Suki wore a dark blue suit with a skirt that stopped just above the knee.A crisp, white dress shirt, with the top two buttons undone, and three-inch, navy heels completed the outfit.Since the doctor spent most of her time in an office formulating profiles and not actually out chasing down criminals, she could get away with the high heels.But since she was also an agent, he knew beneath her jacket was a holstered weapon.She wore a gold chain around her neck, a simple wristwatch, and a minimal amount of makeup.Suki didn’t need to accessorize much to turn heads.Her jet-black hair was pulled up into a professional bun, but Sean knew when she let it down, it would fall to the middle of her back.
As he opened the door to let her into the back hallway, her face lit up when she saw him.“Hey, stud muffin, how’s that rhythm thing going?”
Sean grimaced.“Um, do me a favor, will you?My brother’s working with us, so if you could cool it with the ‘stud muffin’ remarks, I’d really appreciate it.”
“No problem.I know what it’s like to be teased by older brothers.”As they walked side-by-side down the hallway, she became serious and professional—as expected.“Has anything changed in the case since yesterday?”
He sighed heavily.“Yeah, we found three more victims in Philadelphia from last summer.The lead agent is sending the file down tonight—said she knows you… Karen Winslow?”
“Oh, yes, I know her well.She can be a little gruff at times, but she’s an excellent agent.”
“Well, anyway, now we have six vics, and we’re still spinning our wheels.I’m hoping between you and Winslow, you can at least point us in some sort of direction.”
“I’ll do my best.”
Sean opened the door to the conference room and let Suki walk in first, carrying her well-worn, brown leather briefcase.The four detectives, who only seconds ago were in the middle of a conversation, suddenly went quiet as the petite woman entered the room and strode confidently to the head of the table.“Good afternoon, gentlemen.”
There was a split second of hesitation before the men stood, almost as one, and returned her greeting.Sean made the introductions, indicating each person with a flash of his hand.“Suki, this is our lead detective, Brad Lynch, Rafe Montoya of the SBI, and my brother, Brian, also with the state police.Guys, this is Dr.Suki Ralston, FBI agent and profiler extraordinaire.”
Suki shook hands with each man, seemingly oblivious to their teenage reactions to her natural beauty.When not working, she was a fun woman to be around, but when duty called, she was nothing but professional.
She reached over to pull out a chair, but a nearly-drooling Rafe, who’d been standing nearby, beat her to it, gesturing for her to sit.She smiled at him as she sat down.“Okay, gentlemen, please have a seat and tell me about this case from the start.Sean gave me the basics yesterday, but I’d like to hear everything from the top, including any theories you might have.”
She opened her briefcase and pulled out a pen and a fresh, yellow legal-sized pad.Over the next hour, as each member of the task force spoke, Suki took copious amounts of notes, filling at least fifteen pages.She’d taken a shorthand class as an easy elective in high school and could write almost as fast as the men could talk—a talent that helped tremendously in her career.
When they finally finished filling her in, Sean added, “I also made you a copy of everything we have.I figured you’d be up late going through it all.”
He handed her a heavy folder filled with a thick stack of papers, which she dropped next to her pad of notes.She lifted the top cover and scanned the first few pages.“Is there anything in here about the Philadelphia cases?”
“Winslow emailed me some stuff.It’s in there.She’s overnighting the rest, including an initial profile.”
Suki glanced at Sean with raised eyebrows.“Who did the profile?”
He shrugged his shoulders.“Don’t know, didn’t ask.She wanted you at the time, but you weren’t available.”
She returned her attention to the file.“What about the autopsy reports and photos of your three vics, are they in here too?”
Rafe handed her three more manila files.“Here they are, Dr.Ralston.You should have the reports included with everything Sean gave you, but here are the autopsy and crime scene photos.”He grimaced and added apologetically, “I’m sure you’ve seen a lot of nasty stuff working for the feds, but these are more than just a little disturbing.You can hold onto them if needed—the official ones are on a CD.”
“Thank you, Detective, but as you know, ‘disturbing’ comes with the job.”
“I hear you.And feel free to call me Rafe.We’re pretty informal around here.”
Suki smiled warmly.“Thanks, Rafe.And everyone, please call me Suki.My dad’s an internist, and every time I hear Dr.Ralston, I look around to see where he is.”
Her gaze met each one of the members of the task force in succession.“Thank you all for the update.I’ll spend the next few hours reviewing the files and should have a preliminary profile for you in the morning or noon at the latest.”
Brian and Rafe stood and said their goodbyes for the day, although the latter seemed reluctant to do so.The guy hadn’t been able to take his gaze off Suki.But they needed to check in with their own supervisor.Even though they were on the serial killer task force, they still had other cases they were working on.Until the team had some more information or a lead or two, there wasn’t much else the two investigators could do at the sheriff’s department.
Brian gave his brother a fist bump and a wink before walking out the door.
After they left, Suki began perusing the files as Lynch entered updates to existing reports on the department computer.Sean opened his laptop and signed on.Once he was in the right database, he expanded the parameters for a new search in the FBI system and hit send.
While the program was doing its thing, he strolled down the hall to the break room and put money in the soda machine.He grabbed two Cokes for Brad and himself and a duet Coke for Suki, which was her usual.Sean often joked with his uncle that caffeine and sugar were the “breakfast, lunch, and dinner of champions” for almost anyone in law enforcement—they kept you going while doing the boring grunt work.
Lynch had told them earlier that it was his wife’s birthday, and he wanted to leave on time to take her out for dinner.Around five-thirty, he finished up, said goodbye, and headed out the door, leaving the two FBI agents alone in the room.
Suki stood and gracefully stretched her neck and back.“Speaking of dinner, you owe me, and I’m getting hungry.”
