Now what?

Ava wondered how long it would take the manager to return her call. Could be hours. Until then she needed to get Jayne out of her brain and go back inside and focus on the case. Easier said than done. She took several deep breaths and studied the sky, emptying her mind of Jayne’s words. She concentrated on the absence of fingerprints in Justin’s car and the lack of drugs in his system.

What drives a person to do what he did?

Are they missing something in their brains? Like Jayne?

So far no one had questioned her presence in the investigation. Zander was deliberately including her, and she suspected it was out of pity. He knew she’d go nuts looking at this case from the outside.

Time to go back in.

She stood, her muscles aching as if she’d lifted weights for the past eight hours. She didn’t want to go inside. She wanted to close her eyes and let the heat bake away her chill. Jayne’s call had drained her. Ten hours of sleep and a glass of wine sounded heavenly. Footsteps sounded behind her . . . no, boot steps. She spun around and all thoughts of the call fluttered away. Warm brown eyes smiled at her and a schoolgirl giddiness filled her lungs. The crinkling of skin at the corners of his eyes filled her with love.

This was how someone who loved you made you feel. Not guilty, not confused, not exhausted.

He stopped in front of her, still holding her gaze, and slid his hands around her waist, pulling her tight to his chest. She melted into him and sighed.

How does he do that with a simple touch?

“You look like you need something,” Mason quietly said into her ear.

“Not anymore. I found it.”

18

Mason studied the photos of the Eugene shooter on the overhead screen. The Lane County sheriff had accompanied two of his deputies to make the presentation to the Rivertown Mall shooting task force. Mason had seen Multnomah County’s chief deputy, Arnold Bishop, slip into the room before the briefing started. Their task force was growing. Now they had three large crimes from three different counties to look at. During a quick meeting before the briefing, there’d been a discussion about who would oversee the coordination of information and investigation among all the law enforcement agencies, and the ball had landed firmly in the hands of Sergeant Shaver from Washington County. He was the most centrally located among the crimes and had the organizational skills and resources to keep things flowing.

Mason thought Shaver was perfect for the job. As long as no one had volunteered Mason himself, he was happy. People-pleasing and ass-kissing weren’t things he did well. He preferred to be left alone to get his job done. Not to be assigned a chair with everyone looking at him to guide the next step.

“He looks so happy,” mumbled Ava, eyeing the photos of Joseph Albaugh.

Mason didn’t say anything. He’d seen too many smiling killers. People lied. Lied with their mouths and with their expressions. He didn’t trust any of it.

“Albaugh was a local boy from one of the more rural areas,” said one of the Lane County deputies, gesturing at the screen. “Grew up knowing how to shoot and hunt and ride dirt bikes. Family has lived in the area for generations. Graduated from the University of Oregon with a degree in economics and had been working at the Home Depot for the last four years.

“On the day of the shooting, Albaugh left his apartment by four A.M. He had a roommate who woke up briefly when he left; he assumed Albaugh had an early shift at work. Just before seven A.M. Albaugh pulled into the lot of Green Lake Park. Witnesses noticed his car arrive but said he didn’t exit immediately.”

“Who else was in the park at seven in the morning?” asked one of the Cedar Edge cops.

“People were putting their boats in at one end of the parking lot for a day of fishing. There were a few people running or walking the trails that crisscross that area. Parents and a few kids. There’s a children’s play area that’s one of the best in the state. Original stuff for kids to play on. There’s a gigantic set of dinosaur bones, an automatic river with a sand bed, and unique climbing structures of the like I’ve never seen before.

“Once Albaugh stepped out of his car, he immediately began to shoot.” The deputy changed the overhead display to a map of the park. “He’d parked at the east end of the lot, far away from the boat ramp.” He pointed with a red laser pointer.

The children’s play area was directly beside where Albaugh had parked. Mason tensed in his chair. Asshole. Why next to the kids?

“The first victim was a jogger; he went down here. Second and third victims were two parents in the play area. The fourth was an older gentleman simply sitting on a bench. Two children were injured but not by gunfire. One of the murdered parents dropped her toddler daughter when she was shot and another child fell off the slide in the aftermath.”

Ava sucked in a breath and discreetly slipped her hand into Mason’s between their seats.

Mason knew she was going to see a counselor arranged through the FBI’s Employee Assistance Program tomorrow. She’d been sleeping really crappy for the last two nights. Her chin was up and she seemed to be coping okay, but he didn’t want to take any chances. There’d been no protest on her part about talking with the psychiatrist; she knew the drill and accepted it.

“Albaugh then headed to the restrooms here.” The red pinpoint of light circled a square on the map. “He chased two men out of the restroom and then shot himself. We estimate the entire episode took less than two minutes.”