Paige smirked. She couldn’t think of anyone more deserving of dealing with Mick Brockman than Deputy Lyle Carroll.
Chapter 29
They were grasping at straws. Al knew it. There was nothing that connected anyone with a motive to Wade or Angela. Nothing. “We’re going to have to go back through everything again.”
There had to be something they had missed.
Paige and Seb looked at her. Seb was the one who questioned. Paige was watching Jon Mundy as he spoke with several people he apparently knew.
Mick sat nearby, files in front of him.
Her brother was such a good-looking man. No doubt the rest of the women in the precinct had noticed, too. But Mick seemed so alone sometimes. Like he wanted to be.
Paige was the same way. She kept people at a distance to protect herself. Funny that they’d have that in common, considering how they felt about one another.
“We need to find out for certain why someone was in that house. Because we have found absolutely no motive for why someone would want to kill Wade or Angela. Period.”
“So you think it wasn’t personal?” Seb asked.
Al shook her head. “There may be a component that is, but in general…what if it was random?”
Seb looked at Deputy Carroll. “Has there been an increase in robberies or nuisance calls, especially for that area of the county?”
Carroll shrugged. “I’m not certain.”
“Are you certain of anything?” It came out before Al could censure herself. The guy always prevaricated when asked a direct question. Almost like he was doing it to slow down the investigation. Al was getting more than frustrated.
Carroll was fast becoming a problem. They’d either have to find a way to deal with him—or remove him from the investigation.
His chest swelled and he stepped forward. Body language told her that her challenge had insulted him—on a masculine level.
He looked at Mick and Seb next to her, and he backed down.
Typical. Bully mentality. He was probably the kind of guy who had pushed people around his entire life. Especially women.
He probably had two ex-wives and a few domestic assault charges that his buddies on the Dover Springs force conveniently helped go away.
Well, maybe not Deputy Jacobs. He seemed totally on the up and up. He reminded her of her oldest brother, Mal.
Unfortunately, she’d seen Carroll’s type far too many times before.
“Carroll, you have one task going forward.” Seb pulled himself to his full six-foot-four- or five-inch height. He was almost as tall as Mick, but not quite as heavy. But still intimidating to a man like Carroll, who was probably around five nine or ten. Seb had seventy pounds on Carroll. Mick had a good one twenty.
Paige and Al were both taller than Carroll. Both had more authority in the law enforcement world.
And he didn’t like that at all.
But just like she could have predicted, Carroll backed down when faced with such an obvious threat. Even on crutches, Seb could be downright terrifying.
“And what is that?”
“Write down everything you know about Jon Mundy, Tracey Linsey, Nick Delasi, and Angela and Wade Heathers. Factual, concise, and helpful. Or…when it comes time for you to run for sheriff, I will see to it that just how helpful you were in finding a killer becomes common knowledge.”
Chapter 30
They had nothing to book Jon Mundy on. Even their suspicions of a meth problem didn’t constitute enough probable cause. But Paige wasn’t going to let that stop her.
She watched as Jon walked out of the precinct as if he knew every inch of it. He’d been there before.
There was too much cocky in his step for someone who’d just been interviewed by the police.
“It’s just too coincidental,” she said, as quietly as she could.
Al stepped closer. She pulled the files in her hands up and turned more toward Paige. “I know.”
“He knows something.” Paige knew it; the man’s manner spoke of one who was hiding things. He hadn’t been that upset by what they’d asked him. He basically “saw nothing, heard nothing, knew nothing.” And it sucked about Wade and Nick.
He’d said Nick emailed him constantly, but Jon did nothing to encourage the relationship. He’d implied Nick had always followed him around like that.
Hero worship. That’s what he’d said it was.
The two men were distant cousins—second cousins once removed or something like that.
Nugent had also connected Delasi and Jon Mundy through frequent social network interactions. Jon had brushed that off with a “Hey, that’s social media for you, babe. I talk to everyone online. Come on. Everybody does it.”
Followed by a leer.
There had to be something in the water making most of the men around here jerks.
Nick and Jon were far friendlier with each other than either man was admitting. Paige knew it.
Several photos of both men were cross-posted on various sites.
They were close; good friends, in fact.
“Feel like a little walk?” Paige looked at Al. “I’m suddenly hungry.”
