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Chase slammed the door on his exit.
“What?” Frustration and worry over Della had his whole body knotted. “You found her?”
“No, but you’ve been going at him for thirty minutes. He’s not going to talk. And as you said, tomorrow they’ll identify the shoe print and we’ll have him. Don’t waste any more energy on him.”
Chase didn’t hate it so much that Burnett was right, he just hated that he was wrong. “Okay, let’s go back to our last two addresses to find Stone.”
Burnett shook his head. “I haven’t slept in thirty-eight hours and I’m betting you’re going on forty-eight.”
“And I’m not going to sleep until we know where Della is,” Chase said.
“Neither am I,” Burnett said. “But we both need to drink some blood and at least try to relax, or we’re likely to mess this up. I’ve already sent some agents out to the other two places on the list. Right now, both residences are empty. I’ve got them on watch, and if anyone shows up, they’ll call me first thing.”
“But—”
“Don’t argue,” Burnett said. “We did good tonight. Tomorrow, when the evidence comes in, I’ll mark the Chis’ case solved. Della will never have to know that her father reported her to the police.”
* * *
Della started to step back.
“Wait,” her uncle said. “If that metal plate comes down, stop. You got that?”
Della nodded.
“It probably wouldn’t kill you, but it would hurt like hell. And if I hand you back over to Chase with a scratch on you, he’ll have my head.”
“You won’t hand me over to anyone,” Della said.
“I didn’t mean … Sorry,” he said.
“Let’s do this,” she said.
She moved back several feet to get a running start. She heard the alarms as soon as she crossed the gate. The wind tossed her hair in her eyes. As she came closer to the porch she heard clicking sounds as if things were about to come down.
She sped up and hit the door with her shoulder full force.
It hurt like hell, but the door cracked. She landed on her side on the floor of the home.
The clicking noises stopped. She heard her uncle land on the porch and he rushed inside.
She bolted to her feet, and the smell hit.
It wasn’t as bad as the smell at Stone’s girlfriend’s house, but close. She slammed her hand over her nose.
“Well, you don’t have to worry about me killing him,” her uncle said.
Della turned around, and there, on the hall floor, was the old man she remembered from her one and only council meeting. Considering his age, Della might have suspected he’d gone of natural causes. But there was nothing natural about the knife sticking out of his back.
“What’s the address here?” Della asked, looking away.
“Why?” her uncle asked.
She reached for her phone. “Because I’m calling Burnett.”
Chapter Forty-five
Begrudgingly, Chase stormed out of the office. He’d just dropped his ass on the seat behind the wheel. He hadn’t even shut the door when Burnett shot beside his car.
