Waves

Part 20

Part 20 got all the way up to 4900 words when I decided it was time to chop it down for readability. Therefore, today you are getting not one but TWO Waves chapters! Part 21 will go up in about 90-ish minutes, and let me tell you-it's a special one. As always, let me know what you think!

Eve's heart was pounding out of her chest as she quickly called Clara. "Hold on, I'm going to patch you into the conference room," Clara answered, transferring the call. "Eve, we've got a situation," her Lead Counsel Michael announced, "about seven hours ago, Connie Banks' husband received a call from the hospital; she never showed up for her shift this morning. Husband said he had left two hours earlier and she was getting dressed for her shift." Eve cursed under her breath and pulled a small notepad out of her bag, drafting a timeline so she could organize her thoughts.

"Mr. Banks went home, saw that her car was gone but her purse, hospital ID badge, and lunchbox were still on the counter," Eve recognized the voice of Lara, one of the other attorneys on the Rooks case. "He then called the police, who told him to contact the vehicle manufacturer hotline to see if they could locate her car through the security system," Lara continued, "it took them until about three hours ago but they finally picked up a ping about 30 miles away from her house.The dive team ran into some issues accessing the car but they have it on the lakebed now."

Scribbling down some notes, Eve exhaled before asking the question she was dreading. "Was she in the car?" The line was quiet for a moment before Michael answered. "Sheriff confirmed there was a woman's body in the car. Coroner is working on a DNA match."

Eve cocked her head to the side at that information. "If her husband saw her approximately nine hours ago, and she didn't show up for work seven hours ago, then the earliest she could have ended up in the lake was six hours ago. That's not enough time for decomposition. Why do they need a DNA match?"

"The body has significant damage to the face. They think it was nitric acid used ante mortem," Lara replied. Eve grimaced and dropped her head in her hands. This was horrific news, and a nightmare scenario for all involved.

"Okay. Give me 30 minutes and I'll be at the office. Can someone call the sheriff and get a patrol car out to the assisted living facility her father is in? We also need to dig around into his past. It's not a coincidence that 72 hours before his daughter is supposed to testify in a case that could get him thrown in prison she's killed," Eve winced.

"I'm on it. Bring a change of clothes, we may need to get up to Cleveland tonight," Michael said, hanging up the phone. Giving Joe a short update, they pulled up to Eve's apartment so she could pack an overnight bag and grab her car. "Thank you for staying with Flossy again. I know twice in a week is a pain," she called out from her bedroom.

"It's the least I can do," Joe offered, standing in the doorway while he watched Eve dump her toothbrush into her purse. "Okay, I gotta go. Call me if you need anything," Eve sighed. "I love you Eve. Please be careful," Joe warned, pulling her in for a kiss. It felt like it had been days since they'd had any kind of romantic contact, and inadvertently Eve's hands went up to snake around his neck before reality crept in. "I'm always careful," she stated, pecking him one more time before she left for the office.

Eve felt a headache developing when she pushed open the double doors of The Innocence Project, practically running down the hall to the conference room. "Finally," Michael grumbled, shoving a stack of what looked to be old surveillance photos in her hands.

"What are these?" Eve didn't recognize any of the men in the pictures, all of them low quality and at least twenty years old. "Connie Banks' father and some of his friends. Did you know that before he was Joseph Franklin, he was Giuseppe Francisco?"