The Surgeon: A Rizzoli & Isles Novel: With Bonus Content

witness is too shell-shocked to tell us much of anything. Moore’s already tried talking to the kid, but he thinks you’ll have better luck with him.”
    Kid
. That word made Jane go still. “Your witness is a child?”
    “Looks about thirteen, fourteen. He’s the only survivor.”
    “What happened?”
    Over the phone she heard other voices in the background, the staccato dialogue of crime scene personnel and the echo of multiple footsteps moving around a room with hard floors. She could picture Crowe swaggering at the center of it with his puffed-out chest and bulked-up shoulders and Hollywood haircut. “It’s a fucking bloodbath here,” he said. “Five victims, including three children. The youngest one can’t be more than eight years old.”
    I don’t want to see this, she thought. Not today. Not any day. But she managed to say: “Where are you?”
    “The residence is on Louisburg Square. Goddamn news vans are packed in tight here, so you’ll probably need to park a block or two away.”
    She blinked in surprise. “This happened on Beacon Hill?”
    “Yeah. Even the rich get whacked.”
    “Who are the victims?”
    “Bernard and Cecilia Ackerman, ages fifty and forty-eight. And their three adopted daughters.”
    “And the survivor? Is he one of their kids?”
    “No. His name’s Teddy Clock. He’s been living with the Ackermans for a couple of years.”
    “Living with them? Is he a relative?”
    “No,” said Crowe. “He’s their foster child.”

© Jessica Hills