He wanted to get to the other side of this crisis so he could spend more time getting to know Bridget.
She froze but didn’t push away. Maybe it would be okay. “I think we’re both a little tired.”
Okay. That was how they’d play it. “You're right.” He sighed but didn’t let go since she hadn’t moved. “My next step will be to see if there’s a way to confirm her family was moved into Witness Protection.”
“It’s the only thing that makes sense. What I don’t understand is why.” She shifted slightly to lean against the couch. “Maybe we’re thinking about this all wrong.”
“What do you mean?”
“When Sydney and I were in Tyler, Deputy Daniels talked about the drug syndicate that was trying to gain a foothold in Nebraska. What if Ryan Brandenberg stumbled into that when he was investigating his friend’s death? And that’s why he was killed?”
“That requires a couple big leaps.”
“But people have told you that Ryan wasn’t into drugs. No one believes he would have taken drugs. His parents wouldn’t have accepted that as an easy answer. Yet that’s what killed him. If his parents were digging and found evidence, that would qualify them for witness protection.”
“And that would lead to a car accident that then disappears from the record?”
She scrubbed her face with her hands and then pulled her feet up onto the couch, circling her arms around her knees. “So maybe it sounded better in my head.”
Todd ran through it in his mind. “It’s a stretch but possible. That doesn’t explain why Eliza was in that alley.”
“We don’t have to explain that yet. If the surgery is successful, maybe she’ll be able to tell us something.”
The elevator doors opened and Caleb and Dani stepped onto the floor. Dani hurried toward Bridget, who stood and opened her arms for a hug.
“I’m so sorry I can’t help Eliza.” Dani cried as she fell into Bridget’s embrace.
“I shouldn’t have asked you to look.”
“I needed to know. Her birthmark sounded similar to my baby’s.” Dani pulled back and wiped her eyes. “What can I do now?”
“We’re just waiting to see how the surgery goes.”
Todd looked at Caleb, who carried the baby car seat with Brianna. “I need to go to the precinct and make some calls. Ben’s also sent me the footage from this afternoon, and I need to examine it and compare it with last night’s.”
Caleb looked at his wife. “You okay if I go with Todd? I want to help look through the video footage. There must be something in there that we’re missing.”
“Brianna and I will keep Bridget company. I can get an Uber when we need to go home.”
It was time to figure out what had happened to destroy Eliza’s family. And Todd didn’t care who he had to wake up.
“Let’s find this guy.”
CHAPTER 18
The precinct was quiet when Todd and Caleb arrived. They quickly went to their spots in the pod of desks and pulled out their chairs.
Caleb sat and swiveled to watch Todd. “Where do you want to start?
“Why don’t you start with tracking down whether the family was in witness protection while I look through the video?”
“Sure.” Caleb picked up his phone. “I’ll call an acquaintance in the marshals. Not sure I’ll get much.”
“Tell them we’ve got a lone survivor in the family, and we need help keeping her safe. That should catch someone’s attention.”
“Do you think that’s a good idea?”
“They’ve got to wonder where she is.” In fact, if she’d been in protection, he’d have some choice words about how they’d lost her. “I’d like to know how she’s been wandering around Eastern Nebraska by herself for the last week or two.”
