Before He Lapses. Блейк Пирс

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СКАЧАТЬ they had gotten on their plane to start the honeymoon but, given their careers, had not allowed themselves to kill the phones completely. To occupy herself while Ellington came down from the glacier, she pulled the phone out and checked it.

      When she saw McGrath’s name on the display, her heart dropped. She’d been on an emotional high these last few days. Seeing his name made her believe that it was going to come to a pretty quick end.

      “This is Agent White,” she said. She then thought: Damn…missed my first chance to refer to myself as Agent Ellington.

      “It’s McGrath. How’s Iceland?”

      “It’s nice,” she said. And then, not caring that she was being a little too vulnerable with him, corrected herself. “It’s amazing. Really beautiful.”

      “Well, then, you’re going to hate me for calling, I’m sure.”

      He then told her why he was calling, and he was right. When she ended the call, she was quite upset with him.

      Her hunch had been correct. Just like that, their honeymoon was over.

      CHAPTER FOUR

      The transition had been easy enough. The hurrying and rushing for their flight and then having to catch a red-eye back to DC made the magic of their honeymoon slowly dissolve back into the boundaries of real life. Mackenzie was quite pleased to feel some of that magic still existing between them, primarily in realizing that even here, back in the States and surrounded by their jobs, they were still married. Iceland had been magical, sure, but it had not been the only thing bonding them over those few days.

      What she had not been expecting was just how prominent her wedding ring felt on her finger as she and Ellington walked into McGrath’s office just fourteen hours after he had interrupted their honeymoon. She was not so naïve as to feel like it made her a new person, but she did see it as a sign that she had changed—that she was capable of growing. And if that was true in her personal life, then why not her professional life?

      Maybe it will start once you tell your superior that you’re currently fifteen weeks pregnant, she thought.

      With that thought lodged in her head, she also realized that the case they had been called in for would likely be the last one before she had to come clean about her pregnancy—though the thought of trying to track down murderers with a baby belly did make her grin.

      “I appreciate you two coming in early on this,” McGrath said. “And I also want to congratulate you on your marriage. Of course, I don’t like the idea of a married couple working together. But I want this one wrapped up very quickly, as there could be the potential for mass panic on a college campus if we don’t get it wrapped very soon. And you two undeniably work well together, so here we are.”

      Ellington looked over at her and smiled at the last comment. Mackenzie was nearly disarmed at how strongly she felt for him. It was a beautiful thing but also made her a bit uncomfortable as well.

      “The latest victim is a sophomore at Queen Nash University in Baltimore. Christine Lynch. She was killed in her kitchen very late at night. Her shirt had been removed and was found on the floor. She was very obviously strangled. From what I understand, there were no prints on her neck, indicating the killer was wearing gloves.”

      “So the murder was premeditated and not situational,” Mackenzie said.

      McGrath nodded and slid over three photos of the crime scene. Christine Lynch was a very pretty blonde and in the pictures, her face was turned to the right. She was wearing makeup and, as McGrath had said, her shirt had been removed. She had a small tattoo on her shoulder. A sparrow, Mackenzie thought. The sparrow seemed to be looking up toward the area where the bruising around her neck started; the bruising on her neck was obvious even in the photos.

      “The first,” McGrath said, opening up another folder, “was a twenty-one-year-old named Jo Haley. Also a Queen Nash student. She was found in her bedroom, in bed and completely naked. The body had been there for at least three days before her mother called to report suspicious activity. There were signs of strangulation but not quite as vicious as what we see on Christine Lynch. CSI found evidence of sexual activity just prior to her death, including an empty condom wrapper.”

      He slid the crime scene photos over to them. There were more pictures of Jo Haley, primarily the bruising around her neck from where someone had apparently strangled her. She, like Christine Lynch, was fairly attractive. She was also very thin, almost to the point of being waifish.

      “So the only real lead we have is that two pretty girls from Queen Nash have been killed, probably during or just prior to sex?” Mackenzie asked.

      “Yes,” McGrath said. “Given the coroner’s estimated time of death for Jo Haley, they were killed no more than five days apart.”

      “Do we have estimated times of the night they were killed?” Mackenzie asked.

      “No. Nothing concrete, but we do know that Christine Lynch had been seen at her boyfriend’s apartment up until about one in the morning on Wednesday. Her body was discovered by her boyfriend the following day when he went to her apartment.”

      Ellington studied the last of the pictures and slid them back to McGrath. “Sir, with all due respect, I’m a married man now. I can’t just go approaching pretty young women on college campuses anymore.”

      McGrath rolled his eyes and looked at Mackenzie. “I wish you the best of luck with this,” he said, nodding toward Ellington. “In all seriousness…I want this wrapped as soon as possible. Winter break is over next week and I don’t want panic on campus as all of these students are returning from home.”

      As if swapping personalities at the flip of a switch, Ellington became all business. “I’ll grab the case files and we’ll get started right away.”

      “Thank you. And seriously…enjoy this case together. I don’t think it’s a good idea for you two to be working together now that you’re married. Consider this case my wedding gift to the two of you.”

      “Really, sir,” Mackenzie said, unable to help herself, “I would have much preferred a coffee maker.”

      She could barely believe it when the flicker of a smile spread across McGrath’s lips. He bit it back right away as Mackenzie and Ellington headed out of his office with their first case as husband and wife and, subsequently, their final case as a team.

      CHAPTER FIVE

      Per Mackenzie’s usual approach, they began with the scene of the most recent crime. It was the equivalent to looking over a warm body—the warm body much more prone to giving up clues or indications more so than a body that had been cold for a while. On the drive up to Maryland, Mackenzie had essentially read the case files out loud while Ellington drove.

      When they arrived at Christine’s apartment in Baltimore, they were met by a deputy from the local police department. He was an older gentleman, probably on his last year or two with the force and given clean-up on cases like this one.

      “Good to meet you,” he said, shaking their hands with the kind of good cheer that made him almost obnoxious. “Deputy Wheeler. I’ve been sort of overseeing this one.”

      “Agents White and Ellington,” Mackenzie said, again realizing she still wasn’t quite sure how to address herself. It was not something she and Ellington had discussed yet, although their marriage certificate did refer to her СКАЧАТЬ