Ellie regarded his unbridled excitement with a stab of envy. “Georgia, huh? You must like the heat a lot more than I do.”
“I know, I know. Everyone keeps telling me that it’s even hotter in Georgia than it is here.” He groaned before placing a hand over his heart and heaving a theatrical sigh. “But I figured since Jillian is off the market now, then there’s nothing keeping me in Charleston. It’s time to move on and mend my broken heart, sweat or no sweat.”
Ellie laughed at the lab tech’s goofy reference to his old crush on her roommate and best friend, Jillian Reed. Carl had definitely been a little bummed when the evidence clerk had started dating Ellie’s ex-partner, Jacob Garcia, but his feelings had been more of the puppy love variety than anything serious.
“I think your broken heart mended just fine if you’re moving to be closer to a woman. I hope you’ll like the change.”
“Me too. Though I’ll miss everyone here, you and Jillian especially.”
“We’ll miss you too. And speaking of missing you…any news on Katarina’s phone?”
As the paramedics loaded her in the ambulance outside of Kingsley’s parents’ home the night he’d disappeared with Bethany, Katarina had grabbed Ellie’s shirt, demanding she recover her cell phone. She’d ditched the bugged device behind a fire hydrant a few blocks away, hoping to mask her movements.
She’d failed on that front, but with a little luck, Carl would work his magic and persuade the tracking chip to reveal Kingsley’s location.
The tech hunched his shoulders and twisted his lips to the side. “That phone is a giant pain in the butt. Whoever loaded that bug knew what they were doing. Tracing anything has been a real challenge.”
When Carl heaved a loud sigh, Ellie’s hopes wilted. That didn’t sound very promising. “Were you able to get anything off it at all?”
Carl exhaled again before straightening with a wide grin, his eyes sparkling. “I said tracing was a real challenge, not impossible. Not when you’ve got skills like I do.”
Part of Ellie wanted to scold him for pranking her like that, but the bigger, more excited part overruled the impulse. “So, you did get something?”
“Yup. That’s what I’m saying. I found the store where the phone was bought and activated. Don’t get too excited,” he warned when Ellie leaned her elbows on the desk, “because I called already, and they don’t have a surveillance system that works.”
Ellie flopped back in the chair because video footage was exactly where her brain had gone. “Of course not. That would be too easy.”
“But the cashier remembers the guy who bought the phone, says he paid in cash.”
Ellie sat back up. Not the best news, but better than nothing. “Thanks for checking on that. I’ll send a sketch artist over to see if we can’t get a decent image. Anything else?”
“I managed to track a few IP addresses too.”
Ellie frowned. “A few IP addresses? How many?”
“The number doesn’t matter. Our guy is tricky. All the messages on Katarina’s phone came from different addresses, so either he was hopping from one signal to the next, or more likely, running his internet through a randomizing proxy server.” Carl spun his chair back and forth. “I’m still in the process of backtracing, but I should be able to get that information for you soon.”
So, not a complete bust after all. “That’s great news, Carl. You’re the best.”
“I know.” Carl rubbed his knuckles on his shirt and grinned.
Ellie snorted. “So modest too. I’ll be sure to add that to the letter of recommendation.” She wagged a finger at him as she rose. “Which I’ll gladly hand over to you the second you finish the backtrace and report to me with your findings.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know.”
He pretended to grumble, and after winking at him over her shoulder, Ellie headed out of the lab and wandered into the hall.
Lost in her own thoughts, Ellie didn’t notice Chief Johnson until he called her name. “Good morning, Detective Kline. Mind if I take up a moment of your time?”
Ellie halted in the middle of the corridor. “Okay.” Not like she could say no when he towered over her with that expectant gleam in his dark eyes. Sure, Marcus Johnson seemed to have a soft spot for her, ever since the day he’d struck her with his police car when she was fifteen and fleeing from Kingsley’s clutches in the middle of the street, but he was still the chief of police. Ellie would remain eternally grateful that he’d found her, but she suspected the by-the-book, no-nonsense officer with a heart of gold had never fully let go of his guilt for almost running her over.
“This way.” Chief Johnson waved his hand in a hurry-up gesture, so she fell into step beside him as he led them to his office. Her boss, Detective Harold Fortis, was already seated in one of the chairs facing the chief’s massive desk.
“Go ahead, take a seat.”
Ellie did as the chief asked, settling into the empty chair next to Fortis. The chief’s chair groaned when he sat his muscular body down, and the wheels squeaked as he scooted in. Despite the trademark bright smile that gleamed white in his dark-skinned face, Ellie remained stiff as she glanced between her boss and the chief, wary of whatever topic might require a private meeting.
Chief Johnson steepled his long, lean fingers together on the desk. “We’re still waiting on your report on Valerie Price. I hope you’d tell us if there were any problems?”
The gentleness in his deep voice made swallowing a challenge. “I’m almost finished.”
Not a total lie, but not the full truth either. As much as Ellie hated to fib, there was no way she could face these two men and tell them how every time she went to type, she wanted to weep.
“Take all the time you need.” Fortis turned in his chair to face her more fully, nodding somberly. “After everything you’ve been through,
