Page 42 of Night Moves
“Evidence is being messengered from PPB for you to review. A bloody blouse. It’s for a missing person case. Woman appears to have left the family, but now we have a reason to suspect the husband killed her. The local lab confirmed the blood is hers, and I want to know if, in your experience, it’s enough blood to be from a serious wound. Then find any kind of touch DNA you can on the fabric.”
“I take it this has to do with your current client,” she said.
“It does.”
Natalie waited for him to explain, but he didn’t say a word.
“And I’m assuming that’s Natalie,” Sierra said.
“That’s not important. Whatisimportant is that you have to work fast. There’s a good chance the FBI will insist on having the blouse returned to PPB today.”
“FBI? But I figured missing persons would be a PPB investigation.”
Drake glanced at Natalie, but she couldn’t read his expression. “Our client connected the missing persons investigation to a much bigger one being worked by a joint FBI/PPB task force.”
“It’s The Clipper investigation, isn’t it?” Sierra’s excited tone bounced off the vehicle’s interior. “Ohmygoodness. Are you serious right now?”
“I didn’t say that.” Drake’s tone remained calm, but just hearing Sierra’s excitement got Natalie’s heart rate going again.
“But we all know the big joint task force is working on that investigation,” Sierra said.
“There are multiple task forces with the FBI and PPB going on all the time,” Drake stated calmly.
“Yeah, but I know it’s The Clipper. Especially by your evasion. Shoot. This is going to be something else to work on.” She let out a long breath. “Let’s hope I don’t go into labor before I finish it.”
“You’ve changed your tune.”
“Hey. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I’ll call the front desk and tell them to let me know the minute the blouse arrives, and I’ll personally log and process it. I didn’t schedule anything for myself this week in case I go into labor, so I can do it right away.”
“Let me know the second you find anything.”
“Might not be possible,” Sierra said. “If the evidence comes with the usual disclaimer we work under, you know I can only provide details of my findings to the officer who submits it.”
Drake let out a frustrated breath. “You can at least tell me if you find anything they missed. Like locating another DNA sample or other evidence, right?”
“We’ll see. Gotta go now so I can get ready.” Sierra ended the call.
Drake stabbed the screen harder than necessary and clenched his steering wheel.
“Your sister sounds very dedicated,” Natalie said, deciding to focus on the positive.
Drake nodded. “It’s going to be interesting to see how she handles work and motherhood.”
“She’s taking maternity leave, right?”
“Sure, but our condos are a few steps away from work, and she has a large family of potential babysitters. I can see her sneaking down to the lab for an hour or two during her leave. Not that any of us will let her stay for long.” He chuckled.
She loved how he could go from such an intensely focused person to one who could laugh. If needed, she knew he would return to the protector who watched every inch of his surroundings and made sure people in his sphere of influence were safe. Even if a stranger came under attack, he would be right there to help. Just like he was helping her and the children.
He cranked the engine, but didn’t shift into gear. His thumb was tapping against the wheel, exuding that same nervous energy, but his focus was sharp and pinned out the front window. “You believe Ulani?”
“I do,” Natalie said. “And I really want to know where Tracey was going all those afternoons. And where she got enough cash to pay Ulani when she didn’t work. She couldn’t have taken it from their joint bank account or Kirk would’ve found out.”
“So she had some sort of income source. Income that she probably wasn’t reporting on her taxes.”
“Illegal, then,” Natalie suggested.
“Or just under the table like the way she was paying Ulani.”
