Page 84 of Forged in Steele

A flush of embarrassment rushed over his cheeks. “We should get going.”

“One more thing, Grandad.” Bristol stopped him with a touch to his arm. “I had a suspect attack me a little bit ago. Thanks to your great teaching, she couldn’t get a hold of my radio cord to wrap it around my neck.”

He tilted his head. “Wore it inside your shirt, did you?”

She nodded.

“That’s my girl.” He shifted his stance, as if the thought impacted him more than he’d expected. “Now we have to get out of here. I have to get to passing on some fishing instruction before these ladies move on.”

Bristol wrinkled her nose at him. “Amelia says she’s going to tell you about fishing in her country. I think you might have a rival for your tall tales.”

“We’ll see about that.” He winked.

Bristol let out a breath of satisfaction. No matter what happened to these women in the future, for now they would be safe, secure, and surrounded by love. As her grandad had said. God’s love in action.

Such incredible and life-affirming love from their God above that Bristol had always taken for granted. Well, no more. She’d been in rebellion for too long. Time to have a chat with God, repent of her ways, and restore her trust in Him.

17

“In here!” Jared called out to Bristol from the bedroom Fae and Katana had shared.

Bristol’s footsteps clipped down the hallway from the bedroom she’d been searching since a quick lunch. Nearing two o’clock, they’d ordered in lunch and had eaten in Jared’s car before beginning the house search. They might not make time to sleep for long, but they had to eat to keep up their strength.

She entered the room, her gaze expectant.

He lifted up the mattress, displaying a cell phone. “Can you take a picture of the location and then grab it while I hold up the mattress?”

She snapped a few shots before reaching with gloved hands between the mattress and box spring to retrieve the device. “We need to get this to Colin to image.”

“Agreed.” Jared held out an evidence bag. “I’ll get Sierra to fingerprint it first so we can see which of the women might have been using it. What do you have left to do in your room?”

“I have a nightstand to search, and then I’m done.”

“Good. That shouldn’t take you long. I just got the warrant for Holloway’s home and office search and arrest. Our field teams report that he’s not at either location, but if we’re lucky he’ll show up. We’ll send a team to breach both his house and office.”

“We should go to his office,” she said. “It’s the most likely place to find him at this time of day. Unless you have a different thought.”

“I was thinking the same thing.”

“Then I’ll finish up and meet you at the door.” She nearly bolted from the room.

Clearly she was as eager as Jared was to get a look at the items in Holloway’s office. Hopefully, the lawyer had just stepped out to avoid Pam and would return. The team could even have him in custody by the time Jared and Bristol got there. If so, Jared could finally confront the sick creep. When questioned, guys like him either broke down or dug in their heels. Jared wanted Holloway to confess and lead them to Luna. Not likely, but Jared could hope.

He texted Colin.Need you to meet me at Holloway’s office to image two cell phones.

Be there in 10,Colin replied.

Jared couldn’t ask for better support than his fellow agents were giving. His respect for them had grown, especially for Piper. She had to be far more fatigued than the rest of them, and yet, she continued to work as hard as everyone else.

He noted the details of the phone on the bag then went to look for Sierra. He found her in the family room kneeling on the floor next to a glass coffee table.

He held out the evidence bag. “Another cell phone. This one found in the bedroom. Can you process it for prints and DNA so I can take it with me?”

“Sure, but first you’ll need to add it to my evidence log.” She handed him a clipboard. “Can I hope you took pictures of the location where you located it?”

Her tone thoroughly chastised him. He should’ve called her instead of Bristol to retrieve the device, but he wanted to improve Bristol’s mood as she seemed to be feeling down. She wouldn’t tell him why, but pressure from the investigation was wearing on all of them.

“I had Bristol take pics,” he said. “I’ll have her forward them to you.”

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