WATCHING (3 page)

***

Her second least favorite
pastime
was riding in a car with the great Michael Hellbrook. He hadn
’
t spoken a word since they
’
d left the Rapid City police department or since he
’
d offered her comfort.
Hellbrook
had offered her comfort. It was almost unimaginable. Had he even offered comfort to her when she
’
d been shot? She didn
’
t think so.

She knew he was capable of it. He was excellent with Agent Sparks, their teammate. Carrie was a bit different—Georgia suspected the younger woman was on the autism spectrum—and Hellbrook was almost insanely protective of her. He
’
d comforted Carrie on
so
many occasions. He
’
d comforted K.D., as well.
Even Zeke and Josh had received support from their team leader.
That compassion had just never been turned in Georgia
’
s direction.
She knew why—he
’
d thought she
’
d gotten her position because of her father, rather than on merit. The first few months with his team she
’
d tried to prove differently. Now, it didn
’
t matter. Now she just wanted to stop the UNSUB from hurting anyone else, then get through the remainder of her time with the CCU.

“
Why isn
’
t he raping them
?
”
s
he asked to break the stilted silence.

“
Hmm
?
”
Hellbrook looked over at her, one hand gripping the steering wheel, the other beating out an absent rhythm against the console between their seats.

“
I said
—
why isn
’
t he raping them
?
”
Georgia
’
s eyes scanned the road as she spoke.
“
He
’
s molesting them, but not raping. Why
?
”

“
Physically incapable. Maybe impotent
?
”

“
No. I don
’
t think so. If it was impotence, I think there would be no sexual component whatsoever. I think he
’
d try to hide it. Or...the sexual component would be exaggerated from an attempt to compensate. We know this man is probably a traditionalist; the stoning tells us that
.
”
Georgia
’
s focus sharpened on the road in the distance. Had she seen movement?

“
He
’
d be doubly concerned with preserving his perceived masculinity. So either no sexual component at all or an exaggerated one,
”
Hellbrook said.
“
This bastard registers somewhere in between
.
”

“
Rape is about control, while sexual molestation is more about gratification,
”
Georgia added
, eyes trained on the side of the road ahead
.

“
So...pedophile
.
”

“
He may be a repeat offender
.
”
Georgia flipped open her cell, intending to call Carrie to check the registry. Carrie handled most of the team
’
s computer analysis and she was phenomenal at it. It took her a quarter of the time it would take Georgia to do the same task. And Georgia wasn
’
t a slouch at computers
,
by any means.
She often handled computer tasks for the team when Carrie was unavailable. She
’
d also been the secondary computer expert for her last team.
“
No cell reception. I thought the division was supposed to be getting satellite phones
?
”

“
I put in the request to your father six weeks ago. Denied until this summer
—
funding, supposedly. We
’
re only an hour away from Carterville. Reception is better there,
”
Hellbrook said.
“
What do we know about pedophiles
?
”

“
That they...stop the car!
”
Georgia yelled.

Hellbrook jerked the SUV to the shoulder.

Georgia had her seatbelt off and her door open almost before he shoved the vehicle into park. She pulled her Sig Saur from its holster less than two seconds before Hellbrook
’
s door opened.

“
Have you lost your
ever-loving
mind
?
”
He was steps behind her, but Georgia ignored him, scrambling down into the ditch. She made soft, reassuring sounds low in her throat as she knelt.

She heard Hellbrook
’
s quiet
son of a bitch
as he realized what she had found.
“
Georgia,
I still
have no cell reception. We
’
re going to have to get her into the SUV
.
”

The woman was a mess, her face bloody, eyes dark and wild, even in the fast approaching evening light. She kept whimpering, her arms wrapped around her stomach, body curled almost in a fetal position as she huddled into the side of the drainage ditch. Georgia was amazed she
’
d even seen the woman, dressed as she was in dark clothing and no jacket. It was only the garish whiteness of the woman
’
s arms that stood out against the dark mud of the ditch.

“
Miss, can you stand
?
”
Georgia kept her weapon by her side, not wanting to frighten the woman more. She managed to get the woman to her feet, taking the brunt of the woman
’
s weight.

Hellbrook stayed at her side, vigilant. He kept his body between theirs and the majority of the road, eyes watching for some sign of who had done this to the woman.

