Bare Witness by Katherine Garbera Page A

for.”
    “You said she’d be safe with Constance. She worked for you.”
    “Pointing the finger is the first sign that you know you aren’t providing good service.”
    “Believe what you want, but Jesse was shot in the back of the head, and we think he may have pulled over because someone directed him to.”
     
    Justine was tired of things not going according to plan. Liberty Investigations was known for quality. But since they’d landed in Peru, nothing was working the way they liked for it to.
    That mess with Maldano, and now Piper being missing, made her want to find the person who kidnapped the child and take justice into her own hands. Constance had been vetted twice—once when Nigel had hired her, and again when they’d taken on working with Nigel. If she had been working for someone else, they should have caught it.
    If she wasn’t working both sides, then there was a good chance the nanny was dead, which meant Piper was on her own. And how long she would survive was anyone’s guess. Justine knew from personal experience how strong a nine-year-old girl could be.
    “What are you implying?”
    “Nothing but what we know. Jesse was shot in the back of the head…it could have been Constance. Either way, we know whoever has your daughter is more than likely the killer.”
    Nigel blanched, balled his hands into fists, and punched the back of the seat with enough force to rock the car. Justine took a step back. She’d give him a moment to process everything.
    She took the Maglite and left Nigel alone. “I’m going to search for tire tracks.”
    “I’ve talked to Charity and she’s on her way. Once she’s here, we’ll have you take Nigel to a safe house.”
    Justine didn’t think he would go but kept that to herself. Instead, she went to search for tire tracks or boot tracks. They’d need to rule out the shoes they were all wearing. Standing on the asphalt, Justine skimmed the beam of light over the shoulder of the road, searching for anything out of the ordinary.
    “Tell me how to help,” Nigel said. His voice was low, almost hoarse. Her heart ached for him. She wanted to wrap her arms around him and offer comfort. To maybe make a few promises that she wasn’t sure she could keep.
    “Nigel—”
    “Don’t say anything. Just give me something to do so I don’t have to think about Piper.”
    “Okay. We’re searching for a track we can use. Trying to see if they were forced off the road by another car. Then we will try to identify the tire tracks and any prints left by the occupants.”
    “How will you know that they are the people who have Piper?”
    “We won’t. It’s a process-of-elimination thing.”
    “That’s it? That’s the best you can do?”
    “For right now. Do you have a GPS tracker in Constance’s cell phone?”
    “Yes. And one in Piper’s stuffed bunny.”
    “Why didn’t you mention that earlier?”
    “I didn’t think about it until this moment.”
    Justine knew it was a lie. She could hear it in his voice. Why would he hold on to that information?
    “Sorry, it’s my backup. No one knows about the bunny, not even Constance, and since she’s a suspect…”
    His voice cracked, and Justine couldn’t keep silent a minute longer. “We’ll find her.”
    “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”
    “I’m not. One way or another we are going to find your daughter and the person who took her.”
    “And then what?”
    “Then they’ll wish they’d never taken her,” Justine said.
    “As soon as we are finished here, we need to get Anna the information on the GPS tracker you planted on Piper’s stuffed bunny.” Justine gave the ground one more look and saw a track she thought they might be able to get a good print from. And to be honest, she didn’t want to wait to see if they could find Piper’s GPS signal.
    She bent down and marked the area before leading the way back to Anna.
    “Did you find something?”
    “I’m not sure. I marked a tire track, but