Terri Reed - Scent Of Danger

Jim grunted his assent and disappeared back inside the classroom.

Pleased with her take-charge attitude, Parker shifted his attention to the kids huddled in a group watching the action unfold with wary expressions. “We’ll need to get a court order to have the techs print everyone who’s had access to the center.”

Frowning, Melody followed his gaze. “Let’s take it one step at a time, okay? See what prints the CSU team finds on the baggies and the locker and run them through IAFIS to see if any of the prints pop.”

IAFIS—the FBI’s Integrated Automatic Fingerprint Identification System—would only show those already in the system.

One way or another Parker would find whoever was using the center as a clearinghouse for their drugs. He wasn’t going to let what happened to his brother happen to someone else.

He didn’t think Melody was involved. At least he hoped she wasn’t because he really liked her. Liked her determination and seeming dedication. She appeared sincere and genuine in her earnest attempt to effect some change in the lives of the kids in Sagebrush. His gaze skipped over her lush dark hair and her beautiful face. In all honesty, he liked a few other things about the detective, too. Sherlock jerked on the towel, bringing him back to his senses. The woman had a locker full of drugs. Now was not the time to be noticing her appeal. He shifted his focus to Sherlock. “Drop it.”

The beagle let go of the towel and sat, his tail thumping softly against the floor. Parker put the toy back into his pack, glad for something to do so he could regain control of his emotions.

A young woman with long blond hair came down the hall. When she saw the locker and its contents, her face paled. “Oh, wow. Is that what I think it is?”

Melody took the woman’s hand. “It is.” To Parker, Melody said, “This is Ally Jensen, my assistant.” She turned back to the young woman. “Do you have any idea how that got there or who’s been using this locker?”

Ally shook her head. Her gaze darted to the group of kids and back to the locker. “No. No, I don’t.”

Parker narrowed his gaze on the girl. Could the drugs be hers? “Are you sure?”

Her green eyes shimmered with anxiety. “I’m sure.”

The doors at the end of the long corridor opened and the crime-scene techs walked in.

“Called to the youth center twice in one day,” Rose Bigsby said as she approached. She pushed up her wire-rimmed glasses with her free hand. “Did you have another break-in?”

Melody grimaced and looked as if she might be sick. “Not a break-in this time.” She gestured to the drugs.

Clay whistled through his teeth.

Rose held up a staying hand. “Hold your horses, everyone. With all due respect to Sherlock’s awesome track record for sniffing out the real stuff, we need to test it first, especially considering the whos and wherefores around here...” Her gaze slid to Melody. Parker could hear the unspoken thoughts about respecting coworkers. Rose set the duffel bag she carried on the ground and pulled on rubber gloves. “Everyone back up and give me room to work.”

She opened her bag and withdrew a vial, then carefully opened a baggie, taking a tiny sample and putting it into the vial. The color the substance turned when mixed with the chemical agent in the vial would determine the type of drug.

“Cocaine,” Rose announced, holding up the vial to reveal the purple-colored bottom.

Parker had figured as much. Rose and Clay set to work on fingerprinting the baggies and the locker.

Melody went to the group of kids and talked to them in a low voice. Frowning, Parker walked over.

“If any of you know anything about the drugs, I need you to tell me. You won’t get in trouble for telling the truth,” Melody said.

Parker’s eyebrows rose. Was Melody really that naive to think these kids would reveal anything? If one of them was involved, they certainly wouldn’t confess. And they would get in trouble.

Was she making this show of trying to find the culprit to throw suspicion off herself? His gut clenched.

What did he really know about her? She could very well be on the crime syndicate’s payroll. Or her partner, Jim, could be. Parker needed to have both officers’ finances looked at, see if either of them had money troubles, because that would be the only logical reason why someone like Melody, who was so smart and competent, would ever betray the oath she took to protect and serve.

As much as he hated the directions his thoughts were taking, he needed to report this to his boss.

And her boss.

They were supposed to be on the same team. If Melody had something to hide, then she’d have to pay the price. That thought didn’t settle well with him at all.

* * *

Melody watched Parker step away to make a call. Tension coiled through her. She needed a plan of action. Get the kids to talk, and then track down the culprit. She would get to the bottom of this situation and prove to Parker the center wasn’t being used for drug dealing. This was a one-time incident. It had to be. But the unease in her stomach taunted her.

“I saw John Riviera hanging around that locker,” Joy Haversham said, drawing Melody’s attention back to the question she’d asked the group of teens gathered in a nervous circle around her.

“Joy!” Tony Roberts made a slicing gesture across his throat.

Melody would be talking to John ASAP. If he were the culprit, then he would pay the price for his bad judgment and illegal activity.

“What? I did,” Joy said. The fifteen-year-old girl twirled a brown curl around her finger. “He was standing there, leaning against the lockers last Thursday night.”

“Doesn’t mean those are John’s drugs,” Tony countered. “They could be anybody’s. This place is easy to get into.”

Melody arched an eyebrow. “Oh, really?”

Tony shrugged. At nearly eighteen, the kid was more man than boy. Had he been the one dressed in black this morning?

She eyed the width of his shoulders and decided no, he wasn’t the man who’d rammed into her and knocked her against the wall. That man had had broad shoulders as hard as bricks. “What do you mean this place is easy to get into?”

A guilty, sheepish look crossed his face before he carefully masked it with insolence. “The windows in the locker room are never locked.”

That was a surprise. Well, they would be from now on. The locker-room windows were at street level since the locker rooms were in the basement. She’d make sure Jim secured them every night.

Parker returned, pocketing his phone. He leveled her with an inscrutable look. “Our captains want us over at the station house as soon as Rose and Clay wrap things up.”

“You two can go,” Jim volunteered. “I’ll stay and keep an eye on the place.”

Parker shook his head. “They want to see you, as well.”

A flash of annoyance shot through Jim’s gray eyes. “I don’t know anything about this. I’m just a volunteer.”

Melody frowned. Technically, he was her co-director. “Jim, we’ll both go. The center is both of our responsibility.”

“Yeah, well, I keep telling you these kids are trouble,” Jim groused. “Wouldn’t surprise me if the captains decided the youth center was too much of a liability.”

His words sent a shaft of apprehension sliding straight to her core. Jim knew how much this place meant to her. He and his late wife had taken Melody under their wing when she’d first arrived in town. Jim had tried to talk her out of opening the center.

But she wouldn’t be dissuaded. And so he’d stepped up to be her co-director.

She suspected he’d volunteered to help her in order to protect her. But would Jim take this opportunity to help Parker convince the captains to close the youth center doors for good?