Unholy Shepherd by Robert Christian (rooftoppers txt) 📕

He’d never really thought of it before, but he realized how little he actually knew Dr. Winherst. “She’s not much older than I am. How can that be?”

“True, she’s not much older than you, but she’s had a longer career than you’d think. You don’t think you’re the only investigative mind to return to their hometown, do you?” he paused to let the new information sink in. “Stacey has always had a brilliant mind when it comes to crime scene investigation. She was one of the youngest CIs in St. Louis and was key in several murder cases that I myself was the lead investigator on. She helped me get several federal convictions. But she got emotional on one particular case about five years ago. It was a double murder of a young single mother and her daughter. They were beaten to death in their apartment on the east side of St. Louis. The prime suspect was the woman’s estranged boyfriend. He had priors for drugs and battery, as well as a shaky alibi, but the evidence against him wasn’t solid. The new DA was looking to establish his own credibility, so Stacey was able to convince him that she could prove the case against the boyfriend on the stand. The trial didn’t go well. The boyfriend had backing from friends and could afford one of the better defense attorneys in the city. Once he had Stacey in cross-examination, he played her like a fiddle, got her to burst out in court, and was able to get much of her testimony thrown out. He managed to turn what was allowed into the record into nothing more than wild and vindictive speculation in the minds of the jury. The boyfriend was acquitted, and Stacey was asked to leave her job soon after.”

“So, your point is she learned her lesson and became the iceberg she is?”

“I mean that once you learn a little more about a person’s past, you can better understand their present.”

“Do you think he did it?”

“What’s that?”

“The boyfriend. Do you think he killed the woman and her daughter?”

“Most likely,” said Agent Layton, his voice even and measured. “Fortunately, he wasn’t that smart, and the trial made him believe he was untouchable.” He turned to look at Manny again and smirked. “He tried to move eight hundred kilos of cocaine and seven dozen crates of illegal weaponry through St. Louis a year later. Last fall, I got him sent away for thirty-five years after some of his friends rolled on him for reduced sentences. In hindsight, I should really thank Stacey for putting him on my radar. He turned out to be the missing piece in a ring that I was trying to bust.”

The two men had reached the burn pile. Manny followed behind Agent Layton as they circled around the exterior of the yellow police tape. He was waiting for the agent to lift the tape and let the two of them in, but he never did. Layton simply made a circuit around the outside, as if soaking up all the available information with his feet, and ended up in front of two men from the County Coroner’s Office keeping vigil over a gurney with a black body bag on top of it.

“Gentlemen,” Agent Layton greeted the men with a nod, which they returned silently as they moved apart a few paces to allow the agent and Manny room to stand by the body. Agent Layton slowly unzipped the bag to reveal the charred bones of the child. Manny felt himself shake his head sorrowfully as he took in the sight. He knew he must try and keep his emotions in check, but it was difficult while staring into the vacant eyeholes of a skull that hours ago would have stood atop a living, breathing boy with his whole life ahead of him. Someone had taken it upon themselves to gruesomely end that life, just like Jacob Lowes, and that thought filled him with a rage that could have burned a pile of wood ten times the size of the one they were standing by.

Manny turned his head toward the agent. Layton was staring down into the bag as well. He wondered if the older man felt the same as he did at that moment. He wondered, if he did, how he hid it so well. Or had the years he’d invested in this career simply numbed him to a sight like this?

“Let’s load him up,” Layton said quietly, zipping up the bag and glancing at the other two men who looked as though they were soldiers at attention in the presence of their commanding officer. Manny could understand the sentiment. Layton did command that sort of respect.

The men stepped in and began to wheel the gurney up toward the road. Its wheels bumped along the ground so the going was slowed in order to prevent the body from falling off. Manny walked alongside Layton a few steps behind.

“We gotta find this guy,” Manny said as they went. It was a silly and obvious thing to say, but he was uncomfortable walking beside the agent in silence. He felt like a puppy nipping at the heels of its owner and was beginning to believe that Layton saw him in much the same way.

“Guy?” said the agent, turning his head. “What about Ms. Allen? Do you think suddenly that she’s no longer of any interest to us?”

“I, uh, well no, that’s not it,” Manny stammered, taken off guard. He’d forgotten about Maureen for a moment, and now he realized he wasn’t sure at all anymore how she fit into all of this.

“Well, I’m actually thinking we should let her go.”

“Really? Can I ask why?”

“I want to see what she does when she thinks she’s free. I haven’t made up my mind about her yet, but I do feel like this is one move that we can safely make.”

Manny simply nodded and looked up the hill. They were nearly to the