Gone in a Flash by Lynette Eason Read Free Book Online Page B

with the other two?”
    Jake bagged something that might be evidence, tagged it, and tossed it in his collections bag. He stood to face Connor, his frustration obvious. “I found a folded piece of paper, but it’s so ratty, I’m afraid it’ll fall apart if I do anything with it here. The lab might be able to figure out what it is. Other than that, there’s nothing much on the surface. I’ll know more later today.” He sighed and used the back of his wrist to rub his nose. “The only thing that tells me these three murders are linked is the gender and age of the victims—and my gut. According to Serena, this one was shot. They’ve all died differently, but when we get her back to the morgue, I’ll bet Serena’ll find she’s recently had a baby.”
    “You know, Jake, this guy is really starting to get under my skin.”
    “Yeah, join the club.”
    “We’ve been working every medical facility within a thirty-mile radius and nothing. Not a sign these pregnant girls have ever seen a doctor. I don’t get it.”
    His phone rang. Frowning, he pulled it out of the clip to check out the caller ID.
    Jenna? He gave Jake a sign to hang on and stepped away to answer. “Jenna, are you all right?”
    “Dad? Dad? Where are you?”
    “I’m at a crime scene, honey. I left you a note on the counter. Are you okay?”
    Sniffling. “Yeah, yeah, I’m okay. I didn’t see your note. I . . . um . . . woke up to go to the bathroom and you weren’t in your bed and it . . . I didn’t know . . .” A frustrated sigh echoed in his ear. “I had to make sure you were okay. When are you coming home?”
    “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
    “Why do you have to be a cop? Why can’t you have a nice boring, safe job?” she whined.
    Frustration had him shoving a hand through his slowly drying hair. “Jenna, darling, I can’t get into this right now.” He glanced at Jake who shot him a sympathetic look.
    “Right. Sorry I bothered you.”
    “Jenna—”
    She’d already hung up.
    Connor sighed and scrubbed the stubble on his chin. Guilt pressed hard on his chest. He knew he let work consume him. At first it was to escape the pain of losing Julia, the wife he’d loved—yet seemed to battle with incessantly.
    But now, if he were honest with himself, work was his escape from the stress of constant fighting with a stubborn sixteen-year-old.
    When he’d gotten assigned to this case, he leased an apartment so he wouldn’t have to disturb his parents with his crazy hours, and he’d hoped Jenna could stay with him as often as possible. But those crazy hours meant that Jenna ended up staying more with her grandparents than with him, simply so she would have more stability in her life—especially during the school year.
    This last week had been a little slower than usual, and Connor was trying to spend some quality time with Jenna. Like last night he’d picked her up from a friend’s house and taken her out to eat. She’d come to the apartment and fallen asleep watching a movie.
    Unfortunately, it looked like Jenna wouldn’t be spending any more nights with him. Instead, she was going to have to go back to her grandparents’ for a while. A fact she’d fight him on, but if she couldn’t handle waking up and finding him gone . . .
    And she shouldn’t have to handle it. It wasn’t fair to her.
    But not much was these days. Poor Jenna.
    He sighed and, not for the first time, wished he’d never become a cop. Then again, if he wasn’t a cop, he didn’t know who he would be.
    In the confines of his pocket, Connor balled his hand into a fist, resisting the urge to hit something. Slipping the phone back in his clip, he said to Jake, “Guess I’ll have to talk to her tomorrow . . . er . . . later today.” And call his parents in the morning. He turned to the dumpster. “Hey, Serena, can I come up now?”
    Serena shoved herself back from the edge of the bin with a grunt. “Sure, Connor, I think I’ve got