Secure Location by Long Beverly

Author:Long, Beverly [Long, Beverly]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-04-12T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Cruz had no choice but to take Jana with them. He and Meg hurried down the hotel hallway, the little girl running to keep pace with them. She chattered, about dinner, about the day, misjudging their anxiety for excitement.

For her, it was just one more adventure.

For Cruz, it was just one more punch in the gut.

When they got to Meg’s office, he stepped out in front, blocking their view. One glance told him that that the outer area, Charlotte’s domain, was untouched. Sanjoi had his butt perched on the desk. He frowned at Cruz and nodded in Meg’s direction.

“It’s a real mess in there,” he said.

Cruz looked through the connecting door. He could see the backs of two uniformed officers. They were standing in front of the desk. Between their shoulders, he got a glimpse of Detective Myers’s face. His eyes were focused down. Cruz took a step forward, the man looked up and Cruz could see a mix of frustration and anger on the detective’s face.

He turned to check Jana. Meg had grabbed a stack of yellow legal pads, some red pens and settled the little girl on the leather couch. “Can you please watch her?” she asked Sanjoi.

“Sure. I got one her age at home.”

Cruz stepped aside, letting Meg go first. It was her office, after all. But at the last second, he grabbed her hand and hung on. Her fingers were cold.

“Meg. Detective Montoya.” Detective Myers greeted them.

It was a repeat of her apartment, sans food. The glass on all the pictures had been broken, books had been shoved off shelves, and the walls and curtains sprayed with paint. Her desk had held up, even though it appeared, based on the dents and nicks in the wood, likely caused by a hammer or a similar tool, that the intruder had tried valiantly to break open the locked drawers.

Everything that had been on the desk was now on the floor. Cruz couldn’t focus on that, however. He was too busy looking at the desk. He’d been prepared. After all, they’d been told there was blood. But he hadn’t been prepared for the extent. The entire surface of the large desk was covered. A thick mat that had dried, in rough waves and ridges.

The intruder had taken his hand in a circular motion, like he was waxing a car.

“Whose blood is that?” Meg asked, her voice subdued.

Myers shook his head. “Not even sure it’s human,” he added.

Cruz could feel Meg’s grip loosen and he wondered if she was going to faint. “You’ve seen enough,” he said. “Go sit with Jana.”

She shook her head. “I left here at shortly after five, just a little over two hours ago. There are cameras in the hallway. He made a mistake. This time we should be able to identify him.”

“Your security department has already pulled the tape.” Myers walked over to the television and built-in DVD player that hung on Meg’s wall. He pressed a button.

The good news was that the camera had been working.

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