“But still not one hundred percent sure?”
“No, not quite.” She looked at him. Sadness deepened her golden eyes into a darker brown, and he couldn’t hold back any longer. He didn’t care where they were. A crime scene or the moon. He stood and pulled her into his arms. She came willingly into them, and he held her there, her head pressed against his chest. He stroked her hair and cradled her body with his other arm, her warmth providing comfort for everything wrong in his life.
Footfalls sounded close by, coming their way, and Taylor pushed back. He reluctantly let her go, felt alone, and wanted to reach out for her, but that would be a mistake. A big one.
“I should get inside,” he said to cover the awkward silence as an ERT tech strode past.
“Yeah, me too, to help supervise.” She started for the house.
They climbed the steps to the porch and both grabbed booties and gloves from boxes. He leaned against the wall to cover his tactical boots, then stopped to admire her graceful balance as she slipped on a bootie. He didn’t know what he would tell her if she brought up the kiss again. Adrenaline wasn’t his motivation. Not at all. He’d reacted to the possibility that he could die, and he’d wanted her soft kiss to be his last memory of her.
“Ready?” Her delicate eyebrow arched.
Despite wanting to trace a finger over it, he nodded and followed her inside and down the hallway.
“See you later.” She swung into the master bedroom.
He continued on to the office. A computer tech sat in the desk chair, his hand shoved into nutty brown shoulder-length hair. Sean didn’t like the frustrated look on his narrow face and really didn’t want to approach to hear bad news. But bad news or not, Sean had to hear whatever the tech had to say.
He joined the frowning man. “I take it our suspect was successful in wiping info.”
The guy tapped one of the external drives, his lips in a distasteful twist. “I checked the first image. Nearly blank. Hopefully we’ll have better luck with the other drives.”
The news Sean expected. The drives could be the best source of information in the house, and Sean wouldn’t let it get him down when they were just beginning to deal with the forensics. “It takes an hour or so to wipe a drive, and I got to the plug within five minutes of our initial approach. That should leave us something to go on.”
“Yeah, maybe,” the tech said, but his narrowed expression said something else.
Sean ignored it and stared at the guy. “I want a copy of those images before you leave here.”
“But I—”
“Before you leave.” Sean eyed him. “It’s not optional.”
Before he could argue again, Sean spun and strode over to Anna, clearing his mind of the computer tech’s negativity on the way. She was wearing the typical white Tyvek suit, but due to her slight stature she’d bunched it up at the waist. She hunkered over a computer mouse, a long swab in hand, her face screwed up in concentration. Next to the mouse lay Phantom’s phone in an evidence bag.
He put a smile in his voice. “I hope you’re having better luck than the computer tech.”
“I am.” She put the swab into a plastic cylinder and stood. “Already lifted good latents, and we’ll definitely collect DNA from the phone and the mouse—both places are notorious for that. Also, CPU and monitor switches have been processed.”
She pointed at a water glass. “This glass is fresh so it’s a no-brainer for DNA and prints too.”
Sean was optimistic about that glass and hoped not to be let down. “What about Enzo’s body? Were you able to get over to the morgue yesterday to do the swabs?”
She nodded and reached for a fresh swab container. “His neck and wrists were bruised. I swabbed those and his face. Collected several viable samples, but it was late in the day, so nothing’s been processed yet.”
“How soon can you get to it?”
“I plan to go back to the lab when I finish here. I’ll need you to set the priority for me—which do you want first?” She waved the swab. “The samples found here or the ones from Enzo?”
“I want both.”
“Of course you do.” She rolled her eyes. “But the machines limit how fast I can work.”
He didn’t like the roadblocks that kept getting in his way, and yet it was how these investigations worked. One step forward and a few steps back. “Phantom likely wore gloves to kill Enzo, but not here in his home. So process the evidence recovered here first.”
She gave another quick nod. “By the way, the ME confirmed the injuries in the prior murder match Enzo’s injuries. We’re looking at the same killer.”
