Stone Cold Heart (Tracers #13)(46)

“She’s five minutes behind me.”

Nolan clipped on his visitor’s badge as Sara looked past him.

“Well, I don’t see her, but she can find us.” She turned to the receptionist. “We’ll be in the first-floor conference room, so send her back, please.” Another glance at Nolan. “Right this way.”

He followed her, half amused, half irked by her formality.

She passed a coffee shop and a bank of elevators before turning down a corridor. Stopping at the first door, she knocked softly before entering. The windowless room had a conference table and an oversize whiteboard.

“I reserved the room starting at four, but looks like we’re the first ones here.” She pulled out the chair at the head of the table and set down an iPad.

“Who else are you expecting?”

“Mark Wolfe, who’s in charge of cybercrimes.”

Nolan took the chair to Sara’s left, so he could keep an eye on the door. “Cybercrimes?”

“Cyber profiling, to be specific. He used to be in the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit. I hope you don’t mind that I asked him to weigh in on the case.”

“Sure, good idea.”

“What is?” Talia asked as she walked in. She wore black pants today and had a visitor’s badge clipped to her pale blue shirt.

“Talia, hi,” Sara said. “I asked one of my colleagues to join us.”

A tall man stepped into the room, and even without knowing his background, Nolan would have guessed he was a fed. He wore a suit and tie and gave a brisk nod as Sara made introductions.

Like Nolan, he took a chair on the far side of the table, facing the door. The seat put him opposite Talia, who seemed less than thrilled with his presence. She wasn’t obvious about it, but Nolan had worked with her for years and knew all her tells.

“So, you used to be at Quantico, huh?” Talia pretended to be impressed. “How’d they lure you down to Texas?”

“My wife lured me,” he said. “We met down here when we were working a case together.”

Nolan was surprised by the candid answer.

“Is she with Delphi?” Talia asked.

“She’s a detective in San Marcos.”

Nolan could tell his answer scored points with Talia.

Nolan shifted his attention to Sara. “You said you had some news?”

“Several important developments.” She tapped her iPad and brought the screen to life. A few more taps, and then she slid the tablet to the center of the table. Nolan recognized the photographs on display.

“We received confirmation this morning from our cordage expert here at the lab,” Sara said. “The bindings recovered on Sunday with the remains of Alicia Merino are made of the same twine that was used in two cold cases from Tennessee.”

“The same twine?” Nolan asked. “Or do you mean the same type?”

“The same twine from the very same roll. Our expert was able to match the material through forensic fiber analysis.”

“We’re dealing with the same perp, then,” Talia stated.

“In all probability, yes.” Sara nodded at the tablet. “It looks like the same unidentified subject, or unsub, could be responsible. As you can see from the date stamps on these photographs, the bodies were recovered five years ago. The same purple twine used in all the bindings makes me think the roll is part of his murder kit.”

“Damn.” Talia looked at Nolan. “And you checked into this, right? The cops on these cases have no leads?”

“Nothing fresh,” Nolan said. “I talked to them Wednesday, and they sent me some of their paperwork. No strong suspects. They had a persons-of-interest list they were working on at one point, but nothing came of it. And when I combed through, no one jumped out at me.”

“You reran all the names?” Talia asked.

“Every one of them. No Texas connection that I could find.”

“Another important piece of news,” Sara said, “is the report from our tool-marks expert. After examining the vertebra, he believes a wire or garrote was used on Alicia Merino.”

“Like the Tennessee cases,” Nolan said. He’d been hoping the link wouldn’t hold up to scrutiny.

“Wait, a garrote?” Talia looked from Sara to Nolan.

“It’s a wire or cord with handles on the end.”

“I know. I’m saying that’s not your everyday murder weapon.”

“It’s unusual,” Nolan agreed.

“And the last bit of news,” Sara said. “We got an ID on one of the two victims from the burial site. Lisa Ryan. She was in the system, so we were able to get a quick turnaround.”

“Which system?” Nolan asked.

“NamUs. This woman went missing fourteen months ago up in Dallas, last seen by a coworker as she was leaving the law office where she worked as a file clerk. At the time, her family provided a DNA sample and dental records, so we were able to get a quick hit.” Sara’s gaze settled on Nolan. “She went missing on April thirtieth.”

“You’re sure?” Nolan asked.

“I’m sure.”

Talia looked at him. “What’s the significance of April thirtieth?”

“That’s a week before Kaylin Baird disappeared.” Nolan sighed.