Steven sighed. In a case with the potential to become such a high profile, it was only a matter of time. "We knew it was coming. Well?"

"He's concerned, of course, and wanted to know what we had. I told him I'd call him after this morning's briefing."

"At least we don't have help from the Feds or the press yet."

Lennie lifted a brow. "Let's try to keep it that way."

"I talked to Kent Thompson last night." Steven pulled a folder from his briefcase, conscious of Lennie watching his every move. Steven knew why and it pissed him off. Lennie was looking for signs of strain. Of stress. Of anything that might suggest Steven was ready to blow a gasket because this was his first abduction case since Nicky. Fe'd felt like a fish in a damn bowl for six months now?nd Lennie's watchful stare wasn't helping matters. He drew a deep breath. "You know Kent, don't you?"

Lennie nodded. "New guy. Works in Diane's department."

"Yeah. Seems like he knows his stuff. Anyway, he was here until midnight last night, doing some lab tests on the material we found in the hypo at the clearing. Said he needed to let the samples sit overnight before running the chromatogra-phy test. He should be here any minute."

"I wish Diane were here," Lennie mused. "This is a big case for a rookie. Maybe I should call in someone from the Charlotte office until Diane gets back from her cruise."

Steven shook his head. "Give the guy a chance, Lennie. Let's see what he's come up with. Coffee's done, finally. Do you want some?"

"Not till Nancy comes. Don't forget I've tasted your coffee."

Steven grimaced. "So have I. Caffeine addictions can be a real bitch."

One corner of Lennie's mouth lifted. "So what time is this meeting scheduled to start, Steven?"

Steven glanced at his watch. "Ten minutes. Everybody will be here."

Within ten minutes the conference room was filled with the team Steven had assembled Thursday morning, a few hours after receiving word of Samantha Eggleston's disappearance. Kent Thompson brought up the rear, carrying an overstuffed folder and looking like he'd slept in his suit. Steven could see Lennie giving him a look that clearly won-dered if he'd made a mistake in not calling for Charlotte reinforcements sooner.

"Sorry," Kent mumbled and took the last empty chair.

Nancy put a cup of coffee in front of the young man who stared at it warily. "Did Steven make this?" Kent asked and Steven rolled his eyes at the chuckles that rippled through the room.

"You're safe, honey," Nancy said and patted Kent's shoulder in her motherly way. "I dumped Steven's pot and made a new one."

"And I called the plumber to repair the corrosion to the pipes," Harry chimed in with a grin.

"Yeah, yeah," Steven muttered. "Are we ready to begin?" Steven asked loudly and the side conversations abruptly ceased. "Thanks." He looked around the table at the team he'd assembled. Seven men and women, including himself. Solid agents, all of them. Kent Thompson was their forensic scientist, Harry Grimes and Sandra Kates his fellow investigating agents, Meg Donnelly would profile the killer they sought, and Nancy Patterson would provide the database support. He'd added Liz Johnson, the assistant DA, to ensure any move they made would stand up in court.

He knew they'd need every drop of talent the group offered to stop this killer before Samantha Eggleston's battered body ended up in a clearing like Lorraine's. "I want to start with results from Forensics, then review the database search of like perps." He raised his eyes across the room to Meg, the staff psychologist. "And then, Meg, I'd like you to give your take on who we're looking for." Steven turned to Kent, hoping that he had something decent to say or Lennie would have a more experienced replacement up from Charlotte before lunchtime. "Showtime, Thompson. Let's see what you've got."

Kent opened his file folder, exposing a two-inch stack of papers. "I have a number of items to cover this morning. Please stop me if I talk too fast," He gave a funny little smile. "I'm a little nervous, but I'm sure I'll get over it." Everyone smiled back in encouragement, including Lennie.

"Let's begin with the underwear Bud Clary found under the tree in the clearing yesterday morning," Kent said and pulled out a photograph showing two magnified hairs. "They were the same size and brand worn by Samantha and I found these two pubic hairs stuck in the cotton fibers. We can compare the DNA to hairs from her brush and epithelial cells from her toothbrush."

"So we at least can put her underwear at the scene," Sandra Kates commented. She was a seasoned agent with a niche expertise in sexual deviants. Steven didn't envy her dreams. His own were bad enough.

Kent nodded. "Exactly. I searched the flattened grassy area for hair from Samantha's head, but found none which I thought a bit odd."

"Why?" Lennie asked, leaning forward slightly in his chair.

"Because Samantha has very long curly hair." Kent pulled another photograph from his stack, one magnified with a microscope. "Here's a blade of grass from the clearing at fifty-ex. See the way the little thorny structures protrude all up and down the blade? It makes the grass like Velcro."

"Which should have pulled at least one or two hairs if she'd been laid on the grass," Steven finished and Kent nodded again.

"Exactly right, especially with how dry the grass is right now."

Steven glanced over at Meg. "He shaved her head? Just like Lorraine Rush."

Meg shrugged. "That would be my guess."

Steven looked back at Kent. "What about the dark hair you found?"

'The hair was clipped at the edge, almost like it had been shaved with a razor or some other kind of blade. It's not Samantha's, I can tell you that. As for DNA, there was no follicle, like I told you yesterday, so I'll need to use mitochon-drial cells for the DNA print instead of cells from the nucleus. It doesn't provide the full range of gene mapping as it only holds genetic material from the mother."

Steven turned to Assistant DA Liz Johnson. "Admissible?"

Liz nodded. "Yes, I've used it before. Not often, but enough."

"What else do you have?" Lennie asked brusquely and Steven knew he was impressed.

Kent's expression hardened. "The hypo had traces of ket-amine."

Steven's shoulders slumped as murmurs ran round the table. "Shit. Are you sure?"

"Unfortunately, yes. I ran the GC three times, which is why I was late this morning. All the peaks match up."

Steven looked to Harry. "Did Latent find anything on the hypo itself?"

Harry shook his head. "Not a print. Bastard wore gloves."

Nancy raised her hand. "I'm out of the loop here. What's ketamine?"

"Close relative of PCP," Sandra answered grimly. "Widely used as an anesthetic, especially with vets. Veterinarians," she specified. "Available from most veterinary supply catalogs."

Meg pushed away from the table and walked to the window. "Legally used, it's an effective replacement for general anesthesia, especially outside of hospital environments."

"Doctors on charity missions to Africa will use it when they're operating out in the field," Kent offered. "It completely immobilizes the patient."

Meg nodded. "That's right. And when used correctly it's quite safe."

"But?" Nancy asked.

"But it's one of the fastest-growing illicit drugs out there today," Steven said grimly. "If you take enough you enter what users call the 'k-zone.' Users have out-of-body experiences. Some even say they witness their own death."

"Our perp uses ketamine to immobilize these girls," Nancy murmured. "Like a date-rape drug."

"Something like that," Meg replied. "But unlike rhohypnol where the victim doesn't remember anything, ketamine users have a detached awareness of their surroundings." She turned to the group. "But the worst part is what they call the reemer-gence dreams. They can be simply horrific."