“No surprise there.” Still, it was good news, as it confirmed Phantom had murdered both men.
Taylor entered the room. “I need to talk to you about something.”
Sean didn’t much care for her sour expression or grim tone, and the acid that had been roiling in his stomach since they’d arrived on-scene bubbled up his throat. He didn’t want to upset her more and wouldn’t let her see his concern. He swallowed the pain and made sure his tone was light. “What’s up?”
“The FBI tech in the master is complaining about bedbugs.” Taylor shuddered. “She really doesn’t want to work in there, and honestly, I can see why.”
Bedbugs. The tech’s concern was just about bedbugs?
“Seriously, that grossed her out?” Anna bagged the swab container. “I for one am excited we found bedbugs.”
Taylor narrowed her eyes. “Why on earth does that make you happy?”
“Simple.” A smile flashed across Anna’s face. “They’re a perfect source for recovering human DNA. Just a single bug can identify multiple human hosts.”
Taylor’s mouth dropped open. “Seriously? DNA from itty-bitty bedbugs?”
Anna nodded vigorously. “Once they feed on a person, they retain their blood. I’m sure we’ll get good DNA samples from all areas of this house. But if we really want to know who’s actually living here, then bedbugs are the perfect answer.”
CHAPTER 27
THE NEXT MORNING, blue skies dotted with white puffy clouds greeted Sean, the air crisp with a hint of recent rain and pine scent from the towering trees. Even though they’d struck out last night in their review of Phantom’s hard drives, Sean reveled in the warm rays as he’d jogged alongside the team to run off stress. They’d had a sleepless night reviewing hard drive images from Phantom’s office and found zero new leads. The run gave everyone a much-needed break to refocus and renew their minds.
They rounded the bend, heading back to the safe house, and veered as a group up the drive. At the top, everyone stopped to stretch and work out any kinks from the five-mile run. A perfect time to review the day’s agenda, instead of sitting in a stuffy conference room to do so.
Sean gulped in a breath of the pine-scented air. “Anna called, saying forensics results from the house are in. I’ll start the day with a visit to the lab.”
Taylor propped a leg on the retaining wall. “I’m going with you.”
He loved how she didn’t give him a chance to argue about joining him. He’d always been drawn to her strength in their online conversations, and this quick decision told him she could make one when needed. Made him more hopeful that they were compatible after all.
She reached forward, and the smooth arch of her back and fluidity of her form held his attention. He loved her personality online, and now he could add a gorgeous smile and amazing legs that her neon-green leggings emphasized to his reasons for finding her attractive.
“Earth to Sean.” Kiley waved her hand in front of his face.
Right. Work. “I received the evidence list from the house this morning. They recovered several boxes of .30-06 ammo from the garage.”
Taylor’s head popped up, her gaze tight. “So it was Phantom who shot at me.”
“Looks like it,” Sean said. “I’ll email the evidence list to everyone. Let me know if you see anything we should pursue.”
“It�
��s not likely you missed anything,” Kiley said.
Sean lifted a knee to his chest. “Still, I want you to review it. And I’d like Dustee to continue to review hard drives with you all while we’re at the lab. Means I’ll need a volunteer to keep an eye on her.”
“I’ll do it,” Kiley offered.
“Seriously?” Sean cocked an eyebrow.
“What?” She firmed her shoulders.
He held up his hands. “Nothing. Just surprised.”
“Yeah, well, maybe I’m adulting better than I used to.”
Mack grabbed his foot behind his back to stretch. “The minute we get into the office, I’ll distribute Jorgenson’s DL picture to the press to replace the original sketch.”
Sean nodded his approval. “Any other updates?”
“Maybe.” Cam was bouncing like a kangaroo on steroids. “I think I’m on to something with one of the drives.”
Sean shot him a look. “Why didn’t you say anything last night?”
“I wanted to be sure.”
“And are you sure now?” Sean asked.
“Ninety percent or so.”
