“And guess what?I think he may be my father.”
Her father?
I press the heels of my hands against my eyebrows to stop the headache I feel building.
“I think you need to slow down and tell me from the beginning,” I calmly suggest.“Let’s sit down in my office.”
I grab her hand and we walk to the station, where I rush Bess through the lobby and into my office, closing the door behind us.
Then she gives me the whole story from the beginning, handing me a white envelope at the end.
“He told me to give this to you and not open it, but I’ve been dying to know what’s inside.”
I’m pretty curious myself, and use my finger to rip open the envelope.Inside I find what looks like a Polaroid picture and a plain sheet of paper.
I pull out the paper first and read the single line written on it in black ink.
To kill a two-headed snake both heads have to roll.
Then I start removingthe Polaroid from the envelope, but as soon as I get a glimpse of the gruesome picture, I quickly shove it back inside.
“What is it?”
“A picture you don’t want to see.Stay here, I have to get this to Rick Althof.”
I snag the sheet of paper off my desk and press a kiss to the crown of Bess’s head.
“I’ll be right back.”
Althof is at his desk in the bullpen, and when I catch his eye, he immediately gets to his feet.I lead him into the conference room and close the door behind him.In a few sentences I get him up to speed before handing him the envelope.
First, he pulls a pair of latex gloves from his jacket pocket, before taking the envelope.Then he spreads open the piece of paper and extracts the Polaroid, laying them both down on the table in front of him as he hisses between his teeth.
The image shows a man, lying on his back with several bullet wounds in his body.He’s obviously dead, because his head was removed and placed on a blackened tire jack by the man’s elbow.
“I’m willing to bet that’s Mike Lee,” Rick observes.
“I think so too,” I agree, before adding.“And I’m pretty sure I know where that is.”
“Yes, so do I.”
“But,” I continue, “I have Bess in my office, wondering what the hell was in that envelope, and I don’t want her exposed to any of this.Not until we know for sure.She’s been through enough.”
He nods, grabs what will be filed as evidence off the table, and walks out of the room ahead of me.When he walks into the bullpen, I hear him call out orders.
“Androtti, Brenner, and Torres.You’re with me.”
Tessa Androtti is the first on her feet.
“Where are we going?”
“Downtown.To Main Street Mechanics, and put the coroner on standby.”
Chapter30
Hugo
“Nothing?”
