Page 25 of Forged in Steele

“Sorry.” Bristol eased around Jared to reach Sierra at the bassinet. “We just wanted to check in to see if you’ve found anything.”

Jared joined them. “You’re using white powder. I’ve seen several colors but never white.”

Sierra raised an eyebrow. “Do I detect a question about our abilities?”

“I’m sorry if it sounded that way.” And he had no doubt it had, but he didn’t mean it. “I like to learn as I go.”

Sierra’s eyebrow remained raised. “It’s not yet available commercially. A grad student developed it when she ran out of the typical powder, and I’ve been testing it for her and getting amazing results.”

“Like?” Jared asked, this time trying hard to curb his suspicion.

Sierra smiled. “It replaces fluorescent powders that need an alternative light source to view the prints. This powder doesn’t need the ALS and recovers fingerprints with extreme detail.”

All interesting information that Jared would file away, but… “Did you find any helpful prints?”

Sierra nodded. “We’ve already printed the parents and Nurse Johnson, and we located their prints in the room, of course, but we also have a clear latent from someone we don’t have an elimination print for.”

“The suspect?” Jared asked hopefully.

“I couldn’t say at this point.”

“Can you tell the difference between a man’s and woman’s print?” Bristol asked.

“Not really.” Sierra shifted on her feet encased in high-top tennis shoes in a bright orange color. “Women can have large hands and men can have small hands.”

“A gut feel?” Jared pressed.

Sierra watched him carefully. “You sound desperate for a lead.”

He might be letting his insecurities around losing Wyatt color his actions. He needed to watch for this and take a step back in his attitude if it was overpowering, but right now he had to press full force. “A baby’s life could be at stake.”

She grimaced, and Jared could imagine her telling Reed the next time she talked to him about what a jerk he had for a fellow agent. “I’ll get the print back to the lab the minute we’re finished with this room and run it against AFIS.”

Jared was very familiar with the Automated Fingerprint Identification System that held criminal and law enforcement fingerprints as it was managed by his agency.

“What about the stairwell?” Bristol asked.

“It’s cordoned off, and we’ll do that next.”

“If the woman didn’t wear gloves, you should be able to get prints off the push bar and handrails, right?” Bristol asked.

“I’ll do my best, but the bars and rails are curved, and depending on where she touched things, it could be a challenge.”

“If anyone can lift the prints successfully, it’ll be you,” Bristol said. “I’m so thankful we were able to call you in.”

Sierra smiled at Bristol, then cast a skeptical glance at Jared. Right, hehadbeen pushing too hard.

“I’m glad to help,” Sierra said. “But you should also know there’s bound to be other prints on the bar. We’ll need to spend a good bit of time on that and manpower on processing the prints. Still, I should have the results to you before morning.”

Jared laid his business card on the bed. He didn’t want her to contaminate her gloves and have to put on a fresh pair. “Then you’ll get back with me the moment you know anything?”

“I will.”

“Thank you for coming so fast,” Bristol said.

Sierra gave a sharp nod. “As a mom, I can only imagine the Pratts’ pain, and I’ll do everything I can to help find their daughter.”

Jared nodded his thanks and headed for the door, praying that everything Sierra could do, along with everything the rest of the team could do, would bring this little baby home alive.

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