Mystery: The Card Counter: (Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Suspense Thriller Mystery) by James Kipling Page B
Authors: James Kipling
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replied, still in shock.
“I know, but we have to keep our heads or more people will die.” I was seriously tempted to slap him back to reality, he seemed to be reacting so slowly, but that wouldn’t be productive. “We need to mobilize now before it’s too late. Keep the details of what you saw to yourself. The last thing we need is a panic.”
“All right,” the Dean finally conceded. “I’ll start making calls and make sure everyone gets rounded up.”
“I’ll set up a place for them to stay,” I said. “We are the only ones who can know where they’re going to stay or their lives could be in danger.” I couldn’t make myself any clearer and the message finally sank in. A single mistake could cost another student or staff member their life. Things could quickly spin out of control and a full blown panic had to be prevented to avoid parents taking their kids home, and temporarily shutting down the campus, though I think we all realized that could be a step we had to take.
Not that I wanted to argue with concerned parents. In fact, I intended to take similar precautions with Cassie. We worked off the assumption that the suspect might be from the campus, meaning he could be a student. If the suspect went home with the rest of the students and went underground, it would make the killer much harder to catch. This wasn’t what I wanted. At the same time, we had to get the football team out of harm’s way.
I contacted the Captain and told him of my plan, and as much as I knew he hated to increase our spending, he was willing to do anything to slow the suspect down. The school made calls, and we dispatched officers to meet the players at the administration building. From there, the plan was to load them onto a bus, ship them to an undisclosed hotel, and keep them there for a few nights.
That would have to do for now, even though there was no guarantee it would work. I asked Flo to stay with the Dean and watch over the players when they arrived at the hotel. We both agreed on a place and I called to make the reservation. When the head count was over, we had to book over 25 rooms, with two people occupying each room. Flo and I were the only two outside of the hotel who knew where they all went. I was intent on keeping it that way, too. I did one more thing to throw our suspect off the trail. I pulled out my cell and made another call. “I’m looking for Tina Carlson.”
“Who is this?” the other side asked.
“This is Detective Walker,” I calmly replied. “I need a favor.”
“What kind of favor?” Tina asked.
“I need you to report that we’ve taken the football team into custody and have them all at the station for questioning.” I waited for a response.
“Is this true?” Tina asked.
“Half of it is.”
“Why do you need me to do this?”
“To prevent the body count from going up any further.” It was the best I could do. Any more information and I would have risked giving away my secrets, which I had no intention of doing.
“All right, but you owe me big time,” Tina said, and the line went dead.
I looked over at Flo, who’d been listening to my conversation with the reporter, and she nodded her approval. If the suspect thought the players were all at the station being questioned as possible suspects, then they were safe because the killer might get a kick out of them being grilled for something he did. The irony would force the killer to hopefully take a breather and back away from his or her current bloodlust.
This would buy us some time and, hopefully, with the help from the feds, the case would move ahead and we’d get to the killer before another person had to bite the dust. I had every intention of cutting this killer off at the knees, and I hoped that this person wouldn’t take their frustrations out on a new group of people. It was a gamble, but I was sure this person’s anger was only for the team, for whatever reason it was. By taking them out of the equation,
“I know, but we have to keep our heads or more people will die.” I was seriously tempted to slap him back to reality, he seemed to be reacting so slowly, but that wouldn’t be productive. “We need to mobilize now before it’s too late. Keep the details of what you saw to yourself. The last thing we need is a panic.”
“All right,” the Dean finally conceded. “I’ll start making calls and make sure everyone gets rounded up.”
“I’ll set up a place for them to stay,” I said. “We are the only ones who can know where they’re going to stay or their lives could be in danger.” I couldn’t make myself any clearer and the message finally sank in. A single mistake could cost another student or staff member their life. Things could quickly spin out of control and a full blown panic had to be prevented to avoid parents taking their kids home, and temporarily shutting down the campus, though I think we all realized that could be a step we had to take.
Not that I wanted to argue with concerned parents. In fact, I intended to take similar precautions with Cassie. We worked off the assumption that the suspect might be from the campus, meaning he could be a student. If the suspect went home with the rest of the students and went underground, it would make the killer much harder to catch. This wasn’t what I wanted. At the same time, we had to get the football team out of harm’s way.
I contacted the Captain and told him of my plan, and as much as I knew he hated to increase our spending, he was willing to do anything to slow the suspect down. The school made calls, and we dispatched officers to meet the players at the administration building. From there, the plan was to load them onto a bus, ship them to an undisclosed hotel, and keep them there for a few nights.
That would have to do for now, even though there was no guarantee it would work. I asked Flo to stay with the Dean and watch over the players when they arrived at the hotel. We both agreed on a place and I called to make the reservation. When the head count was over, we had to book over 25 rooms, with two people occupying each room. Flo and I were the only two outside of the hotel who knew where they all went. I was intent on keeping it that way, too. I did one more thing to throw our suspect off the trail. I pulled out my cell and made another call. “I’m looking for Tina Carlson.”
“Who is this?” the other side asked.
“This is Detective Walker,” I calmly replied. “I need a favor.”
“What kind of favor?” Tina asked.
“I need you to report that we’ve taken the football team into custody and have them all at the station for questioning.” I waited for a response.
“Is this true?” Tina asked.
“Half of it is.”
“Why do you need me to do this?”
“To prevent the body count from going up any further.” It was the best I could do. Any more information and I would have risked giving away my secrets, which I had no intention of doing.
“All right, but you owe me big time,” Tina said, and the line went dead.
I looked over at Flo, who’d been listening to my conversation with the reporter, and she nodded her approval. If the suspect thought the players were all at the station being questioned as possible suspects, then they were safe because the killer might get a kick out of them being grilled for something he did. The irony would force the killer to hopefully take a breather and back away from his or her current bloodlust.
This would buy us some time and, hopefully, with the help from the feds, the case would move ahead and we’d get to the killer before another person had to bite the dust. I had every intention of cutting this killer off at the knees, and I hoped that this person wouldn’t take their frustrations out on a new group of people. It was a gamble, but I was sure this person’s anger was only for the team, for whatever reason it was. By taking them out of the equation,
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