THE HUNT

CHAPTER-THREE

Kate winced, as she held the ice pack in place against her throbbing forehead. She felt wiped, and pissed, that the crackerjack of an agent, had messed with her mind.

Kate grabbed the digital recorder out from the pocket of her blazer. The one she had used at the homicide scene.

And fast-forwarded, until she found exactly what she was looking for, her and Agent Shawl's conversation.

"Detective Lang?" Shawl's voice explained. "There's nothing of interest to you or the D.P.D. This case isn't within your jurisdiction. The position of the body hides the other injuries, but there's more here than just a neck wound. This murder is a gang assault, the FBI's been tracking for months, and a course, we would appreciate your discretion, do you understand?"

"Yes, I do. Discretion is key."

"Good, I'm glad, we had this conversation and understand one another. You need to leave and forget about the victim, just know, he's in good hands and we will do whatever we can to catch his killer."

~•~

She trailed off, thoughts swirling in her head. Hard to believe, that so much had changed, so fast. She'd once been naive. Now she wasn't. She could remember as if, it were yesterday when her life had changed.

She'd been a fresh homicide investigator, ridiculously proud, at having been handpicked, for a newly formed task force, with only three years under her belt.

She'd been assigned to the Tulsa, OK office, where the task force was based. It had been created to investigate a series of brutal murders, that had crisscrossed over the country, the nature of the fatalities, suggesting, that the deaths were related to a gang, or perhaps, an occult.

The murders were showing up in clusters all over the state, but the highest fatalities were located in the downtown districts which made sense if the gang or the occult theory, was accurate.

She felt, there had to be a leader, who was orchestrating all of this. Some lunatic, that brainwashed his weak-minded disciples, to go out, and pretend that they were creatures of the night.

Unfortunately, whoever these nut-jobs were, they weren't ignorant. They were operating under the radar, and they were doing a damn good job of it too.

The case had consumed every aspect of her life, but the truth was, she loved it. The job. The excitement. And what, she had worked so hard for, since she'd turned fourteen-years-old.

The year Robert, her seventeen-year-old brother had disappeared. The Fort Worth, police had classified her brother's case as a runaway, but Kate had refused to believe, that her brother would just run away. Not Robert.

Sure, life was pretty damn shitty at the Lane House, but Robert had always been there to protect Kate, when her father would come home, in one of his drunken furies.

Who had comforted, and dried Kate's tears, the day, their mother had died.

No, Robert wouldn't have left her alone. Not on purpose. For years, she'd fantasized of joining the police force, and becoming a Detective, so she could perhaps, one day find her brother.

Kate knew, that she was an emotional mess, where her family was considered, but she'd channeled, all of her roiling emotions into her work.

Kate's desire to join the force and become a Detective hadn't faded. The thought of being a detective--honoring that badge and helping other victims of unspeakable crimes--had invaded every inch of her soul.

So far, she had done everything, a civilian possibly could do to search for her brother, and a few things only a TIA agent could manage. One of these days, she would ask official permission, to use the TIA resources. She had too because Robert was all the family she had left.