“Could they have used it at the lab?”
“I’m sure they did.”
Malachi sat back. “And maybe Marcher found an inventory of it, but what would he use it for?”
“Torture,” Thomas said. “Death. It’s a gas that’s corrosive to breathe and can cause a range of nasty symptoms. Mixed with a solution of water and injected directly under the skin, it can cause organ failure.”
Ronni eyed him. “I don’t want to know how you know that, do I?”
He looked grim and shook his head.
Ronni shuffled papers. “Amber’s executive assistant had a file of anonymous emails and threats they didn’t take seriously. I went through them again and found this. Same IP address as the cub one.” She read it to them. “‘You took the thing I love the most. Paybacks are a bitch.’”
“What does that mean?” Mia asked.
“His daughter.” Harris sent a document around. “I have a friend with a specialized software program. She fed all the data we have into it, and came out with a fact I believe is the piece of the puzzle we’ve been missing.”
Mia’s mouth dropped when she read the print off. Malachi whistled softly under his breath as she showed it to him.
“Constance,” she muttered. “Are you sure?”
Harris nodded. “It all checks out, once we knew where to look. Damon’s real identity is Damon Marchesi. In high school, he got a woman named Linda Higt pregnant. She moved to Colorado and had a girl she named Constance. A few years later, she married a man whose last name was Cronenworth. He adopted the girl. When she grew up, she applied for and was awarded a full scholarship to U of Cal-San Diego. Her biological father probably had something to do with that stroke of luck.”
Caleb set down a partially eaten slice. “I’ve got permission for Malachi to have a video conference with her. Want me to contact the warden and line it up?”
Harris looked impressed. “We should definitely question her.”
Caleb wiped his hands and stood to make the call in the hallway. Joe leaned over and murmured to Malachi, “King’s lawyer suggested the sting operation to the Feds offering to lure Newt to town.”
“And get himself free in the process.” Malachi grit his teeth. “Bloody bastard.”
“Constance probably doesn’t know,” Harris said to Mia, ignoring the two of them. “But sending her to prison was Marcher’s trigger.”
Malachi tossed the paper on the table. “He had a daughter. Iknewit was personal.”
Mia sat back, that look of determination surfacing. “I should be the one to talk to her.”
“Mia,” Malachi started.
She cut him off. “I know her—knewher. I’m no agent but I’ll be less intimidating than any of you. She’s more likely to open up to me.”
“I agree,” Sam said.
Harris frowned and gave Sam a look suggesting she keep out of it. “You’ve never done anything like this, have you?” he asked Mia. “We need specific questions answered.”
“So write them out,” she countered.
She needed to feel useful. Malachi took Joe’s notebook and flipped to a clean page. “Good idea.”
Caleb returned. “Warden said fifteen minutes.”
Thomas held up his phone. “Just got a text from one of my snitches. Newt Marcher is coming to town, and Lopez—Horvat—is on the hunt for Mia. Newt’s offering a reward for her.”
“What?” Mia blanched.
Malachi reached over and squeezed her hand. “Remember, you’re safe.”
She nodded, but he saw her throat constrict as she swallowed hard.
