Page 28 of The Sinner’s Son (Sawyer and Royce: Felonies and Fatherhood #2)

Cory took a seat at the far end of the table and opened his laptop. “Did I hear you say that I’m enhancing emailed photos?”

“That’s correct,” Sawyer said. “She scanned the images and emailed them to me.”

“Not ideal,” Cory said as he typed furiously on his keyboard. “Scanning often makes the resolution worse because people don’t realize they can change their settings.” He looked up and offered Sawyer his first genuine smile. “But I am very good at what I do.”

“Talia is overnighting the originals from Jacksonville,” Alec interjected as he sat opposite Cory. “You can work with those when we get them.”

Sawyer noted the slight tensing in Cory’s shoulders, but he otherwise treated Alec as the invisible man, keeping his gaze locked on Sawyer.

“Send me what you have.” Cory rattled off his email address, and Sawyer started typing.

“We’ll need to cut that part out,” Alec said. “He won’t want a bunch of randos spamming him with email.”

Cory jerked his head up and acknowledged Alec for the first time. “Worried they’ll accept my invitation to go out and then blow me off too?”

Oh boy. “Images sent,” Sawyer said, hoping to steer the conversation back on track.

“Got them,” Cory replied. “Hmmmm. These aren’t half-bad. What are you looking for?”

“We would like a clearer image of the choker the petite blonde is wearing in all these photos,” Sawyer said. “There are characteristics on the cameo that we are hoping to match to the choker in the FBI evidence photographs.”

Cory looked at Alec again, but the derision from earlier had vanished. “You think this cameo is part of your father’s unmatched souvenirs?” Clearly, Alec had discussed the case with Cory last week, and Sawyer was concerned about what else he knew.

“I’m almost positive,” Alec replied. “Can you help us?”

Cory studied the photos and clicked around on his keyboard. “You’re talking about two different applications to clear up the images and get a closer look at the cameo, but I’ll give it my all.”

“Do you mind if Ricky stands behind you to get a better look at what you’re doing?” Alec asked.

“Not at all.”

Sawyer moved over so Ricky could have a good view.

Cody explained the process of cleaning up the images and then showed each new version in a split screen to compare it to the original.

Sawyer tuned out the conversation and just watched the image become clearer in stages.

Cody saved his progress when he was happy with the results and switched to zooming in on the choker.

The process seemed to take forever but was quite fascinating.

Alec remained seated across the table and let Ricky handle the interview until Cory sat back in his chair and announced he’d done as much as he could with the scanned photos.

Sawyer stared at the image on the screen in complete awe. “That’s amazing. Can you send all the final images to me?”

“Of course.” Cody’s fingers flew across the keyboard. “Done.”

Alec stood up, rounded the table, and then froze when he saw the image displayed on the screen. He stared at it for a long time before turning to meet Sawyer’s gaze. “Seems like a conversation with the FBI is in order.”

“Absolutely,” Sawyer said. “Thank you so much, Cory. I think you’ve helped us blow the case wide open.”

The forensic tech closed his laptop and stood up. Excitement sparkled in his eyes again as he looked from Sawyer to Alec. “Really?”

“You’ve absolutely proved to me that my dad killed Monica Horton,” Alec said. “Now I just need to convince the FBI.”

“Cory, we need you to keep this quiet,” Sawyer cautioned. “We don’t want a media frenzy to descend on us before we’re ready to go public with our findings.”

The warning seemed to snuff the joy right out of Cory, and the life in his eyes switched off again.

“I know my professional responsibilities,” he replied dryly.

“I never discuss my work.” Cory closed his laptop and faced them.

“If you’ll excuse me, I need to head back upstairs to work on other things before lunch. ”

The team thanked Cory profusely as he left, but he didn’t acknowledge them.

“You dodged a bullet there,” Marina said.

“Yeah,” Ricky agreed, the trademark twinkle in his eyes shining brighter than usual. “That wasn’t nearly as dramatic as I thought it would be.”

“Oh, hush,” Alec told them as he moved to his own laptop. “Can you send those photos to me? I want to compare Cory’s enhanced image to the evidence photos.”

Sawyer forwarded them to Alec and waited for him to display them side by side. “Holy shit.”

“See that shadow on the cameo in the enhanced photo? It’s in the same place as the chip on the cameo I found in Andrew’s box.”

