Page 101 of Our Daughter's Bones

“Grow up, will you?”

“What’s the sitch? What happened between you two?” He plopped into his chair.

She looked at his mop of hair—overgrown and wild. “Nick, do you want to talk outside?”

“Sure.” Nick dashed out of the office like he was running for his life.

“Aw, come on!” Troy called after them. “Mad Mack!”

She ignored him and followed Nick outside and around the corner. He leaned against the wall with his ankles crossed. His pout was deep as he rolled a cigarette in between his fingers.

“Daniel and Justin still looking into Magnus Pharma?” Nick asked.

“Yeah, I texted them to look for a connection to Bill Grayson. They found out that Magnus is a shell company. Doesn’t exist.”

“No way.”

“Yep. Whoever this man is, he’s doing a lot of illegal shit. They’re working closely with the white-collar crime division in the FBI. Might help us move faster.”

“Patrol is going through the woods, but they can’t enter any personal property if the owner doesn’t allow it. And if the owner isn’t there then they can’t get in without a warrant. Abby’s phone could have pinged from anywhere in that big area.”

“We have to talk to Grayson.”

“I know.” His mouth pressed in a flat line.

“Why’re you so reluctant? Are you a fan too?”

“Cut it out, Mack. You think so?”

She shrugged.

“I’m concerned about what this could mean for Lakemore.” He put the cigarette in his mouth. “There’s no room for mistakes.”

“I know.”

Even though her moral compass was decidedly fixed, she lived in the real world. She knew what it could mean to go after Bill Grayson. Even with solid forensic evidence, there would be pressure and scrutiny.

“How did Abby find out about him?” he asked. “No way she just heard it from someone.”

“Yeah, I doubt there’s a rumor going around about Bill raping and killing girls. Even if it were an open secret, one of us would have heard something at some point. I don’t know.” She leaned against the wall next to him. Their shoulders brushed against each other. She inched away abruptly and ignored his breathy chuckle at her reaction. “Do you think she followed him?”

“Where? How’d she know about the other girls?”

“I don’t know. Same way Daniel did? She must have come across something on the internet and started digging.”

“Bill is the client Joe and Hannah blackmailed?”

“‘916’ is more than one person, remember? Either Bill could be the client or he knows the client because they’re together in this club.”

“Should we bring in Eddy or Miranda? They can shed some light on this client’s identity.”

“I doubt they’ll talk. But I think Hannah might.”

Fifty-Six

“Did you find her?” Hannah demanded as she strode into the station. “Where is she?”

Gone was the haggard mother with lines running down her face. Hannah was dressed in a black leather dress with mascara goop collecting in the corners of her eyes—on her way to work, it seemed. When one of the passing officers stared at her, she bit out, “Take a picture, will you? It’ll last longer.”