Page 158 of Between Regrets and Promises

I point my finger at her, smiling. “I’m changing your contact name to Sassy Sophie now.” Then I wink, turn around, and get my ass out of there before I do something stupid like take her up against the door.

On the way to work, she’s all I have on my mind. Watching her become more like her old self each day gives me more hope than she knows.

Jerad walks over and gives me a head nod when he checks his watch and sees I’m more than twenty minutes early. “Working on another promotion so soon?”

“You got jokes before eight? Shocking.”

Jerad laughs. “Still a smartass no matter what time of day it is. Morning to you too, Holt.”

I smile, happy to be here, working my dream job. A stack of files sits on my desk that I need to look over and see if we missed anything that might help solve the case. There’s been a few that don’t have any leads on suspects, and it’s critical we put all the pieces together to understand what happened. It’s going to take me the rest of the week to look over the evidence and photographs that were collected, but I don’t have any issues with it. This is what I’ve worked so damn hard for.

I flip through the photographs of the first case. Murder. DNA evidence was collected, but it didn’t match anyone in the system. Logging into the computer, I go to the database that has the digital images stored and zoom into something in the corner of the room that catches my eye. Making sure I’m not imagining things, I hurry and flip through all of the pictures from the case. I grab the file and go to Jerad’s office. Busy typing away on his computer, he gives me a pointed look for interrupting him, then goes back to what he was doing. I swear he lives to agitate me.

“Did anyone realize there’s something on the wall here?” I ask.

Jerad scans over the photos and logs into the digital files on the computer and zooms in. “It looks like a fingerprint, doesn’t it?”

“It does. I didn’t see any information about fingerprints collected in the system. Just hair. But I think there was talk that it might be her roommate’s.”

He rubs his hand across the scruff on his chin. “You might be able to go back out there and see if the apartment is still taped off. It only happened a few days ago, and I remember the complex manager said they were gonna work on renovations early next week.”

I suck in a deep breath, knowing this could help solve this case and give this girl’s family some closure and justice. “I’ll go,” I tell him.

“Take Greg with you.”

I give Jerad a look. “The intern?”

He releases a chuckle. “You were the intern for years. Don’t discredit him because of it. The kid knows his shit.”

“He’s egotistical and thinks he knows everything.” I groan and roll my eyes.

“So do you,” he throws back at me.

“Touché. I’ll grab him, and we’ll go and see if we can get access.”

Jerad hands me the files, and before I leave, he praises me for a job well done. It makes me feel like a badass although the work has only begun. Greg sits at his desk, shuffling papers, and looks up when I walk by. He’s so fucking young, but I refuse to be a hypocrite and treat him the same way everyone treated me when I was fresh blood in the office.

“You’re coming with me today. Grab your shit, I’m leaving now.” I don’t stop or give him a choice, and he catches on quickly because I hear him behind me seconds later.

“Where’re we going?” Greg was smart enough to grab a sample kit and a camera, which is already saving me time. Maybe having an intern with me won’t be so bad after all.

“I think something was missed in this investigation, so we’re gonna check it out to make sure.”

Greg’s eyes widen. “What did they miss?”

“I think a fingerprint.”

He furrows his brows and makes a face. “How the hell wasthatoverlooked?”

I unlock my truck, and he climbs into the passenger side as I climb into the driver’s seat. “You’ll see when we get there. It’s in the corner of a room, and a piece of furniture is somewhat blocking it. I saw it in a photo that was taken at a weird angle. It might be nothing, but my gut tells me otherwise, and it’s usually not wrong.”

He nods and grins. “Nice.”

We drive across town and park at the main office for the apartment complex. Once I go inside and show my badge to the apartment manager, I let her know we’re back to take another look so I need her to unlock the door for me. Greg carries the gear and listens to the woman explain they’ll be cleaning out the apartment tomorrow, so it sounds like we made it just in time. Yellow tape is still crossed over the door, but she unlocks it for us and gives us a bored look.

“Make sure it’s locked before you leave,” she says.

“Will do. Thank you so much,” I tell her before she walks away.

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