Page 100 of Forged in Steele

Reed started for the door, and Jared fell into step beside his fellow agent. The door stood ajar. Not good. He let go of all thoughts except successfully breaching this property and finding Bristol alive and well. He climbed the stairs, and his gut twisted. He had to force himself to breathe. He drew his weapon as did Reed.

Jared reached the door first and pushed it open. He swung his gaze around the family room. Empty. Almost. No people but a phone lay smashed on the floor. A phone in Bristol’s case that held her family photo on the back.

“Bristol’s phone,” he whispered and led the way into the house. They crept down the hall and cleared each room.

Jared held his breath at the primary bedroom, then swung in. Took a long look. Sagged in relief. The room was empty. Bristol hadn’t met the same fate as Valerie.

“Kitchen and dining room,” he said and reversed course.

They quickly cleared the rooms.

“She’s not here,” Jared stated the obvious. “Reya could’ve come home and taken her with her.”

“Too bad we took down the WiFi,” Reed said. “Means her cameras aren’t working.”

Jared got out his phone and called Teagan. “Have you heard from Bristol?”

“Not since she asked me to talk to Nurse Raney. Why?”

Jared explained.

“What can we do to help?” Teagan sounded like someone was strangling her.

“Figure out where Reya could’ve taken Bristol.”

“I’ll put the family on it, stat.” Teagan ended the call.

Jared called Piper and put her on speaker so Reed could listen in. “Bristol’s missing, her phone’s smashed, but Teagan’s car is here at Reya’s house. I need to figure out where Reya might’ve taken Bristol. Information on Valerie Zupan could help. You got anything yet?”

“The home address we found in DMV is legit,” Piper said. “Landlord says she occupies the apartment. And Colin has info on her life in Arizona. He’s right here, so I’ll put you on speaker.”

“You’re not going to believe this.” Colin’s excited tone came racing through the phone. “Zupan was arrested for soliciting a woman to give up her child for payment. Charges were dropped when the mother-to-be recanted her story.”

“Not a coincidence, I’m sure,” Jared said. “She could be the one who took Luna, not Reya.”

“Could be, but then who killed Valerie and where are Reya and Luna?” Piper asked.

“And who was the guy in the doorbell video who dumped Valerie’s body here?” Reed asked.

“We’ll head over to Zupan’s place while you keep digging.” Jared headed for the door. “Maybe one of them owns property somewhere else.”

Jared connected his phone to his car and got them moving toward Valerie’s address in the southeast side of the city.

Reed leaned his seat back. “You gonna pursue Bristol after we find Luna?”

How could the guy be so laidback? Be thinking of dating at a time like this?

“Should I take your silence as a yes or none of my business?” Reed asked.

Jared didn’t know. Was he planning to ask her out? Not consciously, but if he took a moment to think about the way his gut was tied up as if strangling itself after not finding her at the house, he’d have to admit he was still in love with her.

“If she’ll agree to it.” Hopefully it would satisfy Reed, and he’d leave it alone.

“You know I struggled too before I married Sierra. But I can say being married and a dad is the best thing that happened to me.” Reed crossed an ankle over his knee. “I once thought the job was everything, but I’m here to tell you, it’s not. You need balance, even if it does sometimes skew toward the work like now when we have to put all of our focus on an investigation.”

“I’m starting to see that,” Jared admitted. “But as you said, right now our focus should solely be on finding Luna.”

That ended the conversation, and they rode in silence until they reached Valerie’s apartment. They went straight to the super’s apartment for a key. He didn’t like the late-night disturbance, but he unlocked Valerie’s door and quickly turned back toward his own place.

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