Page 63 of Fatal Pattern

“Perfect. That’ll streamline coordination.” Papers shuffled again on Rene’s end. “My recommendation? Stay ahead of it. Once you hit three confirmed victims with matching MO, have Dr. Crew reach out to her contacts at Quantico. Better to bring them in as partners than have them take over later.”

“Understood. Three victims, then we loop in the feds through Agent Wells.”

“Exactly. Keep me posted on the warrant progress and any Pattern Analysis hits. This could get big fast.”

“Will do. Thanks again, Rene.”

Blade ended the call and turned back toward the kitchen, where Tori’s fingers still flew across her keyboard. Every few seconds, she’d pause to scribble notes in the margins of a legal pad. Black-rimmed glasses perched on her nose, magnifying her dark eyes as they tracked across the screen.

Since when did she wear glasses?

His mouth almost shaped a crack about the glasses, but she didn’t lift her head, apparently locking every ounce of focus on the profile stacking on her screen. Work mode. No breaking that.

He headed down the hall, pushed into his bedroom, and thumbed Gino’s number.

The line clicked alive. “Gino here.”

“It’s Blade. I need that blotter impression report expedited. Full documentation, photographs, measurements, and expert geometric analysis if you can swing it. ADA Garrison needs it for a warrant application.”

“You got it. The impression is clean. Definitely deliberate drawing, not accidental marks. I’ll have everything packaged and delivered within the hour.”

“Perfect.” Blade stood in his doorway and glanced at Tori, still absorbed in her profile work. “One more thing. Can you run a comparison between the blotter impression and our crime scene staging photos? I need to know if they’re identical or just similar.”

“Already on it. Preliminary comparison shows significant correlation, but I want to run it through some new AI software before I commit to an exact match.”

Blade smiled. Gino’s thoroughness had saved cases before. “Rush it, but don’t sacrifice accuracy.”

“Never do.”

The pieces were falling into place. Legal framework, evidence analysis, pattern recognition. All the elements needed to build a case against a killer who thought he was too clever to be caught.

Blade brushed his teeth and swiped deodorant before heading back to the kitchen. He stopped across the counter from Tori, who was still deep in her profile. With the glasses, she looked like a professor, all serious concentration and academic focus.

“I’m going to call Damien’s attorney, Janice Lebowitz. See if she’s willing to communicate with him for us.”

Tori looked up. “That’s not something you can ask over the phone.”

“It’s not?”

“First of all, we can’t risk a digital trail.” She leaned forward on her elbows. “You need to deliver this sensitive, off-the-books request in a way that leaves no electronic trace. Second, you’re asking a lawyer to risk her career and potentially her life to act as a covert operative.”

He nodded slowly. “Right.”

“We need a face-to-face meeting in a neutral location,” Tori said. “Coffee shop, her office, somewhere public but private. That’s the only professionally sound and paranoid-enough choice.”

“Paranoid-enough,” Blade said. The phrase worked. He flicked his gaze at her face. “When’d you start wearing glasses?”

“They’re blue light blocking, not prescription. Protects my eyes when I’m staring at screens for hours. I don’t always use them, just when I’m tired.”

“You should take a nap while I meet with Janice.”

“You seriously think I’m sitting this out?”

“What was I thinking?” Blade smiled and scrolled his phone to Janice’s contact. She answered on the third ring.

“Janice, it’s Detective Blade St. James, Broward Homicide. I need to meet with you about Damien Sullivan. Something that can’t be discussed over the phone.”

A pause. “That sounds ominous.”