Page 85 of The Lost Bones
But it was Rivera who looked downright frightening. She drummed her fingers on the table, her sharp eyes drilling into Mackenzie and Nick. “Do you know how many times you broke protocol? Not to mention thelawwhen you trespassed on Judge Hamilton’s property.”
Austin opened his mouth, but Mackenzie talked over him, knowing he was about to come clean to Rivera. “If we had gone through the regular channels, we wouldn’t have discovered any of this.”
“Sophie’s twin is still out there? She’s alive?” Austin asked, worry creasing his face.
She nodded. “Sophie didn’t tell you because she wanted to protect you.”
“I’m extremely disappointed in both of you, for the record.” Rivera was on her own tangent. “This is not the way to do things. I ought to suspend you!”
“Is this Cameron Fletcher willing to go on record?” Sully asked out of nowhere.
Rivera glared at him. “Sergeant.”
“We can suspend them once the case is closed.” Sully displayed a rare firmness. “Once we rescue Brooks and those women.”
“This entire investigation is now compromised,” she argued, a muscle in her forehead throbbing. “People will get off scot-free.”
“Maybe. But if it means we end up saving lives, I think it’s worth it,” Sully insisted.
Rivera risked a glance around the room. Mackenzie held her breath, hoping that everyone would be on board. She saw fierceness in their faces. No hint of reluctance or fear. Rivera must have seen the same, because she nodded curtly. “All right. Dr. Turner, did you show Jane Doe the videos Detective Price gave you?”
“I did.” He shuffled in his seat. “She recognized three women. To her knowledge, they are still alive.”
“Has she confided in you about where she was kept?” Austin asked. “I think that’s where Sophie must have been held captive too.”
“Unfortunately not. I asked, but she still shuts down.”
“Well, she has shown some improvement, so maybe you should continue trying,” Rivera advised. “I can’t even imagine how traumatized that girl must be. Being barcoded like that and forced into prostitution. Have Dr. Weiss and Dr. Sullivan finished identifying the bodies from the mass grave?”
“They were only able to identify six out of nine,” Nick replied. “The rest either didn’t have enough DNA on them or enough tissue on their skulls for facial reconstruction.”
“And you mentioned that Clint was working on some facial recognition software to identify the women from the tapes?” Rivera continued.
“Yes, but he just shot us an email telling us that even after cleaning up the videos, they still aren’t clear enough for that,” Mackenzie said. “We don’t have access to state-of-the-art software.”
Rivera turned to Peterson, who straightened like an arrow upon being addressed. “Officer Peterson, I want you to personally watch the videos and compare the women in them to missing persons listed by Washington State Patrol, NamUs, and the FBI. We need to identify as many as we can.”
“Yes, Lieutenant.”
“Jenna, get the details of the victims identified in the mass graves and contact their next of kin. They have been waiting for answers for a long time. Then work with Peterson to see how many of them were reported missing and were in those videos.”
“You got it.” Jenna nodded.
“I think I need to have a crack at Fletcher,” Austin said with purpose. “He might reveal something to me.”
“You think so?” Sully raised an eyebrow. “The guy seemed pretty cagey. And rightly so.”
“It sounds like he had a soft corner for Sophie. Probably because she was Aria’s twin. Just let me give it a shot. Please.”
It was evident that Austin didn’t want to sit idle and was itching to do something. Sully gave him a nod.
“You two will bring in Judge Hamilton for questioning.” Rivera interlinked her fingers.
“What?” Mackenzie blurted.
“I think you have enough on him to confront him,” Sully said with a conspiratorial smile. “At least we can add some pressure on that fucker and hope he makes a blunder.”
“There’s something else,” Mackenzie said, making everyone pause as they began to disperse. Nick shot her a warning look. But this time it was her turn to look out for him. She relayed everything that had happened to him. “Maybe he needs some protection. Or just off the case.”
