and sisters, his mom and dad and a grandmother.
Catelyn had adopted them all and learned the language they’d used most around the house: ASL, American Sign Language.
And now she was even prettier than he remembered. With a glint in her eye that said she wasn’t happy to see him.
Well, too bad. He was here to stay until the end. No matter what it took to find Kelly and put Tracy’s killer behind bars. Even if it meant dealing with Catelyn and old feelings that had never truly died.
“Hello, Catie.”
“Don’t call me that. My name’s Catelyn.”
Nope, she hadn’t changed a bit. Just as contrary as she ever was. “Fine,” he clipped. “Catelyn, what do you think about this case so far? Any new leads on Kelly or Tracy?”
Compassion softened her gaze for a moment. “No, nothing yet. Kelly’s poor family, they’re beside themselves. And her brother, Billy…” She shook her head. “He’s having a hard time. They go to my church and I’ve known them awhile. You never had a chance to meet them as they came after you left.”
He ignored her dig. She’d been the one to send him on his way. His gaze swept the scene again as he wondered how to respond. Then decided not to.
In spite of the fact that the scene had been cleared, he’d slipped blue crime-scene booties over his shoes so as not to disturb anything in the area. He couldn’t help it. He simply couldn’t walk a crime scene without them. He watched as Catelyn went ahead and slipped a pair over her shoes. Apparently she felt the same way.
Attention to detail.
Notice everything; mentally record the scene to pull up later. And write everything down. Good notes were essential. He had no doubt Catelyn’s would be unquestionably precise and detailed.
“Dylan’s jacket was found there,” she offered.
“Where?” Joseph’s head snapped up. Victor hadn’t mentioned anything about a jacket.
She scraped a hand through that silky blond mane that never seemed to stay where she wanted it. He remembered smoothing it down, around her cheeks, his fingers grazing skin so soft, he…
Clearing his throat, he asked, “What was his jacket doing at the crime scene? He doesn’t even go to this school anymore now that he’s playing baseball with Esterman High.”
“I know. We pulled him in for questioning and he claims he met Kelly here, they were walking, she was cold and he gave her his jacket.”
“So how did it wind up on the ground?” He pointed to the marker indicating where the jacket had been found.
“He says he has no idea. That he left his jacket with her and he was going to come back to get it the next day, which would be today. Tracy was found last night. We still haven’t heard anything from Kelly.”
“You don’t believe him.” Joseph stated it as fact, his eyes never leaving her face. If he hadn’t been studying her so intently, he would have missed the brief flicker of regret.
She shrugged, turning back to assess the scene. He wondered if she was just avoiding looking at him. She said, “I don’t know, Joseph. And that’s the truth. I don’t want to think Dylan capable of something like this. Dylan’s aunt is a dispatcher with the department. His mom is a single mother and while his dad’s in the picture, he’s not around much. Dylan’s track record isn’t great, and kids do stupid stuff all the time that turns deadly.” Another shrug. “Who knows? I’m reserving judgment until all the evidence is in.”
“Alonso sent me a text message. Dylan’s a good friend of his, of our family. Alonso firmly believes in his buddy’s innocence and is begging me to prove it.” He blew out a sigh and looked at her. “You’ve already got him tried and found guilty, haven’t you?”
“No.” Her eyes got that glint again, the one that said he was walking a fine line, and she was having trouble holding on to her temper. Not for the first time he thought she should have been a redhead. “I didn’t say that. I said I’m following the evidence.”
“And what if that evidence is all circumstantial and yet still leads back to Dylan?”
“Then I’ll arrest him.”
Catelyn hated the tension between the two of them. Once upon a time, Joseph had been her best friend, her confidante, the only man who’d ever made her seriously think about tossing away her personal rule about never marrying a cop. She turned away from him, walked to the edge of the tape.
His voice came from her right. “What else did they find?”
“A ring with some blood on it.” She kept her words clipped, professional.
“The girl’s or someone else’s?”
“Don’t know yet. It just went into the lab. You know how fast the turnaround time is.” Sarcasm dripped off the words.
Joseph snorted. “Yeah.”
Catelyn came closer, asking the question she’d wondered for the last couple of years—ever since he’d left. “So, how have you been?”
“Good. Just working a lot. New York’s a fascinating city.”
“I’m sure.” Now she was stuck. Backed into that awkward conversational corner, silence stretching, making her itch to escape.
Joseph walked the perimeter, just inside the tape. Bending down, he touched the grass. “There was some kind of scuffle here. The grass is really torn up in this spot. I mean, I know it’s a school with kids everywhere, but this area’s kind of off the beaten path.”
Relieved to be back on a safe topic, she said, “Yes, the crime-scene guys looked it over, got the pictures. No prints, though. The ground’s too hard.”
Glancing at the sky, Joseph lamented, “Could have used the rain that’s coming this afternoon a couple of days ago.”
She walked a few feet outside the tape. Several strategically placed large boulders lined the curving entrance to the school. More were placed under the shade trees near the pasture where students like to gather in the afternoon. Catelyn scanned them and something caught her attention. She leaned down, pulling the small high-powered digital camera from her pocket. She snapped two pictures of the item, then pulled out a glove. Just because something turned up outside the tape, didn’t mean it wasn’t evidence. With a steady hand, she picked it up.
Wood. About two inches wide by six inches long.
Looking around, she spied the trees, a wooden play set off to the left, wooden cedar chips had been spread near the horse pasture. The wooden fence. Wood everywhere. Carefully, she studied the piece. Scanned the wood surrounding her once more. It didn’t really match anything nearby. Possibly the light, wooden play set.
So what was it?
“What have you got?”
“I was just trying to figure that out. It’s a piece of wood, but I don’t know what kind or where it came from. There’s nothing
