Into the Night(65)

That made sense. “If Peter Carter is the perp we’re after, then, yeah, he would have wanted the skull back. He could have been keeping tabs on the investigation. Could have seen the skull arrive and knew that he had to act. But you were there, so that threw everything off for him.”

She nodded. “And he had to flee the scene. He could have gone into the lab to retrieve the skull, but then he saw me and had to leave before he could get it.”

One option. “We need Peter Carter talking.”

She glanced at her watch. “That’s not going to be happening anytime soon.” Her lips twisted. “And my money says that Peter is going to lawyer up. Fast and hard.”

“Then let’s find evidence that talks for him.” He marched toward the exit and Macey fell into step with him. “Dr. Sofia Lopez arrived earlier, right?”

“Yes, but it’s nearly eleven p.m. She won’t be at the ME’s lab now.”

“Let’s get her there.” The sooner they found out the identity of their Jane Doe, the better. He shoved open the door and the crisp night air hit them.

Macey grabbed his arm. “Bowen!”

He whirled back toward her. “He hasn’t called anymore, Macey. No more taunts. No more games.” Bowen pointed back to the hospital. “Is it because he’s in there? Because you and Jonah put bullets in him?”

She swallowed. “Jonah is piecing those computers back together. If he can recover information from the hard drives—”

“Then we can have hard evidence. Fuck, yes, but we need that skull identified ASAP.”

“It doesn’t happen instantly, Bowen!” Frustration burst in her words. “If we can’t make a DNA or dental match, then we’re going to need facial reconstruction work. We’re talking about a process that can take days. Weeks.”

That was time they didn’t have.

Macey pulled out her phone and fired off a text. “I haven’t even talked to Dr. Lopez since she came to town. I made sure security was set up at the lab, but everything was happening so fast then, I didn’t get to discuss much with her.”

Her phone vibrated.

Macey read the text and then her head whipped up. “Dr. Lopez said she met with the mayor, and he set her up in a second lab at the ME’s building.” A surprised breath escaped her. “She’s at the lab now—and working on the skull.”

Fuck, yes. “Let’s go,” Bowen said.

*

“BE CAREFUL WITH THOSE!” Jonah barked as the officers picked up another hard drive. There had been five computers in the office and they were all beaten to hell and back.

At his sharp command, the two officers sent him disbelieving looks. “They’re already in pieces, man.”

“Yeah, but I don’t want them in any other pieces. No more damage. The more damage we have, the more corrupt the material will be.” And the harder it will be for me to recover anything. “Be careful with them,” he ordered curtly once more. “I need all of this equipment transferred to the police station.” And he’d be spending all night trying to retrieve the data.

The officers filed out. Jonah put his hands on his hips as he surveyed the area.

“You really think you’ll be able to pull anything off those machines?”

His shoulders stiffened at Tucker’s drawling voice. Jonah glanced over his shoulder. “I can try.”

Tucker stepped into the office. A considering expression was on his face. “You’re the computer whiz, right? You’re supposed to be able to do anything with tech.”

“Almost anything,” Jonah qualified. He didn’t want expectations too high. “I can’t work miracles.” He kept his hands loose at his sides.

Tucker’s bright gaze swept over him. “You fired the first shot tonight.”

And he’d already given statement after statement about that scene. There was always so much red tape at the FBI. Sometimes he wondered how anything got done. “Macey and I were under attack. I did what was necessary.”

“That your first shot in the field?”

“You know it was.” Jonah inclined his head toward the guy—the agent he’d known had never wanted him on the team. “Isn’t that why you campaigned to have Samantha keep me off the unit? Because you didn’t think I’d be able to handle the pressure of the job?”

Tucker didn’t deny the charges. He just raised one brow. “How would you know that?” He tapped his chin and took a step closer to Jonah. “You haven’t been using those tech skills to dip into confidential FBI files, have you? Peeking at files that you shouldn’t see?”

He wasn’t going to bother answering that. “For years, whispers followed you around.” He knew all about Tucker Frost. “Reports claimed that maybe, just maybe, you’d been involved in the murders your brother committed.”

Tucker’s jaw locked.

“But you were still first pick for Samantha Dark’s team. Why was that?” It was a question that had nagged at him because he’d been busting his ass to prove himself at the Bureau. He’d busted his ass, and Tucker Frost had basically flown to the top of the class.

“Samantha wanted me on the team because I stared at the monsters, and I didn’t flinch.”