Page 245 of Nyx

"This isn't the only thing we had to discuss," he says. "Prepare yourself. This is graphic."

When he nods at Max, the screen behind him fills with images of a body, charred from being set on fire.

"She's a Jane Doe," Max says. "Found two towns over. The police can't even identify her, but there have been no missing persons reports filed in the last two weeks in a hundred-mile radius."

"Any evidence to speak of?" Hound asks.

"She had no clothing. Autopsy is pending," Max says. "This is all they found as far as personal effects."

The screen fills with a single image of a bracelet.

I stare at the thing, wishing I could identify it, but it's not familiar to me at all. The chances of identifying anyone, especially someone found several towns over with a bracelet, seem impossible. If we can't identify the victim, what are the chances we can identify the perpetrator?

"Fuck," Harley growls.

All eyes in the room turn to him.

"You recognize it?" Kincaid asks.

The man is trembling as he nods.

"That woman is Traci Valdez. She had that bracelet on her left wrist when I took her to the bus station."

Silence fills the room. Slick presses her hand to her mouth as if it's the only way to keep from sobbing.

"Where are the babies?" Signal asks.

Several members shift in their seats.

I've faced some horrible shit in my life, and this is going to end up right at the top.

My throat is dry, my hands clenched into fists on the top of the conference room table.

"Max," Kincaid growls.

"Working on it," the man assures him as his fingers work at lightning speed over his keyboard.

The images on his computer play out on the screen at the front of the room.

First, the video of Traci getting out of Harley's SUV, him helping her with her luggage, and waiting with her until she gets on the bus. It pulls away from the station, and Max continues.

"We have this," Max says.

An audio recording of a 911 call fills the room, explaining that there was a woman in labor shortly after that bus made its second stop in town to pick up passengers.

"There's no video," Max says. "It happened after they left the bus stop. Farmington police, fire, and an ambulance responded. She was transported to the hospital here in town."

"Colton didn't tell us she had gone into labor?" Dominic asks, sounding a little annoyed and possibly feeling betrayed by his son-in-law.

"I doubt he would know anything about it," Kincaid tells his brother. "It wasn’t a criminal act."

"We weren't tracking Traci?" Hound asks.

"She didn't want to be," Kincaid answers. "We were respecting her wishes."

"Could it have been Whitmore?" Slick asks.

"Anything is possible," Max says. "Checking the hospital records now."