“Have you identified and sealed off the locations where each of these victims were most likely taken?”

Griffin smiled sourly. “Hard as it may be for you to believe, we do possess some rudimentary law-enforcement skills.”

Griffin’s polite facade was beginning to slip and his antagonism to show through. It had lasted longer than she had thought it would. Screw it. Her own control was frayed and ready to break. “So that’s a yes?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. What I would like to do is visit the medical examiner, followed by visits to each of the suspected abduction or murder scenes.”

“We can arrange that,” Griffin said. “The only question is which one of us will accompany you?”

Lynch tapped his chest. “That would be me.”

Griffin’s brows rose. “Really? I was told in no uncertain terms that you were too busy to participate in our investigation. Once you convinced Dr. Michaels to join us, you were supposed to be on a plane to Washington.”

“One of the nice things about working for myself is that I’m the one who decides what I’m supposed to do. For the time being, I’ll be working this case with Kendra.” He paused. “In case she needs a sledgehammer.”

“What?”

“Long story.”

*   *   *

KENDRA SMILED AS SHE AND LYNCH buckled themselves into his Ferrari and roared out of the parking garage. “Your bosses in D.C. aren’t going to be happy about this.”

“First of all, they aren’t my bosses. They’re associates.”

“Associates who hire you, authorize payment, and for whom you perform work at their direction. That sounds a lot like a boss to me.”

“Kind of like Griffin is your boss right now.”

“You’re absolutely right. Chalk this up as reason one thousand and six why I hate doing this. But at least I reserve the right to walk away at any time, a right I’ve exercised on more than one occasion.”

“So have I. Another thing we have in common.” Lynch put on his sunglasses as he sped onto the I-8 freeway. “If it eases your mind … Although my working this case may infuriate one ‘boss,’ it will make another ecstatically happy.”

“Good. And I’m sure your swimsuit model will be happy. Maybe I’ll even get to meet her.”

“Alas, she’ll be on the island of Majorca for the next week. She’s on a photo shoot.”

“That’s convenient. Ashley is sounding more and more like a nonexistent Canadian girlfriend fabricated by the nerdy guy in high school.”

Lynch half smiled. “We had one of those guys in my school.”

“Of course you did. It was you.”

“No.”

“So you say. In any case, there’s one of those guys in every school.” In spite of their banter, she had no doubt that Lynch’s Ashley was real and probably jumping into his bed at every opportunity. He was not only sexy but had that aura of power that was nearly irresistible.

He shrugged. “I guess you’re right. Speaking of the lovelorn, I think young agent Metcalf was crushed that he wasn’t the one joining you on this case.”

“Really? I didn’t get that.”

“Then you’re not as observant as I thought.”

“Well, I’m sure our paths will cross. I was impressed with how much work he and Reade have already done. They probably know as much about my old cases as I do.” Kendra pulled the USB memory stick from her pocket. “Griffin says this also includes the case files of the latest victims. Is your tablet handy?”

“Under the seat. Go ahead and transfer the contents of that stick into it. You said you want to start by visiting with the likely abduction points?”

“Actually … First, I’d like to go somewhere else. Let’s go to Kearny Mesa.”

“As you command.” He stepped on the accelerator. “Why don’t you lean back and close your eyes? You need to relax. Griffin put you through the wringer back there.”

“Yes.” She looked out the window. “And I don’t think he even knew he was doing it.”

“I’m not so sure.” His lips tightened. “You’ve hurt his pride on occasion, and Griffin usually tries to get his revenge.”

“Is that why I was sensing your protectiveness raising its head? I don’t need it, Lynch.”

“Of course not, you’re one tough cookie.” He smiled. “But I need to throw my jacket on mud puddles for you every now and then. It’s my basic DNA.”

“Save it for Ashley.”

“It’s not the same. Protectiveness isn’t even on the radar with her.”

No, it would be sex and nothing but the sex.

Maybe.

“Go ahead, close your eyes,” he coaxed.

His voice was deep and velvet smooth, and his smile was lighting his face and softening the hardness. Charisma and manipulation, but maybe there was something more complicated beneath it. At any rate, she didn’t mind accepting being soothed and comforted just now. She felt raw and hurting, and the faces of those victims were still there before her. She had been grateful to feel Lynch beside her in that room filled with horrible memories.

She might even be grateful now that he was demanding nothing from her but that she let him exert that protectiveness he claimed was his DNA.

Not that she would ever admit it to him.

“I am tired.” She closed her eyes. “Wake me when we get there.”

San Diego County

Medical Examiner’s Office

Kearny Mesa

THE MEDICAL EXAMINER’S OFFICE, like the FBI field office, was a seven-day-a-week operation, but both places were obviously operating with slim Sunday skeleton crews. Kendra and Lynch had to wait two full minutes until their door buzzer was finally answered by an assistant, who escorted them upstairs to the labs. Five minutes after that, Dr. Christian Ross appeared, wearing his green scrubs. Ross was a bearded, chunky man in his sixties. Kendra had always thought he was one of the best medical examiners in the business, thorough and methodical. He also possessed the rare ability to adjust his medical explanations to the medical/scientific knowledge of whomever he was speaking with.

He grinned as he recognized them. “Ah, Kendra Michaels and Adam Lynch. Be warned, I’m a bit bleary at the moment. I’ve been working sixteen hours straight. This case of yours has taken on a new urgency in the last day or so.” He gestured for them to join him in the hallway. “I would invite you up to my office, but the place is a damned mess. What can I do for you?”

“We won’t keep you long,” Kendra said. “I just wanted to ask you a couple of questions about Gary Decker and Corrine Harvey. More specifically, their clothing.”

The doctor looked at her in surprise. “Their clothing?”

Kendra nodded. “They were the victims in the BMW, Doctor. Did you get any indication that they may have been put into those clothes after they were killed?”

Lynch was gazing at her thoughtfully but said nothing.

Dr. Ross paused for a long moment. “What makes you think that?”

“Yes or no?”

He finally nodded. “Yes, as a matter of fact. But I didn’t think anyone outside of this office knew it yet. I was planning to include it in an amended report later this morning. Is there a leak in this office I need to be concerned about? Because if there is—”

“There’s no leak.”

“Then how—”

“You first. How did you arrive at your conclusion?”

Dr. Ross shrugged. “It wasn’t difficult. The murderer made sure we wouldn’t miss his handiwork. The assistant who prepped the body for autopsy noticed it right away, but the information didn’t reach me until hours later.”

“What information?”

“The male victim’s shirt was too small. So the back was split and pinned to the coat for presentation. It’s an old mortician’s trick. Funeral homes are often given clothing for the public viewing that has actually become too small. So they split the back open to give it room. The killer wasn’t taking chances on our powers of observation. He made sure there was no way this could be mistaken for anything else.”

“Like the accident scene as a whole,” Lynch said. “None of this was ultimately meant to fool anyone. This was all for your benefit, Kendra.”