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He thought about it for a moment before shaking his head.“No, I don’t believe I do.”
“Can you provide alibis for your whereabouts over thepast week?” Morgan asked.
Derik was glad to hear her speaking. Her voice seemedsofter now, something he’d come to expect in interrogations and interviews.When they’d worked closely together in the past, this was more or less a tellfor her…a sign that she was pretty sure the person they were speaking to wasn’tthe person they were looking for.
“Yes. I…I have a second job. I put my notice in when Iknew I was coming back to the church, but I was asked to finish out the month.”
“And where is that job?”
That embarrassed look came to his face again. “Stockingshelves at a supermarket. It’s the night shift, from eleven to five. It’s whatI did for two years since moving back to the States.”
“And you’ve done it every night this week?”
“Yes. And I’m here during the days. I’m only gettingabout four hours of sleep a day, but it’s okay. I’ve taken a week off once themonth at the supermarket is up. I’ll catch up on my rest then.”
Derik looked over to Morgan. She met his gaze and nodded.She stood up quickly and gave Feeney a little nod. “Please make sure you don’tleave town for a while. We may need to call on you with additional questions.”
“No worries there,” Feeney said, relieved. “With my work schedulefor the next two weeks, there’s no way I could leave town at all.”
Morgan left the small office without saying a word. Derikgot up to go after her, giving Feeney a quick “Thank you” on his way out.
He caught up to Morgan just as she reached the sidewalkoutside. He nearly held a hand out to stop her but thought better of it. Shewas far too unpredictable.
“Morgan. Jesus, what’s going on?”
“Nothing.”
“You’re angry about something.”
“You’re right,” she said. They were at the car now, andshe stopped at the trunk to glare at him. “I’m mad and frustrated. I…I didn’teven want to get back into this and now I feel like I’m failing all over again.I feel like I stepped right back into this case without any sort of time tomyself after prison. I came right back and now…now I’m failing all over again.”
“But Morgan…you can’t—”
“No. You asked, and I told you. That’s it. We can maybetalk it out later, but not right now. Right now, all I want to do is find thisasshole. I have to close this, Derik. And I…I want to go home for a bit. Justto sit, to think.”
“Yeah,” he said. “Yeah, I think that’s a good idea.” Whathe thought, but didn’t say, was:Maybe that’s where you should have stayedall along. It was madness to bring you back into this so soon.
When she turned away, Derik was pretty sure he’d seen theglimmer of tears in her eyes. He stood motionless as Morgan got into the carand slammed the door. Then, after taking a slow, calming breath, Derik also gotinto the car. And when he started the engine and pulled back out into the road,he let Morgan have her silence.
As he glanced over at her, he saw that the hints of tearswere gone. There was now a steely look in her eyes…another sign he had come toknow well. Sometimes she’d get a look in her eyes that made it seem like shewas staring way off into the distance.
She was doing it now and Derik smiled when he saw theghost of his former partner lurking behind her eyes.
What that expression meant was that she was locked in.She was focusing hard, putting the pieces together.
It was a very small step, but he dared to think that heroutbursts throughout the day had paid off. Maybe, just maybe, he was on theverge of getting his old partner back.
CHAPTER TEN
Morgan Cross was officially back and on the case. Thispleased and surprised him. He figured it would take at least a few weeks forthe bureau to get back into the thick of things. But they’d wasted no time andhad pulled her in right away.
He wondered idly if he should be nervous about this. HadMorgan sat in prison for those ten long years, fixating only on the case…on hiswork? Had she been released from prison like a rodeo bull from its gate,charging toward anything that dared to flash red in front of her?
He rather hoped so. He was down to just one signremaining. It would have to be a good one. If it was the sign he was to go outon, it really needed to be something special. And in a strange way, a smallpart of him almost hoped Morgan was able to catch him. She’d been so dedicatedto catching him a decade ago, her every waking moment spent trying to hunt himdown.
In a way, this seventh sign was as much hers as it washis. That’s how he liked to see it, anyway.
It had been torture to wait for her to get out of prison.He’d more or less designed the chain of events that had put her there, but he’dnever in his wildest dreams imagined that the idiot courts and judicial systemwould put her away for ten years.
