Black Forest, Denver Cereal Volume 5 (14 page)

She was only called out of the lab for real,
true and interesting cases. Most of the really nasty stuff happened
after the bars closed and she was off work. The day team worked
those crime scenes when they got in. Through the power of no
interruptions, she processed more work than the three daytime
forensics officers combined.

At twenty-three, she’d used every single one
of her father’s connections to get this job. She knew it was time
to prove herself. ‘Prove it or lose it,’ her boss had said. She
wasn’t about to lose her dream job.

Tonight, she was working on Saint Jude’s
precious trophies.

The lead forensic officer had already
extracted the DNA from each of them. The day team was working on
identifying the trophies. At night, Ava’s task was to find the
killer’s DNA. She set her last sample into the centrifuge and
turned it on. Going over to the computer, she checked her results
again.

So far, she’d found three specimens with
identical alien DNA - one from the kid Jeffy’s necklace and two
from the trophies. She liked the word, ‘Alien DNA’. It brought a
whole Roswellian aspect to the work. In forensics, it only meant
that the DNA didn’t belong with the sample and was not in the
Colorado or Federal system. Yet. She put her finger to the screen
with her wish that this was in fact the killer’s DNA. She and Seth
would find this man and bring him to justice. Ava smiled.

Seth was picking her up after work.

“
Amelie!” A lab tech
yelled over Rihanna’s ‘What’s my name?’ “AMELIE!”

Looking up from the computer, Ava turned
down the music.

“
You’re working the
O’Malley’s case,” the technician said. “Right?”

“
Yeah,” Ava nodded.
“Why?”

“
He’s been
shot.”

Shock and fear echoed through Ava’s
body.

“
What?” she
whispered.

“
Dispatch just announced
it. O’Malley’s been shot,” the technician said. “They’re calling
for CSU. The lead officer asked for you by name. They think they
have the killer’s blood.”

“
Is…” Ava cleared her
throat. “Is Detective O’Malley dead?”

“
Magic O’Malley? No way,”
the technician said. “You want us to go with you?”

Ava nodded. Finding her voice, she added,
“Get ready but I’ll call CSU and see what they need. If the
assholes haven’t trampled the scene we might get DNA. And…”

“
With DNA we make the
case.” The technician smiled at Ava’s favorite saying.

“
Keep your fingers
crossed,” Ava said.

“
Yes ma’am,” the lab
technician left Ava’s lab.

Ava stared into space for a moment before
recovering herself. She made a quick telephone call to confirm
where they needed to go. Setting the phone down, she pulled off her
gloves and rubbed her face.

“
Amelie?” another lab
technician asked. “We’re ready.”

