"Your DNA didn't match completely," Samantha affirmed. She exhaled on a sigh. "But we do need you to come down to the station and answer some questions for us."
This wasn't a briefing. It was them..ing for him. Coming to take him downtown. "And Dawn? What about her?"
"I'll take care of Dawn." Anthony was adamant. "And I won't be working my own agenda." Disgust was even thicker in his voice as he said, "You couldn't let go, could you? You could never let go."
This wasn't happening. "I'm not involved in these killings and I'm not protecting anyone."
"Torez got hauled in. You can bet your ass you'll get grilled, too," Anthony swore.
This time, he knew the cop was right. He was about to get grilled. And it wasn't going to be pretty.
"We should all head to the station." Samantha was the calm in the face of Anthony's storm. "You, too, Dawn. I'd like for you to accompany us."
"Tucker." Dawn's voice. Sharper now.
His shoulders stiffened.
"Were you here? Did you come to New Orleans?"
"Yes." He made himself look into her eyes. "I was here, and Anthony is right. I've been here before, too."
///
"Tucker..."
He locked his hands around her shoulders. "I was here, but not to stalk you. Not to scare you. Not to do anything to hurt you in any way, baby." The endearment slipped out and he knew the others heard it. Screw it. "I needed to check in and make sure you were all right. My brother tried to destroy you. I had to see you. I just had to know that you were okay."
"Why didn't you tell me? You never spoke to me in all of those years-"
"Because the last time we were together, you screamed when I touched you." A bitter truth he hated to say in front of the others. "I just needed to see for myself that you were all right."
"Sounds like an obsession to me," Anthony muttered. "Like I said, some guys can't let go, no matter what."
He didn't speak. Because maybe, maybe the guy was right. Maybe he was obsessed.
And when Dawn looked at him, did she see that truth?
He was afraid that she might.
* * *
THE POLICE STATION was a hum of activity. Phones were ringing. Voices were shouting out. Chaos reigned.
Dawn sat, hunched on a bench near the bullpen. Tucker had been taken to the back. He'd disappeared with Samantha and Anthony and the police captain. Bowen paced a few feet away, casting her curious glances every few moments.
"It's not Tucker." Her voice was harsh. So what? She felt harsh. And she was tired of sitting around, having everyone in the whole world seem to watch her. Dawn surged to her feet. "This isn't him. Someone is trying to set him up."
Bowen ran a hand through his hair. He didn't speak. Didn't offer up a quick, heartfelt affirmation that, no, his teammate couldn't be involved in the killings.
Silence could be its own condemnation.
"It's time for me to do what I actually do best." Her hands were shoved into the pockets of her jeans. "Investigate. So you stay here and you guys question Tucker all day if that's what you want to do, but I'm going to talk with Julia-Dr. Bradford. I want to know just what she's found in her autopsies." She turned on her heel and marched away from him.
"Dawn!"
She kept right on marching.
He caught her arm just as she was about to head out the gleaming glass doors at the front of the station. "You're under protective custody. You just can't-"
"I'm going to talk to the coroner. You want to tag your ass along, fine. But don't get in my way. Don't slow me down." Her emotions were rioting. A partial DNA match. There couldn't be another Frost out there. She knew the family-there weren't any other relatives in Baton Rouge. It had always just been the two brothers. No cousins. No one else.
When Tucker's father had died-God, the truth he revealed will haunt me forever-no one else had stepped forward to help the boys. Jason turned eighteen a few days after they'd buried their father, so he'd taken over custody of Tucker.
She shoved open the door and stepped out into the too-bright sunlight. She blinked quickly and wished she had a pair of sunglasses. The reporters weren't camped out in front of the station-a good thing because she didn't want to battle them. She'd heard Samantha and Anthony mentioning that a press conference was scheduled for later that day. Maybe the reporters were just biding their time until then.
"You're one hundred percent certain of the guy?"
Bowen had followed her. Big surprise.