Page 95 of Broken
The meeting ended, and several stayed in the conference room. Prescott needed the privacy of his office so he could review the Piranha file.
As he was leaving, Artemis called out, “Prescott, what did you think of TopCon’s preso?”
“It was fine,” he replied. “I’m not sure we need to hire an outside consulting firm when we’ve got multiple teams of employees doing the same job.”
“Read over the materials,” Artemis said. “I hope you’ll vote to approve my request.”
Back in his office, Prescott locked his office door, then signed in to ALPHA remotely.
The Piranha was one of the most wanted serial killers in the country. Known for his ritualistic killings of men and women, forty-six-year-old Stanley Deanson had seven known aliases. For the past decade, he’d left a trail of death and destruction in his wake, starting in Washington state and winding his way down to Miami. His DNA had linked him to eighteen murders, but the federal agents assigned to his case were convinced there were dozens more.
Three days ago, he’d been spotted in a dive bar, eight miles east of Baltimore, then confirmed in the same area by a confidential informant yesterday. If Prescott could find someone to stay with Ethan overnight, he’d take the job. According to a source, he’d been spotted outside an abandoned house frequented by drug addicts.
He hated imposing on his mom and dad, but Ethan seemed comfortable around them. Prescott called his mom.
“Hi, honey,” she answered. “How’re things?”
“Well, I’m at work and Ethan’s at the daycare on Armstrong’s campus, so I’d say pretty good.”
“That’s great. Did you tell him about his mom?”
“Yeah. It’s been rough, but he’s a resilient little boy.”
“How are you doing?”
“Getting used to taking care of him. I had no idea kids were so much work.”
His mom laughed. “But they’re also a lot of fun. You’ll see.”
“I was hoping you and dad would be able to help me out tonight. I’ve got an out-of-town work thing, but I’ll be back in the morning. Is there any way you guys could stay with him?”
“We’d love to,” his mom replied. “What time are you leaving?”
“Ten.”
“Tonight?”
“Right. I’ll be back around seven to get him ready for daycare.”
“What kind of a trip is this, Scotty?”
“A fast one,” he replied.
“Why don’t we bring dinner and we’ll spend a little time with him before you leave, in case he gets anxious.”
He thanked his mom, hung up, and texted Z.
“I’m in.”
“Let me know if you have questions,” Z replied.
Prescott doubted he would.
When I get the Piranha in my scope, the son of a bitch won’t know what hit him.
13
INSATIABLE
