Then, she saw his car at the light and pulled out behind him, following him east as he made his way back into the city.What the hell is a pastor doing at a shooting range?
She followed him to a burger joint where he waited in the drive-thru line before continuing on to an older brick-front home with a front-facing patio in southeast D.C.
On her way home, she called Henninger. “Hey, Julie, it’s Evangeline. Still busy?”
“No, it’s pretty much back to normal. Whew, that was a whirlwind, huh? What’s up?”
“Can you check the sign-in sheet for me?”
“Hang on. Okay, I’ve got it. It’s gotta be twenty pages long, plus, Tucker mentioned he saw a bunch of people who never bothered to sign in.”
She couldn’t ask Julie to sift through that many pages. “How long do you keep those sheets?”
“For as long as it takes me to enter the data. Half the time I’m trying to decipher their chicken scratch.” She laughed.
“I need to review those before you scrap them.”
“No problem.”
“I’ll be by tomorrow,” Evangeline said and ended the call.
After arriving home, she took a quick shower and dressed, plugged the Applegates’ address into her phone, and bolted.
Twenty minutes later, she arrived at their McLean home. Sin’s motorcycle was already parked out front. After she rang their doorbell, Mark Applegate swung open the front door and welcomed her in as the senator strolled into the foyer.
Evangeline introduced herself and shook their hands. “Thank you for allowing me to speak with Bethany.”
“We needed to bring our daughter and granddaughter home as quickly and safely as possible,” the senator explained, “which is why we hired Sinclair.”
“I’m not sure what Sinclair has told you about me,” Evangeline said.
“He can’t say enough good things about you,” Senator Applegate replied. “If he believes in your innocence, then so do we.”
“I appreciate your saying that,” Evangeline said. “It’s been a challenging time. I’ve spent the last eighteen months focused on the case that led me to your daughter. And I can’t let go until I solve it.”
The senator nodded. “I admire a woman who believes in something so wholeheartedly that she puts it above all else. Sacrifice isn’t easy, is it?” With a warm smile, she brought Evangeline into the cozy kitchen. Sin rose to greet her and her heart fluttered at the sight of him.
“Hello, Evangeline. Good to see you.” While his words were unremarkable, the spark in his eyes was smokin’ hot.
Trying to be casual, she glanced at his black dress pants and black dress shirt, then swallowed down a sigh. He extended his hand and she shook it. Touching him didn’t just feel right—it felt necessary.
“Thanks again for setting this up.” Gushing was not her thing, but she couldn’t stop the small smile from tugging on the corners of her mouth.
After the senator poured Evangeline a coffee, Mark suggested they talk in the family room. Rather than leave the center cushion open, Sin sat beside her on the sofa. Her body warmed. She loved having him in her personal space.
Bethany came into the room, a baby monitor in one hand, her phone in the other. She looked different. Could have been the environment. Maybe it was the clothing—comfy pants, a college sweatshirt, and bunny slippers.
After her mom made the introduction, she said, “Bethany, Evangeline wants to find the man who contacted you about buying Mia.”
“Yeah, sure,” Bethany replied as she sat on the floor. “I met Pete in a grocery store and we got to talking. I told him I wanted to give my baby up for adoption. That’s when he told me he knew someone who’d pay me cash for her.”
“Did he tell you who?”
“Someone called Uncle Charlie.”
“How much did Pete offer you for your daughter?”
Bethany chewed her lip before glancing at her mom.
