her since I became a Detective." He stood up and said, "Those three words I said when we came in are the trigger words. They would never be said together so no chance of accidentally saying them by chance. Anyway they told her I was with someone and it was okay. Otherwise we both would be mauled in less than thirty seconds. There are other words for other commands, but that's for another time." Kevin looked over at Cynthia and said, "Take a look around and talk to Roxy she's actually a good listener."

Kevin walked down the hall and went into his room. He grabbed a duffle bag, threw in jeans, t-shirts, something to sleep in, toiletries, a phone charger, and an electronic tablet. He slipped into a side pouch his side arm and a few clips. With what had gone on this evening Kevin wasn't going to get caught unprepared, and he hoped Cynthia remembered hers. If she didn't Kevin had a 38-special in the car. Within a matter of minutes Kevin was walking back out and down the hall.

He knelt next to Roxanne and said, "Okay Roxy you be good for daddy." Kevin scratched behind her ears and said, "Peanut Butter, Santa, Potato." Roxanne licked him and Kevin stood back up. He said, "I just told her my neighbor and her girlfriend would be taking care of Roxy while we're gone. She'll let them in with no problem her licking me tells me she understood. If it's not someone she recognizes well they won't live long enough to regret it" Kevin picked up what was left of a bone and tossed it on the couch. Roxanne looked at Kevin for a moment and Kevin just nodded once. Roxanne leaped onto the couch and began chewing on the bone. Kevin smiled as he blew her a kiss and then backed out cutting off the lights.

Once they were back into the Durango Kevin said, "Okay in terms of the radio. I usually go for Springsteen on Sirus-XM, but you can pick what you want. As long as it ain't rap or hillbilly jam time you can have control of the radio if you want. Or once you get our rooms you can z-out in which case I'll do Springsteen, but I won't sing along" Kevin smiled when he mentioned he wouldn't sing along.

With that they were on their way.
 
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