Page 62 of Dead Drift

“You okay?” He rested his hand on the small of her back.

She nodded, but he could tell she was feeling the same thing he was. Something awful had occurred here.

“Did you find any evidence of Julie’s murder?” he asked.

“The killer attempted to clean up, but from what you’ve told me, he was early in his craft.” Dirk looked at Finley. “Forgive the base word, but that’s how I’m sure he views it.”

Finley crossed her arms over her chest, rubbing her arms with her hands. “I’m sure he does.”

It was disgusting.

“Wilmington sent a CSI crew up here, and they went through the barn and the site where Julie was found. Like I said, the killer tried to clean the place, but the team still found evidence of blood—a fair amount of it. They were able to match the splinters in her skin to the floorboards, and we found a busted-up chair they determined she’d been tied or cuffed to, based on the markings on her wrists and the indentations in the chair’s arms.”

Griffin clutched Finley’s hand, knowing this would shake her, as it was shaking him. He couldn’t help but wonder if the same thing had happened to Jenna.

After gathering all the information they could from Detective Cullen, Griffin and Finley thanked him and made the drive back to Wilmington. Any evidence to this point was circumstantial, so they decided not to do anything that might tip off Joel Hood to their suspicions. They’d be catching an eight thirty flight back to Maryland—apparently Joel Hood’s home at one point, as well.

Luke glanced at his watch. His colleague would be arriving any moment. Colleague perhaps wasn’t the right word, since they were agents for different countries, but he viewed David as a colleague just the same. They had partnered together many times for common purposes, and worked together in conjunction with Interpol—both part of the race to catch Ebeid before he wreaked more destruction.

“Luke,” David said, entering the office as if on cue.

“David.” Luke moved to shake his hand. “Thank you for coming.”

“To stop our common enemy? Anytime.”

“Come on in and meet everyone.” Luke ushered him inside. “This is Kate.” The bell over the door rang, signaling Declan and Tanner’s arrival.

He turned to greet them. “Hey, guys. Allow me to introduce you to—”

Tanner’s eyes grew remarkably wide. “Dad?”

“Tania?” David said, his eyes equally wide. Eyes the same color as Tanner’s.

“This is your dad?” Declan asked Tanner.

She nodded, clearly confused by his appearance. “What are you doing here?”

“Luke called in a favor.”

Tanner’s eyes narrowed on him. “Luke?”

“David and I work in conjunction from time to time,” Luke explained, just as befuddled as she was.

“The CIA and Mossad?” she asked.

“We share a common enemy, Tania,” David said.

“Tania?” Declan arched a brow.

“It’s her given name, before she Americanized it,” her dad snapped.

“I prefer Tanner.”

“She prefers anything that is opposite of her heritage.”

“Really, Dad? This isn’t the time or place.”

“No. You are right. We have far more important matters to attend to.”