Page 39 of Forged in Steele

They reached the cafeteria and paid for their coffees, which they pumped out of large pots at an island coffee bar, the nutty aroma snaking up. He automatically handed her two creamers and a sugar, and she took them. Memories flooded her of having coffee breaks together at camp, the middle schoolers making kissing noises and laughing at them, all the while pointing jealous glances their way when they thought no one was looking.

In many ways, her romance with Jared was like a middle school romance. Fast, furious, and over in a blink of an eye. But unlike middle schoolers, it was a mature love that could’ve lasted. In fact, they could’ve still been together.

If she let go of the hurt, could they rekindle that romance, or had it run its course? She honestly wanted to erase the ache in her heart to find out, but the pain was still too big to even contemplate washing it away.

His phone rang, and he dug it from his pocket. “It’s Sierra.” He quickly answered and led them to a secluded alcove. “Okay if I put you on speaker so Bristol can hear?”

Sierra must have said yes as he tapped the button. “Go ahead.”

“First,” Sierra said. “We located four DNA samples on the blanket in addition to the blood. Emory Jenkins—our DNA expert—put a rush on the samples and got them all running by four o’clock. DNA takes twenty-four hours minimum which means you won’t have results before tomorrow around four.”

Jared gripped his phone until his fingers turned white. “We have no choice but to wait.”

“I wish we could speed it up, but we can’t,” Sierra said. “Rest assured it was processed as fast as possible while still using the utmost care, and you’ll get results faster than any local agency could’ve given you.”

“Sorry,” Jared said. “I didn’t mean to imply it’s your fault. I appreciate how fast you’re handling everything.”

“And speaking of speed, I finished processing and running all the fingerprints. None returned a match in AFIS. Sorry.”

“None?” Bristol asked, still hoping she didn’t hear right. “Including the one on the bassinet?”

“None,” Sierra said firmly. “We lifted and processed over two hundred prints in the room and stairwell.”

“You work fast,” Jared said.

“I called in all of my team and put everyone on this investigation.”

“Thanks for that,” Jared said. “Any other forensics that might help?”

“Not yet.” Sierra might have been giving bad news, but she didn’t sound down. She seemed to be an optimistic person for working in such an often-disappointing field. “No blood on Mr. Pratt’s backpack, but Emory is running touch DNA from the bag. I also recovered a partial footprint near the blanket. It’s small, and I’m trying to match the shoe, but with a partial it’s harder to do. There was also enough soil deposited on the concrete that we’re running it for soil composition.”

“What will that tell you?” Bristol asked.

“If the composition is unique enough, we might be able to place the location where the suspect recently walked. It’s a long shot and could take some time so don’t count on it being the lead to pin your investigation on.”

Bristol shared a disappointed look with Jared. All day they had been counting on the forensics to give them a suspect’s name and address. But now Luna had been missing for ten hours and each hour that passed could be the hour that she wasn’t fed when needed and her blood sugar caused serious health issues or even death.

8

In the command center, Jared and Bristol joined Hunter, Colin, and Piper. Jared’s stomach was full and content from the dinner catered by the hospital—chicken something—the spicy scent lingering in the air, but Piper’s face suddenly creased and made him wish he hadn’t eaten. She’d just come back from returning the Pratts’ phones then resting in a bed arranged by Coglin and was once again sitting behind her computer. She looked more refreshed than anyone in their command center, including Bristol. The stress of the search lingered in Bristol’s tight expression.

“You won’t believe this.” Piper leaned back in her chair and looked up at Jared. “Mrs. Pratt made twenty-one calls about ten months ago to an attorney who handles private adoptions.”

“An attorney our agency is already investigating for performing illegal adoptions,” Colin said.

“The guy’s information is right here.” Piper pointed at her screen that held a website for Everett Holloway, Attorney at Law.

“Mrs. Pratt called this guy before she became pregnant with Luna,” Bristol said.

Piper nodded.

“They didn’t even mention adoption to us,” Jared said. “And to find out it’s an attorney we’re investigating? What if this attorney is somehow involved in Luna’s kidnapping?”

“It would be a stretch, right?” Bristol locked gazes with him. “I know illegal adoption rings get babies under false pretenses, but I haven’t heard of them stealing babies from a hospital.”

“I’ve never heard of that either,” Jared said. “Seems too risky, but abducting from poorer neighborhoods isn’t unheard of.”

“In this instance,” Colin said. “Our investigative team says Holloway has allegedly set up as a baby farmer.”

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