Chosen To Die (Alvarez & Pescoli)

“ ‘Beware the scorpion’s hell’? Or ‘Beware the scorpion’s hate’? Or ‘Beware the scorpion’s hiss’?”

“Scorpions don’t hiss,” Watershed pointed out. Gage added, “It doesn’t have to be ‘scorpion.’ We can’t just guess and assume.”

“Maybe.” Grayson wasn’t convinced.

“Isn’t that why we turned this over to the FBI? So they can use their cryptologists?” Brewster said.

“We have a list of missing women. If their initials work into this puzzle, we might figure it out ourselves,” Alvarez said. Brewster looked ready to argue, but Gage intervened, “Let’s not just get stuck on the notes. What else do we know about this mutt?”

“That he craves attention,” Alvarez said. “He made sure we got this information. He wants to be the hot topic. It probably bothered him no end that the copycat stole his press for a while.”

O’Day speculated, “Could be why he stepped up his game—two more, and bragging rights to the press.”

“But to Manny Douglas?” Gage scowled and leaned back in his chair. “You informed the FBI?”

Grayson nodded. “They’re on their way back from Denver and an interview with Hubert Long that went nowhere. The man’s comatose, not expected to live more than a couple of days, if that.”

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There was a moment of silence as they were all lost in their own thoughts and ideas. Then Alvarez said, “Elyssa O’Leary and Brandy Hooper,” reading from the missing persons report she’d printed from her computer. “They’re the most likely candidates for Star-Crossed.”

“We haven’t found any vehicles registered to them,” Van Droz remarked.

“We will,” Watershed said. “Just a matter of time.”

“Well, if it’s Hooper and O’Leary, then it looks like Star-Crossed has been cozying up to medical students,” Zoller pointed out. “Start with Ms. Hooper. Twenty-seven, a resident at OHSU in Portland, Oregon, reported missing nine days ago when she didn’t show up at her parents’ home in Missoula. Reports were filed in Oregon, Idaho, and Montana. She’s the only girl we have on file with the initials B and H, which, when added to the E and O from Elyssa O’Leary’s initials, who, by the way is a nursing student, would give more credence to the BEWARE THE SCORPION’S . . . something with an H.”

“O’Leary has an apostrophe,” Alvarez said. Everyone looked at her. “You think he went that far? To even add in the apostrophe?” Grayson asked.

“He has that much attention to detail,” she responded.

“Again. A lot of assumptions,” Gage said. “There’s always the chance that other girls with the same initials have been abducted. Someone who hasn’t been reported, or, at least not reported in this jurisdiction.”

“O’Leary’s parents believe her boyfriend, Cesar Pelton, is involved in her disappearance,” Zoller reminded them.

“Any confirmation on that?” Grayson asked.

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Brewster shook his head. “Chandler was checking on that.”

Gage said, “For now, we won’t assume these women are dead. They could still be held captive by StarCrossed, or just be unlucky enough to have the initials of some of the victims.”

“Fat chance,” Watershed stated. “We know he’s got them.”

“There’s a possibility we’ve got the wrong girls,”

Alvarez said. “So we won’t notify their families, nor are we going to assume they’re dead. We’re going to find them, and we’re going to also find the girls these initials do represent.”

Grayson nodded his agreement, but Brewster shook his head. “I’m with Watershed. We know these are the girls.”

“What we need to do is find them,” Grayson returned. “And until we have concrete evidence that either Brandy Hooper or Elyssa O’Leary is a StarCrossed victim, there will be no talking to the press or the womens’ families. For the moment Manny Douglas and the Reporter are keeping a lid on the contents of the notes, but they can’t wait to spill. So let’s go get this guy! Get the choppers in the air. Find them!”

He said it with fervor and everyone in the room quickly got to their feet. As they bustled out, Alvarez saw the worry in their eyes. They all believed that somewhere out in the Montana wilderness, two other women were already dead, their bodies blue and frozen.