It felt irrefutable to Sawyer. “Add in Becca’s account of the photographer with the red Camaro, and I think the FBI has to take this claim seriously.”

“And I have a good picture of Andrew with his hot rod,” Alec said. “I haven’t shared it publicly because I’m saving it to use as the podcast cover art and possibly a second book cover. I wonder if Becca would do a photo lineup for us.”

“It’s a good idea, but I think that’s something the FBI should decide.”

“And if they don’t?” Alec pushed.

“We talk to Chief Mendoza and see how he wants us to proceed. We could close Monica’s case as solved without the FBI’s involvement. I know that won’t be as newsworthy, but I think Monica’s family would appreciate the closure.”

Alec pulled up the contacts in his phone. Glancing over at Ricky, he said, “Are you still recording?”

“Hell yeah. This is documentary gold.”

Alec dialed a number, and they listened as it rang.

The call went to a voicemail box where a woman identified herself as Special Agent Veronica Wilson.

She wasn’t available to talk and asked the caller to leave a message and their contact information.

Alec calmly introduced himself, gave a brief recap of what they’d discovered, and left his phone number. “Now, we wait.”

A knock sounded on the doorjamb, and they all turned to see Detective O’Connell standing just outside the conference room. She wore a somber expression, and Sawyer braced for bad news.

“Can I have a word?” O’Connell asked Alec.

“Sure.”

“You can use my office,” Sawyer said.

“Can Sawyer come too?” Alec asked the detective.

She shrugged and stepped back. “It’s fine by me.”

Sawyer followed them into his office and shut the door. He opted to stand off to the side and gestured for O’Connell to take his chair.

“Thanks,” she said. “I just wanted to give you a brief update on where I’m at.

We completed the search of your car and your house, so I wanted to return these to you.

” She placed a set of keys on the desk in front of Alec.

“I do not consider you a suspect. Besides your full cooperation in the matter, I have located footage from multiple Ring cameras in your neighborhood that back up your statement. The neighbor directly across the street really needs to adjust their motion settings. They captured the shared kiss on the porch, Dane walking down the driveway, and you going inside the house.”

Alec bolted upright. “What else did it show?”

“Two cars stopping in front of your house,” O’Connell replied. “The first was a four-door silver sedan. We found the vehicle on additional footage in the neighborhood and know it was parked down the street for a significant period, as if watching your house.”

Alec jerked like she’d slapped him.

“I can tell from the time stamps from both cameras that the car pulled away from the curb as soon as Dane stopped at the end of your driveway. He was busy on his phone and got into the back seat of the silver sedan without checking to see if the car was his ride. His Lyft driver arrived two minutes later in a small black SUV.”

“I didn’t tell him what kind of car to expect,” Alec said.

“This isn’t your fault,” Sawyer reminded him. “What else did the cameras catch?”

“A device at the end of the street came on when a cat ran across the lawn, and it captured the silver sedan turning left to exit the neighborhood. Some of the license plate lights were out, so I only have a partial number, but it will be enough to get a match. I’ve got someone scouring the DMV database right now. ”

“That’s certainly helpful,” Sawyer said.

“I’m waiting on cell phone tower information so we can check the pings from Dane’s phone. I’ve prepared a warrant for his phone records, and I’m waiting for a judge’s signature. We could find other important clues in that data. We’re going to figure out what happened to Dane.”

“I appreciate you sharing this information with me, Detective O’Connell,” Alec said. “Savannah is lucky to have someone like you.”

“That’s nice of you to say. I’ll let you know when I have more updates.”

Alec looked incapable of speaking, so he nodded.

After she left, Ricky and Marina joined them. It was obvious Alec had told his team about meeting Dane too.

“Did she have good news?” Marina asked.

“She has a few leads,” Sawyer told them.

“That’s something positive,” Ricky said.

Alec tilted his head back against the wall and closed his eyes. Then he yawned wide enough to make his jaw crack.

“Gross,” Ricky grumbled.

“You look like a gentle breeze could knock you over,” Marina added. “Let’s go get something to eat for lunch, and then I’ll drop you back at the hotel. You’ve done as much as you can today. It’s time to rest.”

“Detective O’Connell returned the keys to his house and car,” Sawyer told them.