“What did you find?”
“MUMPS file fragments.”
Taylor scrunched her eyes. “I assume you aren’t talking about the disease?”
“It stands for the Massachusetts General Hospital Utility Multi-Programming System,” Cam said.
“Oh, right, that’s so much clearer.” She rolled her eyes.
“The programming language was designed in the sixties for the health-care industry to solve the problem of massive data flowing into multiuser systems,” Sean explained. “Today it’s still widely used by government agencies and banks.”
Taylor tipped her head, her focus intensifying. “So the kind of system a hacker like Phantom would be proficient in, enabling him to commit the ultimate hack.”
Sean marveled at how quickly she caught on. He faced Cam. “What do you know now that makes it more likely than last night?”
“I found a fragment of a record and evidence of a cloud storage account.”
“You think we struck out on finding the database because he’s storing it online?” Sean asked.
Cam nodded.
“Makes sense,” Kiley said. “Phantom needs to be mobile and can’t leave the files behind if he has to bolt.”
Sean looked at Cam. “Your top priority is to find and hack that account.”
“Of course.” He grinned because hacking was one of his favorite activities, and he was very good at it.
“So let’s get to it.” Sean jogged up the steps, the others following him.
Before getting changed, they stopped for water, and Sean poured a cup of coffee. But with just one sip, acid burned a path up his throat. He grabbed tablets from his computer bag and scarfed them, the relief instant, but for how long?
A hand rested on his shoulder, and he swiveled to see Taylor looking at him with concern. “Maybe cut back on the coffee.”
He nodded, but knew that wasn’t the solution.
Faith. Trust. That was what he needed. Faith in God. Something Sean thought he possessed in abundance, yet he could see now that his hope and faith had taken a nose dive after Gina betrayed him.
One thing he’d forgotten, an important thing: God didn’t betray. Didn’t turn His back. He was always the same loving God. Always wanting the best for His children. Sean had to trust that He would lead them to Phantom. And if for some reason He didn’t see fit to do so, it was because in His almighty power, He knew it was right for Phantom to evade capture.
Sean didn’t like that thought, didn’t like it one bit, but it was time he lived his own words. He squeezed her hand. “Honestly, prayer is what I need. What we all need.”
“Let me,” she said, then got everyone’s attention.
Sean closed his eyes, and she led them all in a heartfelt prayer. When she finished, he opened his eyes to find Dustee watching them. No scorn or derision in her expression, just curiosity.
Could God be using this situation to make himself known to her?
Sean thought it entirely possible, and it showed him even more that God’s plans were not necessarily Sean’s plan. Now he felt even worse. He’d been a terrible witness for his faith.
That had to stop. Now. God just reinforced a valuable life skill—trusting Him when all seemed lost—and Sean needed to start putting it into practice. He only hoped that didn’t mean God would provide the opportunity to practice it more by letting Phantom escape capture.
Taylor followed Sean and Anna into the forensic lab that smelled like caustic chemicals. Much like Taylor’s high school chemistry lab, except Taylor had no idea the type of chemicals Anna and her coworkers used or how the many machines filling the room operated.
“What do you have for us?” Sean’s usual urgent tone was more relaxed, and his face less tight.
Taylor had felt a change in him since her prayer. He was more upbeat and hadn’t reached for his antacids again. A good sign and one she could learn from. She wanted to trust God, too, not just one day at a time, but each and every moment. That had always been her goal, but since Jeremy had died, she hadn’t even managed the one day at a time. On the drive over, she’d recommitted herself again and would start by trying not to doubt Him today. Then the next day and the next, hopefully stringing them together and strengthening her faith.
“Actually, I have two things I think you’ll find interesting.” Anna took a stack of papers from the lab table and handed them to Sean.
Taylor looked past him and saw it was a DNA report for a male.
He quickly perused the page and flipped to the next report, this one for a woman. He looked up at Anna. “So you were able to collect DNA for both a male and female?”
