“Maybe it was consensual sex. Maybe a group—”

“Jesus Christ, Ray. Turn it off.” Mason needed to focus on one thing at a time. A sexual angle was a definite possibility, but until he had some evidence indicating that direction, he wouldn’t obsess about it. “If you’ve got an angle to theorize on, write it down. Right now we need to get over to the medical examiner’s office and get some autopsy results to point us in a direction. Then we’ll put together a history on Simon Parker.”

Keys in hand, Victoria grabbed her purse and dashed out her back door. She’d told the medical examiner she’d be in early Sunday morning to help with the girls from the forest. It wasn’t early anymore; she’d slept through her alarm. She silently swore. She was never late. She darted down her steps, headed to her garage behind the home, and saw a figure move from the corner of her eye. Blood pressure rocketing, Victoria whirled to face the movement, planted her feet, and pointed her pepper spray in her attacker’s direction.

The girl shrieked and tripped backward, hands in the air.

“Trinity!” Victoria’s heart stopped as she registered her teen neighbor’s face. “You scared me to death!” She lowered the spray and willed her heart to restart. I nearly sprayed her. Of course, there were worse things than being nailed with pepper spray. The stuff made your eyes burn and stole your breath until you wanted to puke, but you’d live.

“I’m so sorry, Dr. Peres. I was just about to knock on your front door when I heard you out back.”

Victoria blew out a breath. Her neighbor looked truly rattled. Well, that made two of them. Trinity lived a few houses down. Currently a senior in high school, she’d struck up a conversation with Victoria two years ago while she was weeding her yard. When she’d discovered Victoria worked for the medical examiner, she’d begged her to speak to her careers class. Surprisingly, Victoria had a blast interacting with the high-school kids, changing their beliefs that the medical examiner’s office was like CSI and telling them how it really worked. The teacher asked her to return the following year, saying he’d never seen the kids so fascinated.

Yes, death was fascinating when you studied it at a distance.

Hands-on experience was different.

Still fascinating, but much messier.

Victoria slipped her pepper spray back in her pocket and took a closer look at Trinity. The teen was pale, her eyes red with a look of desperation. “What’s wrong?”

In Victoria’s opinion, Trinity was a smart girl. Street smart and school smart. She’d been in the foster system since she was ten. Her mother had ended up in prison after too many drug convictions, and Trinity had been bumped through several foster families. Her current situation was stable, and she’d confided that she’d hoped to stick with her foster mom, Katy, through high school. Some of her previous homes had given more stress than help.

“Did you see those girls on TV? The ones found in Forest Park?” Trinity couldn’t hold still. She clenched and unclenched her fists. Her blonde ponytail bobbed as her feet shifted and her gaze pleaded with Victoria.

Victoria stiffened. “Did you know them? Do you know what happened?”

“I don’t know! My friend Brooke isn’t answering her phone. And I know she was going up there last evening. Can you find out the names of the girls who died?”

Victoria swallowed. “They don’t know who they are yet. There wasn’t any identification with them. What does your friend look like?”

“She’s got long dark hair. Blue eyes—”

Victoria’s heart fell.

“Oh my gosh!” Trinity froze, her gaze locked on Victoria. “You know? You know what they look like?” The teen looked ready to vomit. “I told her she shouldn’t go. The whole situation didn’t make sense!”

Victoria placed her hands on Trinity’s shoulders and held the teen’s terrified gaze. “Yes, they all had long dark hair. Each girl did. But that doesn’t mean one of them is your friend. I’m headed to the ME’s office now, and I’ll see what I can find out. Have you talked to your friend’s parents?”

Trinity looked at the ground and her shoulders slumped. “I haven’t. Brooke told them she was spending the night with me. I didn’t want to get her in trouble if nothing had happened to her.”

Victoria tightened her grip. “Listen to me. You’re not doing your friend any favors by covering for her if she’s doing something dangerous. You don’t know where she was last night?”

Trinity shook her head. “She was doing another photo shoot. She told me it was at Forest Park. But she didn’t say exactly where.”

“A photo shoot? At night?”

“I know, right? That’s what didn’t make sense.” Trinity’s voice cracked.

“Who’s taking pictures?”

“This guy. I don’t know who he is. A friend of hers from a different high school put her in touch with him. He was looking for a girl with long dark hair for modeling. He made Brooke darken hers. He said everything about her was perfect for his pictures, but her hair needed to be a little bit darker.”

Red flags were waving in Victoria’s head. “Some guy? Another student?”

“I don’t know! Brooke never said. I think he was older. He had all sorts of photography equipment and had already done some other photo shoots with Brooke and some other girls—”