“We have the male victim,” Laura shrugged. “That could be a great place to start.”
“We haven’t found any link between them,” Ortega interjected.
Laura nodded. She didn’t say it, but they would have to re-investigate everything, including whether there was any way the two victims could have been connected. While Ortega and his team must have put their best efforts forward, they had, after all, invited the FBI to help them because they knew they were out of their depth. She and Nate couldn’t take anything they had found out so far for granted.
There was always a link between the victims of crimes like these. Even if it only existed in the mind of the killer. The trick was finding out what it was.
“We need to talk to her family,” she said. “Get some insight from them. I’m guessing you have an officer with them already?”
Ortega nodded. “I can take you right there.”
Laura drew a breath and tried to think of some way to politely tell him not to come – but Nate beat her to it. “Don’t worry,” he said. “We’ve got our own car. Just give us the address and we’ll be on our way. I’m sure you have a lot of important work to do – let us do our thing, and we’ll let you do yours.”
Ortega nodded curtly, then extended a hand towards their car. “I’ll walk you back and get it in your GPS. I’ll give you my number, too, in case you need anything.”
“Great, thanks,” Laura said automatically, her mind already on the next thing.
Find the link between the victims. Understand the killer. Find the killer. Stop the killer.
Easy, right?
Except their cases never were – and Laura knew they were only about to take the first step in what could turn out to be a complex and brutal case.