Five Days in Summer

maybe Bell was right, and he cared more than he had realized. Cared in the compulsive way that used to keep him late at work; that drove him to refine his search for human potential on both sides of the coin; drove him to the top of his field until age mandated that he stop. So maybe Bell was right and he couldn’t stop; maybe he was out of the job but still in the work.
    “I like this family,” Geary said, and knew at that moment he’d lost the bet. “I want to find Emily Parker before our latest flavor psycho finds her son.”
    “I’ll hire you as a consultant and put you on this case,” Kaminer told Geary like it was a reprimand. “You can’t work for Parker and for us, pay or no pay. Are your papers in order?”
    “Should be on file at headquarters in D.C. I was a top-ranking special agent, Chief.”
    Kaminer eyed him keenly. “I know your history, Dr. Geary. Here you’ll rank as detective with the Mashpee Police. Nothing fancier than that.”
    Geary swallowed his own crow. “Thank you, sir .Now that I work here, can I make a recommendation?”
    “Fast.”
    “Let me bring Will Parker in here for an interview, I’m convinced the family’s not involved, and if we clear him quickly we’ll save time. I can get Dr. Roger Bell in to corroborate. He’ll be on the Cape a few more days.”
    “ The Roger Bell?” Kaminer looked mildly impressed at the name of the famous criminologist.
    “Known him for years. He consulted for the Behavioral Science Unit. Full disclosure: I already ran this case by him. He’s already familiar with it.”
    “And he helped peg our repeater?”
    “We worked up the seeds of my profile together.”
    “I hope he doesn’t expect to get paid by us,” Kaminer snapped. “We don’t have a budget like the FBI.”
    “No, sir. He’s in it out of habit, like me.”
    “Fine, do it. I’ll sit in.” Kaminer turned to Amy and Snow. “Amy, you take the warrant and some backup to Robertson’s. Check it out.”
    “One more thing, sir.”
    Kaminer snapped his fingers and rotated his hand to get Amy talking faster. That was a move Geary had never seen before.
    “I’d like to interview the surviving mother, Janice Winfrey.”
    “ After you sit in on the interview with the husband and after you talk to the Harmon woman.” Kaminer looked over and Geary thought the little man’s eyes twinkled, though with humor or challenge, he wasn’t sure. A fissure of a smile cracked his face. “Take Geary with you to meet Janice Winfrey — see what our new resident FBI shrink can make of it. Matter of fact, take him on the Robertson warrant too. You can use Snow’s car.”
    “My car?” Snow asked.
    “You’re going to Fall River. Hook up with the detective running the case — Martino? I’ll call ahead. Use the patrol car out front. I want frequent reports, so take notes.”
    Geary burped down a little chuckle. He hadn’t meant to replace Snow, but it sure felt satisfying. He smiled at Amy and reached for the phone on the desk behind him.
    “Got a golf appointment to cancel for this afternoon.”

Chapter 16
    Amy Cardoza turned onto Squaws Lane and parked two houses down from the beach. They would wait here until the backup arrived. She picked at the tape that held the photo of Snow’s teenage daughter to the dashboard, trying to peel it off, and trying not to. It wasn’t officially her car yet.
    “Nice neighborhood.” Geary sat beside her in the passenger seat. He flicked the tree-shaped deodorizer hanging from the rearview mirror and it swung hard in Amy’s direction, emitting a puff of pine fragrance. “Funny, though.”
    So he saw it too: the modest house in the fancy location. She was starting to like him.
    “Real estate.” She shook her head.
    “What I don’t get is how the ocean can belong to anyone.”
    “I think it’s just the beach,” she said, “and the view.” She looked through the windshield at the blue sky and wind-frothed ocean. This was what she loved about the Cape, these pockets of tranquility she fell into when she wasn’t looking.
    Geary’s body swiveled quickly in her direction, startling her. “You have that phone of yours?”
    “My cell phone? Of course.” She pulled it out of her purse and handed it to him. He knew to flip it open, but that was all. “You’re kidding. Don’t you...? Never mind, here, dial your number with the area code but not the one. Then push send.”
    She watched as he read a handwritten phone number off the