Prologue

Robin

Chinatown, New York City,

As I made my way towards the scene of the crime, I could see the flashing lights from several blocks away. The chief had called me moments before I'd left my apartment. It was supposed to be my night off. A night I was looking forward to. Instead, one phone call changed all that. Now, my plans to enjoy a night out with my girls had suddenly taken a turn for the worse. There was only one reason the chief would call me on my only day off, and I wasn't looking forward to what I was going to find.

Carefully driving past the barricade, I found a parking spot and cut my engine. Surveying the area, I observed that there were many police officers and news channels present, all eager to gather any information they could. It dawned on me that the night was going to be very long. Whenever the news channels made an appearance, it was usually the case.

I hated it when they showed up.

All they did was make my job harder.

Just when I was getting out of my vehicle, they hit me with a barrage of questions that I was unable to answer since I hadn't yet learned any information.

Didn't they understand I had just arrived?

"Detective Calloway! Is it another child?"

"This is the third kid in a month!"

"Do we have a serial child killer in our city?"

"How close are you to catching this killer?"

"No comment," I muttered, walking past the horde of vultures.

I really hated them sometimes.

I could feel my heart pounding in my chest as I made my way towards the crime scene, taking a deep breath to calm myself. All I'd been told was that someone had found another child and I needed to get my ass to the scene fast.

In my role of lead detective for the NYPD's Special Crime Unit, I have had the unfortunate experience of bearing witness to some of the most sick and depraved individuals in the world. My line of work was notorious for its high turnover rate, with few individuals lasting more than a year or two. Most officers transferred out, unable to cope with the trauma they witnessed. In some cases, they have even been known to turn in their badge.

This job was not a walk in the park. It demanded a lot of grit and determination and was definitely not for the fainthearted.

I was responsible for investigating these despicable individuals, making sure we held them responsible for their actions, while supporting the victims and their families in finding peace. But even I knew there would be no peace for the families because their lives would never be the same.

The worst part of my job.

The victims were children. From newborns to late teens. If it involved a minor, my unit was called in and we took point. They tasked my unit with investigating everything from abductions to murder and all the appalling incidents in between.

I'd been a part of the S.C.U. for close to five years now, transferring into the unit when I became a detective. If you were to read my personnel files, I'm sure they'd make mention of how I possessed certain attributes that were hard to come by and fit a mold that was rare to find. While I was knocking on thirty, I could pass for a teenager, which helped our cyber-crime division when it came to hunting down some of these bastards. It also meant I got a lot of ribbing from my colleagues because of my looks. Funny pranks and jokes, like a toy scooter for Christmas one year or the bevy of stuffed animals that filled one of my closets in my apartment. I knew my colleagues didn't mean anything with the items they left, but sometimes it bothered me.

Like the gift I found on my desk two weeks ago.

Someone left a pacifier and a baby bottle on my desk. Usually, that kind of thing wouldn't have rattled me, but after dealing with a case where a drunk father smothered his nine-month-old baby, the joke crossed a line.

"Calloway!"

I shook my head when Detective Norwich waved at me, trying to hurry me up, before he popped back into the dark alley. It was clear he didn't understand that I did things at my own pace. While I knew the victim was the priority, I preferred to scour the scene before focusing my attention on the deceased, making the effort to observe and carefully store every detail in my memory.

"Now, Calloway!"

"Jesus fuck," I cursed under my breath. "Impatient, much?"

The first officers on the scene had taped off the surrounding area according to procedure, but that didn't mean they hadn't trampled all over my crime scene first.

Collecting evidence was going to be a bitch.

Lifting the yellow and black crime scene tape I readied myself for what I was about to see. The chief hadn't given me any details. He understood that I had a preference for forming my own conclusions instead of relying on someone else's opinion.

Reaching into my jacket, I pulled out my earbuds, placing them in my ears. Every detective had their own way of investigating a crime scene, and I had mine.

"I'm here."

"About time." Norwich exhaled, gearing up for a full-on rant.

Before he could utter another word, I held up my hand. "I need everyone to clear the scene."

"We don't have time for your idiotic ritual, Calloway. This is the third body from that fucker. We need to get Forensics in here and let them do their job."

I shook my head.

"You don't know that. Now let me do my job," I said flatly, my eyes immediately scanning the area for any irregularities. It was a dark alley. I knew to expect certain things like trash, urine, needles, maybe even a homeless vagrant or two. It was the things that shouldn't be there that I was looking for. Those were the things I needed to pay close attention to.

Norwich sneered at me with contempt. There was no love lost between me and Norwich. New to the department, he wanted my job. Made no bones about it. He was a good detective, but nowhere near my caliber. He lacked empathy and was more concerned with his closing rate than actually doing his job.

But what he wanted most was a place on my Special Crimes team.

For the last three months, I'd been tracking a set of killings that were eerily similar. The only connection between the murders was the trident burned into their bodies.

Walking over to the body curled up in a fetal position on the cold concrete, I kneeled down next to her, closing my eyes. "I'm so sorry this happened to you, sweetheart. I will find out who did this to you and make them pay, if it's the last thing I do. Rest now. I've got you."

After making the cross over my chest, I opened my eyes and got to work.