A Face to Die For (Forensic Instincts 6)

“By all means.” Casey gestured for her to approach Hero, a slight smile curving her lips. “You might be sorry. He’s a shameless beggar and attention seeker.”

“I’ll take my chances,” Dani replied, also smiling. She walked over to Hero, squatted down, and offered him her hand to sniff. “I read about you, Hero. But you’re far more handsome than your photo.”

Hero took a few whiffs of her hand, then wagged his tail and rewarded Dani with an enthusiastic lick and a hopeful look.

“No problem, boy,” she murmured, fumbling around in her purse until she pulled out a small bag of dog treats. “Here you go.” She offered him one.

Hero needed no second invitation. He snatched the treat and began to noisily chomp on it.

“You carry those around with you?” Ryan asked, astonished.

“Yup. I’ve got cat treats, too. I’d rather give them a healthy, organic snack than see them eating processed food or, worse, food that could potentially make them ill. That’s the veterinarian in me talking.”

“Well, you just became Hero’s favorite client.” Ryan chuckled as he watched Hero lick up the last crumb and then give Dani another hopeful look.

“Nope. One to a customer, no matter how charming.” Dani stroked his head. Then, she rose, leaving Hero to his water bowl and walking over to take her seat. “That’s also the veterinarian in me.”

“Now that you’ve fed Hero, let us do the same for you,” Emma piped up. “We’ve got great coffee, espresso, latte, and awesome snickerdoodle cookies. What’s your pleasure?”

“A latte would be wonderful.” Gia inclined her head in a way that was totally a Lina gesture. “The cookies sound delicious, but my stomach is in knots.”

“I understand,” Emma replied sympathetically. She turned her questioning gaze on Dani. “Danielle?”

“I think I’ll just have some bottled water if it’s convenient,” Dani responded. “The last thing I need is more caffeine. I’m already a bundle of nerves. And please call me Dani. Everyone does.”

“Dani it is.” Emma walked over to the JURA and made the latte like a true barista. “Sugar?”

“Just some Splenda if you have it,” Gia replied.

“We have everything. We’re coffee fanatics.” Emma plucked two packets of Splenda, pulled a bottle of water out of the mini-fridge, and brought everything over.

“Thank you,” they each said.

“Now let’s talk.” Casey set down her own mug. “According to Marc, your lives are in danger. Start at the beginning and provide as many details as you can.”

Dani and Gia each contributed to laying out the full story for the FI team—from the day Sarah Rosner had mistaken Gia for Dani right up to the mugging, the fire, and the DNA results.

“We also bought burner phones,” Gia concluded. “For them to know so much about Dani’s and my plans, they must have hacked our phones and our Facebook accounts. So that’s one hole we did try to plug up.”

The entire team listened and took notes, most of them typing directly into their iPads. Given how quickly and nervously the sisters were speaking, everyone let them talk without interruption. Questions would come later.

“I think that’s everything,” Dani said at last.

With that, Casey set aside her iPad Pro and studied the two girls—as she had been throughout their whole explanation. Her own expression was pensive—for more reasons than Gia and Dani could possibly know. “No wonder you’re both so rattled.”

Gia frowned at what she perceived as a reserved note in Casey’s voice. “Please don’t say you think the mugging and the fire were coincidences. Or that you doubt the fact that they’re tied to Dani and me finding each other.”

“I definitely was not going to say either one of those things,” Casey assured her. “I was just processing all the facts. Normally, the team and I interrupt with questions, but in this case, we wanted to hear the whole story from beginning to end.”

“And?”

Casey glanced around the room and got the unanimous show of imperceptible nods she was waiting for.

“And we’ll be taking on your case immediately. The attempts to frighten you off were pretty extreme. That implies that this situation is rapidly escalating. Whoever’s after you is already desperate, and that’s presumably without knowing you took a DNA test or that you’ve gotten the results.”

“Which means that once he or she has all the facts, your lives will be in even greater danger,” Marc said.

“That ship might have already sailed.” Ryan’s expression was grim. “If your phone calls, texts, and Facebook messaging have all been compromised, my guess is that your computers have been, too.”