Ava nodded. She picked up her field case and
followed them out to the Crime Scene Forensics SUV.

~~~~~~~~

Monday night — 10:05 P.M.

Sand Creek Greenway

Lost in thought, Seth sat in the doorway of
an ambulance with a blanket wrapped around him. He was cold and
remarkably hungry. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he could hear
a melody begin to push forward. He looked up to see Delphie walking
toward him. Her flowing flower covered skirt was wrinkled and sandy
from their splash in the river. Someone had given her a thick blue
jacket with Denver Police stenciled on the back. Noting his look,
she gave him a bright smile. She carried a Styrofoam takeout
container and three Styrofoam cups. She had clearly charmed someone
into taking her to Sapp Brother’s for coffee. He wasn’t sure why he
was surprised. That woman could talk a shark out of its last
meal.

“
Are we expecting
someone?” Seth asked.

“
My friend Ava is on her
way,” Delphie said. “I thought she’d like some coffee. Her name is
Amelie but I call her Ava. Have you met Amelie Vivian
Alvin?”

Delphie blinked at Seth. Shaking his head,
he chuckled.

“
It’s not a secret or
forbidden,” he said. “It’s just new. Best not to
advertise.”

She smiled at him and opened the takeout
container.

“
Oh God, warm apple pie,”
Seth said. “Bless you.”

Delphie smiled.

“
How are you?” Delphie
asked.

“
Not great,” Seth said. “I
want bourbon. Lots. Like an ache in my soul. I haven’t felt like
this since Bonita and…”

He stopped talking to keep from tearing
up.

“
A piano and a lovely
young woman are waiting for you at the end of this night,” Delphie
said. “In the light of day, we’ll sit down and go over
everything.”

With blank eyes, he looked up at her.

“
Eat your pie,” Delphie
said.

Delphie pushed a fork into his hand. She
guided his hand into the takeout container. He took a bite and
grunted. For the next few minutes, Seth was completely absorbed by
the apple pie.

“
I have to do a briefing,”
Seth moved to get up.

“
Finish your pie,” Delphie
said. “They can wait.”

Seth took a long drink of his coffee.

“
You restore me,” Seth
said.

“
Everyone here thinks you
were shot and magically survived,” Delphie said. “That’s why
they’re avoiding you. They don’t know…”

“
What a klutz I am?” Seth
laughed. “I have no ego investment here, Delphie. I don’t care if
the world knows I slipped.”

“
Amelie?” Delphie waved.
“Over here!”

“
Do you know her?” Seth
asked.

“
And her parents,” Delphie
said. “Sam and I go to all those ridiculous charity parties in the
fall. We’ve sat with them a few times. They are pleasant enough.
Her mother is a trip. You’d know that if you ever went.”

“
Good Lord,” Seth said. “I
usually have seven or eight better things to do. Like solving
murders or washing what’s left of my hair.”

“
Or writing Concertos,”
Delphie smile. “Sandy thinks the new one is a masterpiece. Your
agent is already making plans.”

Seth grunted.

“
I’m excited to hear it,”
Delphie said.

Ava ran toward the ambulance. Delphie met
her a few feet away. With her bright chatter and cup of coffee,
Delphie kept the impulsive young woman from embarrassing herself.
When Ava was calmer, they moved toward Seth.

“
We rushed to make the
field briefing,” Ava said.

“
We’ll start in a few
minutes,” Seth smiled at her. She blushed.

“
I heard you were shot,”
Ava said.

“
Shot at,” Seth said. “We
were making a big show in the middle of the river to draw the
killer out and I slipped on a slimy rock. The bullet went right
past me. CSU think they found it in a tree.”

“
You slipped?” Ava’s face
brightened with laughter.

“
And fell in the river,”
Seth said. “Delphie saved me from drowning. I’m sure I’ll have a
huge purple bruise on my backside.”

Ava opened her mouth to say something
provocative but decided against it.

“
Ready O’Malley?” The SWAT
team commander said.

“
Ready,” Seth said. “I’ll
see my two favorite ladies later.”

Delphie helped him stand. He smiled his
thanks and followed the SWAT team commander to the briefing.
Delphie snatched at the blanket and pulled it from Seth’s
shoulders. He nodded to her. The filthy and exhausted uniformed
police officers, SWAT teams and CSU applauded as he approached. He
waited for them to settle down before starting.

“
I know you’re all
exhausted,” Seth said. “So I’ll keep this to bullet points. We’ll
fill in the details over the next week or so.

“
First and most
importantly, a child lost his life tonight,” Seth said. “The
coroner believes the child was dead prior to the phone call that
originated our action tonight. Her immediate assessment is the same