“
We are going to take you to the hospital, get you taken care of, ok? I
’
ll stay with you, you won
’
t have to be alone, I promise. But we have to get to the car first. We
’
ll do it nice and slow, ok
?
”

Hellbrook remained silent and Georgia was grateful. The last thing a victim of assault
—
and the holes in the woman
’
s clothing and the dark bruises told her exactly what type of assault it had been
—
needed was a physically daunting male overwhelming them.

The woman was crying, soft whimpers that tore into Georgia
’
s head. She
’
d almost been in this woman
’
s position once, and she never forgot the fear of that day.

To this day, Georgia struggled when faced with sexual assault victims. On the CCU, Compton or K.D. usually handled interacting with victims. On Georgia
’
s former team, Ana Sorin had had that horrible privilege.

At the hospital, Georgia stayed with the woman the entire time, holding her hand while they removed her torn clothing, ran x-rays, and took photographs, before running a full sexual assault and rape exam. After the woman finally drifted into a medicated sleep, Georgia slipped out to the waiting room and the waiting unit chief.

Hellbrook was on his cell, but he ended the call when he saw her. He stood when she entered the room.

Georgia ran one hand over her eyes, hoping he couldn
’
t tell she
’
d cried with t
he woman a few times.
“
Any news
?
”

“
No, and Dan
’
s called it for the night a few hours ago
.
”

“
We
’
re now at least two hours from the motel
.
”
It was
well
pas
sed
midnight.

“
Are we done here
?
”
Hellbrook nodded toward the bay of exam rooms.

“
For now
.
”
Georgia grabbed her backpack from the chair behind her unit chief.
“
Someone will have to do a more extensive interview sometime in the morning
.
”

“
Let
’
s go then. You can fill me in on the drive
.
”
He held her windbreaker out to her.

He didn
’
t speak again until they were on the highway.
“
You acted incredibly reckless several times today
.
”

Georgia kept her gaze unwavering on him.
She didn
’
t want to fight with him
—
not now, not after what she
’
d just seen. Just remembered.
“
How exactly was I reckless
?
”

“
Climbing down into the crime scene. That wasn
’
t reckless
?
”

“
I was doing my job. How was that being reckless? When in the field, is it not standard procedure to examine the crime scene from every possible angle and from every player
’
s view point? I know it was on Brockman
’
s team
.
”
Georgia did not feel like arguing. She hadn
’
t been
reckless;
she
’
d been doing her job.
“
Or was it reckless only because I did it before you could command it, sir
?
”

“
Stop calling me
sir
all the damned time.
We both know you
’
re doing it to a
nnoy
me.
Jumping from the car without securing the scene
—
what would you call that
?
”
His hands clenched on the wheel and she heard the bite in his words.

She didn
’
t want to argue. Not then, not after the day she
’
d had.
“
I was thinking I saw someone in need of help. Perhaps I did rush a bit. I was armed
—
and not alone
.
”

“
What you were was reckless and stupid. Next time, you wait for my orders
—
or I
’
ll start cuffing your ass to my side. Got it
?
”

“
Got it, Unit Chief Hellbrook,
sir
. Next time I
’
m in position to do my job
—
I
’
ll wait for your permission first
.
”

“
See that you do. Or I
’
ll see to it that the only job you have with PAVAD is in archives, princess
.
”

Chapter
3

****

“
Jules? Hey. Anything
?
”
Georgia hijacked the woman as she came out of the morgue early the next morning. Her visit served two purposes
—
she
’
d get the final autopsy results on Stephanie Miller and Lindsay Graywater and could spend a few minutes with someone who wasn
’
t Michael Hellbrook or a member of his team.

“
Hello, Georgia
;
good morning to you, too
,
”
Jules said.

“
Good morning, Julia
.
”
Georgia drew out the words with as much politeness as she could.

“
So you are a bit grumpy
—
otherwise you wouldn
’
t call me Julia
.
”
Jules
’
mouth twisted in semblance of a smirk.
“
Well, I spent the last two hours cutting open a victim who couldn
’
t talk to me
.
”

“
Anything
?
”
Georgia followed the pathologist down the narrow hallway to what passed as a break room. A chip machine, a soda machine, and a mini-fridge were the only occupants. Georgia retrieved a candy bar from the vending machine and sat down across from her friend.
“
Anything useful at all
?
”

“
Third girl
—
sexually active. Six weeks pregnant, even
.
”
Jules purchased a soda.
“
She was still in junior high, George
.
”