Forty-seven minutes later, he pulled into police headquarters in Charlotte. He looked at his watch and shook his head. He lived on Lake Norman for goodness sake. They are lucky he was there under an hour. All eyes turned on him as he entered the building. He knew exactly where to go. Danny Greywood saw him as he crossed the room and was already on his feet by the time he got to his desk.

"Danny, nice to see you again," he said. "How's life been treating you?"

"T. J., you bastard, life is life. I just make the best of it," Danny replied with a huge grin on his face. "How's life on Lake Norman?"

"It's quiet, I'm alone, and it's what I like." As they shook hands, Danny looked into the face of an old friend, Lt. T. J. Chapel United States Army. They had been friends for years even after Danny left the military and joined the police force, and Detective Greywood knew the only guy that would be able to get a handle on this if one of his soldiers had committed the murder.

"So, tell me what made you get me off my deck?" T. J. asked

"Some nasty business here, T-man. Seems a girl was found murdered in Freedom Park, tied up on the fence next to the base there."

"Yeah, I got that, but what makes you think it's a soldier?"

"The witness we have. She saw the guy, actually caught him in the act of positioning the body. He tried to chase her, but she ran screaming and flagged down a squad car, which leads us up to now."

As T. J. listened, he looked over the files and the pictures. His face went hard and cold at what had been done to the girl in the photos. No one should have to go through something like that.

"The victim got a name?"

"Yes. We already identified her, her name is Sherry Mayes, eighteen, going to school at CCPC. Her parents have been notified, and we're trying to keep details out of the morning news. Autopsy hasn't been done yet, but the sick bastard cut her heart out after draining her body of blood, but nowhere near where he was leaving her. The guy had her all dolled up, well, you see the pictures."

"Yeah, I see. Where is the witness?"

Danny pointed to the interview room. "She's been here for hours and hasn't complained, but she's stretched to the breaking point and wants to go home."

"She can go after I finish talking with her," T. J. replied walking toward the room Danny pointed to. He looked through the glass of the door before entering. Inside, he saw an uneaten sandwich and arms full of hair.

She heard the door open and looked up. T. J. knew she was probably expecting to be told she could leave. Instead, she saw a military figure. It had to be disconcerting to see a guy dressed in his uniform standing there. Does she have a thing for men in uniform? He was sure he could see a womanly appreciation for him in her eyes.

"Good evening, ma'am. My name is Lieutenant T. J. Chapel," he said. T. J. saw as her mind started to wander away from him and snapped it back into the present. "Ma'am?"

"Oh, sorry, my mind went off in another direction."

"I could see that," he said brusquely. "Like I said I'm Lieutenant. T. J.--"

"I heard you the first time, Lieutenant."

"Well, then, let's get to it," he said. "You are Kelly Justine, twenty-nine years old, born in Barbados moved to the U. K. when you were sixteen, went to school there, and earned a degree in English, which you don't seem to use. You currently reside in the Camden Apartments, you live alone, and your parents live in New York. Is that correct?"

"Well, gee, I guess that sums it up. What color panties am I wearing?" she asked sarcastically. The fire was back in her just as quickly as it had left.

His gaze never left her face, and he said in the same serious and business-like tone, "I wouldn't know, ma'am."

"You seem to know everything else about me so I just assumed."

"It's my business to know about you before I come in here, ma'am, and when someone accuses one of my soldiers--"

"Now wait a bloody minute! I didn't say it was one of your soldiers. I said I think it was a soldier. I didn't accuse anyone of anything. I just told them what I saw, and if it was one of your soldiers, he fucking attacked me. I didn't go over and say, 'Hey, throw me on the grass and try to kill me!' And for goodness sake stop calling me ma'am. I'm not sixty with a bun!"

He looked at her sitting there, her eyes shooting daggers at him and sparking with anger. She had a temper, which probably helped her get away. Her lips were drawn in a tight line, but it didn't hide the fullness of them. She was beautiful in a homespun kind of way. Her skin was beautiful, the color some kind of whipped coffee drink, and it looked just as smooth. But he wasn't here to appreciate her looks or her body. He was here to find out what she knew and get back to his lake and peace.

"Ms. Justine ... Kelly," T. J. said in a soothing voice, trying to get back on a friendlier path with her. "I need to know why you think it was a soldier who killed that girl?"

"The way he was dressed for one. Camouflage from top to bottom and black boots."

"He could have bought those from any army surplus store," he told her.

"But his boots were shined, I mean spotless. Now I've known a few military men, and I know for a fact they keep their boots immaculate."

She's right on that point. A soldier is trained. He carries that training with him all the time, he thought. "What else, ma'am?"

"My name is Kelly, and the way he moved seemed like he was trained."

"In what way?"

"When he came at me, he didn't just come at me. He moved like slow, deliberate, bent at the knees like a predator looking for the best way to strike."

T. J. looked at her when she stopped speaking, her eyes filled with fear as she remembered the attack. Luckily, he thought, she had the presence of mind to run and scream. Some women would have been too scared to move. But she had said enough to make him wonder if a guy in the service had done this killing, and now he would have to find out.

"That's all for now, Kelly," he said as he rose to leave.

"Well, you're welcome," she said between her teeth, and he closed the door behind him.