Trail of Secrets(66)

                Marty Weaver watched him go before he left and closed the door behind him. Callie set the coffeepot down and ran out the side door that led to the parking lot. Herman was nowhere to be seen, and she rushed to the front of the building. She caught sight of him pushing a shopping cart down the sidewalk, away from the mission.

                “Herman,” she called out. “Wait!” He didn’t look around, and she called again. “Champ!”

                He stopped, slowly turned and waited for her to catch up to him. When she stopped beside him, he gave her a quizzical look. “Yes, ma’am?”

                “Why are you leaving? I thought you were going to try to get a bed.”

                He shook his head. “Not tonight. I guess I’ll go back to the warehouse. Maybe we’ll meet again.”

                “I’ll be back tomorrow. I’ll see you then.” But he was already walking away from her, and he gave no indication he’d heard her words.

                After a moment, Callie sighed and turned back to the shelter. Herman’s story kept ringing in her mind. She’d overheard Seth and his partners discussing a racketeering case they were working on where money was being extorted from small-business owners. Could Herman be one of the victims of the ring? She’d have to discuss this with Seth right away.

                She’d only taken a few steps when she stopped. Why had Herman appeared to be so frightened when Marty Weaver had walked into the mission? This wasn’t the first time the policeman’s unexpected presence had made her suspicious of his motives.

                From the way it was beginning to look, Marty Weaver just might be the person with the answers about everything she’d experienced since she’d arrived in Memphis. If he was, she and Seth needed to be careful and proceed with caution. After all, Marty was a Memphis policeman, with citations for valor. He wasn’t the type of man who would go down without a fight.





                                      ELEVEN

                Seth glanced at his watch and sighed. Callie had only been inside the mission for a few hours, but the time had seemed to drag for him. He squirmed and tried to settle into a more comfortable position, but he’d never liked the long hours in a car during stakeouts. Today was no exception.

                He’d occupied his time by studying Dan’s notebook, but nothing new had jumped out at him. Maybe he’d looked at it too much in the past. He was about to close the book when a notation at the bottom of one of the pages caught his attention.

                He pulled the book closer and studied Dan’s handwriting on the page in the waning daylight. According to the entry Dan had sent a sample of Hope’s DNA to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation over two years ago. There was nothing else written down to indicate that there had ever been a match.

                Seth exhaled a deep breath and shook his head. “Maybe she didn’t have any family,” he murmured.

                He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and was about to place a call when the passenger-side door opened, and Callie climbed in. “Who are you calling?” she asked.

                He pointed to the bottom of the notebook page. “I just saw where Dan had made this notation. He never told me he’d sent Hope’s DNA to the TBI lab. I know the data entry clerk there. I was going to call her and ask about it.”

                Callie pointed to the clock on the dash. “Will the office still be open this late?”

                Seth sighed and shook his head. “I guess not. I’ll get in touch with her tomorrow.” He slipped the phone into his pocket, glanced at her and frowned. “Are you okay?”