“We can check you out of the hotel and take you back to the beach house. How’s that sound?”

“Okay,” Alec replied.

Sawyer wondered if he’d need help to stand, but then Alec pulled himself together after another jaw-cracking yawn.

He flopped down in his desk chair after the trio left, closing his eyes and hoping for just a few minutes of peace.

His ringing cell phone shattered his hopes almost immediately.

Sawyer cracked open one eye to see the caller ID, then smiled when he saw the picture of him and Evangeline on his wedding day.

It wasn’t unusual for her to reach out with a spontaneous lunch invitation, so Sawyer injected a smile into his voice when he accepted the call.

“Hello, son.” Evangeline’s voice was low, almost menacing. “Is there something you forgot to tell me?”

“Um…” Sawyer sluggishly searched his brain for an oversight but couldn’t come up with anything.

“Think carefully. Is there a major life event you’ve planned behind my back?”

Awareness kicked him in the balls. His mother knew about their Lil Plum.

But how? Eddie wouldn’t have told her. Soft yipping came through the phone.

Dolly! Evangeline loved to spoil the fur grandkids and had probably swung by to let Dolly outside or deliver goodies.

He’d told Royce it was a bad idea to hang that sonogram on the refrigerator, but once it was there, neither of them could take it down and put it in a drawer.

“Well—” That was as far as Sawyer got before a shrill squeal cut him off. He pulled his phone away until the ringing in his ears subsided.

“Sorry,” Evangeline said a few moments later. “You were saying.”

“Kelsey is helping Royce and me with a very special project. We were planning to surprise everyone at your Labor Day party.”

“Hang on, please,” Evangeline said, then set her phone down on a surface.

“Yes! Whew! It’s about time! You’re going to have a brother or sister, Bonesy and Doll Doll.

” His mother whooped and hollered for a few minutes while his heart swelled with love.

Evangeline cleared her throat, reclaimed her phone, and calmly said, “Sawyer, I am thrilled for you and Royce. I cannot wait to celebrate this with you.”

“Really, I couldn’t tell.”

“Oh, hush,” Evangeline said. “I’ve been planning this moment since the day I met Royce Locke.

I have so many questions.” She proceeded to fire them at him.

“How’s my sweet girl Kelsey? When’s her due date?

Are you going to find out the baby’s gender?

Have you picked out names? Oh! Oh! What about a nursery theme? ”

Sawyer was debating how much he wanted to reveal when Alec reappeared in his doorway, looking wild-eyed and frantic.

“Mom! Something came up at work that needs my immediate attention. I need to go. I love you and will call you later.” He disconnected the call before she could respond and stood up. “What’s wrong?”

Marina and Ricky ran into the bullpen, winded and worried.

“Fuck, Sawyer,” Alec said. “I know who took Dane!”

Sawyer’s heart slammed against his ribs. “Who?”

Alec clutched his chest and slumped against the doorway as if that burst of energy could be his last. “Cory,” he husked.

“What’s he talking about?” Sawyer asked Marina and Ricky.

“We ran into that forensics guy on the way to the parking lot,” Ricky said. “He and Alec walked ahead of us, so I didn’t hear what they said. Did you, Mar?”

“Cory said something about going home for an early lunch,” she replied. “Guess he lives close by. Everything was fine until Cory reached out and placed his hand on Alec’s forearm.”

“It was Dane’s,” Alec huffed.

“Dane’s what?” Sawyer pressed.

“The leather cuff bracelet Cory had on belonged to Dane. I admired it when he was at my house. Dane told me it had been a gift from his brother. I didn’t notice Cory wearing it earlier, but I was too focused on the investigation.”

Sawyer grabbed his phone and checked the post Cayden had shared about his missing brother. Sure enough, Dane wore a leather cuff like the one Cory had been wearing.

“Seven-two-one-nine,” Alec husked. “Seven-two-one-nine.”

“What the hell?” Marina asked.

“He’s malfunctioning,” Ricky suggested.

But Sawyer knew exactly what those numbers meant.

Alec straightened to his full height and waved them off. “Silver sedan. Four doors. Partial license plate is seven-two-one-nine. Cory just drove off in the car that Dane got into in front of my house.”

Holy shit. “I’m calling Detective O’Connell.”