Profile of Fear: Book Four of the Profile Series (Volume 4) by Alexa Grace Page A

he’d say, “You can’t save them all, Cam. No matter how much you want to. You can’t save all of them.” Yeah, but maybe if he was lucky, he’d be given a chance to help Becca.
    In his earpiece, he heard Gail say, “Sergeant, just heard from CPS. The case manager will meet us at the hospital. Just finished the photos.”
    “I’ll be right there.”
     
    When he reached the emergency response vehicle, he saw that Becca was stripped down to her birthday suit and her clothes were in evidence bags. Gail was holding the wiggling little girl, who stretched out her arms to Cameron as soon as she noticed him. He took her from Gail.
    Gail looked frustrated. “I tried to get her in the shower but she wouldn’t have anything to do with it. She keeps saying ‘poo.’”
    “What does that mean?”
    As soon as the question left his mouth, Becca began chanting, “Poo. Poo. Poo.”
    Cameron looked at Gail. “Does she have to go to the bathroom?”
    “I already asked her that, and she said no.”
    “Well, she has to be decontaminated. I was hoping she’d want to play in the shower water.” Walking Becca to the shower, Cam said. “Want to play in the water, Becca?”
    She gleefully clapped her hands and giggled. “Poo. Poo. Poo.” But when she saw the shower, she shook her head and said, “No. I want poo.”
    Wearily, Cam asked, “Poo? Do you want shampoo—for your hair?” Cam raised his arms and moved them like he was washing his hair.
    Becca giggled again, shaking her head, “No sha-poo. I wants my poo!”
    “Wait a minute. I think I know what she’s saying!” Gail took off running to the back of the house. Moments later she returned holding a bright pink plastic kiddie pool. “I saw this earlier when I was doing a perimeter check. Let’s see what happens if I put this directly under the shower spray.”
    Becca jumped up and down, pointing excitedly. “My poo!”
    “No, Gail. You know protocol. These idiots might have used the pool for something other than a toy.”
    Sandy Galloway approached them and bent down to talk to Becca. “Sweetie, if you will let me wash you in the shower, you can have this.” From behind her back, she withdrew a small teddy bear wearing a white hoodie. The Shawnee County Sheriff logo was imprinted on the front of the shirt.
    Becca’s eyes widened with delight and in no time, the child was splashing in the water, soaking Sandy, who was determined to scrub her down with soap.
    Holding her digital camera at her side, Gail leaned closer to Cameron. “Listen, there’s something I need to tell you.”
    The shower curtain flew open and Becca ran out, exposing a series of purple bruises dotting her rib cage. Sandy quickly captured the toddler and placed her back in the shower. Inhaling deeply in an effort to subdue his anger at her abusers, Cameron turned to Gail. “What did you find besides the bruising on her ribs?”
    “There’s discoloration around one of her wrists. She cried out when I touched it.”
    “Damn it.”
    “The doc may find broken bones and more injuries when they examine her at the hospital. The baby has not had a good time of it.”
    Fists clenched at his sides, anger hummed through Cameron’s body. “I want to know which one of them did this to her. Someone is going to pay.”
    “Sir, do you recall the training you sent me to last month? I’m now trained and certified to work with possible child abuse victims. I have a rapport with her now, and I’d really like to be the one who works with Becca.”
    Glancing at Gail, he nodded. In her politically correct way, she was letting him know he was biased in this case, and she was right. For reasons he had yet to understand, this child was already special to him, and his protective emotions surged through him as if a dam had broken. At this moment, he’d get great satisfaction out of throttling Becca’s worthless parents.
    “I agree. You do the interview with her. I’m also putting you in charge of any