Gone Unnoticed: A Kate Reid Novel (The Kate Reid Series Book 3) by Robin Mahle Page B

it, it seems like you pulled a whole lot of strings to get her assigned to your office, and I’m just trying to figure out why.”

 
     
     
    SEVEN
     
     
     
    D espite being on the receiving end of an undeserved silent treatment, Kate understood that something had transpired last night after she left Nick’s place. The early morning drive to Richmond found her trapped in the car, feeling awkward, and although she’d attempted to engage in some lighthearted conversation, she soon realized it was entirely inappropriate, considering the destination they were approaching.
    It was a failed attempt in any case and so Kate figured he’d talk when he was ready, but his reticence bothered her. They were about to confirm that the investigation had taken a deadly turn and they should have been discussing leads and coordination efforts between the jurisdictions. Instead, Kate spent the better part of two hours listening to talk radio, something she despised in the first place.
    Upon arrival at the abandoned house where the two women were found dead, Kate began to notice something. She stood outside the home and looked along the road at the houses lined up and down the street. A few people came outside to check the happenings, having spotted police units parked in front of the home. As soon as she caught the stare of one onlooker, the old woman immediately turned away. A few young men stood outside another home about three houses down, and since the houses were close together, they were getting a pretty good view of the circus.
    What she’d noticed was that of those interested neighbors huddled in conversation, she’d overheard a language that was definitely not English. Kate walked over to one of the local police officers who was taking pictures of footprints in the yard. “Hey, those guys over there, can you hear what they’re saying?”
    The officer listened. “I can hear ‘em, but I don’t have any idea as to what they’re saying. Probably speaking Croatian or Serbian; they’re pretty similar. Not sure, but this is a highly immigrant area concentrated with eastern Europeans.”
    “Makes sense. Thanks.” Kate walked inside and found Nick typing something on his phone. “Hey. How’s it going in here?”
    “Good. It looks like these guys might have an identity on at least one of the victims. A young woman was reported missing last week and this one matches the description. They’re working on getting the family to confirm her identity, but she’ll have to be taken to the morgue first.”
    “Does she match our victim profile?”
    “I don’t know much yet. If she was here or her family was here legally, that doesn’t mean our theory is off base. It just means we got lucky to have been able to ID someone.”
    “I was talking to the officer out there,” Kate began, “and he mentioned this neighborhood has a lot of Croatians and Serbians. Similar to the demographics of the other neighborhoods, including the one Ms. Sala managed to escape from.”
    “Add it to the growing list then. Whoever is running this thing is starting to get careless. One escaped and now two are dead—assuming they’re connected. In my mind, that’s quickly becoming a certainty.” Nick watched the officers photographing the scene. “I’d sure as hell like to know why we haven’t found Corbett yet. I don’t know if he’s the head of the snake, but he’s a part of it, and we need to consider employing other methods to find him before more girls wind up dead or being sold off to the highest bidder.”
    “I’m not sure which is worse,” Kate replied.
    The Richmond Police Department’s forensics team was operating at full capacity, by all accounts. They were starting to bring the bodies down the staircase and take them to the waiting coroner’s office mobile transport outside.
    “We can talk to some of the neighbors, find out if they knew the victims, once we confirm their identities, or if they knew the men who brought them