He had sifted through the ashes in the metal drum and found a swatch of denim, a partial zipper and one half-charred red pump. No purse or ID to identify the victim, but maybe an idea of what she had worn the night she died. It would help build a picture of the murder. Just like all the other evidence.
By the time he had finished and piled into the SUV, his nerves were as jumpy as his pulse. His blood raced through his veins like liquid heat. He had to dig his nails into the palms of his hands to stop from shifting.
It was becoming progressively harder each passing moment.
And being cooped up inside like a prisoner didn’t help matters, either. The lab was starting to feel like a cage.
Having a warden didn’t help matters any.
His gaze shifted to the door of the analysis room they were in. Their police escort, Tala Channing, stood just outside the room, drinking coffee. There was something about her that bothered him. Something that wasn’t quite right. And he couldn’t put his finger on it.
When he had been collecting the evidence in the backyard, she had stood guard near the fence watching him. He felt her gaze on him like a physical thing. It had given him shivers and he was still having a hard time shaking them.
Her gaze lifted and for a brief moment their eyes met. A zing of something explosive flashed through the air between them. It hit him right between the eyes, pushing him back a step and into the worktable. Fumbling for something to hold, Jace pulled his gaze and forced it back onto his work.
What was going on? He’d never had that kind of reaction to anyone before, especially not a human.
A tap on his shoulder had him swinging around, a growl building in his throat.
Lyra stood staring at him, her eyes wide.
“What?” he barked.
“I’ve been talking to you for the past two minutes. You haven’t heard a word I’ve said.”
“I’m working. You know better than to interrupt me when I’m in the groove.”
“You’re in something, but I don’t think it’s a groove.”
Ignoring Lyra, Jace tried to concentrate on the task at hand. The machine had finished scanning his print and he was now looking at a full image of it on the computer screen. It was a pretty good lift. From the picture he could make out several unique lines without the aid of the computer analysis. Now, he’d just have to put it into the computer system and see if it would be enough to run against the catalog of shoe treads on file. Hopefully, after a few hours they would get a match. And with it, a path to investigate.
The longer the case moved on without a suspect, the harder it would become for them to solve it. He didn’t think they’d have much leeway on this one. He could just imagine the pressure Caine was receiving to solve this quickly and quietly.
They had been lucky with Lillian Crawford’s case. The outside pressure to solve that crime was lessened by the fact that the human press and politicians wouldn’t come into Necropolis. They had sent in Eve to work with them instead. And it proved to be a good move in the end. They had solved the case together—or thought they had.
Moving over to the keyboard, Jace started to punch in some commands. The computer remained quiet, unresponsive. He punched in the codes again. Still nothing. Frustration flowed through him; he banged on the keyboard.
“What’s wrong with this thing?”
Lyra sidled up next to him, nudging him out of the way. “Probably nothing wrong with the computer. It’s the user that has issues.”
He watched as she punched in the same commands he had. It didn’t work for her, either. That gave him a small sense of satisfaction.
“Shoot, it’s not working.”
He gave her a sideways glare.
She ignored him and looked around the room. They had been alone for the better part of an hour. The lab tech had shown them the equipment then had skittered off as fast as he could. Jace had smelled the ripe stench of fear on the guy.
“Hey, Tala,” Lyra called.
Tala flinched and looked up from staring at the floor.
Jace snarled. “Damn it, don’t call her.”
“Why ever not? She probably knows how to work this stupid system.” Lyra waved at Tala, indicating for her to come into the room.
Jace watched out of the corner of his eye as the woman hesitated, glanced his way, then cautiously stepped into the room.