“We’re wasting our time.” Mac looked over at Trevor and Derek. “We need to be out there, looking for him.”
Derek’s worried eyes found hers. “I understand your frustration, Mac. I want to find Coop as badly as you do, but we have to have some sort of startin’ point in order to do that.”
She wanted to pull her hair out. Howl in frustration or scream into the night. Mostly Mac wanted to find the bastard who’d taken her partner and end them, once and for all.
“The truck is clean,” Eric informed them after talking with the tech. “The only prints we could find are Sean’s and Mac’s.”
“Not surprising,” Mac muttered.
Sympathy shone in the man’s eyes. “There’s no broken glass or blood, so that’s a good sign.”
“There’s also nothing leading us to the person who took him, Eric.”
“Mac.”
“Don’t ‘Mac’ me, Trevor.” She turned to her current team leader. “We have nothing to go on.Nothing.No idea who took him or what they’ve”—her voice cracked—“what they’ve done to him. All we have is his damn truck and a busted phone.”
“We know this was a set-up.” Trevor pointed out the obvious. “There are no skid marks or damage to the truck indicating he hit an animal or anything else. The truck is parked straight. The flashers were on, and there’s a set of tire marks on the shoulder back there.” He pointed behind them. “My guess is Coop saw someone who looked like they needed help and he stopped to give it to them.”
“And what did he get in return?” Mac raised her voice.
“Easy,” Derek attempted to calm her. “We’re doin’ everything we can. You know that.”
“I know.” She inhaled deeply before blowing the air back out. “I know you are, but none of what we know is going to point us to where Sean is. And if we don’t find him—”
Her damn voice broke again, this time bringing with it a few tears. Using both hands, Mac dried her cheeks and forced herself to try to stay calm.
Shehatedfeeling this helpless. Like her hands were bound but she didn’t even know who’d tied the freakin’ ropes.
Needing some space to think, she turned and walked away from the others. She didn’t stop until she was several yards from the back of the truck.
Mac looked around, for what, she wasn’t sure, but standing around doing nothing was the last thing she wanted to be doing.
Her gaze fell on the ground a few feet in front of her. Pulling out her phone, she used its flashlight to study the road’s soft shoulder and beyond. Seconds later, a light hit something in the thick, grassy edge.
Even though it was probably a piece of trash, she found herself walking toward it. Using her free-hand, Mac carefully moved a section of tall blades, her breath freezing inside her lungs when she realized what it was.
“Over here!”
She caught Trevor’s gaze. He, Derek, Eric, and Riley all jogged to where she was squatted down.
“What is it?” Riley asked.
Not wanting to touch it in case there were prints, Mac tilted her head to where it lay. “A syringe.”
“Shit, Mac. Some druggie could’ve tossed that thing out their window as they drove by. Hard tellin’ how long it’s been there.”
“Not long.” Riley bent down next to Mac. Having already donned a pair of protective gloves, she carefully picked up the syringe. Studying it more closely, she said, “It’s clean. No dust or dirt. There’s still a trace amount of whatever was inside and look at how shiny the needle is.” The detective held it up for the others. “It looks brand new.”
“They drugged him.” Mac announced before locking eyes with Trevor. “We need to get that tested, ASAP.”
“I need an evidence bag over here!” Eric hollered over his shoulder at no one in particular. Three officers started running in their direction at the same time, two of them falling back when they saw the third was going to reach them first.
“Thanks.” Eric nodded to the officer before opening the bag and handing it to Riley. “Here you go.”
Careful not to stick herself, Riley placed the syringe inside. After making sure it was properly sealed, the detective stood and faced Trevor.
“Technically this is our evidence. However, your boss has a lot of pull with mine, so I may as well save some time and give this to you.”
