Chapter Eighteen
The black and white Papillion, the runt of his litter didn't know where he was going to be going yet. But he was now officially named "Cooper." He was going to his new home in two weeks. Horatio was going to bring him home as a surprise. It promised to be quite a Saturday morning. Today, Aimee, Horatio and Kyle had met him at the shelter. Horatio refused to admit he was excited about the new addition but his wife and son knew he was. Kyle kept the puppy supplies in his apartment so the surprise wouldn't be spoiled.
"You like him," his wife teased Horatio. She had seen the look on her husband's face when the pup snuggled into him and fall asleep.
"You like him," Aimee teased her husband. "I can tell."
"I suppose I do. We'll see how it goes with house breaking him."
"Hey, I had a Papillion for fifteen years as a kid. They're smart and eager to please. House-breaking, which I'll be doing most of, may I add, shouldn't the trial as you think."
"As long as you don't cave and let him sleep in our bed."
Aimee made no promises.
Finally.
There was a breakthrough in the murdered young women. Sort of.
There had been another attack. This time the victim was still alive. The woman was in the ICU with her throat in the same way as the others. She wasn't expected to survive. But blood and tissue from her attacker were under her fingernails. They knew they were looking for a man now. The neighbor who chased off the attacker seeing the victim's front door open finding her just in time wasn't a match. Plus he had an alibi. About twenty feet from the front door the attacker had dropped his weapon. Likely not meaning to.
A hunting knife.
Along with the new victim's DNA and a smear of the killer's blood. Unlike the other identical murders, the guy wasn't wearing gloves this time. Cutting himself in the struggle would have been easy to do. The only problem? There wasn't any match in any database. All that was needed was the missing piece.
A name.
If he hadn't had his family to come home to, Horatio would have become an obsessed mess over this case. As he had a tendency to do with cases this gruesome. Watching Rachel, and Cheyenna teach how to Hunter play soccer in the backyard was a distraction. Two of the girls played the sport. Hunter wasn't old enough for another year. The little boy just might take up an interest in basketball. He loved playing with his big brother. Even if he couldn't dribble the ball yet.
"You all right, dad?" Kyle said walking up behind his father on the patio.
"I'm fine, son."
"Just lost in thought again?"
Horatio nodded. "Sorry. How were classes today?"
Kyle scoffed. "Florida has too many snakes. And too many stupid people who keep as pets." He had to help examine two today, nearly getting his arm coiled both times. He admitted to his father he panicked.
Horatio told him any reasonable person would do the same. He told Kyle he had plenty of time and a lot training to go yet. "You'll be fine. Kyle. I know you will."