Midnight Caller - By Diane Burke Page 0,40

the door for a specific destination and vanishes into thin air. No witnesses. No signs of struggle.”

Sergeant Greene nodded, wrote the name Carol Henderson beside the other victims and added same age, no witnesses, no signs of struggle to the column.

“Winters, what did you find out about the boyfriend?”

“Stone’s clean. Not even a traffic ticket,” Winters said.

Tony stared at Carol’s name on the board beside the other victims and bile backed up in his throat. The lab tech, Lenny, had been his one viable lead and an ironclad alibi took that off the table. Now he was back to square one. No suspects. No leads. How could this be happening? This was hitting too close to home.

“Okay, let’s review,” Sarge said. All four men stared at the pictures taped to the board. “What do we know about these women?”

“Neighbors and friends all reported the victims seemed out of sorts, nervous, shortly before they disappeared,” Winters said.

“That’s right. I’ve confirmed that all of our victims received anonymous telephone calls. We didn’t pick up on it right away because the reports were filed in different jurisdictions and the communications on prank calls fell through the cracks.” Spence took a sip of his coffee and then grimaced at its bitterness.

“Make it four,” Spence said. “I’ve confirmed Carol Henderson filed a complaint with the Holly Hill police.”

The blood drained out of Tony’s face. This couldn’t be happening. The victims got calls. Carol got calls. Please, God, don’t let anything happen to Erin.

“Make it five.” Tony looked directly at his sergeant. “Erin O’Malley, a friend of mine, is receiving calls. She’s Carol’s best friend.”

“This is the first solid lead we’ve had. I want a trap put on her line today. Winters, you handle it.” Sarge paused while he digested the new information. “So the killer likes to taunt his victims before he grabs them. We can hand that to the press. What other angle can we explore?” The sergeant tapped the marker on the board. “The answer’s here, men. We’re just not seeing it.”

“They’re all single mothers,” Spence said.

“Not all. Cynthia Mayors was married,” Winters corrected.

“Newlywed,” Spence said. “A quickie wedding in Vegas and the guy ships off to Iraq. Maybe the killer didn’t know she got married. Maybe he thought she was still a single mom.”

“What about it, Marino? Is your friend a single mom?”

Tony nodded.

“Okay,” Sarge said. “Let’s play with that angle. The guy doesn’t like single mothers. There are millions of single parents out there. What makes these four special?”

“The kids.” Tony’s voice raised an octave with excitement.

“News flash. All single mothers have kids,” Spence said.

“Not just kids. Special kids. Look.” Tony raced up to the board and pointed at each name. “Each family has a handicapped kid. Mayors had two kids, one of them autistic. Leigh Porter has four children, the second child is deaf. Carol’s child has Down syndrome.”

“Anne Morton’s kid isn’t handicapped,” Spence said.

“Wait a minute.” Winters quickly paged through his notebook. “The Morton kid is in regular third grade classes, but when I interviewed her teacher, she told me the child had a specific learning disability. She gets extra tutoring and occupational and physical therapy twice a week.”

Tony stared at the board in disbelief. “That’s it. That’s the connection.” Erin. Single mom. Handicapped child. Anonymous calls. “Erin O’Malley’s son has cerebral palsy. Erin’s our next target.”

“Are you all right, Marino?” Sarge asked.

“Fine, sir.”

His sergeant stared at him like he was a bug under a microscope. “Just how good a friend is this woman?”

Tony hesitated. He knew Erin was going to hate police poking around in her life. He also knew the sergeant might remove him from the case if he felt Tony was in over his head. The job had always been first, last and always with him. There’d never been a question where his duty lay until now. A picture of Erin entered his mind. Her short auburn curls catching the sunlight. Her green eyes shining with intelligence and challenge. Her lips soft and full. She was in danger. His duty was to protect her, no matter the cost. He offered up a silent prayer that neither Erin nor the sergeant would cut him out of the loop.

“I met both Carol Henderson and Erin O’Malley at the Easter parade three weeks ago. I had dinner with both women at Ms. O’Malley’s home last night. Based on what we know about this man, I believe Erin O’Malley is on his list of victims, possibly his next victim.” He