anything in particular in mind?" she asked.
"As a matter of fact, I was researching this torture method perfected by the Romans. They would strap a person to a dead body, face-to-face, until the decay from the dead body started rotting the live person."
"Ugh," Cat gasped. "Where do you come up with these things?"
"Would you talk under those circumstances?"
"Of course."
The source paused, another part of the game. "Okay, I'll take my chances."
"I'm listening." Catherine wedged the phone against her ear, freeing her hands to type.
"This is not for publication, but we have a note."
"I thought the chief said there was no ransom note."
"There isn't. That's the problem." The source paused again, and Catherine heard the seriousness in his tone. Fun and games were over. "We believe the kidnapper has killed the children."
Catherine glanced at the photos and felt her chest tighten. "Based on what?"
"I can't say. There are things we have to withhold for strategic reasons."
Cat hated these games, but she kept her tone even. She could not afford to alienate her source. "What can you say, then?"
"This kidnapping is not an isolated event. We believe it's related to another kidnapping that took place in northern Virginia about two months ago. The powers that be don't want a widespread panic, but I can't justify withholding this from the public. If I had little kids, I'd want to know."
"Does that mean I can publish the link?"
"As long as you don't identify me."
Cat sucked in a breath as her fingers flew across the keyboard. Serial kidnappings! "How do you know this?" she asked.
"I can't say."
"But you've got to give me something . If I can't corroborate this, my editors will never let me run it."
The source paused to give the impression he was thinking this through. Catherine waited him out. She knew he had already anticipated this concern.
"The kidnapped baby in Washington, D.C., was Rayshad Milburn, a three-month-old baby taken in a parking garage from his mother, Sherita Johnson. The father is a twice-convicted felon named Clarence Milburn who beat a rape and murder charge several months ago based on an invalid warrantless search. The cops thought they had exigent circumstances, but the judge disagreed."
Cat typed furiously while processing this new piece of the puzzle. "Was he represented by the Carvers?"
"No. But the MOs for the crimes were very similar. In both cases, a victim was immobilized and then injected with the same type of powerful sedative. There are other connections, but that's all I can say for now."
"What other connections? What else can you give me?"
"We never had this phone call," her source said. "Not unless you get tied to that rotting corpse."
"I understand," Catherine said.
Without another word, her source hung up the phone.
10
The next day, Catherine scored another front-page article, trumpeting the news that the Carver kidnapping was not a stand-alone crime. Predictable panic spread among mothers of infants, matched only by the consternation in the Virginia Beach Commonwealth's Attorneys' office. The Carver investigation had sprung a leak! Determined to plug it, the chief deputy commonwealth's attorney subpoenaed Catherine to a grand jury hearing to ask about her source. When Catherine refused to reveal her source, he scowled and threatened to have a circuit court judge hold her in contempt. When Catherine scowled back, he set up a hearing for late afternoon in the Virginia Beach Circuit Court.
At a few minutes after 4:00, Catherine took her place in the witness box and swore to tell the truth. She crossed one leg over the other and then switched them back, trying to get comfortable.
"Please state your name and place of employment," said Boyd Gates, chief deputy attorney. He was a former Navy SEAL and the top prosecutor at the Beach, doing the heavy lifting in court while his boss, Commonwealth's Attorney Anthony Brower, gave political speeches and media interviews about being tough on
"As a matter of fact, I was researching this torture method perfected by the Romans. They would strap a person to a dead body, face-to-face, until the decay from the dead body started rotting the live person."
"Ugh," Cat gasped. "Where do you come up with these things?"
"Would you talk under those circumstances?"
"Of course."
The source paused, another part of the game. "Okay, I'll take my chances."
"I'm listening." Catherine wedged the phone against her ear, freeing her hands to type.
"This is not for publication, but we have a note."
"I thought the chief said there was no ransom note."
"There isn't. That's the problem." The source paused again, and Catherine heard the seriousness in his tone. Fun and games were over. "We believe the kidnapper has killed the children."
Catherine glanced at the photos and felt her chest tighten. "Based on what?"
"I can't say. There are things we have to withhold for strategic reasons."
Cat hated these games, but she kept her tone even. She could not afford to alienate her source. "What can you say, then?"
"This kidnapping is not an isolated event. We believe it's related to another kidnapping that took place in northern Virginia about two months ago. The powers that be don't want a widespread panic, but I can't justify withholding this from the public. If I had little kids, I'd want to know."
"Does that mean I can publish the link?"
"As long as you don't identify me."
Cat sucked in a breath as her fingers flew across the keyboard. Serial kidnappings! "How do you know this?" she asked.
"I can't say."
"But you've got to give me something . If I can't corroborate this, my editors will never let me run it."
The source paused to give the impression he was thinking this through. Catherine waited him out. She knew he had already anticipated this concern.
"The kidnapped baby in Washington, D.C., was Rayshad Milburn, a three-month-old baby taken in a parking garage from his mother, Sherita Johnson. The father is a twice-convicted felon named Clarence Milburn who beat a rape and murder charge several months ago based on an invalid warrantless search. The cops thought they had exigent circumstances, but the judge disagreed."
Cat typed furiously while processing this new piece of the puzzle. "Was he represented by the Carvers?"
"No. But the MOs for the crimes were very similar. In both cases, a victim was immobilized and then injected with the same type of powerful sedative. There are other connections, but that's all I can say for now."
"What other connections? What else can you give me?"
"We never had this phone call," her source said. "Not unless you get tied to that rotting corpse."
"I understand," Catherine said.
Without another word, her source hung up the phone.
10
The next day, Catherine scored another front-page article, trumpeting the news that the Carver kidnapping was not a stand-alone crime. Predictable panic spread among mothers of infants, matched only by the consternation in the Virginia Beach Commonwealth's Attorneys' office. The Carver investigation had sprung a leak! Determined to plug it, the chief deputy commonwealth's attorney subpoenaed Catherine to a grand jury hearing to ask about her source. When Catherine refused to reveal her source, he scowled and threatened to have a circuit court judge hold her in contempt. When Catherine scowled back, he set up a hearing for late afternoon in the Virginia Beach Circuit Court.
At a few minutes after 4:00, Catherine took her place in the witness box and swore to tell the truth. She crossed one leg over the other and then switched them back, trying to get comfortable.
"Please state your name and place of employment," said Boyd Gates, chief deputy attorney. He was a former Navy SEAL and the top prosecutor at the Beach, doing the heavy lifting in court while his boss, Commonwealth's Attorney Anthony Brower, gave political speeches and media interviews about being tough on
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