Undercover Hunter(101)

                “Nobody,” she said. “Gage would have to talk to school authorities who’d be reluctant to release any information about these kids, dead or not. The parents wouldn’t admit to any problems. They might not even have known about them. God, I’d do it, but I’d hate asking those parents if their kids were troubled in some way.”

                “Me, too,” he admitted. “It’s an awfully slender thread, anyway. Doesn’t even qualify as a real clue. Putting those parents through an emotional wringer would be downright cruel, and it still wouldn’t prove that those children had talked to Sweet.”

                She nodded, looking down at the mess on the table. “Still, Gage would probably know if he’d given any classroom talks. We’ll ask him in the morning. In the meantime...”

                She put her chin in her hand and regarded him. “I’ve worked some difficult cases over the years, but this one beats all. I’m grasping at straws.”

                “Might not just be straws. Regardless, you grasp what you can when you have nothing else.” He leaned forward, putting his elbows on the table, heedless of the papers beneath. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned about investigation, it’s that the perp is either such an absolute idiot that you’ve got him locked up in twenty-four hours or you’ve got a truly smart perp who eludes you for a while. But sooner or later, DeeJay, they all make mistakes.”

                “He needs to make one before another kid disappears.”

                “Clearly. But that’s not in our control. Which makes this the rottenest case I’ve ever had to work.”

                She couldn’t disagree with that. “Sweet is all we have. That means I need to take him up on his offer to visit his ranch. At the very least, I might be able to dismiss him as a suspect before we waste too much time on him.”

                “Agreed. But make that we. You’re not going alone.”

                She didn’t answer because she had every intention of taking the first opportunity to check the place out. Whether Cade liked it or not.

                “You know, if it is Sweet, he might just have made his first mistake.”

                “Mentioning where he’d lived before?” she asked.

                “No, asking you out to his place. We’ve got his driver’s license info, right? Let’s see if we can figure out where this ranch of his is.”

                Her excitement returned. “What if it’s close to where he hung the first bodies?”

                “Exactly. What if the only time he’d need a vehicle would be to transport the bodies, but he could hike up there any time to admire them and relive the experience? Now that would make sense to me.”

                It would to her, as well. When Cade unfolded the map, she pulled up Sweet’s physical address.

                Then, rising, she pulled her chair around and sat beside Cade as they pored over the map.

                * * *

                Calvin lit a couple of electric lanterns in the barn so he could view his boys. Instead of the usual thrill he got when he studied his accomplishments, his mind insisted on wandering.

                That woman, DeeJay. The need to take her was becoming an audible hammering in his head. His skull felt as if it was splitting. He hated it when the urge became this strong, because there was only one way to get rid of that headache. It could force him to lose control.