Page 29 of Girl, Reborn

‘To impart glad tidings and solve our casefor us, turns out. She ran our scratch samples through FISH. Got a match withinten minutes.’

‘…FISH?’

Luca huffed a laugh. ‘Forensic InformationSystem for Handwriting. Some newfangled Fed thing, catalogs writing samplesfrom all over. Suspects, persons of interest, your mailman. You name it, it'sin there.’

Huh. Ella chewed the inside of her cheek,digesting that. Luca made it feel like she’d been asleep for the past twoyears. Maybe she really ought to start checking her memos.

‘And Cyber Crimes has access to thisthing?’

‘Them and God, sounds like. Point is, yourpal ran the numbers and came up cherries. Vault blew wide open. Here, look.She’s emailed the info over.’

Luca navigated to his inbox,double-clicked, pulled up a photocopy of some official document.

‘Court records. Divorce proceedings, to beexact. And check out the signatures at the bottom.’ Luca's finger traced thecramped, spidery scrawls. ‘Look familiar?’

Damn. It was dead on.

The handwriting on the decree was a deadringer for their deranged epistler. Same off-kilter slant, same mangled serifs.Trying to pass itself off as normal, respectable. And failing miserably.

‘Amelia said that whoever wrote thoseletters tried to disguise their handwriting, but the occasional real letterslipped through.’

‘We've got a name?’ Her hackles were up,bloodhound on the scent.

Luca tapped the bottom of the page.‘Vernon Creed. Ring any bells?’

Ella frowned, turning it over. Soundedvaguely familiar, in that nebulous politician way. ‘No. He local?’

‘Bristol native. Lost his bid forre-election to the city council last year. Three guesses who he lost it to.’

‘Toledo.’ She didn't even have to ask. Theshape of it was forming in her mind's eye, the tangled skein of motive andopportunity. Ella’s veins began to pulse with molten energy. A million tinysparks danced up her forearms.

Was this their unsub?

‘So Creed's what, a sore loser? Figureshe'll even the score from beyond the political grave?’

‘Could be. But whatever it is, we need tovisit this guy right now.’

A scorned councilman, ousted by a hot newface on the scene. Death threats in the mail. Drowned and discarded likevermin. Ella was all but ready to run to the parking lot.

‘Grab his address,’ she said. ‘Let’s godig up some bones.’

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Ella swung the SUV onto Maple Drive, thestreet that Vernon Creed called home. The homes here sat somewhere betweenlavish and pretentious. Manicured lawns, neutral siding. Not a plastic flamingoor garden gnome out of place.

She pulled up to the curb outside Creed'sTudor-style four-bedder and killed the engine. Beside her, Luca jerked forwardin his seat, barely avoiding a close encounter of the dashboard kind.

‘Jesus, Ell. When did you pass yourdriving test?’

Ella surveyed her destination. Multiplecars on the driveway. Movement in the windows. Someone was home. ‘Next week,’she said.

Luca shut up real quick, but she couldfeel his gaze boring into the side of her head. Profiling her, no doubt. Tryingto suss out what had crawled up her ass and died.

‘Let's just get this over with,’ she bitout. Before I completely lose my shit, she didn't add.

‘On it.’

‘Get your trigger finger ready. Somethingtells me Creed’s the kind of sleaze who’ll try and run.’

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