She nodded. “But the bedbugs contained only the male’s DNA.”
“That’s odd that you didn’t find female DNA there too, isn’t it?” Sean asked.
“Maybe not. I don’t think they had this infestation for long.”
Taylor still couldn’t believe they could find anything from the tiny bedbugs. “How can you tell?”
Anna frowned, likely from Taylor questioning her so often. “We found very few eggs in the bedding, and females lay up to five eggs a day. If the bugs had been there for some time, we would’ve located a larger quantity. So it’s possible that once the infestation was discovered, the female didn’t sleep in that bed.”
Taylor could imagine it far too vividly, and she shuddered. “I sure wouldn’t.”
Anna nodded. “It’s also possible that the bugs I collected simply hadn’t fed on her, though I took a very random sample, so I think that’s less likely.”
Taylor was so grossed out that her breakfast churned in her stomach. “Please, can we move on?”
Anna chuckled. “Sure. Let’s talk about the people. I’ve put both their ages at thirty-seven.”
“Jorgenson is thirty-seven,” Taylor said. “Guess it makes sense his girlfriend is the same age.”
Sean’s attention remained fixed on Anna. “Where did you locate her DNA?”
“In the office on the computers, mouse, glass, living room tables, kitchen, et cetera.”
Sean furrowed his forehead. “So Phantom shared his equipment with her. Or she’s his partner. After he killed his first partner, we’ve never seen any evidence of his having another one, but then we don’t know all that much about him.”
“What about searching the hard drives to look for anything that points to her?” Taylor asked Sean.
“Yeah, sure.” Sean pulled out his phone. “Give me a second to text everyone to keep an eye out for that.”
He tapped his screen, and Taylor watched him attack his phone like he did everything else. Full force and quickly. After the time she’d spent with him, she could truly confirm that he was her direct opposite. Could she handle being with someone who raced through life? Wait, could she handle being with anyone?
Oblivious to her internal musings, he s
towed his phone and focused again on Anna. “What else do you have for us?”
She tapped the pages Sean still held. “We didn’t get hits in CODIS on either profile.”
He frowned. “I’m not surprised on Phantom, but I was hoping the woman would’ve matched.”
“I also processed the samples recovered from Enzo’s body,” Anna said. “Unfortunately, no hit in CODIS, and they didn’t match these samples. Either Jorgenson isn’t the killer or he wore gloves.”
“Oh, he’s the killer,” Sean said with conviction. “And he’s most certainly smart enough to wear gloves.”
Taylor admired how sure he was about his opinion. Admired so many things about him. And she wished just one bit of forensics would break in their favor. Not only for finding Phantom but to help relieve the pressure Sean was facing. If Anna wasn’t in the room, Taylor would have taken his hand and reassured him.
“One odd thing you need to know.” Anna’s eyes narrowed, and she took a long breath. “We found only one toothbrush in the bathroom, and it matched the male’s DNA profile.”
Taylor did find that odd. “Maybe the woman wasn’t living there after all.”
Sean frowned. “But why the clothes and female hygiene products?”
Anna shrugged. “My science doesn’t explain that.”
“Did you test for DNA on any of those items?” Sean asked.
She shook her head. “I didn’t think it was relevant to the investigation. I can go back to the house if you want, but honestly, I don’t see a reason to do so.”
“Nah,” Sean said. “You’re right. What’s the point? We know a man and woman were both in the house, and we have their DNA.” He glanced at the pages in his hand. “This isn’t much to go on. Please tell me you have more items to process.”
She nodded. “Fingerprints from the house are still being reviewed, and there’s a good bit of trace evidence to process still.”
“Trace evidence,” Sean repeated. “Like what exactly?”
“Like the phone, for example. People leave behind trace chemicals, molecules, and microbes on every object they touch.”
“Okay, explain that to me, please,” Taylor said, as she rarely worked with forensics in witness protection, and they were ever-changing.
Seconds to Live Page 25
