Page 86 of Night Moves
“Question is, did they break up or did he kill her? Or was she in on the murders with him?” Drake glanced around the space for any additional lead. “We won’t know until we find her or her body.”
“No bodies here, but even if we find her prints and DNA in the house, we only know that she’s been here. Maybe she left the prints here before she disappeared.”
“My sister can age fingerprints.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“No. She has a way to tell how long a print has been on a surface. Not sure how. I only listen to half of what she says.” He chuckled, but Londyn didn’t laugh.
“Won’t she be in the hospital and on leave soon?”
“Her team can do it.”
“No baby yet, though?”
He shook his head, finding it odd that he was talking about the birth of his nephew in a place where a serial killer was just arrested. “Will you keep the investigation open until you find Tracey?”
“I doubt that the task force will continue, but our agency will likely keep working it. If not for closure, for the bad publicity we’d get if we let it go.” She shook her head. “You know policing can be all about optics these days.”
Drake nodded. He wanted to be in on this arrest, but he didn’t miss the negative public perception of law enforcement officers these days. “I’d like to offer our services to help locate her. No cost.”
Londyn spun to look at him. “Seriously? You want to know what happened to her that badly?”
“Sure, I’d like her to get justice if she was murdered, but more so, I want Willow and the kids to have closure.”
Londyn evaluated him with her practiced cop stare. “The girl got to you, huh?”
His conversation with Willow about her fear played in his brain, and the protective instinct he never knew ran so deep reared up again.
He never thought he could be a father figure, but that was how he’d felt toward her. Like a father. And now that he looked at the warm emotions this young girl and her siblings gave him, he knew it beat an adrenaline rush any day of the week.
Drake, Natalie, and Erik arrived at the new safe house at four in the morning. Natalie was exhausted, but she sat at the big pine dining table with all the brothers and their parents and put a fresh cinnamon roll with cream cheese glaze on her plate. The roll looked amazing, but she was almost too tired to lift it to her mouth. She didn’t want to offend Peggy, so she tugged off a moist corner and popped it into her mouth. Goodness exploded her taste buds. The pungent cinnamon. The sweet cream cheese and dough. The gooey texture.Wow.
“Oh, my gosh.” She licked her fingers and looked at Peggy. “These are amazing.”
“Thanks. They’re a family favorite.”
“I’ll bet they’re hard to make too.”
“Not really. I could teach you in an afternoon.”
“Yes, please.” Natalie smiled at the older woman, who smiled back, her eyes crinkling.
Drake frowned.
Right.Once Natalie got the children safely home, his job would be over, and if she took the children in, he wouldn’t likely want to see her. He just didn’t want that much responsibility.
“I should probably finish up and head to bed,” Natalie said. “I need to get up early and take the children back to Portland. Willow needs to return to school.”
“I can’t even imagine it.” Peggy crossed her arms. “The poor kid. The media will be all over her. Don’t you think she might be better off out of school for a while?”
“It’ll all depend on where we place her and what her counselors have to say about it.”
“My heart just breaks for all of them, but Willow especially. They’re all such precious children, and I can’t stand to think this might mess them up.”
Natalie gritted her teeth for a moment. “I’ll do my best to be sure that won’t happen.”
“Tomorrow is supposed to be a lovely day.” Peggy’s eyes brightened. “I don’t suppose you’d consider letting them have a day at the beach before you take them back to the harsh reality waiting for them.”
