Tracy broke down into heartbroken sobs while Sam fought a violent battle to keep from doing the same.

“I’ll be back to talk to you when we know more.”

“When can we see her?” Angela asked.

“As soon as we get her stabilized and do the rape kit.”

“Our family doctor, Harry Flynn, is on his way to consult,” Sam said.

“Of course,” the doctor said. “No problem. We’ll keep you informed.”

Sam’s cell phone rang, and she checked the caller ID where Freddie’s name was lit up. “What’ve you got?”

“Nothing on the canvas, but we just heard Dispatch call Carlucci and Dominguez to a homicide up on MacArthur Boulevard Northwest. From what we heard, someone went sick on a bunch of teenagers with a knife.”

The news struck Sam in a pang of fear that landed right below her heart.

“What do you want us to do? Continue the canvas or help them out?”

Sam’s brain refused to process the staggering array of implications that came with this news.

“Get up there and see what they’ve got. I can’t leave here, so keep me posted.”

“Will do.”

“Freddie.”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think...I mean, this thing with Brooke... Is it related?”

“We have no way to know that, Sam, so don’t go there. Not yet.”

“You’re right. Okay, call me as soon as you know anything.”

“I will.”

The line went dead and she stashed the phone in her pocket and took a seat next to Nick.

“What was that about?”

“Homicide on MacArthur Boulevard. A bunch of teenagers were attacked with what looks to be a knife.”

Nick’s eyes widened as the implications hit him too. “Oh, Jesus. Do you think it’s related?”

“I don’t know, but... It would be an awfully big coincidence if it wasn’t.” Saying the words out loud filled Sam with an overwhelming sense of foreboding—and fear.

* * *

Freddie and Gonzo arrived at the scene on MacArthur Boulevard and had to park on the next street over due to the emergency vehicles blocking the street. Flashing their badges to the patrol officer guarding the yellow crime scene tape, they ducked under it and made for the front door of a fancy brick townhouse in an exclusive development.

“Nice place,” Freddie muttered.

“No kidding. Outta my price range.”

Inside, Dominguez and Carlucci were working a grisly scene in the basement family room. There were six bodies, all of them naked and most of them murdered while in the midst of a sex act. They were in pairs in three different areas of the big room.

“What the...” Gonzo’s voice trailed off midsentence. “Is this what kids are doing for fun these days?”