Chapter 10

XXXXXXX

Sam was still standing by Teri's body when a woman wearing a Donna Karan outfit and latex gloves walked in and stopped short at the sight of her. Sam knew there was no mistaking who she was and by the look on Ruby's face, she knew who she was as well. She opened her mouth to speak again but closed it when Jack, Peter and Danny came trailing in behind her.

Danny looked nervous as he made quick work of the introductions. "Sam, this is Ruby Carmichael. Ruby, this is Samantha Spade."

She could see Danny's eyes moving anxiously between the two women. She wondered if he might have actually thought they were going to get into a catfight right in the middle of a murder scene. They were grown women for god's sake. Of course, she couldn't deny that there wasn't a part of her that wanted to scratch Ruby's pretty little eyes out. Instead, being a professional she opted to simply nod at her in greeting.

"Hello," Ruby said with a nervous smile which Sam had to admit pleased her far more than it should. With her eyes on Sam she slowly made her way to the bed. It was then that her expression went blank as her gaze became focused on Teri's still form.

Peter spoke up and said, "Alright hot shot profiler; what can you tell us?"

Ruby gave Peter a scrutinizing look before beginning, "The room shows no signs of struggle; suggests relationship." She leaned over and touched a cut on Teri's forearm. "The cuts were made with precision and symmetry but strictly superficial. They weren't intended to kill or even cause her to bleed to death but to cause pain and disfigurement. He wanted her to suffer. There are no signs of hesitation or hurry indicating that this isn't his first time. They are all pretty evenly spaced. It's almost like a pattern." She looked up to where Jack and Peter were standing. "Has the scene already been photographed?"

"Yes," they both replied.

"Good." Ruby then walked around to where Sam stood. Sam stepped back; curious as to what she was doing as she continued her analysis. Ruby leaned in close to study Teri's face. "He made up the victim's face in dark, comical make-up much like the rest of the victims but the technique has improved. It isn't messy or rushed. He took his time; he knew he wasn't going to be interrupted."

Jack interrupted, "'Victims'?"

Ruby gestured towards Teri and said, "She's the fifth."

"The fifth?" Peter asked.

"Yes," she replied with a nod. "I'll give you a full debriefing on those cases but I'd like to finish here first."

The two men looked at one another curiously when Peter motioned for her to continue.

"The victim's hair coloring is expensive and judging by the roots, pretty recent." Ruby's gaze moved down to Teri's fingers and she picked up her hand and examined her nails. "French manicure, also recent. Is there a salon in this hotel?"

"Yes," Peter replied.

"We'll need to interview the stylists and see if they saw her." She said as she looked under Teri's nails for any skin or tissue. "Women give up a lot of info to their hair stylists and I'd like to know what her plans were now that she was back in New York." She dropped Ruby's hand and continued on, "Now the positioning of the body suggests he wanted her to be exposed, humiliated. I don't think she was raped. The victim wasn't chosen because he liked her but on the contrary, it was because he didn't."

As Ruby continued poking, prodding and theorizing, Sam suddenly started feeling very protective of Teri. The way she described Teri, like she wasn't a real person. The way she continually referred to her as 'the victim' was really starting to bother her.

"…wait for the autopsy for results to be sure. The body…"

"Teri," Sam said with conviction and Ruby looked up at her. "Her name is Teri Fuller."

Ruby stopped what she was doing and stood up straight. She cocked an eyebrow and with an irritated look on her face she said, "Excuse me?"

"Her name is Teri Ann Fuller; not 'the body' or 'the victim' but Teri."

"Sam…." Jack warned.

"If my method bothers you perhaps you should wait outside until I am done," Ruby replied, giving Sam a perturbed look.

"Well, it does bother me. She's a person, not just some thing that you can treat like an object of interest," Sam accused. She could see Ruby clenching her jaw but remaining silent. "She was a young woman who maybe made some bad choices but even in death she is worthy of your respect and that means addressing her by her name."

"Sam, that's enough!" Jack spoke loudly, getting her attention. He gave her a hard look and said, "I need to speak with you outside right now."

She glared at Jack as she stormed out without giving Ruby so much as a backward glance. She walked out of the bedroom, through the living area and went to stand out on the balcony. She wanted fresh air and she wanted it now. She braced her hands on the ledge, closed her eyes and leaned forward taking a deep breath.

"What in the hell was that?" Jack asked as he joined her on the balcony.

She started to explain, "I'm sorry, Jack but the way she kept talking about Teri, like she was just some prop..."

Jack held up his hand for her to stop. "First of all, Ruby is a profiler…."

"We profile too, Jack," she replied defensively.

"Let me finish." Jack retorted with constrained aggravation. "Yes, we profile but we focus on getting into the head of the people we are searching for; she is trained to get into the head of the killer. And the killer does not empathize or relate to the person they are killing."

Sam nodded her head reluctantly.

"Besides, I don't think this is just about her technique," Jack said, his expression softening. "This is about Ruby and her relationship to Martin."

Sam shook her head. "No, Jack. That has nothing to do with it."

He gave her a disbelieving look, paused and said, "Good. Because if you want to help work this case then you will have to work with Ruby and that means treating her with respect, just like you would any other agent." Jack waited until she nodded her head in agreement before he added, "Sam, I know that this case is difficult for you but that is exactly why you cannot let your emotions block you from doing your job. If you don't think you can keep it professional I need you to tell me now."

"I'll be fine, Jack," she replied determinedly.

He looked at her warily but nodded his head before he walked back into the suite. Sam took another breath before she headed back inside.

When she entered the living area she saw Martin walk in through the hallway door. She gave him a small smile and he walked right over, put his arms around her and softly said, "I was so worried it was you." He stepped back and gruffly asked, "Where in the hell have you been? I've been trying to call you all night."

"Long story but I'm fine. Sorry to make you worry." Sam tried to not think about how good it felt to have Martin's arms around her, even if it was for a brief few seconds. "Where have you been?"

"I was looking at the surveillance tapes downstairs," he replied as he continued looking at her.

Ignoring the power his eyes still had on her she asked, "Did you find anything useful?"

"Not really but I'm still working on it." Martin was about to say something else when someone behind him asked if they could pass; it was the Medical Examiner here to take Teri's body back to the morgue.

They watched as the two men wheeled in the gurney and headed into the bedroom. Sam was still watching their backs when Martin touched her arm and whispered softly, "I'm sorry about Teri, Sam. I know you really felt for her."

She tilted her head back and gave him a sad smile of gratitude. They continued to look at one another for a few beats when Jack, Danny, and Peter walked out of the bedroom.

Jack spotted Martin and said, "Please tell me you got some good news."

He shook his head and replied, "I'm afraid not; it seems that the camera on this floor has been out of order for the last two days. The hotel hasn't gotten around to fixing it yet. I called James to come down here and take a look at the camera to see if it has been tampered with."

She looked behind Jack and saw Ruby exiting the bedroom, not looking very happy. Sam glanced quickly at Martin and saw that he had noticed Ruby as well. He gave her a small smile that felt like a knife to Sam's gut.

"Jack, I'm going to head back to the office," Danny announced as he waved a cell phone in the air and moved to leave.

"I'll go with you," Sam said quickly. She gave a quick nod to the group and hurried out behind Danny, not wanting to witness a Martin and Ruby reunion.

As they stood waiting for the elevator Danny asked, "Are you okay?"

She nodded her head and said, "Yeah, I'm fine. I just wasn't ready to see her like that."

She left it up to Danny to decide if she was talking about Teri or Ruby.