“Good point.”
Paige looked at her own brother-in-law. “Hey, Seb. Al and I are…hungry. We’ll be back in a few.”
His green eyes narrowed. “You do that. Take the time you need. I’m going to…think…for a while.”
Such a smart man, was Sebastian. Her sister had chosen well.
He knew exactly what Paige and Al were planning.
Paige tightened the coat—which had appeared on the doorknob of the room she was sharing with Al—around her and zipped it up. It had been there when they’d woken this morning. She’d just assumed it had been Sebastian being overprotective without saying anything. She’d thank him later.
She and Al made a point of chatting as they walked outside, twenty-five yards behind Jon Mundy.
He walked with his shoulders hunched against the wind, but his pace was unhurried. They kept a reasonable distance between them and him.
Paige had the keys to the rental vehicle in her pocket, ready to unlock the doors as fast as she was capable.
She and Al were going to go for a ride.
Except Jon Mundy kept walking.
“Paige, his address?”
“Three twenty-four Water Street.”
“That’s four blocks from here.” Al always made a point of learning the geography of wherever they were. It had come in handy.
“There’s his car.” Al pointed to a four-door model from fifteen or so years ago. “Hurry.”
Paige picked up her pace. “We can catch him at the entrance to the parking lot. He won’t be moving too fast.”
The lot had yet another layer of snow and ice covering it. The only traffic on the roads at this point where the road crews and a few diehards.
And a few truckers going by.
Jon put his hand on his door handle.
Paige had her keys at the ready. They’d hop in their car and tail him.
See just where exactly he went.
Nick Delasi was still in jail.
But that didn’t mean he was their killer. He didn’t seem capable of doing it so efficiently.
Jon opened the driver door.
The explosion slammed Paige to the snow-covered ground as the world shook around them.
She looked through the smoke and debris for Al—and found her ten feet away, blond head stuck in a snowbank.
Paige pulled herself to her feet and ran to her partner’s side.
Just as Al rolled over. “Paige!”
Chapter 31
Mick knew exactly what that sound meant. His first thought was for his sister—and Paige. He jumped from his chair, far faster than Sebastian.
“Go!” Sebastian yelled.
Everyone sprang into action, though the locals probably didn’t know what the sound meant.
For a moment, he didn’t see her or Paige. His heart almost stopped.
And then he saw them.
Right next to the burning car.
They were pulling a body through the snow.
He assumed it was Jon Mundy from the beat-up leather jacket he had been wearing.
Al and Paige rolled the kid into the snow, extinguishing the flames eating at that leather.
They were up. They were moving.
Some of the terror that had filled him lessened.
Until he got close enough to see the damage they’d both taken. And Mundy.
The kid wasn’t moving. “He alive?”
Mick fell to his knees and checked the kid’s vitals.
“I don’t know,” Paige said.
“How badly are the two of you hurt?”
“We’ll live,” came Al’s reply. “How is he?”
“He’s out. But breathing. We need an ambulance.”
“First responders are two blocks that way,” Jacobs said as he fell to his knees next to Mundy. “What happened?”
“He touched the door handle, and it went,” Al said.
“IED, most likely,” Jacobs said.
“You have many around here who could do that?”
“We have a higher number of vets around here. It’s a way out of the quarries. I’m one myself,” Jacobs said as he used his own coat to elevate Mundy’s feet. “It’s surprising how many in this area might have been able to do this.”
Mick cursed, as they all attempted what first aid they could. Paige was right next to him. Mick looked at her quickly.
The coat he’d picked up at the local farm supply store now had char holes over the front of it. Blood dripped from a cut on her forehead. His gaze darted toward Al.
A larger cut was at his sister’s temple. Hell, did the two of them always end up bloody?
Chapter 32
Cody fought the exhaustion with everything she had. Lucy had had a rough night again. Fourth time this week that nightmares had prevented either of them from getting any sleep. She almost called off work since she was only working a half shift, but that would put the rest of the department short staffed.
Cody wasn’t about to shirk her responsibilities. She had a job to do, one she took pride in.
By four that afternoon, she was dragging. She still had to get to the Brockmans and collect Lucy. Who knew what the rest of the night was going to bring.
Lucy’s trauma was going to take them a long time to get through. Cody was all the little girl had now—except for Luc, who was Lucy’s self-appointed godfather.
