The Serpent and the Crow

Book 2: Chapter Two

"So, Proctor's dead?"

Wade nodded as he turned onto the freeway. Douglas saw the interstate sign to Armadillo 20 miles and Coyote Hills 10 miles.

Douglas said, "We're going to Coyote Hills."

"I told you that the black woman, the Aryans kidnapped, she's in Dillo."

"You just told me she's in critical condition and that those Dillo Detectives are sitting on it. I'm done sitting around."

"You want to go back to the Harding girl's crime scene?"

"The Harding's live near there too. We haven't even had a good look at the crime scene."

"What could we learn that we don't already know from? Anyway, Katie Harding is..."

"Say it," Douglas shouted, "my daughter has four days before she's found on a scaffold-like Katie Harding. Well, fuck you, until you have kids of your own, you don't understand what it's like."

"That's why we need to follow the only lead we have. The girl in Dillo."

"You're assuming she has anything to say about our case. We need to stick with the evidence, the facts, the crime scene."

"We've looked at that before."

"Well, we'll look at it again. I think there's more to it that we might have missed that photographs can't pick up. But, I need to know who I'm working with."

"My name is Wade Schofield. I was a Texas Ranger for five years, IA for two."

"You're Internal Affairs?"

"Correct," Wade said, "I'm here in Solemn for two reasons. It might not come as a surprise, but Solemn PD has been on the radar for quite some time. Perhaps more than Trepidation and Armadillo."

"Why is Solemn the winning lottery ticket?"

"That's the second reason I'm here," Wade said, "The Bureau believes that a series of kidnappings, and murders, found in Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, intersect with one town. "

"Solemn Pines. What does one reason have to do with the other?"

"My partner, Wade Derringer, found something about the Killer," Wade said, "But, he never made it to Solemn PD. So, the Bureau decided I resume his identity and find out what happened to him. He left a message."

"What did he say?"

"He said that he found a lead on who kidnapped and killed Mary and Michelle Schofield. My daughter Mary, and Michelle...my wife."

"So, yeah. I know what it's like, Doug," Wade said, "But, perhaps you'll have a different end to your daughter's kidnapping than I did."

Douglas could only hope, and hope was fading quick. Four days, and it was already midday.