Page 36 of Forged in Steele

“Agreed,” Jared said and was eager to question the man. “But we’ll wait for the blood results as that could be telling.”

Bristol nodded and shifted her focus to Reed. “What do we know about the gang?”

“They’re called the Hoovers. Local gang known for being hard-core. No one has tied down the leader’s ID. They go off on their own. Police and street folks, even other gangs, consider them more ruthless. Usually gangs have a culture and code. Hoovers defy it all. They have zero respect.”

“Not a good idea to testify against one of their members then,” Bristol said. “You have to respect Pratt for being willing to do it.”

“But also you have to figure they would take a baby to stop him.” Jared swallowed away images of Wyatt dancing on the fringe of his brain. Wyatt hadn’t been abducted by a gang but by a ruthless couple who’d once worked for his family and saw a way to make a sizable amount of cash.

But a baby with such a hostile gang? Unthinkable.

“I’ve looped in the Metro Safe Streets Task Force,” Reed said. “We’ll see if they can discover a lead.”

“The FBI led group?” Jared asked.

Reed nodded. “Various local agencies along with ATF make up the group, and the local officers are federally deputized for speedy action. They’ll interface with local gang units, and we should have enough boots on the ground to hopefully get actionable information.”

“But it’ll take time,” Jared said. “Time we don’t have.”

“It’s still the best route,” Reed said. “Far better than any of us trying to take on gangs we don’t understand.”

“Agreed, but I want immediate action.” Jared gritted his teeth.

“We all do,” Bristol said. “So let’s focus on the parents. Maybe Pratt can tell us something that will help us or the gang units to move faster.”

“Then let’s head back to the command center and prepare our questions,” he said, but he looked at Reed. “Don’t forget. I want to hear about the blood type the minute you get the results.”

“I’ll text you both at the same time,” Sierra said. “I should have the fingerprint from the Pratts’ suite analyzed by then too.”

Jared nodded his thanks and looked at Bristol. “Let’s go.”

He stormed toward his vehicle. He really was thankful for the Veritas Center’s quick turnaround of results but nothing could be done fast enough for him now. Fast enough for saving baby Luna’s life.

7

Bristol wished she could wipe the distress from Jared’s face as they stepped toward the Pratts’ room. But in addition to holding the blood results from both parents and Luna’s blanket in his hands, they’d also had to waste time locating an entrance not plagued with reporters on their return to the hospital. And now, Bristol and Jared were about to share the blood details with the Pratts. Telling them about the blood-soaked blanket was a task Bristol didn’t relish. But Jared had the added strain of having failed a baby in the past.

How did he live with that? True, from the sound of it, she didn’t think it was his fault, but she understood how he would take the blame. The only people at fault were the people who took the baby. But if the task force didn’t find Luna for whatever reason, Bristol would live with guilt on her back for the rest of her life.

No. Stop. Don’t think that way.She wouldn’t fail Luna, and while looking for the child, Bristol would do her best to try to help Jared let go of his guilt and the inability to trust.

Listen to her. She didn’t trust many people either, except for her family. Surely not God right now. Was that why God put her together with Jared again? Both of them with issues to fix and they could help each other figure them out. After all, it was easier to see other people’s problems and tell them how to fix them, than it was to see the same thing in yourself and affect change.

Jared pressed his free hand on the door but turned to look at Bristol before pushing it open. “I want you to take lead again.”

She was honored for the job. Of course she was. But he wasn’t offering it to her due to her skills. She had a connection with the mom, and they were about to share bad news. That connection could ease their pain.

Bristol drew her shoulders back and slipped past Jared to push the door open.

Mrs. Pratt shot up in her bed. “Oh, no. No. Your face says it’s bad news. Is Luna…”

“We haven’t located your daughter yet.” Bristol remained calm and eased up to the bed. “But we did find her blanket in a parking structure.”

“Makes sense that they’d ditch it,” Mr. Pratt said. “They knew it could give away her identity.”

“Likely.” Bristol met his gaze. “But you need to know the blanket was saturated with a large quantity of blood.”

“Blood?” Mrs. Pratt clutched her chest.

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