Ten Plagues by Mary Nealy Page A

fine. I’ll slow down.”
    “What’d he mean with that ‘fairest in the land’ crack?” O’Shea wondered.
    “I know what he meant.” Keren tried to think of a way to change the subject. “It was just his way of letting us know he’s keeping close track. He’ll probably say something about you next, O’Shea.”
    “Yeah, but how did ‘fairest in the land’ mean he knew you? I don’t get it.”
    “Me neither,” Paul said.
    Keren squirmed. It was no big deal, really. It was just personal. On the other hand, it meant Pravus had done a pretty thorough background check on her. “I’ll explain later. Every time I get to talking I start speeding, so shut up and let me drive.”
    After a few more minutes of blissful silence, Paul cleared his throat. Keren glanced down and saw that her speed had built back to fifteen miles over the speed limit. She forced herself to slow.
    “It’s just that I’m so anxious to get back and examine your old case files.” She glanced into his eyes using the rearview mirror. “It’s almost noon now. If we push hard, we can get through them tonight.”
    “Don’t forget, I promised Rosie an escort to the bus station.”
    “I’ll send a squad car for her. They can see her to the bus station or drive her wherever she needs to go.” Keren waved his reminder away. “We don’t have time to let you go help ladies cross the street.”
    “If I’d have told Rosie I was going to do that, I would agree. But I made a promise to a very special young woman. One who has done me the huge honor of trusting me when she never trusts anybody. I’ve got to go.”
    “Call her, Paul,” Keren suggested. “She’ll understand.”
    “The people in that neighborhood aren’t comfortable with the police. If I send a policeman to take her anywhere, she might just react by ducking out the back door and hustling to the bus stop on her own.”
    Keren tried to burn through his overblown sense of duty by banking a blazing look off the mirror. He merely settled more stubbornly into his seat.
    “If you go, at least one of us has to go with you,” O’Shea pointed out.
    “I’ll be fine for an hour on my own. I can take care of myself.”
    “Not if Pravus phones. Having us there when you got the earlier call helped, even if you don’t want to admit it.” Keren could have easily gone back to sparring with him. “All of us thinking together helped come up with the right questions for him.”
    “Fine then.” Paul crossed his arms. “You’ll have to come. We can bring case files along and work while we drive. Figure something out, because I’m going.”
    O’Shea shook his head in disgust. “I’m going to play the tape again. Listen for specifics. Maybe we can narrow our search.”
    The odd voice of Pravus-the-demon haunted them as they drove. It did nothing to improve Keren’s mood. She could tell they were all edgy by the time they’d heard it through three times. Keren pulled into an empty spot near the precinct and threw her car into P ARK with more force than necessary. “Let’s get to work.”
    They hurried into the station, all of them nearly frantic to cull the files for information.
    “Pravus said, ‘I’m glad they’re dead. It was my first act of rebellion against the pharaoh, and you were too stupid to even know it,’ “ O’Shea said as they settled around Keren’s desk in the squad room.
    “I’m glad
they’re
dead. They. More than one person,” Keren said.
    O’Shea nodded. “We look for a case with more than one death. You do the search, Keren. This machine likes you more than it does me.”
    Keren turned to her computer. “Great, we’ll want the paper files later, but right now let’s eliminate a bunch of them.”
    By the time the computer was done sorting, they had narrowed the cases to eighty-three. “I’ve left all the supposed accidents and suicides, as well as any case where there was more than one death.”
    “Did you get rid of all the first-degree