Maybe there will be something in his phone records. And maybe if we light a fire under the bureaus ass, theyll get us results on those incoming private numbers. All of this was true, but what she was really rushing toward was a much simpler request: if there was no real reason for them to be here around this agony and loss, she wanted to leave. Because even though she felt shed managed to distance herself from it all and to draw a very distinct line between her diagnosis and the duties of her job, being around a woman who had just lost her spouse was feeling a little too close to home.

Lets go find out, then, he said. Hold on a second, and Ill tell the officers to fill us in if anything pops upand for Mrs. Adams to call us if she thinks of anything that might be at all relevant.

He went back inside to do this and when he opened the door, the screams had become high-pitched whines as Mrs. Adams tried to draw in breaths between her sobs and shrieks. Thats going to be Peter in about a year, some deep-seated voice inside of her said. If youd let him know whats going on, hell at least be prepared.

As if to put an exclamation point on this thought, Mrs. Adams let out another scream, this one taking the form of her dead husbands name. It pierced some part of Rachels heart that shed managed to keep mostly hidden since receiving the diagnosis. Feeling a sense of pain and guilt that had so far remained mostly distant, Rachel did not wait for Jack. She turned away from the apartment door and headed to the car, as if trying to outrun the wails of that poor widow.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

When Rachel and Jack arrived back at the precinct twenty minutes later, a frazzled-looking officer rushed up to them as soon as they made their way back to the conference room they had claimed as the temporary hub of operations for the case. He had a thin stack of papers in his hands, which he waved at them as he approached.

Detective Branson told me to give these to you as soon as I had them, the officer said, thrusting the papers at Rachel.

She took them and saw that the five pages, still warm from the printer, were Dustin Adamss phone records, dating back four months. She was a bit shocked that theyd gotten them so fast but then again, this fourth victim had upped the severity of an already tragic case. She hoped they could expect this sort of speed and efficiency from here on out.