Page 35 of Forged in Steele

She brushed his hand again. “I’m so sorry, Jared.”

“I’ve learned my lesson. That’s why I need to keep the command center so secure. Why I handpicked the agents who are working with us.”

“And you trusted me too?”

He glanced at her. “I trust you more than others.”

“But not totally.” The pain in her tone reminded him of the day they parted ways.

He didn’t want to hurt her more, but he wasn’t going to lie to her. “I want to say I do, but no. I trust no one totally.”

“Not even God?”

“Not even Him, I’m sorry to say. If I did, I would be able to trust you too.” He took a deep breath and let it out. “We’re wasting time. Let’s get to it.”

He strode ahead, seeing the congealed blood on Luna’s blanket even from a distance. The large red splotch wouldn’t be life-threatening for an adult, but if it came from a baby?

No. Don’t think about that.

Reed stood near the tape, talking to his wife. Sierra held a tackle box shaped case, her expression serious and intense. Reed reached his hand out and squeezed her shoulder as she squatted by the blanket and opened her case.

Nice.A couple who could support each other in a time like this. Just like Bristol’s brief touches. Jared honestly could admit he felt some relief from her support. The FBI had offered counseling at the time of Wyatt’s death. He didn’t go. Was too proud. Maybe arrogant. Or maybe just blind to how much it still impacted him.

He sucked in some air and approached Reed. “What do we have?”

“Blanket was found by a security guard who was patrolling the lots.”

He swiveled to look at Bristol. “Why’d it take them so long to do this?”

“We have a routine schedule the guards follow,” Bristol said. “These auxiliary lots are rarely used and aren’t patrolled as often. Then today we redirected the focus to the most likely areas near where the woman was caught on video and worked the perimeter outward.”

Standard policing procedure in a search, but Jared wasn’t happy with her answer because it hadn’t worked in finding this key piece of evidence early on. He wished they’d found the person who dropped the blanket, not just the blanket. He looked around the area. “No video out here.”

“No,” Reed said. “I spoke to Coglin. Their budget doesn’t stretch to these infrequently used lots. In fact, he said this structure is scheduled for demolition. They plan to build a new cancer center.”

“Is the blanket all we have?” Jared asked.

“At this point.” Reed looked at his wife. “If there’s anything else, Sierra will find it.”

Jared liked the man’s confidence in his wife. If what Jared had heard about her trace evidence skills were true, the confidence was well placed.

Sierra bagged the blanket in a paper bag used for wet evidence. “I’ll get this to the lab, and we’ll type the blood right away. We know Luna’s blood type. If it’s not a match, we know it’s not her blood. But her abductor could have the same blood type, so even if it matches, the results won’t prove it’sher blood. We’ll need DNA for that.”

Jared gritted his teeth to keep from saying what he really was thinking and fired off a text to Coglin. “I’m requesting the parents’ blood types. Though the quantity of blood isn’t from a nick or scrape, and they didn’t mention any injuries.”

“The dad already remains a person of interest, though,” Bristol said. “And this could sway our action in one direction or another.”

“We’ll have the father scanned for injuries.” Jared looked at Reed. “I want to hear about the blood results the moment you have them. All actionable evidence actually.”

Reed nodded. “Unrelated to this, we’ve learned the father is scheduled to testify in a gang shooting next week.”

“Why didn’t he say anything?” Bristol planted her hands onto her duty belt. “The baby could’ve been taken to stop him from testifying.”

Jared swallowed hard. A gang with Luna? The ending was looking grim if that were the case. “If so, we should get a demand call from the abductor.”

“Toni says no calls have been received,” Reed said.

“We need to talk to Pratt again,” Bristol said.

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