Cavanaugh's Missing Person Read online

  Where the hell did he get off spouting all that at her? Did her brothers say anything to him? But how could they? She’d never said a single word to her brothers or anyone in the family about the way Billy had behaved or why she had dumped him. There was no way Brannigan could have known.

  “Trust me, not opening your mouth is not your failing, Brannigan,” she informed him. “Now, you might not have anything better to do than stand out here in the hot sun, flapping your gums, but I do.”

  And with that, Kenzie neatly turned on her heel and marched away from him and toward the rear steps of the police station.

  She hurried up the steps quickly, intent on getting away from Brannigan as fast as she could. She needed to cool off before she slipped up and said something to confirm his assumption.

  Hunter let Kenzie keep several feet ahead of him. It was really more prudent that way.

  When he walked into the building a couple of minutes after Kenzie had, he wound up running into Murdoch, one of Kenzie’s older brothers. He nodded a greeting at the detective and the other man crossed over to him.

  Murdoch obviously had something on his mind. “I hear your cold case just heated up and you’re working with my sister,” the homicide detective said.

  The whole incident was less than a few hours old. There was a time not that long ago when Hunter would have been surprised that news about a potential “new” case could travel so fast.

  But he had learned that there was an inside private line of communication within the departments, especially when it came to all matters concerning any of the Cavanaughs. It was almost as if at least some of them—if not all—were blessed with telepathy.

  Hunter laughed at Murdoch’s suggestion. “Not if she has anything to say about it,” he told his friend.

  “That cold case is yours, right? The guy without the head and hands,” Murdoch specified just for the record as they walked over to the elevator bank.

  “Right. That was my first case when I came into the Cold Case Division. I’ve managed to clear some of the other ones since then, but that one,” Hunter told his friend, “it just kept going nowhere.”

  “Well, I heard that the case Kenzie just caught today looks as if it might be connected to your cold case,” Murdoch repeated. “Both victims lost their heads.”

  Hunter shook his head, softly laughing to himself. “You Cavanaughs are just amazing, you know that? Somebody not knowing any better would say that you all seem to operate on the same mental wavelength.”

  Murdoch grinned. “Hey, who says that we don’t?” he laughed. “Seriously, though, if Kenzie’s case is somehow connected to yours, this could be the first big break you’ve had with it in a long while. I know how territorial she can be at times. Whatever you do, don’t let her chase you away.”

  “Oh, I have no intentions of letting her do that,” Hunter assured the other detective. Belatedly, he pressed for the elevator. “I just plan on backing off for a minute or so to allow her to cool off and regroup. After that, I plan to go at this case again, this time full speed ahead. If there is a connection, I’m going to use it to my advantage. It’s time this cold case was finally put to bed.”

  Murdoch nodded his approval. “Good for you. Kenzie’s a good detective, one of the best, but she needs to know that she can’t just boss people around whenever she wants to. You have every right to the information about this case as she does.”

  Hunter had to laugh at the simple statement. He bet that Kenzie didn’t see it that way.

  The elevator car arrived and he got on. Murdoch remained where he was, so Hunter put his hand up to keep the doors from closing just yet.

  “You want to tell her that?” he asked Murdoch.

  “Me? You kidding? Not on your life. Becoming a lion tamer might be easier. As a matter of fact,” Murdoch said, “I’m damn sure of it. Good luck, though,” he said to Hunter as the elevator door closed.

  Hunter took the elevator up to his floor. He wanted to stop by his squad room long enough to let Valdez know what he was going to be doing for the next few days—or possibly longer.

  As he got off the elevator, Hunter felt a rush of adrenaline, the way he always did whenever he felt he was closing in on a case. In his estimation, there was nothing else like it.

  “We caught a break, Valdez,” he told his partner as the latter was enjoying his third cup of inky-black, lukewarm coffee.

  Valdez looked up. “You mean that lead that Wilson was going on about actually panned out? That head that those kids found in Aurora Park belongs to your cold case?”

  “No, but it looks like the killer might be the same guy who beheaded my guy. I think we’re finally going to be getting some answers,” Hunter told Valdez, trying his best not to sound too excited. “Looks like I’m going to be working with Kenzie Cavanaugh in Missing Persons for a week.”

  Valdez looked at him a bit doubtfully. “Does she know that?”

  “Well, if she doesn’t, she’s about to find out now,” Hunter said to his partner with an air of finality that left no room for doubt.

  It was a known fact that Kenzie didn’t welcome merging with other departments unless it was her idea. This didn’t sound like it was that.

  Valdez studied his partner for a long moment before finally asking, “Where would you like me to send your remains?”

  Hunter suddenly found himself in the unique position of having to defend the very woman he knew would have been more than happy to see his head served on a platter.

  “She’s not all that bad,” he told Valdez, doing his best to sound as if he believed what he was saying.

  “Oh really? Well, I hear she’s a spitfire,” Valdez said, calling after his partner as Hunter walked out again. “Just don’t say I didn’t warn you. It’s your funeral, Brannigan.”

