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“Not specifically.” Capelli frowned. “I could narrow the search parameters. Try arrest records or known associates to include women with heterochromia. It might be a needle in a haystack, but it’s a pretty specific needle. If it exists, I’ll find it.”
Sinclair turned toward Camila and said, “These sketches are very detailed. Can we scan them to use for reference?”
She blinked in obvious surprise. “But I’m not a professional artist, or anything. It’s totally just a hobby.”
“That’s okay,” Hollister said. “They’re really good. We can still use them for reference in case anything pops up.”
“Oh. Well, in that case, sure. If you think it’ll help.”
“I do,” Sinclair told her. Focusing on the larger group, he continued, “In the meantime, we’ll keep going through footage from the three weeks leading up to the robbery and see if anything out of the ordinary pops up that we can cross-walk back to the other banks using facial recognition. These three are ramping things up. We don’t have any time to lose.”
Okay, that caught Roman’s attention. “Ramping things up how?”
More furtive glances, these aimed mostly at Garza, who finally said, “They’re getting more aggressive. At least, the big guy is. Camila is the first person to be injured in any of the robberies.”
Roman’s blood ran hot for just a fraction of a second before turning sub-arctic in his veins. Logically, he knew there was very little chance Camila was in any danger even though the robbers knew her name.
The feeling flooding through him right now was anything but logical. “We need to find these guys. Like, now.”
Garza lifted a brow. “There’s no we, here. Intelligence doesn’t need any help working this case.”
Before Roman could let loose with the “you’ve got to be kidding me” he’d prepped just for the occasion, Camila surprised him with an eye roll she aimed not at him, but at her brother.
“Come on. Roman’s just trying to help. And, oh, by the way, he’s not wrong. These guys are dangerous.”
Shock barreled into Roman, followed by a hard shot of something a hell of a lot more complex, but he kept both emotions under wraps. He couldn’t afford to lose any of the ground he’d gained with the Intelligence Unit. Especially not to something as ridiculous as this inexplicable reaction to a woman he had no claim to.
He forced his mind back to the case. The facts. The criminals he needed to take down. “So, you think they’re escalating.”
“They could be,” Hollister said with a shrug, and damn, the guy was nevernottotally chill. “But it could have been circumstance, too. This was the first robbery with a significant hitch. With the bank teller having that asthma attack and the robbers needing Camila to go back to the vault to help, it could just be that tensions were running high. Plus, according to you and everyone else in that bank, the bigger guy had a pretty short fuse to begin with.”
That was true. The enforcer hadn’t had any qualms about shoving the security guard to the ground with far more force than was necessary, given that the guard had complied with all demands, and Rosalie’s asthma attack really had seemed to throw the smaller robber off, at least temporarily. She’d been pretty agitated when she’d come back to the lobby to let the leader know what was happening. Her body language had spoken volumes, as if she’d had a nonverbal way of communicating with him that had been honed over time.
The thought lodged in Roman’s brain, refusing to move. “You said you’ll check into known associates if you get a lead on anyone from the DB, right?” he asked Capelli, who shot a look at Sinclair before nodding.
“Yes. That’s a matter of protocol. Not to mention smart police work.”
Roman lifted his chin in agreement. “Can we add spouses to the list? Or significant others?”
“Sure.”
Capelli drew the word out until it became a question, so Roman replied, “Call it a hunch.” Turning toward Sinclair, he said, “I can help with the footage. There’s a ton of it, and even if you can narrow things down—”
“That won’t be necessary,” Sinclair said, but oh no.Hellno.
“You just said these guys could be escalating,” Roman bit out. “You need the extra eyes, and I know what to look for. If you just—”
“My answer is no,” Sinclair said. “We gave you case details as a courtesy, but Agent Calloway and I are in agreement that you’re too close to this one. I appreciate your insight”—he ignored Roman’s glare—“both of you. But Intelligence has it from here.”
Roman’s chest tightened, his heart locked in his throat. He couldn’t sit on the sidelines. He needed to work—reallywork, and not just on a bunch of bullshit paperwork Calloway had shoveled his way to keep him moving through the motions. He needed to find justice.
He needed to control this.
“Will you at least keep me in the loop if something comes up on the database search?” he asked. There couldn’t be many women with two different-colored eyes out there, especially ones matching build description of their robber. It had to lead tosomething, even if they had to take the time to expand the search to DMV records.
“We’ll be in touch when we make an arrest,” Sinclair said, which did exactly jack shit for Roman’s composure. But emotions were dangerous, and he’d earned his nickname well. Pushing an ice-cold expression over his face, Roman gave the case board one last look before sending his stare directly at Sergeant Sinclair.
“You’d better hope that’s soon. These three are due for another robbery any day now, and next time, whoever’s in the bank they choose might not be so lucky.”
