Sight Unseen(47)
“Just now. I came straight from the airport.”
Her brows rose. “All finished in D.C.?”
“Not really, but I got some news that made me think that I was needed back here.”
“We’ve discussed that before. I’m handling this—” She stopped. Lynch had mentioned being on edge and she could see that was an understatement. Definitely not his usual self. “What news?”
“I heard from the FBI lab manager. I’ve guaranteed that he gets in touch with me with any information directly after he tells Griffin.”
She stiffened. “I haven’t heard anything from Griffin.”
“I think they’re still trying to figure out what it means.”
“Tell me.”
“It’s about the clothing you recovered from Corrine Harvey’s house. They recovered fresh skin cells from the sweater. They were able to extract DNA they thought might be from the killer.”
“That’s great.”
“And what’s more, they got a match off the CODIS DNA database.”
“Even better. So why do you look like you’ve just come from a funeral?”
Lynch shook his head, then looked her in the eye. “The DNA is from Eric Colby.”
Her eyes widened with shock. “What? Impossible.”
“Eric Colby,” he repeated. “The first killer you ever put away.”
Kendra’s brow wrinkled. “That doesn’t make sense. How in the hell could—”
“You tell me. He’s been on death row in San Quentin State Penitentiary for the past four years.” He paused. “He’s scheduled to be executed by lethal injection Monday night.”
Eric Colby.
Kendra felt a little light-headed. She moved toward the sofa and slowly sat down. “This is a nightmare. I don’t believe it.”
“Believe it.” His gaze narrowed on her face. “You look damn shaky. Can I get you something? Glass of water? Shot of brandy? Handful of barbiturates?”
“I feel as if I could use all three.” She looked up at Lynch. “I’ve spent four years trying to forget Eric Colby. When we were walking through the maze of my old cases at the field office Sunday, I did everything I could to avoid looking at his photo. I’ve never felt such darkness, such total evil, in anyone before or since.”
“That’s saying a lot.”
“It’s true. You know … I’m kind of conflicted about the death penalty, but not for him. A lot of people would breathe easier knowing he’s no longer on this earth.”
Lynch nodded grimly. “Count me among them. I read up on him during the flight. I can’t get those crime-scene photos out of my head.”
Eric Colby.
“You said those were fresh skin cells on Corrine Harvey’s clothing?” she asked.
“Correct. First thing I checked.”
“His cells somehow found their way onto her sweater. We were meant to find them.”
“You were meant to find them. Your reward for finding the sweater.”
Eric Colby.
Kendra tried to shake off the chill. “Even though he’s sitting in a prison four hundred miles away … He’s somehow involved. And he wants me to know it. It’s his parting shot.”
“He’ll be dead in five days. That doesn’t give us much time to get the answers we need from him.”
“I don’t need anything from him.”
“Kendra … Every day that goes by is another day that someone could die. If we know he’s somehow connected to this, it’s an angle we have to pursue.”
“Which is exactly what he wants,” she said fiercely. “And it’s going to lead nowhere, except where he wants it to lead.”
“You outsmarted him once. You can do it again.”
She shook her head. “Don’t you understand? I don’t want to do it again. I want to turn my head and not turn back until they’re rolling his corpse out of that prison.”
“This isn’t like you. What—” The front-door buzzer rang from the wall-mounted intercom unit. Lynch strode over and pressed the talk button. “Hello.”
After a moment’s hesitation. “Michael Griffin, Roland Metcalf, and Saffron Reade here to see Kendra. Is that you Lynch?”
“Yes, come on up.” He pushed the button to buzz them in through the front door.
“Griffin wasn’t expecting to hear your voice,” Kendra said.
“He thought I was still in Washington. I didn’t tell anyone I was coming back here. They obviously came to break the news to you personally.”
“No matter how many times I hear it, it’s not going to be any easier to believe … or to accept.”