He lifted his radio. “I found blood on a rock beside the river. It’s smeared. Could be human.”
“Is it fresh?” Connor asked.
“I don’t think so.”
“Send us your coordinates.”
Ethan texted them through, and when his team arrived, they gathered around.
“I agree, it’s old,” Joel said. “Could be from one of the missing women.”
“So do we let Ward know?” Zac asked. “Doubt he’ll do much.”
“He’ll sit on it until the last of the blood washes away in the rain.” Ethan snorted, even though there was nothing remotely funny about it.
Ryan crouched and took photos of the blood from multiple angles. “Zac, can you swab it?”
Zac pulled on gloves, took a sterile Q-tip from his kit, and swabbed the blood before dropping it into a plastic bag.
“We’ll send it to an independent lab,” Ryan said. “We notify Ward about the blood, but not our own investigation.”
The guys nodded.
“We all know that technically, we’re tampering with a potential crime scene,” Ryan said.
Connor crossed his arms. “But the alternative is no one doing anything at all.”
“I don’t know about you guys, but I came here to keep people safe,” Joel said.
They all nodded, a silent agreement that they were here because local law enforcement was letting innocent people die. And they were willing to do what they had to do to stop any more lives from being lost, even if that meant bending some rules.
“I’ll call Ward when we get back,” Ryan said.
As they headed to the firehouse, Joel came to walk beside him, holding out a granola bar. “Want one?”
Ethan shook his head. “I’m good.”
Rather than put it away, he unwrapped it and took a bite. “How’s Maggie after the bar shit with Cruella?”
He scrubbed a hand over his face. “I’m not sure. I haven’t really spoken to her since that night.”
“Why not?”
“The hell if I know.”
“It’ll happen.”
“What will happen?”
Joel grinned at him before taking another bite.
“What’s going on with you and Polly?” Ethan asked.
Joel’s smile widened. “I’m not sure. She seems to take offense to everything I say, and I kind of love it.”
Ethan scoffed. “Must be a shock to your system that a woman isn’t falling at your feet.”
Out of every man on the team, Joel dated the most frequently. Actually, dating wasn’t even the right term. He hooked up with women. Usually for a couple of weeks, then they were done.
