The Plane’s Children – Chapter Eleven – Emersli1

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They found Velma Travers the next morning.

Tony stood looking at the woman’s body, tossed into a dense thicket of brush by an old mining road, and was glad Steve Ramsey was staying at the hospital with his dad.  He didn’t need to see the look of desperate terror on his mother’s face.  “Brandon, you got the photos of the body?”

Mick Brandon swallowed hard.  “Yes Boss.”  It was hard the first time, but he’d thought maybe it was a one off.  Now it looked like someone was hunting guides.  His own golden retriever pressed close to his side, and he took one quick moment to run his hand through the golden hair.

Tony nodded and reached forward to close the woman’s eyes.  It didn’t help as much as he wished it did, but it was all he could do for her right now.   A commotion on the trail behind him, and he looked up to see Dr. Saxon making her way towards him with the coroner’s people.

“Dr. Saxon, I didn’t … how did you get here?  When did you get here?”  The medical examiner hadn’t traveled with them.

“I got here early this morning.  I flew, obviously.  Because you left me behind.”  It was a damning statement.

Tony immediately admitted his fault.  “You’re right.  I’m sorry.  I should never have assumed you wouldn’t want to come along instead of asking you.  You’re a valued member of our team, and I was wrong to leave you behind.  We’ll reimburse the ticket cost, of course.  I hope you left your things at the Center.”

The ready and sincere apology seemed to sooth some of the genuine hurt in the woman’s eyes.

“Thank you.  Someone is hunting our people.  I belong with my team.  Now, let me get to the victim so I can get started.”  Tony moved aside and let the medical team take over.

“I’ll meet you back at the Center.  Please let me know if you find anything quickly.”  As he moved off up the trail Alone came to walk with him.

“I just didn’t think …” he murmured quietly, only for his spiritmate’s hearing.  

“You’re still new to command.  And you admitted your fault and apologized.  You won’t make that mistake again.  That’s all you can do.”  Alone bolstered his flagging confidence in his leadership without absolving him of responsibility.  “Now, did you see anything different this time?”

“No.  But I felt something … he was smug.  He felt as though he had accomplished something.  But he was also … anticipating?  Maybe?  He felt like he was already looking forward to the next one.”  Tony hadn’t had the training to really separate out his impressions.  He’d have to confer with Blair when they all got back to the Center.

But somewhere out there, the monster was hunting.

“Definitely smug.  And I think you’re right about the anticipation.  I also got a swirl of … disappointment?  This one wasn’t as … satisfying as Amalda Vernon for some reason.”  Blair agreed with Tony’s assessment.

They were back in their conference room at the Center.

“Do we have any preliminary results from anything yet.”  It had only been a few hours, so Tony didn’t hold out much hope.

“Dr. Saxon put a preliminary time of death more than twenty-four hours ago.  It took longer to find them.  I don’t know if that means he tried harder to hide the body or if he just didn’t predict the birdwatchers at the last scene.”  Ellison sighed.

“I’ve got Jackson and Parker talking to the family and neighbors.  It’s both harder and potentially more valuable this time.  Mallie and Matt had only lived in Annapolis for about six months.  Jason and Velma had deep roots here.  There’re a lot of people to talk to.”  Something was niggling at him.  Tony wasn’t sure what it was, but something was just teasing at the edges of his brain.

Alone looked at Tony intently.  “What are you thinking?”

“Something’s bothering me.  Something about this crime scene.  Or something I’ve heard in the last 24 hours.  Something.”  Tony was frustrated, going over everything in his mind.

Blair straightened and looked over at Tony intently.  “Talk us through it.  Maybe you can tease it out if you talk it out.”

One of the biggest bad habits Tony had had to unlearn working in this new division was keeping his thoughts to himself.   He’d learned through painful (sometimes literally) experience that no one wanted to hear what he thought or follow his meandering mental processes.  But the team he’d built worked differently.  And certainly Blair, though not really part of his team as a usual rule, wasn’t going to criticize him for the way his brain worked.

