Read Online Sinclair Justice by Colleen Shannon - Free Book Online Page A

in the scrub outside Lubbock. The dental records had matched a missing girl from Baltimore, and the little she’d read about the case had eerie similarities to Yancy’s circumstances. Black truck, two men, girl missing from a downtown Baltimore bar. The case had been referred to the Baltimore police and then handed back to the Texas Highway patrol, who had jurisdiction over the area of the grave site.
    But Emm knew local papers often carried stories the big dailies wouldn’t. If she searched the database the library subscribed to, she was hoping the Amarillo paper had been digitized at least three years back and would carry more detailed information. After she registered and was given a swipeable ID card, she sat down before a vacant bank of computers. She entered the girl’s name and was surprised when five hits came up. All but one of them were highlighted in blue, which meant she could click on the full article. She clicked on the oldest article first, her pad beside her so she could make notes. She could print the articles and read them later, but Emm loved libraries and was grieved they were struggling. Just like seeing a movie in person, researching next to other seekers of knowledge held its own charm.
    Two hours later, she’d filled three pages with various tidbits of information, and as she read what she’d compiled, she felt a frisson run up her spine. She sensed she’d stumbled onto the victim profile of the human trafficking conduit that had swept away Yancy and Jennifer. The girl was the same age as Jennifer, the same wild, party girl type, and from the picture in the article, she even looked like Jennifer. Now she had the name of the bar where the girl had been taken, Emm was pretty sure it was even in the same seedy Baltimore area as the bar Yancy had been searching when she was grabbed.
    Why had none of the authorities picked up on this link? Or had they, and dismissed it as circumstantial? She knew the Baltimore cops she’d worked with had never mentioned this missing girl. Surely they’d made the connection? Emm debated calling them and demanding they follow up on their end now that the missing persons case had become a murder, given the discovery of the body. But she knew the Baltimore cops would have sent all their findings to the Texas Department of Public Safety, especially after the case was reopened as a murder investigation. Sinclair would probably have information in his files. She closed out the menus she had open and logged off, debating whether she should raise the issue with him or contact the TxDPS office in Lubbock, which now had jurisdiction.
    She was so deep in thought that as she slipped down off the stool, her elbow caught the bag of the woman sitting next to her and knocked it to the ground. The contents spilled out. “I’m so sorry,” Emm began, but she froze in reaching out to help pick everything up when she saw a small revolver gleaming on the linoleum.
    A large, capable hand nonchalantly put the gun back. Still kneeling, Emm looked into the sharpest gray eyes she’d ever seen. The woman waved a dismissive hand as she stood to her full, imposing height. “No problem; I should have shoved it to the other side.” She offered a hand. “Hermione Abigail Doyle, just arrived in Amarillo a few days ago.”
    “Mercy Magdalena Rothschild. I just got here, too.” Emm was much shorter than this Amazon, and she tried not to feel intimidated as she shook the woman’s hand, which swallowed her own.
    “And on a similar mission, I perceive.”
    Emm was puzzled. “Uh . . .”
    “Investigating human and drug trafficking. I believe we may be interested in the same case, for different reasons. You’re from Baltimore?”
    Now Emm was floored. “How could you possibly know that?”
    The woman nodded at the key fob attached to Emm’s purse. “There’s only one BMW in the parking lot and it has a Baltimore dealership above the Maryland plate number.” That laserlike gray gaze zeroed