Page 52 of Night Hawk
“Even more of a reason for him to be there.” Clay attacked his broccoli as if he were mad at it too.
Toni had turned to ask what was going on with him when Blake asked, “What do you want me to do while you’re searching the beach house?”
“Would be good if you met with Trent. Maybe find out what’s happening in the investigation.”
Blake picked up his thick burger dripping with ketchup. “I’ll be glad to stop by his office, but don’t count on me getting any info from him.”
“Maybe Lorraine is a better bet, and she’ll share something.”
Blake sighed. “She’s the best assistant I ever had, but she was always the weakest link in our information chain. She’d never share anything with the press or the public, but if she likes you, she might give out more information than she should.”
“Well, then.” Clay looked at Blake. “Does she like you?”
Blake laughed and bit into his burger.
“Actually, I was serious,” Clay said, burger in hand. “You can be kind of tough. Didn’t know what she thought of you.”
Blake swallowed his bite. “We got along fine. I’ll be glad to ask what she knows, but I won’t pump her for any info she’s not comfortable sharing.”
“Fair enough,” Clay admitted reluctantly. “So Sierra, tell me you were able to talk to the techs about the twine.”
“How about asking nicely instead of demanding?”
“Sorry. Were you able to talk to them?”
She nodded. “They’ll try to get permission to send the samples to our lab for comparison.”
“The FBI might not approve,” Clay said, sounding down and raising Toni’s concerns even more. Something was going on with him, and he wasn’t telling her or anyone else what it was.
He looked at Toni. “Do you think it would help if you were to give someone a call at your office?”
“I’ll try.” She doubted it would help, but she didn’t want to add to Clay’s obvious frustrations.
Clay nodded, but he picked at his macaroni and cheese. She’d never seen him pick at his food in all the time she’d known him.
“What’s with you, bro?” Drake asked. “You’re rarely this cranky. Something happen?”
“Let’s just finish eating and get to work on reviewing those old records.” Clay bit into his burger and chewed as if he were eating a tough piece of steak.
So she wasn’t the only one noticing something was off. Others besides Drake probably noticed too, but he was the only one blunt enough to mention it.
Everyone turned their attention to their meal, and the mood put a dark cloud over the table. Even a plate of gooey chocolate chip cookies from their mother didn’t improve things. When they’d finished clearing the table and everyone had disbursed, she took Clay aside.
She met his gaze, and when he wanted to look away, she held on. “What aren’t you telling me?”
Without a word, he reached for her hand and led her down the hallway to the bedroom at the end, where he closed the door behind them. He picked up a report lying on the bed. “I don’t want to have to tell you this, but Gage’s IT person uncovered something.”
He handed her an arrest record, and she saw her granduncle’s name at the top of the page. She skimmed the information, her focus landing on the wordssexual assault of a minor. Her breath whooshed out, and her knees weakened. She dropped onto the bed.
Thoughts rolled through her brain like the surf crashing on the beach outside, and the food she’d just consumed threatened to come up. The room seemed airless. She gasped for breath. Struggled.
She tossed down the report and jerked open the patio door leading to the big deck that ran the length of the house. A soft mist was falling, and she lifted her face to let the moisture cool her skin.
“Come on, honey,” Clay said from behind her. “It’s cold out here, and you’ll get wet.”
“I can’t breathe in there.”
“You’ve had more than your share of shocks today, but things will start to look up tomorrow. We’re sure to find some leads and move forward.”