  “Good thing my life insurance is paid up,” Hunter shot back at his partner.

  He left the squad room grinning with anticipation.

  Chapter 6

  Because he had heard stories from her brothers, as well as other family members on the force, about just how stubborn Kenzie could be, Hunter knew he was going to need significant backup if he wanted to be able to convince her that they needed to work together on this.

  Appealing his case to her direct superior—or his—wasn’t going to work. Neither one of their divisions focused on working homicides, but if the case one of them was working on turned out to be the result of a homicide, that could definitely add weight to the argument.

  Hunter wasn’t all that well acquainted with the lieutenant who headed cold cases. Lieutenant Wade Kilpatrick was a distant man whose main intent was getting promoted as quickly as possible. Hunter also had a strong feeling that whoever was in charge of the Missing Persons Division would be more inclined to listen to Kenzie than to him. And right now, he had a really strong gut feeling that Kenzie felt that there was no advantage in their joining forces—especially since he did. The woman was perverse that way.

  What he needed to do was to present his case to a neutral third party, one who carried weight. Everyone, including him, felt that Brian Cavanaugh, the long-standing chief of detectives, was neutral, impartial and exceedingly fair. So when the elevator Brannigan was on stopped on Kenzie’s floor, he changed his mind about his destination. He stayed in the elevator car and pressed the down button for the third floor, the floor that currently housed Brian Cavanaugh’s office.

  Arriving on the floor, he got out.

  Proper procedure would have required that Hunter call to make an appointment, and under normal circumstances he would have. But he had an uneasy feeling that time was of the essence here, and the sooner he and Kenzie and whoever else they could get assigned to the task force got this investigation under way, the better their chances of finding the heinous killer out there.

  “Is the chief in?” Hunter asked the attractive police li
eutenant who sat at the desk that was just outside the chief of detectives’ office.

  Lieutenant Diane Bellamy looked up from her keyboard and the memo that she was inputting into the system. “Yes, he is, but he’s—”

  “This’ll only take a minute,” Hunter said, walking past the woman’s desk.

  Or three, Hunter added silently.

  Knocking once on the closed door, he turned the doorknob and walked into the chief of detectives’ brightly lit office.

  The chief was not alone.

  Lieutenant Bellamy popped up right behind Hunter. “I’m sorry, sir, he got by me,” she apologized.

  “It’s not your fault, Lieutenant. Brannigan was born sneaky and pushy,” Kenzie told the woman. She looked at Hunter. She didn’t seem surprised to see him. “You actually took longer coming here than I thought you would.”

  “That’s all right, Bellamy,” Brian told the lieutenant kindly. “I’ll take it from here.” Turning his attention toward Hunter, he nodded toward the remaining empty chair that was facing his desk. “Sit down, Detective Brannigan. Detective Cavanaugh was just telling me about the possible odd connection and the coincidences between your two cases.”

  “She was?” Hunter asked. He was admittedly a little stunned that Kenzie had taken the lead on this and brought it to the chief’s attention. He’d assumed that if anything, she would have attempted to keep him from getting the chief involved in this.

  “I had a feeling you’d pull something like this, so I decided to beat you to the punch,” Kenzie told him, as if reading the man’s mind. She shifted back to face her uncle. “I thought I’d give the chief the details and then let him make up his mind whether he wanted us to work together on this or not.”

  “Detective Cavanaugh was thorough,” Brian told Hunter, “but I’m open to anything you have to say from your point of view.”

  Since he didn’t know what Kenzie had said to the chief—and added to that, she was related to the man—Hunter proceeded with caution and felt his way around.

  “There isn’t much to say, sir. My case is about six, seven years old and none of the leads that the Cold Case Division felt they had have wound up panning out. But the victim had the same sort of surgical cuts on his neck and his hands that were found on Detective Cavanaugh’s missing person,” he told Brian.

  “So I take it that you believe the same person is responsible for killing both,” Brian said, looking from one to the other for confirmation.

  “He didn’t just kill our two victims, sir. The cadaver dog we brought to the scene found several more headless torsos in that same field. Yesterday’s torrential rain unearthed them,” Hunter added for good measure.

  “I’m aware that it rained yesterday, Detective, and that the city experienced some flash flooding as a result. Am I to understand that, besides the one head and those two hands that were found, the rest of the body parts that washed up turned out to be exclusively torsos?” the chief asked.

  “That’s right, sir,” Hunter answered before Kenzie could.

  “Why do you think that is?” Brian asked the two people facing him.

  Again, Hunter spoke up before Kenzie had the chance to render speculation. “Maybe he panicked, got confused between where he buried the bodies and where he disposed of the heads and hands. That had to be the guy’s system, otherwise why would he go through all the trouble of sawing off those particular body parts?”

  “I’ll tell you why. Because he’s a sick man,” Kenzie interjected.

  Brian nodded in agreement. “Well, that goes without saying,” he said. “At least the sick part.”

  Kenzie stared in disbelief at the man she held in the highest esteem. Was he saying what she thought he was saying?

