Read Online InTooDeep by Rachel Carrington - Free Book Online Page A

pain. She
dropped to the floor and drew her knees to her chest.
    “No. There’s no way to know. Some of these
women really didn’t have families so no one has reported them missing.” But all
the FBI intel placed the number somewhere near thirty in at least three states
across the eastern seaboard. Now Dani was one of those numbers.
    She gazed at him dully. “And some are like
me. Their families are criminal so they won’t dare report their disappearance
to the police.”
    “That’s true.”
    Her head drooped. “If you know your
lieutenant is involved, why haven’t you arrested him?”
    Here came the part she wasn’t going to want
to hear. “Because more lives are at stake. If we arrest Franklin now we run the
risk of never finding any of those women he’s taken. He isn’t in this alone and
we don’t have enough evidence to take down the others involved.”
    “You could bring him in, sweat him, try to
get him to give up the others involved.”
    “With what? We have no leverage, nothing on
tape, no tangible evidence that directly ties him to the kidnappings. Do you
really think he’s going to give us anything when he’s got more at stake than
just his career?”
    “If you have nothing on him, why do you
suspect him? What is this tip that brought you to Charleston?”
    “I said nothing tangible, but he was the
last person to see one of the women who did have a family. When he was
questioned about it his alibi was tight…too tight, almost rehearsed. Ever since
then we’ve been trying to get more information on him, but other than some
pretty hefty bank deposits there’s nothing to tie him to these kidnappings, and
he’s been fastidiously careful ever since.”
    “But you believe he’s involved?”
    He’d never believed otherwise. Even though
he didn’t have any evidence against Franklin, Hunt knew a dirty cop when he saw
one. All the furtive glances, the secretive phone calls and the constant
working behind closed doors pointed to far more than just Franklin’s duty to
his job.
    Realizing Carley was still waiting for his
response, Hunt nodded. “Yeah, I do.”
    She sat on the arm of the sofa, close
enough for him to catch the scent of her perfume. “So how much longer is he
going to be a free man?”
    He couldn’t blame her for the bitterness in
her voice. Didn’t doubt he’d feel the same if their roles were reversed. “As
long as it takes to make sure we have a prosecutable case and we find as many
of these women as possible.”
    “Do you think my sister is still alive?”
The question was barely above a whisper.
    Hunt debated on the truth or a hedge. He
turned to face her and the almost desperate look in Carley’s eyes made the
choice for him. “To my knowledge, they prefer to keep the women alive.”
    “So what do we do now?”
    He sighed and rubbed both hands over his
face before dropping them back down to his sides. “My team proceeds as normal.
We have to keep up appearances. Right now we’re surveilling Franklin, hoping
he’ll lead us to something.”
    “He’s so good you’ve got nothing on him
though, right?” Every acidic word intensified Hunt’s own frustration. “How do
you even know he’s the right person then? I mean, he could actually be telling
the truth, couldn’t he? It’s entirely possible that both my source and the FBI
are wrong.” She gave a vicious laugh then shook her head. “The killer’s going
to get away with this.”
    Hunt gripped her arm. “No, he’s not. He’s
been identified, Carley.”
    She blinked at him. “I know, as the last
man to be seen with one of the victims. It means nothing according to you.”
    He blew out a breath, threw what caution he
had left to the wind and added, “But one of the victims managed to escape about
a month and a half ago. She gave us a description, told us he was a cop.”
    Carley jumped to her feet. “Why can’t she
testify against Franklin then? Surely that’s a strong enough case. I mean