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He tried not to chafe at the delay. This wasn’t a TV show where things just magically happened in record time. Yet this guy had killed at least ten people in a mass shooting.
But a missing child was also a priority. Hard to justify letting go of that case to work this one.
Steele stood and began gathering garbage together.
“Elly, finish up.” Joe pushed her half-eaten meal toward her. “It’s better to eat now since we never know what might happen later.”
“Okay.” She sat, then tugged on the vest, clearly uncomfortable wearing it. She seemed to attack the remnants of her meal, eating it without really tasting it.
He couldn’t help but admire her grit and determination. She might look all soft and sweet and feminine, but she was also stronger than the rest of the Finnegan family gave her credit for.
Something she’d proven over and over again in the past eighteen hours.
Steele’s warning flashed in his mind, so he stood and grabbed the laptop computer. He dropped onto the couch and booted the device up.
Work. He needed to stay focused on the case. It was good that they had a few leads to follow, but there also wasn’t time to kick back and relax.
The key to this disaster had to be within the victims. This guy had taken out the skaters first for a reason.
If this was a random attack, it didn’t make sense that he would continue to stalk and shoot at Elly.
As he opened one of the popular social media sites, he frowned. “Steele, who is pouring through all the street camera footage?”
“I’m not sure who Michaels assigned that to,” his colleague admitted. “Why? Is that something you want to do?”
“It occurs to me that Elly might be able to pick this guy out on camera better than anyone else.” He glanced at Elly who nodded.
“I’d be happy to do that.”
“Okay. I’ll see what I can do.” Steele pulled out his phone. “Should I have the video sent to a specific email?”
“Use mine,” Joe said. “I’ll pull it up on the laptop for her.”
Steele made the call. Joe was glad to have another angle to investigate. He hadn’t been kidding about the shooter making mistakes. He’d already left slugs and brass behind. They had a decent sketch, and every cop in the city and surrounding areas were on the lookout for him.
It was only a matter of time before they had their perp in custody.
“Okay, the video is on the way,” Steele said.
“Great.” Joe pulled up his email program and logged in. Elly sat beside him, seemingly anxious to help. He ignored all the messages, including one from his former girlfriend, Tina, and waited impatiently for the video to drop.
“Who’s Tina Landry?” she asked.
“An old friend.” He wasn’t getting into his previous relationship with her now. Tina had left him for a rich guy who’d slapped her around. Now she wanted Joe back. It had been over eight months ago, and all he felt for Tina was sympathy for her suffering an abusive relationship. Whatever feelings he’d once had for her were long gone. “Here’s the video.”
The video quality wasn’t great. The city of Milwaukee had several budget shortfalls in the past few years, which meant many cameras were broken or had been damaged in some way. Many of those cameras that were working had grainy screens.
“That’s the video?” Doubt laced Elly’s tone. “I’ll do my best.”
“I know you will.” He smiled and set the computer on her lap. “That’s all we can ask.”
She went to work, taking her time and viewing the video in slow motion so she wouldn’t miss anything. He forced himself to leave her to it, standing up and moving away from the sofa.
“That was a good idea on the video, Kingsley.” Steele cocked a brow. “Every little bit helps.”
“Tell me about it,” he muttered. “I’d like you to pull some strings getting Bartholomew Shaw’s financial records.” He rubbed his stubbly jaw. “It would be nice to take him off the list if he’s not involved.”
“I’ll try.” Steele still held his phone in his hand. “But I still think the feds have more juice to get that done.”
