Page 91 of Jagged

"I haven't seen anything," I responded. She handed me the folder and I flipped through the pages. "Where are the remains now?"

"Requested them. Should be here by morning. I'll get that clever bombshell of a forensic investigator to work her magic again." Donovan glanced at me. "Think she'll be game to do us a solid? Or rather, do you a solid?"

"Rude, Donovan." Annoyance bubbled in my chest, and I felt my fingers ball to fists. "I'm sure there are more professional ways to find out."

"Car, c'mon." Olsen immediately stepped forward and elbowed her colleague in the side. "Ignore her, Jagger. She's trying to get you to share information about your connection to Doctor Wright."

"You could just ask…" Olsen's presence calmed me and I handed Donovan back the folder. "We need to get the list of employees working at this place and also run cross checks here like we did with the others. I'm going to head to the dumpsite and gather some soil samples to take to forensics as well."

"Right on." Donovan smirked, tossing me a nod. "There's the fire I like to see. Have at it, Roth."

Zay walked with me as we headed toward the indicated area. Beneath our feet, the gravel crunched, and I noted the varied terrains of the area. He pointed it out at the same time, and I nodded.

"We need to scrape multiple areas," I said, and he nodded again.

"Agreed. Let's get a move on that. I'll grab the gear and notify the team."

We spent the rest of the day digging through piles of scrap, collecting bits of earth, and creating chains of custody for various boxes of evidence. The skeletal remains would arrive eventually, and only then would we be able to piece it all together, if at all. The list of employees for the past decade came along with all of this, and I found myself seated back at the department combing through records. We used Clementine's theories, focused on those with female DNA, who fit the general profile. It didn't take long, but my mind was on the time anyway. All of this would bring me back to Clem, and the impending excitement of seeing her throttled me.

Was it ridiculous that I felt so excited to see her? My insides bubbled with it, but outside I felt like I needed to contain myself. Sometimes whenever I was a little too excited, people accused me of being in a bad mood. I never understood it.

"You seem blah," said Zay. "What's up?"

And there it was.

"I'm not. Why do I seem blah?"

"You're quiet. Not really saying anything, and your face is all screwed up like you have a stomachache or something." He shrugged, but when the computer sounded, his brows lifted upward. "Some results are coming in. Nothing specific yet."

"Good. I'm most curious about the soil samples. All of the bodies had some trace evidence like that. I wonder if they all share that common characteristic."

My phone chimed in my pocket, and I whipped it out to see a text from Clem.

I found my favorite art of yours, she said, with a smile emoji afterward.

Immediately, I felt my cheeks warm and lift. Your favorite, huh. Just which one is that?

You'll have to meet me there to find out.

Right now?

Yep.

Aren't you supposed to be working your butt off on all the things the FBI sent you? AKA me.

It's all done and running through. I work fast. Again, another emoji followed and this time it was a cute giggling smiley face with the hand over its mouth.

Well then… I glanced at Zay then back to my phone. I better figure out where to find you then.

It won't be too difficult. I'm not that far.

My brow furrowed as I contemplated where she could be. "Zay, I'm gonna head out for a bit."

"To see Doctor Wright?" he asked, nonchalantly. "She usually gives you the info before the feds."

"Yeah." I smiled when he asked. "To see her."

"Cool. I'll let you know if we get any hits on the match." He nodded to the computer. "Also, if you come back, bring me an empanada."

---