Page 168 of Broken
Loki went outside to pee, then into the back of the SUV.
As they made their way through Prescott’s neighborhood, Jacqueline searched for the gray sedan, but didn’t see it. After he pulled onto the main road, she told him she’d gotten Sally’s phone log back.
“Find anything?”
“She had multiple interactions with a number I couldn’t ID. Last month, the person called her at four-forty in the morning. Twenty minutes later, she called that number back. Each call lasted less than five minutes. Then, two weeks ago, she got two texts from that same number. One said, ‘I miss you’ to which she replied with the same text, and the second text said, ‘I love you’. She replied that she loved him. If we find the owner of that number, we find the baby daddy.”
“Nice work.” He wrapped his hand around her thigh.
His touch thrilled her, calmed her, and reminded her that she was his. That, she loved the most of all.
“If that’s him, he misses her and he loves her, but did he kill her?” Prescott made a call, put it on speaker.
“Hey, bro,” Stryker Truman answered. “Can Emerson and I can rejoin the human race?”
“Not yet. I need your hacking skills.”
“Name it.”
“Get me a copy of the surveillance video from the night my sister was in the hospital.” He gave Stryker the date.
“You got it,” Stryker said. “Do you have any suspects in the ALPHA case?”
“We’re working on it.”
“Sooner than later would be good.”
“Just get me a copy of the video.” Prescott hung up. “I feel like we’re running in circles, going fucking nowhere fast.”
This time, she set her hand on his thigh. “Things take longer than anyone wants. No one knows that better than me. I’ve been waiting ten years for law enforcement to find the Campus Killer.”
Prescott pulled up to the security gate at Armstrong. He held his badge against the scanner, the light turned green, and he proceeded through.
“I had no idea this compound was back here,” she said.
“Nine buildings, with three more in various stages of construction.” He parked at the daycare center, and they got out.
She opened the liftgate and Loki jumped out without her help. “Good job, Loki!”
“You can’t stay out here alone,” he said.
“I can’t go inside with a dog. As soon as you tell Ethan that Loki’s here, he’ll be out the door.”
“Stay close to the entrance.”
She offered a reassuring smile as her man disappeared into the building.
My man. I love that… and I love him.
She walked Loki into the nearby grass.
Despite the terrifying clown and threatening phone call, she’d bounced back pretty good. She might be scared of her own damn shadow, but she kept going. Ten long years of pushing herself out of her comfort zone, and she wasn’t going to stop just because some nut job had freaked her the hell out.
The door to the building opened and Ethan came flying out. “Jack!”
As he beelined toward her, she knelt. He threw his arms around her and hugged her. Love filled her to the brim and she hugged him back. Loki jumped on them, almost knocking her over. Laughing, she stood.
“You brought Loki!” Ethan exclaimed “This is the best day ever!”
