Field of Graves(33)

“This is Dr. John Baldwin, late of the BSU in grand ol’ Quantico. He’ll be joining us as a consultant to work the murders of Shelby Kincaid and Jordan Blake. Let’s make him some room, get him briefed, and let him look over the files. Cool with you, Doctor?”

He shot her a look she couldn’t quite define but didn’t take as kindly. He took a deep breath and half smiled. “Please, everyone calls me Baldwin.”

“Baldwin, then. Let’s get you acquainted with the rest of the team. Lincoln Ross, our resident computer geek. AFIS, ViCAP, CODIS, any database you want, he’s your man.” Lincoln nodded graciously.

“Pete Fitzgerald, forensics. He only answers to Fitz, isn’t that right?”

“You got it. Welcome aboard.” He stuck out a hand, smiled genially, but Taylor could see him coolly appraising their newest member.

“Marcus Wade, our rookie. He’s only been with the team for a few months—he’s still getting his feet wet.”

Marcus smiled hugely. He was a good-looking kid, innocence and sensuality rolled into one. He could probably get information out of people no one else could. Charm and good looks could be disarming.

“I’m wet behind the ears, too. It’s nice to meet you.”

Baldwin felt odd being the center of attention. It had been a long time since so many people were staring at him as if he held the Rosetta stone in his hands. “It’s good to meet you all. I promise not to be in the way.”

Marcus suddenly lit up like a streetlamp at dusk. “Wait a sec. Are you the Dr. John Baldwin? The atypical sexual sadism guru? You worked the case in Virginia last year, the child killer who kidnapped and murdered six little girls, right?”

Taylor noticed Baldwin’s briefly pained look. Her curiosity piqued; whatever happened to drive him away from Quantico must have been pretty bad. The profilers up there were tough as nails; they saw horrors she could only imagine. What had happened to this man? Was it something to do with the case Marcus had mentioned?

Baldwin tried a smile. “Yeah, I did. Pretty brutal stuff. It’s good to meet you.”

“Maybe we could talk about the case over lunch. I’ll buy.”

Taylor took pity on Baldwin. Marcus may have hated dead bodies, but he was fascinated with sexually motivated killings. Given half the chance, he would forget everything he needed to do and sequester Baldwin in an interview room to talk shop the rest of the day. She jumped in before Marcus could secure his date and start his interrogation.

“One thing at a time, puppy. Let’s give Dr. Baldwin a little space to get started. Baldwin, tell me what you’ll need to do your initial assessment.”

Baldwin squared his shoulders. He didn’t want to be here. Lieutenant Jackson was humoring him, but he had a headache, and he really wanted a beer. Meeting her oddly colored eyes, somewhere deep inside he felt a spark of pride stir. It may goeth before his fall, but he didn’t want to embarrass himself in front of her, or the rest of her team.

“I’d like to start with the crime scene photos and the files you’ve compiled on each girl. I need the autopsy reports, and I’d like to speak to your ME a little later on. I assume you’ve run the databases. I’d like those results as well. If I could, I’d like a quiet place where I can look over the files. Alone, preferably. I’ll need some mental space to come to any conclusions.”

Taylor looked surprised but quickly covered it with a cough. If he was going to make an effort, she could try as well.

She gave the necessary directions. Baldwin was escorted to the conference room across the hall from the squad room. Taylor started to follow him in to get him settled, and he stopped her.

“I know you have questions about me, but I promise you, I’m going to stick close to home, read these over, give you an opinion, and be out of your hair. That should satisfy everyone involved, don’t you think?”

Taylor saw nothing but pain in his green eyes, and something told her to keep trying. “How about this, Dr. Baldwin? You go over those files. See if you come up with anything interesting. Then we’ll talk about your imminent dismissal. Okay?” She turned and shut the door behind her before he had a chance to respond.

“Great,” he said to the blue wall. “Just f*cking great. Fine, I’ll look. I’ll give them some suggestions, they can go track them down, and I’m out of here.” He sat angrily at the table. He realized it was the first emotion he’d felt in months, but he pushed it to the back of his mind.





25



Baldwin ran his fingers through his hair, making the too-long strands spike like porcupine quills. He’d read the files on the dead girls twice, and didn’t remember a word. He stood and wandered around the conference room, looking idly for something to play with. He found only a handful of paper clips and a tape dispenser. They’d cleaned out the cell of the condemned. Back at the table, he half smiled to the wall, picked up a clip and started prying the wire apart. When he finished, he picked up another, then another, until a ramshackle chain-link fence formed itself on the table in front of him.

Who was he trying to kid? He didn’t have any business being here. Garrett and Price knew that, yet they were pushing him to come back to the land of the living, something he wasn’t sure if he was willing to do. Yet here he was, files spread before him, two beautiful girls dead, and he had only the simplest curiosity about how they’d gotten there. In his old life, he would have already taken each word of each file apart, would have a sense of whom they were dealing with. He’d be formulating plans on how to stop the killer from striking again. Now, well...