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The following , as Veck walked into HQ, his nu like a h to pull off

He was an hour late, because he and Reilly had engaged in acts that, had he had any more condoiven that they&039;d been completely surrounded by no amount of latex, ent doas better than the best sex he&039;d had with anyone else - by about five thousand reens and stocked up on the way into work

As he strode through the lobby, he nodded to people, keeping it professional even though his inner sixteen-year-old had its swagger on like he&039;d won the Super Bowl, the World Series, and the Stanley Cup all in one night

When he got to the top of the stairs, he prayed like hell that Britnae didn&039;ton his Reilly, and it was ti on to hiuys, orked intake, was at her desk Veck didn&039;t know the officer all that well, but he was looking different soh Jackman on, in spite of the fact that on the surface he hadit up

Which proved that as inside hat counted - and who knew a girl like that would figure it out?

Down in Homicide, he sat at his desk and fired up his computer And then struck by a romantic notion that was as unfaot Reilly out of his contacts, and got ready to send her so

Lot of space to fill Looooot of space

In the end, he typed only a feords And he hit send fast, before someone looked over his shoulder

Afterward, he just sat there and stared at his screen, wondering if he&039;d done the right thinguntil he realized he was looking at his in-box, and the report on Sissy Barten was already in froht oil to do the autopsy

Veck read through it all and looked at each one of the twenty or so photographs of the body There was nothing in any of them that he hadn&039;t seen for hiot to the last shot of the ritualistic er on his mouse

If Kroner didn&039;t kill her, who did?

"Mail call"

Veck glanced up at the ad cart of envelopes and boxes "Thanks, man"

Three pieces Two interdepartmental One US mailthat happened to have a cancellation stamp from Connecticut Return address? The federal corrections institution he had avoided for the past ten years

Looking at the envelope, he felt like he&039;d gotten shrinkwrapped in broken glass

His first iht be inside made that impossible - and didn&039;t that make him hate the mental power his father had always had over hih

Why Jim Heron&039;s voice was in his head as he tore open the flap was nothing he was going to waste energy on

Inside was a sheet of paper with three lines handwritten in an elegant, flowing script that was e of wealth that his father had sported than the guy&039;s roots in the Midwest

Dear Thomas: I hope this finds you well I wish for you to co s to be said, son Call the below Love, Your Father

"Are you okay?"

Veck glanced up Reilly was standing next to hi from her shoulder, her hair smooth and freshly shaht before, he would have yeah-fine&039;d her andInstead, he just held the letter up to her

She sat down in her chair as she read it, and he watched her eyes go left to right, left to right, left to right Then she went back to the top and read it over again

"What are you going to do," she asked when she finally looked up

"It&039;s mental suicide to see him" Veck rubbed his eyes to clear the i suicide"

"Then don&039;t do it," she said "You don&039;t need whatever he&039;s going to say to stick in your head for the rest of your life"

"Yeah"

The trouble was, his father wasn&039;t the only one with so man and walk away, but he felt the need to look into those eyes one last ti in common in there After all, he&039;d felt crazy all these years, covering up ht wondering whether it was paranoia or valid perception

This could be the last chance to find out

"Veck?" she said

"Sorry"

"Are you going to go down?"

"I don&039;t know" And that was the truth Because she did have a point "Hey, ahthe report on Sissy Barten came in You need to take a look at it"

"Okay" Doith the purse Off with the coat "Anything surprising?"

"Everything is surprising about that case" Veck glanced over "And I want to go to talk to Kroner"

She et the clearance"

"I wasn&039;t planning on asking for it"

Reilly cursed to herself This was not how she&039;d planned for the o After Veck had left her house, she&039;d enjoyed a long shower, shaved everything she had to run a razor over, and gone bag-ping into her new Victoria&039;s Secret collection

The black-and-red bra-and-panty set she had on rele lick, suck, and stroke they&039;d shared - and put her in mind for more of the sa in here, acting professional, and so her hand to him about as under her clothes

Instead, she&039;d walked into aat her partner, she shook her head "Going off half-cocked is not the answer And if you intend to follow through with this, you&039;ve put me in a hell of a position"

"Sissy Barten is what&039;s important Not bureaucratic rules And I&039;ve been cleared froht at the motel - remember? You were the one who did it" He sat forward "Kroner didn&039;t kill her, and you know it Serial killers do not vary their styles - they get sloppy sometimes, or stop in the uy who has been taking trophies off his victi sy them out What I need to find out is why that man knehat he did about the quarry and why the hell her earring is in the things fro in all this"

She couldn&039;t argue with him on any of that It was his method that was the problem "Someone else could ask him those questions"