High Noon

"Too small," Phoebe mused.

"Or a hatchback SUV with no trunk, no place to conceal the abductee." Nably pulled on his prominent bottom lip. "Or maybe he just likes the idea of having us puzzle on it, and spend the time finding out."

"Very possible." She paused to drink from her bottle of water. "It's also possible, and I believe probable, that the subject has had police or military training. He knows how we work, so yes, he might have done things this way to add to the legwork. He's had training. He was able to slip through the perimeter on the Johnson situation, dispatch his target and slip back out without a ripple."

"Maybe he was in uniform," Sykes suggested. "Or had ID."

"Yes. He got through the posts, into the building and into Reea

"Because he knew enough to know it wasn't optimum angle, and SWAT wouldn't use it."

"I agree." She turned back. "The pink roses on the grave-which we have not been able to trace-indicate the UNSUB's attachment to a woman, most likely a dead woman. These are the names of all female casualties in any negotiations in which I took part, both for this department and previously for the FBI.

"Brenda A

"Maybe he doesn't have co

"Then it'll be a lot harder to find him. Victim two, chronologically, is Vendi, Christina. She was part of an organization called Sundown, a small, extreme fringe terrorist group. Poorly organized, poorly funded, and still they managed to invade the home of Gulfstream Aerospace's CEO during a di

"I remember that." Nably pointed a finger. "You were on that."

"I was. The demands were as radical and extreme as the group, and as poorly thought out. After twelve hours of negotiation, during which time it was known that at least one of the hostages was seriously injured if not dead, it was determined by tactical command to move in."

"You talked them into letting the kids out, and a pregnant woman. I remember this."

"They did agree to release the CEO's two minor children and a female guest who was seven months pregnant, taking the hostages down to twelve. Two members of Tactical were able to gain entry through a second-story window, and took out two of the hostage-takers. Vendi opened fire on law enforcement and was terminated. The single remaining terrorist was taken into custody. He's still inside."

She could remember how horrible it was. The screams, the gunfire. "Vendi's father was career army until his recent retirement. He has, always, disavowed her actions, and ca

I know," she said, reading the expressions. "This is our case. But the Bureau's resources for this kind of investigation are wider and deeper than ours."

"Next is Delray, Phillipa, who was killed during a carjacking. Her five-year-old daughter was in the car, and was then taken by the two carjackers as hostage. They were pursued to a garage on the west side, managed to get inside. Negotiations were successful, the child released and the two men surrendered. Delray's brother was in the army, serving in Germany at the time of his sister's death. He now lives in Sava

"I know him." The uniformed officer held up a hand. "I know Rick Sanchez. He's a good guy."

"I hope you're right, but he'll have to be interviewed."

Didn't sit well, she could see that, just didn't sit well for cops to poke at another cop. "I'll be speaking to him myself," she decided on the spot. "We then have Brentine, Angela, killed during an attempted bank robbery. Her injuries were received during the initial phase, and initial attempts to secure medical attention for her were refused. She succumbed on the way to the hospital during hour four of negotiations, when we were able to secure her release. Her husband, Brentine, Joshua, was in New York on business. He remarried nineteen months after his first wife's death, since divorced. He has never served in the military or in any law enforcement capacity. Angela Brentine has no living male relations." "There was a lot of press on that one," Sykes remembered. "Not only the bank-robbing spree that ended here, but Brentine's wife. He's old Sava

"I'll be talking to Brentine very soon. Officer Landow? I'd like you to re-interview Reea

"I'll take care of it, Lieutenant."

"Thank you." She nodded because she saw Dave step in. "Let's get started."

When Dave gestured to her office, she walked into it ahead of him. "You've got a lot laid out in a short time, Phoebe. Get any sleep in there?"

"Some. Truth? It kept coming back when I drifted off. Roy chained on that grave, the explosion. I was better off awake and doing. I'm not so scared when I'm doing as I am when I stop."

"Your family?"

"I don't know. How long can I keep them shut up in that house?

Fine for my mother," she said with a tired laugh that wanted to turn bitter. "But the rest? I just don't know. I'm going to go out, start talking to witnesses, co

"Take one of the men with you."

"I don't have anyone to spare. We're already spread thin with the de tails on my house, the ones taking Josie and Carter to work and sitting on them."

It made her sick to think of it, sick in mind, in heart, in the belly.

"And I know that can't go on much longer either. I know we don't have the manpower or the budget for unlimited babysitting."

"They're there today, so we think about today. How's Ava… everyone handling it?"

"Everyone, including Ava, is handling it as best they can. You might call her, or go by. It might ease her mind."

"Well. Hmm." He slipped his hands into his pockets. "About the interviews, I'd go with you myself, but I've got a meeting at City Hall. If you could pick someone out of the hat, not just the squad, who would it be?"