Baltimore 03 - Did You Miss Me?

little part.’
    Joseph thanked her, then hung up, curious. No one had ever mentioned Aunt Vivien. And what was up with her father? He’d get the whole story from Daphne when she woke up. Now he had to get presentable as his team meeting was via videoconference through the computer.
    He hated videoconferences. He liked the visual anonymity of regular telephone meetings. But the group had some photos that he needed to be able to see so he put some clothes on and set his laptop up. When the call connected, he got a close-up of JD Fitzpatrick’s left eye.
    ‘Sorry,’ JD said. ‘I’m adjusting the camera.’ He stepped back, his brows shooting up. ‘You might want to . . .’ He tapped his cheek. ‘Before everyone gets here.’
    Joseph jumped up and looked in the mirror. ‘Shit,’ he muttered and heard JD’s low chuckle. He had lipstick smeared all over his cheek. He wet a cloth and scrubbed his face. And scowled. The stuff had a half-life.
    Still, it had been worth it. He removed most of the evidence and went back to his laptop. Most of the team had filed in. ‘Can we get started? Who’s there?’
    ‘Everyone except you and Daphne, Deacon, and Hector,’ JD said.
    ‘I’m calling from the road,’ Kate said through the speakerphone. ‘Simone and Maggie and I left for West Virginia two hours ago. Simone had to finish putting the lights on that big Christmas tree. When she flips the switch, it’ll drain the power grid for the East Coast.’
    ‘Keeps her off the street,’ Joseph said with a smile. ‘Deacon’s out with the local PD and the Pittsburgh field office. They’re trying to track Ford’s steps to see where he’d been held. Hector’s on break.’
    Hector had secured the hotel and handed off the patrol to local agents from the Pittsburgh field office. He’d been on duty since the morning before and Joseph needed him rested. Just in case.
    Joseph had booked the adjoining rooms for himself and Daphne, then a room across the hall for her mother and Maggie. Kate and Hector would each have a room on either side of Simone. Deacon and Hector would share. Everyone had a place to lay their head.
    ‘Daphne finally went to sleep.’ And Joseph had to work hard to hide his cat-in-cream smile at what had made her tired enough. ‘Ford’s stable. He woke up for a minute or two, then went back to sleep.’ He told the team about the second dose of ketamine and the second tasing.
    ‘That makes absolutely no sense,’ JD said. ‘Why would Doug pick him up only to drop him off again? It’s like Doug wanted Ford to be found.’
    ‘That’s my take,’ Joseph said. ‘He lured us here, just like he lured us to the house in Timonium.’
    ‘I have some information for you on the crime scene in the basement there,’ Brodie said. ‘I ran PCR on the blood on the wall and it belongs to Daphne’s ex-husband, Judge Elkhart. However, it’s frozen blood, like from a bloodbank.’
    ‘And the judge is very much alive,’ Grayson said. ‘I got a visit from him this morning. He was upset that we’d sent the FBI out to his estate like he was a “common thug”. I asked him if he was going out to see Ford in the hospital and he said that Ford’s mother was there and he wasn’t needed.’
    ‘Did you ask him if he froze his blood?’ Joseph asked.
    ‘No, because we didn’t have that info then.’
    ‘I called the judge’s mother,’ Brodie said. ‘She confirmed that they did put blood away for emergency surgeries because the judge had one of the rarer blood types. It was supposed to have been stored on estate grounds, but it’s not there.’
    ‘Doug is a sick puppy,’ Joseph said in disgust. ‘Did we find any sign that he was there watching Daphne at the barn?’
    ‘We did,’ Kate said. ‘Scott Cooper showed us the places a man could stand and get the best view of the barn. There was evidence that someone was there today. Fresh footprints in the snow. We were probably being observed the whole time.’
    ‘Shit. How close are we to having a picture of this asshole?’
    ‘Not close at all.’ JD sounded disgusted. ‘We’ve had uniforms canvassing every place up and down the college strip, restaurants, bars . . . nobody’s got him on video. This guy is careful not to get his picture taken. The police artists we’ve used have given us nada and it’s not their fault. The teacher who saw him in Timonium gave a description that could be anyone.’
    ‘What about the girl in Philly?’ Joseph