Psychobyte by Cat Connor Read Free Book Online Page A

ever-diminishing survival rate.
    Not worth the risk.
    My hand lifted the telephone handset from the cradle on my desk. “Hey, Sandra, connect me to Fairfax PD?”
    “Sure, anyone in particular?”
    Names rolled around in my head. Josh. “Is Joshua Konstrum back with Fairfax?”
    “He is,” she replied. “Connecting you in three …”
    The line noise changed from hollow to ringing. Moments later I heard Josh’s voice. “It’s Ellie Conway. I need a favor.”
    “Hi, Ellie.” He paused. Fingers on a keyboard filled the airway between us. “They’re calling your new case The Psycho Killer case.”
    “Apt description but I’d rather that wasn’t made public. I need the PD to provide surveillance and possibly protection for a woman, tonight. There’s already a request to have extra patrols in her neighborhood, this is additional.”
    “You got it. Send me the details. I’ll put a team together.”
    That was easy.
    Felt a little too easy. “Why so amenable, Josh? You’re usually pretty good at helping but you didn’t even ask about Murphy’s bar this time.”
    “Serena Sorenson. A few of us knew her.”
    Bells rang in my head. Kurt waved from the doorway. “Do me another favor and get me a list of everyone who knew Serena?” I said as I motioned for Kurt to wait. “How’d you know her?”
    “She’s a local. Her sister is dating a paramedic and his brother is a cop.”
    The bells got louder. “Her sister is dating a paramedic … who?”
    “Cliff White, know him?”
    “Nope. What house?”
    “Four-forty.”
    The clanging continued. “I need that list.”
    “I’ll get an email off to you A-SAP.”
    “Thanks, Josh.”
    I hung up. Kurt had taken up position in the chair by my desk again. He watched me as I emailed Josh all the details pertaining to Sarah Ng. I felt his unspoken words and looked at him. “Serena Sorenson was known to a few of the officers down in Fairfax PD.”
    I didn’t have to say anymore because he knew we could be looking for a cop. A cop would know how to clean a crime scene but then, so would a paramedic.
    “We’ll be working late tonight then?”
    “Yep. Josh is sending me a list.” Four emails arrived in quick succession, including the list from Josh. I opened it and scanned the names. “I have fifteen names in front of me. We’ll divide up the list and get to it.”
    “You want Sam and Lee?”
    “No.” I glanced at the clock on the wall. Evening loomed. “I’d like them to go back to both crime scenes and try to get more information from neighbors. Someone saw something.”
    “Okay. And Collins?”
    “Make sure he’s okay, ask him if he knows Cliff White, a paramedic from the four-forty, and see if there is anything he can tell us about Serena’s sister.”
    “Her sister?”
    “Yeah, she’s dating Cliff White. That’s Collins’ station.”
    “Another link.”
    I nodded. If only I knew what the link meant.
    Kurt pushed his chair back as he stood. “You drink that water. You’ve hardly touched it.” He wagged a finger at me. “I’ll be back.”
     

Nine
    Beneath Your Beautiful
    At six in the morning, the phone lying on my desk lit up. I’d turned the ringer off during the night. It vibrated while the screen flashed ominously. I felt pretty sure it wouldn’t be good news.
    I stretched my tired body, yawned, picked up the blinking vibrating phone, and swiped the screen. “Agent Conway.”
    “Agent Conway, it’s Troy Fallon. Sorry to call so early but I thought you’d want to know how the night went.”
    My heart sank to my stomach. “Is Sarah Ng all right?”
    “Yes.”
    I breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe we were on the right track. “Give me a sitrep for Sarah?”
    “She had a quiet night. No visitors, and sighted four minutes ago as she left for work. We have a plain car following her and another continuing surveillance on her home.”
    “Keep everything in place for now. I’m not convinced she’s safe.”
    Or that this is over. My