still

d lying in bed with her cat, Mr. Perkins, for six hours, she still couldn't get the

he had described the suspect, she thought of him as Raggedy Man. The name just popped into her head. Had she heard it in

vices of a police psychologist if Sam wanted one; what would they think of her if she told the

out her, Sam had driven her civilian vehicle, a 1976 Mustang II Cobra, out to her foster mom's hou

kind of precognition, what explanation existed for her dreaming th

failed to catch Raggedy Man, so he remained a mystery. There had been no I.

a wood frame farmhouse, out on the edge of the Blackrock

es at the foyer,

al stay, she had become Kathy's ward. Though Kathy had wanted Sam to call her "mom," Sam had not been comfortable wit

ed again

ans

, a creak sounded. S

et back, her hand hovering over the Glock on her hip. Though

staircase when a voice called

ath and pulled her jac

, it'

a small, empty glass. Her frazzled graying hair was half pulled back, the rest wafti

h this guy I want yo

om and into the kitchen. "I saw the news

they're willing to tel

near the fridge. "Well I'm not 'the public' I'm your mother!

am had no doubt that if she gave her foster mom any additional details, those details would spread

keep my job. Ch

even and seven?" Kathy w

of times already. Kathy's husband and Sam's foster dad, Ben, had been a long haul trucker. When Sam was fourteen, while traveling the five freeway from Calif

g more consistently. Part of the reason Sam started

the bottle earlier in the day. Sam was worried that before long an interventi

ss on the island, then opened the fridge and withdr

ll lost on Kathy, who often tried to play matchmaker. Johnny Clapton, who bedded so many w

he has your number. Not mine. Bec

e rang. She looked at the caller I.D. "It

own from an upper cabinet. "He's

efore answering the

hough the domestic call you got was anonymous,

as Barnes kept on: "Someone didn't want that call to come back to them. What that says to me is that t

nt that the wo

already lurking in the back of her mind, the

age at the scene w