  “Do you think that this could be the work of a woman, Chief?” she asked Brian uncertainly.

  “After you’ve been at this job for as long as I have, you realize that nothing is exactly what it looks like and that anything might be possible.” With that, he gave them his ruling. “I think you’re right. There might very well be a connection between the cases. We’ll know more after the medical examiner examines the body parts that were discovered in Aurora Park, but I trust your instincts.” The comment was made to both the detectives sitting before him. “So I’m pretty sure that Dr. Rayburn will find that the cuts were made using the same kind of instrument. I want the two of you to put a task force together. Start with two, three other people. Add more if you need them. Since we apparently have the identity of the last victim,” he said, looking at Kenzie, “start there.

  “Maybe if you find his killer, you’ll find the killer. And keep me apprised of your progress.”

  The chief’s tone indicated that the meeting was officially over. He noticed that while Hunter was on his feet, Kenzie was still seated and she was hesitating about something.

  “Is there anything else, Detective Cavanaugh?” Brian asked.

  Kenzie avoided looking in Brannigan’s direction. Instead, she nodded in response to Brian’s question. “There’s just one thing, sir.”

  Brian inclined his head. “Go ahead.”

  “Who’s in charge of the task force?” she asked.

  Brian smiled as his eyes swept over Kenzie’s clenched hands as she leaned against the desk. He knew that she wouldn’t welcome having Brannigan in charge even though his case was the older one. But putting her in charge might lead to a communication problem. He was well aware that she could be headstrong and not the easiest person to work with. However, he also knew that didn’t detract from her abilities as a detective.

  This was going to be challenging.

  “Well, tell you what. Since you came across those bodies together, and technically neither department handles homicides as a rule unless homicide is a direct result of one of your cases, I’m going to make this a joint task force.”

  “Joint?” Kenzie questioned, saying the single word as if it pained her.

  “That means you’re both in charge—and need to check with one another before charging ahead. Is that understood?” he asked, looking pointedly at Kenzie and then at Hunter.

  “Understood, sir,” Hunter said.

  They both looked at Kenzie, who exhaled a loud sigh as she got to her feet. “Understood, sir,” she replied formally.

  “Good, then we’re clear. Now, go find this damn SOB before he—or she—finds another victim to carve up.”

  “Yes, sir,” Kenzie replied.

  “Yes, sir,” Hunter echoed.

  Turning on her heel, Kenzie walked out of the office with Hunter following closely behind her.

  “I’m surprised you went to your uncle about our working together,” Hunter said, still following behind Kenzie.

  She was striding ahead of him but had to come to a stop at the elevator.

  “Like I said, I had a feeling you were going to see if you could get Uncle Brian on your side and I wasn’t sure just what agenda you’d be pushing, so I wanted to present my findings first.” She pushed the button for the elevator.

  “With the idea that we’d be working together?” he questioned, surprised that she would actually be willing to do that.

  “Just because I find you to be an egotistical peacock doesn’t mean I wouldn’t work with you if I needed to,” she informed him. “Hell, I’d work with the devil himself if it’d help me find this killer.”

  Hunter laughed softly under his breath. “I’m not sure if I should be insulted or flattered,” he told Kenzie.

  “Just be useful and we’ll call it even,” Kenzie answered. The elevator arrived and they got on, then she hit the button for her floor. “We’ll work in my squad room,” she told Hunter. “And before you say anything, it’s because your division has a squad room that’s the size of a tiny walk-in pantry.”

  “It’s bigger than that,” Hunter felt obligated to protest.
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  Kenzie frowned at him. “All right, it’s bigger than a walk-in pantry—but not by much.”

  Hunter really couldn’t argue with that, not in all honesty at any rate. “The chief said we each get a person to start out with.”

  “No, what he said,” Kenzie corrected, “was that we get two people for the task force and we can get more if we find we need them.”

  “Well, it’s only fair if I get someone from my division and you get one from yours,” Hunter told her pointedly.

  Getting out of the elevator on her floor, Kenzie frowned at the simplistic way he put that. “This isn’t a game of war, Brannigan.”

  He followed her out. “Isn’t it?” he asked, looking at her with barely suppressed amusement.

  She was acutely aware that they were gathering attention from the people who were walking by them. “All right. In the interest of not standing out here in the hallway arguing, fine, you get your partner and I’ll bring mine aboard—unless you want someone special from your division,” she said. Turning around, she walked down the hallway toward her squad room.

  “Nope, my partner will be fine,” Hunter answered. “We work well together.”

  She took that to mean only one thing. That his partner was a carbon copy of Brannigan. “Great, that’s all I need. Two playboys to deal with,” she murmured under her breath. One of whom, she thought, was much too handsome for her own good.

  He debated letting her labor under that assumption but decided that it wouldn’t be fair to his partner. So he set her straight.

  “You’ll be happy to know that Jason Valdez is married and he has a kid on the way. He’s the complete antithesis of me.”

  She looked at him doubtfully, then decided that he was telling the truth. “Then there’s hope for the man. Good to know.”