Page 102 of In Her Eyes

“I don’t know.” Jake sounds frustrated. “Maybe he figured the antique shop had it and traced it back to you?”

“I don’t see how that’s possible, but it’s easy to verify. You can go back there and ask. It has to be someone on the inside.”

He shakes his head. “I can’t imagine a cop doing any of it.”

“That doesn’t mean anything. Bad people are everywhere, and dirty cops exist in every town. Even here.”

Jake nods more to himself than in answer to my comment. “Somehow, he figured it out. The question is how.”

“You’re not listening to me. It has to be someone on the inside, Jake. It has to be another cop. Only someone with access to the files and information I gave you would be able to connect the dots to link me to the investigation.”

He folds his hands behind his neck. “It makes sense that only somebody on the inside would have access to that information, but I know all of them. I’ve worked with them for years, and I can’t think of a single person who would have the personality to do something like this.”

I cross my arms. Anger sparks a fire inside me, and I have a hard time keeping it at bay. “Who else, Jake? Who else would have access to the information? To your files? Access to the evidence? He specifically mentioned the necklace in the note. Who else would have access to it?” My voice rises with each question.

He releases a breath. “All requests to access evidence in the lockers go through me. But technically, if I’m not there, and somebody needed something from the evidence locker, the chief could let them in.”

“You have any kind of paper tracking? Sign in logs?”

“Yes, I already checked it. There’s no record of anyone trying to access those files. But if it’s someone on the inside, and they’ve been able to fool everyone this long, I doubt they would leave a trail behind.”

“Could it be the chief?”

He shakes his head. “No, there’s no way he’d do anything like this.”

“He pointed a gun at us. What if the whole thing was a sham? What if he was setting us up and hearing about his brother got him sidetracked?”

“Did you feel anything that suggests it could be him when you touched the dog tags?”

I deflate. No, and I would have known. “Nothing.”

“It can’t be him. But now that we know this isn’t just a missing persons’ case, but a potential serial killer case, there will be a lot more attention. More hands on deck to help.”

“Including the killer doing whatever he can to sabotage everything. I have to go back to the station, Jake, and look at the rest of the evidence. I need to touch that note.”

“This is not a good idea. We need to keep you hidden and out of the public eye, especially if the kidnapper is a dirty cop.”

“I’m not going to sit and hide while this monster tortures Lynn. The longer he has her—” I stop myself, unable to continue that line of thought. “How about cameras? Do you have security cameras that could show anyone going into your office?”

“Not in the back. All the cameras are pointed to the lobby and reception areas. They didn’t have the budget for inside cameras.”

I walk to the living room and grab my phone and pocketbook. “Let’s go.”

“Ava . . .”

“I’m not gonna sit here falling apart when Lynn’s life is on the line. I need to touch that letter, and I need to do it right now. Then, I need to figure out where he took her.”

“There is a lot of heat on this case right now and the chief is talking about getting the Feds involved. I don’t know how much longer I can protect your secret or keep you out of this if you show up with me.”

“I've shown up with you plenty of times before.”

“It’s different now. You’re linked to the case, and they don’t like family or friends showing up and meddling in things.”

“But I’m a link to her. In a normal investigation, wouldn’t you ask me questions about her? If she met anyone new? If she said anything that could be a clue.”

He runs a hand through his hair, a gesture I recognize as a sign of exasperation. “That’s true. But if Lynn was taken by a cop, someone in the department, that’s even more reason to keep you out of there. And keep your abilities hidden.”

I whirl at him. “I don’t care. That asshole already knows I’m involved, and it’s just a question of time before he figures out what I can do.” I walk to the door and yank it open. “I don’t care who finds out, I don’t care about my job, I don’t care about her kidnapper being a cop. I don’t care about anything that doesn’t involve finding her. Making sure I find Lynn safe is the only thing that matters.”

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