Indelible by Laurie Buchanan (best young adult book series TXT) 📕

Dr. Timm’s face shifts from no-nonsense, to a smile. Turning to Emma, he says, “Congratulations. I’ll give you ten more minutes, and then visiting hours are over. You need your rest.” And with that, he leaves the room.

After agent Rafferty tells Emma what he needs to know, he turns on his recorder.

Emma begins. She tells them that Jason bragged to her that she was going to be his eleventh “disposal”—kill. “He said it didn’t matter that he was telling me, because I’d be dead, and the information would die with me.” She lifts a hand up to her throat.

Mick holds a glass of water with a straw to her lips, and she drinks.

“Thank you,” Emma says. “He named ten women that he killed, but I can only remember one. Rose Gonzales. He said that I was going to be number eleven. I asked him what I had to do with any of it. He said that I was bait.” Turning to Mick, she continues, “He said that he was fishing for Sean McPherson.” Emma’s eyes pool.

“I asked what Mick had to do with any of it. He told me that five years ago, he and his brother orchestrated a heist involving over ten million dollars in heroin. It was in the San Francisco Police Department evidence lockup. But he said that wasn’t a problem because they had someone on the inside helping them—a dirty cop. He winked at me and told me to ‘stay wary, for treachery walks among you.’”

The three men exchange questioning glances.

After another sip of water, Emma continues. “Jason said the only thing they had to do was empty the station house. He said, ‘Police are predictable creatures. When an officer falls, they rally. Every one of them.’ All they had to do was kill a police officer. He said, ‘Any cop would do.’”

Emma closes her eyes for a moment. “He said they used a diversionary tactic to draw a squad car to a bridge. And that’s when he got the driver in his sights and squeezed the trigger.” She covers her eyes with her hand and continues. He said, ‘“Boom! Sam was out of the game.’”

Emma takes her hand down and sees the three men looking at each other, stunned.

“I told Jason that I didn’t understand why he wanted to kill Mick, that Mick’s off the force and he got his drugs. He said that’s where I was wrong. He said, ‘I didn’t get the drugs. My brother was one of three people who got caught. He’s the one who stashed the drugs. He’s the only person who knows their location.’”

After taking another sip of water, Emma says, “I asked him why his brother wouldn’t tell him where the drugs are. Jason said, ‘Dead men tell no tales. My brother was killed in jail before he could tell me. So, I’m out ten million bucks, and McPherson’s going to pay.’”

Emma feels like she might shatter and blow away. She covers her face with both hands. Her shoulders are shaking. The men can barely hear what she says.

“Jason said, ‘It would be too easy, too quick, to just kill Mick. I’m going to make him suffer first. He’s going to watch as I slit your throat. That way, he’ll die twice.’ I was in the dark, listening for a footstep. But my heart was beating so loud in my ears, I wasn’t sure if I could hear an elephant approaching. I was afraid that Jason was going to shoot Mick the moment he stepped into the mouth of the cave.”

After a quick rap on the door, Dr. Timms steps into the room. “Your ten minutes is up. Ms. Benton needs her rest.”

“Thank you, doctor,” Rafferty says. “We got what we need.”

Bingham, Rafferty, and McPherson follow Dr. Timms to the door. “I’ll catch up with you guys in just a minute,” Mick says. “I want to say goodbye to Emma.”

Rafferty chuckles and shakes his head.

Bingham winks encouragingly and smiles like a fool.

Dr. Timms’ face puckers as he warns, “A minute.”

When Mick turns around, Emma’s eyes are closed, her eyelashes resting gently on pale cheeks. Exhausted, she’s fallen asleep.

In the waiting room, elbows on knees leaning toward each other, voices low, the men debrief.

Sean Raferty says, “I spend my days hunting people who couldn’t care less, who have little or no empathy, to whom conscience is a foreign entity.”

“The fact that Hughes, or Berndt—or whatever the hell his name was—left DNA on his victims, makes me wonder if he wanted to get caught,” Joe says.

“I don’t think it was carelessness or lack of control. I think it was intentional—like he was marking his territory,” Mick says. “He acted like he was invincible.”

Rafferty agrees. “Most serial killers are arrogant, sure of themselves. They enjoy every hoop law enforcement jumps through in order to catch them. In their own minds they are invincible. They view themselves as the master of their victims’ fate.”

Joe thinks back to the department’s mandatory course he took. “When I took the department’s class taught by a forensic psychologist, she said, ‘Serial killers are likely intelligent, of at least average IQ, charming, possibly married, outwardly optimistic, manipulative, and will appear to function very well within the boundaries of society.’”

Mick laces his fingers together. “That’s what I’m afraid of,” he says. “We can’t tell who they are. Berndt told Emma, ‘Stay wary, for treachery walks among you.’ What do you think he meant? Do you think there’s a dirty cop involved?”

Mick sits in his Jeep in the hospital parking lot. So much—so very much—is going through his mind. He thinks about agent Rafferty. He’s a good listener, and the way he respectfully considers everyone else’s ideas takes the sting out of his occasional pushbacks.

His window’s rolled down, and he takes a deep breath. He looks up. I swear the light is different. Crisper. It seems bluer, and the edges of everything