Page 56 of Night Hawk
“I don’t think I’ve ever been rejected so kindly.” He grinned to lighten the mood.
“I can do it differently if it would help remove that hopeful expression.” Her eyes narrowed. “Because, honestly, even if I already didn’t want to get involved, all this family drama would make me lean in that direction. I’ve got to work through everything first. I don’t even know who I am anymore.”
He’d already told her what her family had done was no reflection on her, but he wouldn’t repeat it again. He knew she had to learn to embrace it.
He nodded at the report. “Finding anything useful?”
“Not useful, but I can sure see the case for charging Andrew.” She frowned. “He was guilty. The evidence makes me sure, but the detective didn’t get Andrew a lawyer when he requested, just kept questioning him, so Andrew went free.” She shook her head. “I’m sure if my parents knew this about Andrew, they would never have let him live with them in Virginia. They would’ve protected Lisa and not let her travel across country with the man.”
“It makes him a strong suspect in Lisa’s disappearance.”
“The beach visit would be the perfect place to approach her. Much easier to do than while he was living under my parents’ roof. Plus, he probably figured even if they considered him for it, my grandparents would support him.”
“You’ll want to see this,” Sierra called out from the house.
“You think she found something this quickly?” Toni tucked the folder under her arm.
“Sheisone of the best.” Clay held out his hand. “After you.”
They entered the house through a kitchen with stained Formica countertops, the small galley-size room smelling like garlic. They went down the hall and found Sierra squatting by the bottom bunk Clay had seen earlier.
“What did you find?” he asked.
She pointed a gloved finger at the side of the mattress.
He bent down. “I don’t see it.”
“I didn’t at first, either. But you know how I like to shoot my way in and out of a crime scene so I don’t miss anything. Well, on the way out, I focused on the bed and found this.” She stuck her finger in a narrow hole on the side of the mattress.
“So there’s a hole,” he said, not overly impressed.
“This isn’t from wear and tear. It was sliced open.” She stood and unfurled her hand to reveal a folded slip of paper. “And this was inside.”
He put on gloves and unfolded the paper to reveal the initials RSL written in red lipstick.
Toni stared at the paper. “What do you think this means?”
A cat-that-ate-the-canary smile crawled across Sierra’s face. “It means this scene is connected to the high school.”
Clay’s sister was talented, but this conclusion seemed farfetched. “How can you possibly know that?”
“Give me a second, and I’ll show you.” Sierra dug a memory card from her kit and inserted it in her camera. She started scrolling through pictures, stopped on one of them, and held out the camera.
The picture held a shot of a drawer in the workbench in the janitor’s closet, another small piece of paper boasting the same initials tucked in the corner.
Clay shot Toni a look. “RSL. Must be one of the trafficked girls.”
“And she’s telling us she was in these places.” Excitement rang through Toni’s tone. “Which is why we were sent to the closet.”
“And just as important,” Clay said. “She connected Jason RaderandRich Hibbard.”
14
“I need you inside, Erik, but not Pong yet,” Clay said into the mic on his comms unit as he marched into the living room, where he could pace and think.
“On my way,” Erik replied, the sound of Pong’s whine coming from the background.
Toni entered the room and stood watching him, but he couldn’t quit moving. This was a big lead. Big enough to break this investigation wide open.Ifthey could identify RSL.
