Page 29 of Forged in Steele

The couple looked up, hope burning in their eyes.

Bristol gave a shake of her head, telling them what they needed to know without even speaking, and their crestfallen faces said they understood. She noted the FBI agent standing in the corner. She was there to keep the parents updated, but also to be available should the kidnapper call.

She held out her hand to Bristol. “Agent Toni Byrd.”

Bristol shook hands and stepped closer, then lowered her voice. “Which Byrd brother are you married to?”

“Clay.” A warm smile crossed Toni’s face.

The five Byrd brothers—Sierra Rice’s brothers—owned an investigative and protection agency that was also housed in the Veritas Center. Bristol had met them all when they helped Peyton work an investigation about six months ago.

“Clay’s a great guy.” Bristol smiled at Toni then moved to the bedside to interview the parents. “We have a picture of a potential suspect that we would like you to take a look at. The photo doesn’t capture her face, but we hoped you might recognize her clothing or build.”

Jared stepped up next to Bristol and displayed the photo for them.

“I haven’t a clue.” Mrs. Pratt frowned. “I’ve never seen that jacket, I know that.”

“Me, neither,” Mr. Pratt said. “Kind of a heavy jacket for this time of year.”

Jared stowed his phone but didn’t react.

Bristol looked between the pair. “We would like to take both of your phones so we can review the data.”

“You what?” Mrs. Pratt shot up in her bed. “Our phones? You think we did this. That we hurt our Luna.”

“Do you think she’s hurt?” Bristol followed up but hated to do so.

“What? No. I just meant putting her through this could hurt her.” Mrs. Pratt shook her head. “This is unbelievable.”

“Stop focusing on us and do your job!” Mr. Pratt glared at her.

Bristol took a step closer and let the insult flow off her before speaking. “Thisisour job as much as none of us like it. We have to rule out everyone close to Luna and that includes her family. If you provide the phones, we can quickly get through them and put our resources toward other aspects of the investigation.”

Mr. Pratt shoved his hand in her direction, his phone on his palm. “Take it then. And leave us alone until you have something positive to report.”

Jared collected the phone, and Mrs. Pratt’s too.

“It will take a couple of hours to image the phones.” She gave them the prepaid phone. “In the event a kidnapper might call, we’ve forwarded your phones to this one so you can answer the call.”

“If they took Luna for money, we don’t have any.” Mrs. Pratt wrung her hands together. “We can barely scrape up enough for the hospital bill for Luna let alone anything else.”

“We have no reason to believe there will be a ransom demand,” Jared said. “But as we said, we have to cover all bases.”

Mr. Pratt tilted his head. “I’m sorry for my outburst. Sounds like you’re doing your jobs.”

Jared gave him a nod. “If you need to talk to either of us, just tell Agent Byrd here, and she’ll get in touch.”

Bristol headed for the door and smiled at Toni on the way out. When the door fully whisked closed, Jared looked at Bristol. “Good job in there. If you stayed in law enforcement, you’d make a great detective.”

“Not a job I want to do at all.” The time in that room and forcing the Pratts to answer questions when they were hurting so badly cemented that in her mind. And that was the last thing she wanted to talk with him about right now. Maybe never. “I know your agents will image the phones, but I’d like to get the files to the electronics expert at Veritas for review.”

Jared raised an eyebrow as if he figured out she was changing the subject on purpose. “Piper’s husband, Nick, right?”

“Right. The Pratts might’ve discarded files, and he’s sure to locate them.”

“I’d like to think our team is on the same level as Nick, but I’ll be glad to ask them what they want to do.”

“Sounds good,” she said, but from what she’d heard, no one in the area could compete with Nick’s skills and equipment. “I’m going to check in with my family on the way back.”

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