“Sorry about that.” Dayton mutters and I latch onto my bottom lip with my teeth when he takes my hand in his. It’s huge, engulfs mine, and causes tingles to shoot up my arm. I don’t remember the last time I held hands with anyone. Matthew wasn’t the kind of guy to show casual affection, so we never held hands or kissed outside of the bedroom. We didn’t even cuddle on the couch while watching TV together.

“It’s good you got your card back.”

“Yeah.” He agrees as we stop at his SUV. Opening the door for me, he stands in the doorway until I’m buckled before jogging around the hood to the driver’s side.

“How was work?” I ask as he’s sliding behind the wheel, and he turns to look at me.

“All right, but I’m glad it’s the weekend.” He starts the engine and begins backing out of the parking space.

“Eighteen items were recovered from the crime scene. Those included bedding, clothes, an open soda can left in the middle of the bedroom floor, and a knife block from the kitchen counter that was missing one knife. The knife handle was found under Alice’s body, the blade still in her back, hair, carpet fibers…”

As I’m trying to figure out what I’m listening to, it switches, and music begins to play through the speakers.

“What was that?” I ask, and he glances over at me.

“A podcast.”

“You listen to true crime podcasts?”

“Not normally.” He focuses on me as he comes to a stop at a red light. “But the woman who runs The Forgotten got ahold of the case I’m working on about a year ago and started looking into it. After doing her own investigation, she approached the department and paid for the DNA testing that we are using to bring charges against the person responsible for the murder.”

“Why didn’t the department pay for the testing?”

“Testing costs money, and typically, those funds are allocated to the most recent cases. Even then, the cops have to pick and choose which cases take precedence.”

“Seriously?”

“Yep.”

“That’s messed up,” I whisper.

“It is,” he agrees.

“So, what happens if a woman is raped? They could just choose that it’s not important enough to send off for testing?”

“I think they try to prioritize those cases, but that doesn’t mean some aren’t left behind.”

“Oh my God,” I breathe, and he reaches over, wrapping his hand around mine and squeezing before letting go.

“It’s fucked, and no one likes it, not even the cops who have to deal with it.”

“How do we change that?”

“Not sure it’s possible to change it, Franny. Each police department only gets so much money per year, and DNA testing is expensive, especially when you’re talking about using the newest technology.”