Against the Edge (The Raines of Wind Canyon) by Kat Martin Read Free Book Online Page B

mean anything. It could be anyone’s blood. There was no reason to think it was Sam’s. Still, a knot formed in his stomach as he rushed into the bedroom.
    Nothing in there. But in the bathroom, the sink was covered with a dried, dark brown substance that could only be blood.
    Using his pocket knife, he scraped enough blood off the porcelain into another bag for a sample. There was a fine spatter on the walls, but nothing else in the room besides dirt, mold and rust around the bathtub.
    He spotted pieces of a broken glass in the corner and felt a hint of relief.
    The color was back in Claire’s face when he returned to the living room.
    “I’m sorry,” she said as she stood up. “Was it really—”
    “It’s blood, but there’s no reason to think it’s Sam’s.”
    “No, of course not. I was just... It scared me.”
    “I found pieces of a broken glass. Looks like that’s what happened. Someone cut himself and bled into the sink. Doesn’t look like enough to be fatal. I took a sample. We’ll see what it shows.”
    “Maybe the police can match the DNA or something, find out Bridger’s real name.”
    “They have to have something to match the DNA to. Bridger would have to be in the system. Can take a while to find out.” He rested a hand at the small of her back as they started for the door. “The good news is I found an old VISA bill in the name of Troy Bennett.”
    She stopped so suddenly, the curve of her bottom came up against his groin. “Oh, my God, that must be his real name.” Ben stepped back, the firm roundness feeling way too good.
    “Not necessarily. Sometimes a guy like that uses half a dozen aliases.”
    “Oh. Are you giving the card number to the police?”
    “I’m giving the number to a friend in Houston. The card’s been canceled, but with any luck, he can tell us where it was used last.”
    “What about the police?”
    “Not yet. If Bridger’s got my son, I don’t want the police accidentally tipping him before we can get to him. We don’t know anything about this guy. We don’t know what he might do.”
    “I didn’t think of that.”
    “Come on. Let’s get out of here.” There were things he needed to do. More pieces of the puzzle to find and fit together. More information he needed in order to find his son.
    * * *
    On the way back to her apartment, Claire sat quietly as Ben phoned Tyler Brodie and got the name of a private lab he and John Riggs occasionally used when they were working a case. She waited in the car while Ben went in to drop off the blood sample he had scraped out of the sink, fidgeting, wondering if they would be able to get a result before the end of the day.
    A few minutes later, Ben climbed back into the car.
    “How long will it take them to get the DNA?” she asked as he started the engine.
    “They’ll have the blood type by tomorrow morning at the latest. Getting the DNA and running it through CODIS will take a couple more days.”
    “CODIS...that’s the criminal offender database. I’ve dealt with it in my work.” Social Services had to know as much as possible about the people they were trying to help. The system gave them badly needed information.
    “It only works if the DNA from the blood belongs to someone in the system. If that’s the case, they’ll be able to tell us who it is.”
    She glanced out the window, saw the sun sitting low on the horizon, the afternoon slipping away. “Sam’s blood type is O-negative. He took a fall off a skateboard, cut his arm and had to have stitches. I went with Laura to the emergency room.”
    “O-negative. Same as mine.” Something flashed in his eyes. Not relief that the boy was his. Something a father might feel when he spoke of his son. “They would probably have taken a sample of his DNA when he went into the foster care program.”
    “Yes, that’s right.” Claire didn’t say more. She didn’t want to think that the blood belonged to Sam, that he might have been seriously injured. There