“Exactly. We don’t know what this means yet, but that isn’t the entire story either. The DNA wasn’t a direct match to Tracy Glen. It had similar characteristics in common with the DNA we found in your kit. Basically, we are saying that that DNA we found in your rape kit is from a direct relative to Tracy Glen. Most likely a brother or close cousin, maybe even a half brother. It could even be an uncle, but we are thinking that might not fit in with the age range of our suspect.” Snow explained to Kate.
“Wow, so you can just look up who Tracy Glen is and who he is related to? How will you find him?” Kate asked, intrigued.
“That is the best part of the news! Tracy Glen is in jail, has been for the last five years. So, we know exactly where to find him and can go try to track down his relatives. We are headed there next to talk to him.” Snow continued.
“Right now? You are going to talk to Tracy Glen now? So, you might know who it is today? This could be solved today?” Kate began sounding excited as she sat up straighter on the couch, her eyes open and alert. She saw movement in her peripheral vision and turned to see Derrick leaning against the doorway, having been listening to the conversation. She smiled at him and he smiled back, sharing her excitement.
Derrick was purposefully staying in the background because he wanted Kate to know that he was there for her, but he didn’t want to step in and take over. He knew that control and power were of paramount importance to Kate right now and that he needed to let her be in charge. He needed to hand her the reigns to her own life even though all he wanted to do was ride in on a white horse and save his damsel in distress.
“Yes, ma’am. Right now, he is in upstate Maryland at a mid-level security prison. We have already alerted them to have him ready for interrogation, we will figure this out. This is really great news, Kate.” Detective Snow emphasized to her again. She wanted Kate to feel safe and she knew that having the attacker in police custody was the only solution to that.
Kate seemed to know what Detective Snow was trying to convey to her and it was working. She felt this ease drape over her shoulders and swallow her whole. Her muscles unclenched, her posture slumped, and she let out a deep breath that she had been holding in for days. There was a light at the end of the tunnel, this nightmare was almost over.
Kate looked at Derrick again and smiled. They didn’t have to say anything to each other because the unbreakable gaze between them described it all. Love flowed across the wave lengths to one another in cascading heaps and Kate knew that she was just happy to still have Derrick, to still feel love. Not just love, but in love. The betrayal and mistakes he made could be pushed away and forgotten if her attacker was gone and buried, no longer lurking in the back of her mind as a reminder. She could put it all behind her now and just be head over heels in love with Derrick.
CHAPTER SIX
Kate practically waltzed into work that morning with almost the complete opposite attitude that she had displayed the previous morning on her first day back to work since the attack. When she had walked into the lobby at work yesterday, she had been praying that any bruising or signs of her experience were hidden but today she hadn’t even given it a second thought. She had still put on as much makeup as she could to cover them, but she wasn’t walking around terrified of what everyone else was seeing.
Her past was behind her and so were here bruises, healing quickly every day. Kate was starting to feel like herself for the first time since before the attack. Herbert grinned at her the moment he saw her coming in the door and engaged her in a lively chat about the weather. She practically danced to the elevator and clicked the button just once, humming while she waited for the doors to open for her. Normally she would press the button six or seven times, just to be sure in some illogical act of insecurity.
Not today. Today she didn’t need extra bits of false security to make her feel at ease, she was completely calm and relief was as plentiful as air. She smiled at the crowd of people on the elevator as she squeezed her way on and ignored the woman with the flu behind her, coughing on her shoulder. It didn’t even both her when she was hanging up her coat and he coworker, Janet, popped her head over the cubicle with a story about one of her children selling wrapping paper. Kate just smiled and handed over a check for whatever hideous gift wrap was being offered this year. She already had tied a beautiful ribbon on her day.
~~~~
“Tracy Glen, please. I’m Detective Elizabeth Snow and this is my partner, Mike McCraig, with Metro Police.” Both detectives slipped their badges underneath the glass through the entry slot to the correctional guard at the Maryland prison. He looked over both of their badges and held them under a blue light to check their authenticity, then pushed the badges back out to the detectives.