“Well, the crime scene.  Different building structure, but same general idea.  Abandoned and remote.  Wants them to live, but not too long.  Puts in water.  People die quickly without water.  Doesn’t care about food.  Never intends the sentinel to leave the site.  Has to have money to build the shielded rooms.  Has to have time and construction skills to do it, or hire a crew.  Haven’t found any trace of a crew, and modifications are quick and dirty.  A crew would expect to see permits and meet safety regulations.  These don’t.  So… he’s doing it himself.  It just has to hold long enough.  Not forever.”

“What are the differences?  One building’s round, the other’s square.  One’s in a clearing, the other’s in an overgrown patch of woods.   Mallie Vernon had a box of Vanilla wafers … just a sec.”  Tony grabbed his phone and dialed a number.

“Hello?”  Carter Vernon answered quickly, hopefully.

“Hey Carter. It’s Tony DiNozzo.  I’m sorry to bother you, but can you tell me real quick … did Mallie have a favorite cookie?”

“A favorite cookie?  You mean like chocolate chip versus oatmeal raisin?  She didn’t really bake while we were growing up, so if we had cookies she always bought them from the store.”  The young man sounded rightfully perplexed.

“Yeah, what kind did she usually buy?”  Tony pushed, just a little.

“Usually Vanilla Wafers.  You know, those little round cookies you only really wanted when you were sick to your stomach?  Well, she really liked them for some reason.  But sometimes she’d get Chips Ahoy if we fussed too much.  She really couldn’t stand Oreos, so we only got those for our birthdays.”

There it was.

“Thanks Carter.  I know it seems like a weird thing, but that’s actually a big help.”

“Really?  I’m glad.  Have you found out anything?  At all?  Besides cookies?”  

“We’re making progress.  And those cookies may just be the nail in this bastard’s coffin.  Listen, I’ll talk to you later, when I have something I can really tell you, but thanks.  Thanks for the help.”  Tony really needed to get off the phone.

“You’re welcome.  Thanks for calling, I guess?”  Carter hung up, still sounding totally bewildered, but hopeful.

“It’s Mallie.  She’s the key.  This bastard knew her well enough to know her favorite cookie.  He didn’t know or didn’t care about Velma Travers’ cookie preferences.”  Now Tony felt like he was on a roll.

“Amalda was attacked in her home.”  Alone had been thinking too.  “Velma and Jason were attacked out of a random doorway, but he knew where Matthew and Amalda lived.”

“The mask!”  Mick Brandon practically levitated from his seat.  “Matt Caulfield mentioned a mask!  And that the guy wore scent blockers.  Jason Ramsey …”

“Could see his face!  Yes!  Mallie and Matt would have been able to identify him.  He wasn’t worried about that with Jason and Velma.  Good job, Mick.”  Tony felt like all the strands were finally coming together.

“We need to go farther back.  Sideways maybe.  Somewhere in Mallie Venon’s life … he’s back there somewhere.”  Blair sounded energized.

“Someone who felt the guide had wronged him.”

They all stopped cold.

Alone spoke up again.  “This isn’t someone who’s focused on Amalda Vernon, the woman.  He’s focused on Amalda Vernon, the guide.  He feels the guide has wronged him.”

Tony remembered what Seeker had said.  “He only wanted Hidden.  Seeker tried to draw him off, but he only wanted Hidden … only wanted the guide.”

“I don’t understand though?  If it was Velma, well, she worked for the police department.  She could have hurt somebody.  Used her gifts in interrogation or interview or something.  Amalda was a 2nd grade teacher.  It’s not a kid doing this.”  Brandon still felt confused.  How could he, as a guide, injure someone.  A small tickle at the back of his brain.

A face.  A disappointed face.

“Oh my God …” he breathed out.

“What?  What have you thought of, Mick?”  Tony could tell the young sergeant had something.

“What if Mallie picked the wrong sentinel?  Or this guy thinks she did?”  Brandon didn’t really like to talk about this, but … “In my first search, when I first came online, there was a sentinel.  We matched well enough, but not 100%.  She wasn’t my true match.  And I told her so.  She was older, and had been through several searches without finding her true match.  She was willing to settle.  I wasn’t.”

Tony scrambled for the phone again, placing a call, this time to the San Francisco Sentinel and Guide Center.

The operator transferred him to the Guide Coordinator, who was new in the position but agreed to look up the records and send them to Tony over an encrypted link.

Now all they had to do was wait.