1st Shock by Misty Evans & Adrienne Giordano

Author:Misty Evans & Adrienne Giordano [Evans, Misty & Giordano, Adrienne]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781942504337
Publisher: ALG Publishing
Published: 2019-09-26T18:30:00+00:00

15

Meg

"Devante Bales."

I pause while reading the file Charlie handed me before I walked out of our office and hopped into Matt's Mustang. It's a beautiful morning and on the other side of the roadway the spring sunshine glistens off dewy trees. After this road trip, I might need some time outside, in the woods not far from our office. It's impossible to be sad in the woods. At least I think so. There's something about the earthy smells and fresh air that clears my mind. I suppose that's why I enjoy sitting by the Silver Tail. But there's no time for that today so this will have to do.

"Devante Bales?" Matt muses. "Never heard of him. What's his story?"

I look back at Charlie's insanely organized and typed notes. Me? I'd do it by hand and have comments in all the margins.

"He's a PhD student at American University. Twenty-four years old. Father is a doctor, mother a college professor."

"How do we know this?"

I eye Matt with my foolish-boy look. By now, he's worked with us long enough to know my sister has amazing contacts. Hackers, FBI and CIA agents, judges. You name it, Charlie knows someone in the field. She's built a career on her connections and knows exactly how to leverage them.

Chances are the information we have on Devante Bales is courtesy of Teeg, hacker extraordinaire, at the Justice Team.

"Right," Matt says. "PhD? What subject?"

I check my notes again. "Justice, Law & Criminology. School of Public Affairs."

Being a former cop, one with a bachelor’s in Criminal Justice, Matt understands the lure of studying criminal behavior.

"So, he's in a grad program in D.C.. Let's assume he wants to be a federal agent."

"Or a lawmaker."

"Politics?" Matt mulls that over for a few seconds, rolling his bottom lip out before offering a solid nod. "Yeah. I'll buy that."

"If we find him, we can ask. Along with why he visited Mickey Wilson right before us the other day."

I flip to the driver's license photo of Devante, a clean-cut bi-racial man with round glasses that give him a studious look. His hazel eyes, more green than brown, capture my attention. This kid's face belongs on a magazine cover. It might be The Economist versus GQ, but this was a fine looking man.

And, God knew, plenty of serial killers had been handsome. Gorgeous even. Those looks helped lure innocent women to places they had no business going.

At best, Devante is studying serial killers.

At worst, he is a serial killer.

A copycat gleaning information from Mickey, who excels at every characteristic of the most loathsome humans.

"Let's hope he's doing research," Matt says, apparently reading my mind.

We spend the rest of the ride in silence and I close my eyes. There's no headrest in the vintage car, but I do my best to slouch and tip my head back. I need to meditate for a few minutes and get my mind right. In general, I’m not built for investigative work. It drains my energy. But I can't look at Emily every day and do nothing when this case might have something to do with her.

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