Kill for Me Read Online Free PDF Page B

jaw tightened. “Thank you, Agent Papadopoulos, but I don’t need the pep talk.”
    “You’re thinking I don’t understand,” he said mildly even though he wanted to snarl.
    “I’m sure you think you do. You mean well, but—”
    Dammit, he didn’t think he did. He did . The lid on his temper rattled. “Four days ago I found three kids dead,” he interrupted, the words out of his mouth before he knew he planned to say them. “Nine, ten, and twelve. I was less than a day too late.”
    She drew a deep breath and let it out quietly. Her body seemed to settle. Her fury seemed to rise. “How did they die?” she asked, her voice ominously quiet.
    “Shot in the head.” And he could still see their small faces every time he closed his eyes. “But before they were murdered, they’d been molested in front of a Webcam. For years ,” he spat. “For money . For perverts all over the world to see.”
    “Bastards.” Her voice trembled. “That must have been horrible for you.”
    “More horrible for them,” he muttered and she made a small sound of agreement.
    “I guess I’m supposed to say you’re not to blame. Obviously you think you are.”
    His hands gripped the wheel so hard his knuckles ached. “Obviously.”
    A few moments passed, then she said, “So you’re one of those.”
    He could feel her studying him and it made him feel unsettled. “One of what?”
    “One of those guys who works Internet sex crimes against kids. I’ve worked with a few, through the DA’s office. I don’t know how you guys do it.”
    His jaw tightened. “Some days, I don’t do it.”
    “But most days, you do what you have to do. And a little more of you dies each day.”
    She’d articulated the state of his life very well. “Yeah.” His voice was rough, unsteady. “Something like that.”
    “Then you’re one of the good guys. And you’re not to blame.”
    He cleared his throat. “Thanks.”
    From the corner of his eye he saw she still watched him. Some of the color had returned to her face and he knew he’d given her something else to think about. He didn’t want to talk about this, wished he hadn’t mentioned it, but it was distracting her from her shock and to accomplish that, he’d talk about anything she wanted.
    “I’m confused,” she said. “I thought you and Daniel were Homicide, not Internet.”
    “Daniel’s Homicide. I’m not. I’ve been on the Internet task force for over a year.”
    “That’s a long time to have to live with such filth. I know guys who’ve worked Vice for ten years that didn’t last a month on the child porn task forces.”
    “Like you said, we do what we have to do. I’m not normally Daniel’s partner. This is a special assignment. After Tuesday, when I found the kids, I asked for a temporary reassignment. Daniel was chasing this guy that’s been killing Dutton women and everywhere he turned he kept running into Simon. Simon was everywhere in this case. This killer wanted us to find Simon’s club. Simon’s pictures. Simon’s key.”
    “The key to the empty safe-deposit box where you thought you’d find the pictures.”
    He’d told her that much on the way out to the Vartanian house. “Yeah. This killer ties keys to the toes of his victims, so we knew the key was important. The Philly detective found a safe-deposit box key among Simon’s things, but when Daniel took it to the bank today, the box was empty. If the pictures had ever been stored there, somebody took them.” He looked over at her. “But you knew where to find Simon’s stash.”
    “I didn’t know about the box. I only knew Simon had a hiding place.”
    Because she’d had a similar hidey-hole behind her own bedroom closet, he thought bitterly. Simon had left her there, drugged unconscious, after his friends had assaulted her. He couldn’t even imagine waking up in that dark little space, afraid, in pain. That she hated the house had been apparent. That she hated this town was also apparent,