AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“We can’t move anything, and be careful not to touch anything.” Jenna holstered her weapon and pulled out her cell phone to call the detective.
He answered on the first ring. “Schwope here. Whatcha got, Jenkins?”
“I’m at my sister’s apartment. It’s been tossed.”
“I’ll send someone over to dust for prints. Anything missing?”
Jenna shrugged. “No idea. She didn’t have much. I can’t imagine there was anything here worth stealing. I need to get back to the hospital.”
“Dispatch tells me there’s a unit around the corner if you can wait until he gets there.”
“Will do,” Jenna said. As she waited, her gaze swept over the few pieces of furniture and came to rest on the nightstand. She fished in her jacket pocket for surgical gloves, pulled them on and then picked her way across the floor to the drawer hanging slightly open.
“I thought you said we shouldn’t touch anything?” Cliff said.
Jenna nodded. “That’s why I carry gloves.” She pulled the drawer open a little more and looked inside. A book lay amid a few socks and T-shirts. She lifted it and thumbed through the pages. “Before I left Brittany, she asked me to look for a business card she’d stuck between the pages of a book inside her nightstand.” Jenna stopped thumbing through and turned the book over, fanning the pages. Nothing fell out.
At that moment, a police officer arrived at the door of the apartment. “Special Agent Jenkins?” he asked, looking at Cliff.
Cliff tipped his head toward Jenna.
“That’s me.” Jenna laid the book on the nightstand and nodded to the officer. “When they’re collecting prints, make sure they check for prints on this book.” She shot a glance toward Cliff. “Ready?”
He nodded. “I take it you’re not going to pack a bag for your sister.”
She shook her head. What was there wasn’t worth worrying about and would be tied up until they got all the fingerprints they wanted. “Not from here. We’ll stop by my house for a few things and at a store on the way back.”
Once in Cliff’s truck, Cliff started the engine and looked over at Jenna. “Whose business card?”
Jenna’s jaw tightened. “Mr. Waters. The man who gave her money and promised more when she delivered the baby.”
CHAPTER 8
With Jenna’s directions, Cliff drove to her cottage and went up to the door with her.
The fierce barking on the other side made him smile. “I wonder if the person who threw the brick had come to your house intent on breaking in like they did at Brittany’s apartment.”
“I’d wondered the same,” Jenna said as she unlocked the door and uttered a command. “Sit.”
A dark sable German shepherd sat back on his haunches, eying Cliff.
“Good boy,” Jenna said. “His bark is wicked, but he’s usually friendly with friendly people.”
Cliff frowned. “I know I’m friendly. Will he know I’m friendly?”
She shrugged. “Let him sniff your hand and find out.” Jenna grinned. “What have you got to lose?”
“My hand?” he said. Respectful of the animal, Cliff dropped to a squat and slowly extended his hand toward the dog, his fingers curled in case the animal decided to bite.
“His name is Brutus,” Jenna said, her hand smoothing down the dog’s back.
Brutus sniffed his hand, seemed to look Cliff in the eye and then licked his knuckles.
Cliff laughed. “I guess that means I passed the sniff test?”
Jenna smiled. “You did.” She turned and walked through a living room.
Cliff followed, the dog falling in step beside him, tail wagging. He reached down and scratched behind Brutus’s ear. “Good dog.”