poison that killed the other boy. Before we move on, I’d like us to
take a moment of silence for this young man. He would have been
seventeen in a month. He had just committed to turning his life
around. He’ll never have that chance now. Please. A
moment.”

The police officers’ heads bowed as they
contemplated the life lost.

“
Thank you,” Seth said.
“No matter what else happens, we need to never forget why we show
up every day.

“
There are only three more
items,” Seth held up a finger. “Even in the dark, our bomb team has
found enough explosives to blow this entire region. The killer
planned to take us all out tonight. Our SWAT team’s quick thinking
and great eyes are the reason we’re not dead.”

The crowd applauded for the SWAT team. The
team pushed the man who ‘spotted’ the killer forward. He waved away
their acclaim.

“
Next,” Seth held up
another finger. “The perp watched us the entire time. He’d built
what looks like a hunting platform to stand on. Evidence shows that
he’d been there most of today. He had a dirt bike at the ready.
SWAT shot the tank but he still managed to get away. We found the
bike about a mile from here. There are vehicle tracks, possibly a
truck or a van, leading away from the bike. We’ll know more as soon
as it’s light.”

“
Third,” Seth held up a
third finger. “Our SWAT team hit him at least once. We believe he
might have been wearing body armor so was able to survive our fire.
CSU believe they found droplets of wet blood on the platform and on
the bike. We believe he took one, if not two, bullets. We have
teams at every local hospital waiting for him. We sent information
to every medical center including the military bases. If the killer
shows his face for treatment, we’ll catch him.”

“
A round of applause for
each of you,” Seth said. “It takes a lot of guts to be out here in
the middle of the night looking for a killer. I couldn’t work with
finer people.”

The police officers began to clap.

“
Did the perp shoot you?”
a voice yelled from the back.

“
Shot at me,” Seth said.
“In the melodrama with our SWAT Team Commander, I slipped and fell
into the river.”

The men and women laughed and cheered.

“
We have more work to do,”
Seth said when they settled down. “Forensics is here to collect the
blood. Let’s give them every assistance. Don’t fuck this up people.
If we get DNA, we will have a case when we find this guy. And I
promise you. We will find this guy. He’s killed twice. According to
the Coroner’s extensive work, he will retreat for at least a month
now. We need to work now and work hard. We have bodies to find. We
have evidence to process. We have witnesses to interview. When this
bastard returns, I expect us to be ready.

“
That’s all I have,” Seth
said.

He waved as they clapped and walked to
Delphie. She met him and walked with him back to the ambulance. She
touched Ava’s arm as they passed. Ava followed them back.

“
Ava?” Delphie asked.
“Would you mind taking a look something?”

“
Not at all,” Ava said.
“What’s going on?”

“
You’ll need a light,”
Delphie said.

She pointed to something on Seth’s body
armor. Seth scowled at Delphie but Delphie gave him a firm look.
Ava took out her head lamp to take a closer look.

“
Oh my God,” Ava said.
“You were shot.”

“
I was?” Seth
said.

“
Hit your vest. Look at
the angle. Must have happened while you were falling,” Ava said.
“Were you pushed?”

“
I don’t think so,” Seth
said.

“
Don’t move,” Ava said. “I
need to take it out here. We can’t risk it falling out.”

Ava took a pair of forceps from her kit. She
deftly extracted the bullet from the body armor and put it in an
evidence bag. Holding it up, she smiled.

“
This is great,” she said.
“A bullet, maybe two, to play with. With any luck, we’ll get a
fingerprint.”

“
Amelie?” The lab
technician yelled. “Our ride’s here!”

“
Got to go.” Unsure of how
to say ‘good bye’, Ava raised a hand and ran after the lab
technician.

“
She loves you,” Delphie
said.

“
I know,” Seth said. “I
should cut it off before she gets hurt.”

“
She’s a perfect match for
you,” Delphie said. “Tough, smart, funny, independent…”

“
I know,” Seth said. “But
she’d be a perfect match for anyone.”

“
You are an idiot,”
Delphie said.

“
I know.”

~~~~~~~~

Monday night — 10:15 P.M.

Outside Sandy’s Salon, Colfax Blvd, Denver,
CO

“
What are we going to do
to them?” Raz asked.

Standing outside Sandy’s salon, Raz, Alex
and Max watched the kids through the large glass windows. With her
head on Teddy’s lap, Noelle was asleep. The boys were engrossed in
the video game.

“
I don’t know,” Alex
said.

“
On the one hand, they
hacked a government satellite,” Raz said.

“
A very bad thing,” Alex
said.