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.”Gil ignored him, instead listening to the scanner to see if there was any chatter about other sites.“You are such a safety dog, Gil,” Joe said, not letting the issue go.“A what?” Gil asked, not sure what he was talking about.“A safety dog.Like the guy who gets dressed up in a dog costume and goes to schools to tell kids to not play with matches or whatever.”“I think that’s Smokey the Bear.”“In my school it was the safety dog,” Joe said with conviction, “and that is so you, man.You always gotta follow the rules.”Joe and Gil drove down a pine-tree-lined drive into the heart of the Rosario Cemetery.The gravestones were unmatched and uneven.Some were only hand-chiseled on a piece of rock, while others were full marble vaults.A few were written in Spanish from the early 1800s, and there was a scattering of brand-new ones.The names on the graves were from old Santa Fe families—Vigil, Gurule, Pacheco, Baca, and Ortega.In the middle of the graves was the Capilla de Nuestra Señora del Rosario, a small chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary.To La Conquistadora, specifically.The capilla had two small circular windows above an arched door, making the front of the church look like a surprised face.There were buttresses on either side of the front door, and a silver bell in the mission-style roof.The church was built precisely on the spot where Don Diego de Vargas made his famous prayer.The chapel was permanent proof that Santa Feans kept their promise to honor La Conquistadora if she delivered the city to the Spanish.Gil knew the capilla would be closed.It was only opened during the fiesta procession that would take place on Sunday.It wasn’t the capilla they were coming to see, though.They were coming to check the outdoor altar to Mary.Gil parked the Crown Vic in the empty parking lot.He and Joe took a minute to steel themselves before getting out.Because they saw what awaited them.They walked in silence over to the front of a permanent altar that had been erected by the church for open-air Masses.The chest-high altar, made of white marble, was on a dais up four brick steps.Behind the altar, a freestanding beige stucco wall rose up at least two stories.Nestled in a large cutout in the wall was a five-foot-tall white marble statue of the Virgin Mary.Where the other statues of Mary had been ornate, this one was unadorned.She was sculpted in simple flowing robes of white.Her hands were folded in prayer.Her beautiful face, looking down and etched in sorrow and grief, could have been reacting to the display on the altar below her.This time the killer had been more intricate.Safely away from the prying eyes of the cars that passed by the gated cemetery, he had spent more time here.There was an array of glass containers, some empty and some with red liquid in them.Gil counted fourteen jars in all placed on the edges of the altar.As Gil got closer, he saw that some of the empty jars actually had bones in them.Placed next to each jar was a piece of heavy ivory paper, carefully cut out into a rectangle the size of a playing card and folded in half, like a seating marker at a fancy dinner.On each paper was written one sentence: I was dead and buried.CHAPTER SIXFriday MorningGil stood with his back to the crime scene, looking at a gravestone in front of him.The tombstone was of speckled marble.It was the final resting place of Henry, who had been born in 1909 and died in 1978.Next to his name was a space left for Virginia, who had been born in 1906.There was no final date for her.She had decided not to join Henry here in death.Gil wondered if Henry had forgiven her for that.He heard Chief Kline calling his name behind him and turned around.The quiet cemetery had turned into a sparsely attended freak show, with a crime scene tech taking photo after photo as Kline, Garcia, and a few other officers peered curiously through the glass jars.Since the cemetery was off the main road, containment of this scene was fairly easily.It simply took one police cruiser parked in front of the main entrance.Gil walked over to Kline and saw Joe coming from the other direction, doing the same.As the two of them approached each other, Joe said, “Hey, there’s a guy buried over here named Montoya.It looks like he was a senator.Are you guys related?”Gil shrugged.“Probably.”“Dude, you are like royalty around here.”They met up with Kline and Garcia in the middle of the parking lot.“Well,” Kline said, looking tense, “I don’t know what else to do but to call in the FBI.This is getting pretty far out of our league.”“I think this is pretty far out of everyone’s league,” Gil said.He didn’t see calling in the FBI as a failure on his part but as a chance to get more manpower.In the past, he had worked well with the agents, who were always helpful and well informed.There might be a problem with Brianna’s family, though.The FBI had been called in on her case before, and their presence led directly to the family filing the lawsuit.If they were to call the FBI in again, what little help the Rodriguezes were giving might dry up.Gil said as much to Kline, who said, “I agree.At the same time, we are seriously overwhelmed here.”They all stood in silence until the chief said, “Let me think about it some more
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Tematy
IndexChristine Amsden [Cassie Scot Cassie Scot ParaNormal Detecti
Christie Craig [Divorced, Des Divorced, Desperate
Moore Christopher Ssij, mała, ssij (II)
Stasheff, Christopher Wizard in Rhyme 6 Haunted Wizard
Christine Feehan Mroczna Seri Mroczny Demon
Cidney Swanson [Saving Mars Saving Mars (epub)
Stasheff, Christopher Rogue Wizard 04 A Wizard in Peace
Feehan Christine Mroczna Seria 01 Mroczny Ksišże
Stasheff, Christopher Warlock 01 The Warlock in Spite of Himself
Christine Feehan Mroczna Seria 13 Mroczne Przeznaczenie