Page 56 of Just Right

"It might be okay if I leave it overnight and pack it in rice or silica gel," she said. There was information on it she needed. She'd done a recent backup, but not everything had synced online or to her laptop. Hopefully the other data on there could be saved.

"I hope your phone will be fine, Cami," Connor said, with sympathy in his tone. "And if it isn't, then since it was damaged in the course of fighting crime, you can get a new one. On us. The FBI will buy it for you to replace yours."

"Thanks," she said, feeling pleased that they would spring for a new phone if it was needed.

“You did an exceptional job there. These were highly dangerous circumstances, and you were in a combat situation. I’ve known trained agents who wouldn’t have managed to keep fighting and do what you did out there. I know Fraser is going to be proud of what you’ve done. Jacenta too.”

He cast another concerned glance at Jayne, but Cami thought she was looking stronger now and starting to rally. And in the distance, she heard the wail of sirens. The ambulance was on the way.

“I never thought I’d be able to do such a thing. I guess I’ve learned a lot from you.” They exchanged a quick grin at that, but Cami’s expression quickly faded as she glanced again at the lake.

She'd been in so much danger. And in the end, this brutal, damaged man had died, claimed by the waters of a lake.

His violent life was over. And thanks to their effort and risk, his final victim was still alive.

EPILOGUE

Cami didn't want to do this. In fact, she'd never thought she would be able to bring herself to do it.

But it was the only way that she was going to be able to piece together the puzzle surrounding Jenna and to find out if anything really was missing from the case file.

She wasn't good at what she was planning to do. She didn't know if she had what it took at all, or even where to start. Definitely, she'd gone into IT because the logic and processes appealed to her. The chaos inherent in human relationships? Not so much.

But she couldn't put this off forever, and so, she picked up the phone.

She dialed her father's number. This was still saved on her contacts list as “Home,” even though it had been years since she'd thought of it that way. Had that charmless little house, with its leaky roof and its undesirable location near the factories, ever really been a home to anyone? That was something she doubted.

It wasn't home. Even so, for now, maybe it could give her answers. She'd waited until six-thirty p.m., knowing he'd be home by then, not wanting to waste all the courage she'd summoned, only to have him not pick up.

Nerves twisted inside her as she heard the phone ring. And then, his voice harsh, her father answered.

"Lark speaking."

"Dad. It's Cami."

There was a surprised silence. Then, her father spoke again, but the harshness was still in his voice. What had she thought? That he'd be overjoyed to hear his estranged daughter, after everything that had happened between them?

The fights. The rebellion. The way Cami had resisted his natural tendency to dominate their home. The way she and her sister had secretly supported each other, eroding his control, and resisting his punishments.

"Cami?" he said. "Why are you calling?"

Cami was sure that at six-thirty, her silent mother would already be in the kitchen preparing supper. And she was sure that upon hearing her daughter's name, her head would jerk up, her expression both worried and hopeful. She'd be trying to pick up what she could from the conversation, Cami knew, remembering her mother's whispered words of support that had come far too seldom. She'd be too scared to come through and listen, or to ask her father why Cami had called.

But she'd be listening. For sure. Cami knew what her mother's face would look like. She could picture it now.

"I wanted to talk to you," Cami said.

"About what?" he asked.

Time to unleash what Cami suspected would be a bombshell.

"I wanted to know about Jenna," Cami said. "I wanted to know what happened to her. Dad, I need to understand why the FBI got nowhere with that case."

She heard her father exhale. It sounded like he'd actually been holding his breath.

"There's nothing to say," he said, his voice flat.

"There must be!" Cami argued. "I know there must have been more to the case. What happened? Why did it get nowhere?"

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