Meredith met her at the door. She looked like her daughter, all blue eyes and graying blond hair, but she had a shrewdness about her that could easily be missed. “You look terrible, Cody. And Lucy’s struggled all day.”
“She had more nightmares last night. We’re both exhausted.”
“I could call a friend. Set you up an appointment with him. He may be able to suggest some strategies, if you’d like. There are medications that can help short-term, if it’s absolutely necessary.”
Cody almost said yes. Almost. “I don’t know. I don’t want to resort to medication yet.”
“I understand. Maybe we can find a way to work in a short nap for her each afternoon. It might help her get through this. As for you…honey, you need some help. When Al gets back, why don’t you let her stay with you for a night or two? Just long enough for you to get some sleep.”
“I’ll consider it.” Lucy adored Al, who she had run into many times at the Brockman family home. “Was she a lot of trouble?”
Maybe she needed to consider giving Meredith a raise. She had definitely earned it. Cody stepped inside the entryway, hit at once by the warmth and spiced apples.
And giggles.
Ruthie, Meredith’s new granddaughter and Lucy’s best friend in the entire world, was chasing Lucy.
And Lucy was laughing in return. Cody’s mouth curved in a smile. Her daughter was playing right now. Genuinely playing. And that mattered. She turned to Meredith to thank her, when Cody’s cell went off. “Excuse me.”
The last thing she wanted right now was to be called back in to PAVAD.
But that was exactly what she suspected was about to happen.
Chapter 33
Al had taken the hardest indirect hit. She’d joked that she and Paige now had matching concussions. It felt like her head was going to ring right off her shoulders.
But she made sure to keep that head up when she and Paige made it back to the precinct. They’d ridden in a separate ambulance from Jon Mundy, making it back just after seven that evening.
Word was that Jon still hadn’t regained consciousness. The extent of his injuries wasn’t fully known yet.
Just how he connected to their case still wasn’t clear, other than that he had been driving a car registered to Nick Delasi.
They had nothing to connect Jon Mundy to Wade or Angela Heathers at all. Was it possible they’d just stumbled into another case entirely?
She wasn’t entirely certain.
She followed Paige into the conference room. They were beat up, but the case wasn’t over yet.
Neither was going to stop.
Everything they had was posted on the bulletin boards.
Someone—from the handwriting, she thought it had been Paige—had written out every connection they knew of between Wade and the rest of the players before they’d left the night before. They hadn’t made many changes since. Just added Jon Mundy’s name.
But this was a small town. Wade was going to be connected to a good percentage. So would Angela.
“I think we’re going in the wrong direction here,” she said, as the clock ticked closer to eight. “Why would Nick or Jon have had any reason to be at Wade’s?”
Seb looked up at her. His green eyes were serious and concerned as he studied first her and then Paige. “First, how damaged are the two of you?”
“We won’t be running any marathons for a day or two—and I really hope the hotel has a lot of hot water tonight—but we’re in one piece,” Al said. “What did you learn while we were gone?”
“Simple, crude device. Using components common at the quarries. Probably pilfered while on the job. Cody’s on her way here now to process. She’ll take what she finds back and process it herself immediately. Now that things are starting to cool outside. Someone will need to pick her up at the airport soon,” Nugent said, looking up from his computer screen for once.
“And since explosives are used to break up rock during the mining process, it could have been anyone,” Seb said. He stood, awkwardly. He rolled his chair toward Al. “Sit. Both of you.”
Deputy Jacobs was already out of his own chair, motioning Paige into it. The guy had a real soft spot for Paige; Al had noticed that early on.
But Seb was on crutches. He needed to sit, too. “Seb…”
“Don’t be stubborn.”
Mick snorted from right behind her shoulder. He had been the one to give them a ride back from the hospital. He and Paige had argued the entire forty-five-minute drive about Paige and Al going back to work instead of to the hotel and to their beds.
Surprisingly, Paige had won. Al still wasn’t sure how her friend had managed that. But there had been a look in Mick’s blue eyes that told her that her usually straightforward big brother was working another angle here lately.
As soon as they were back in St. Louis, she and big bubba were going to have a little talk.
Paige had already sunk into the chair Deputy Jacobs held out for her. She looked far worse than Al felt. Which said a lot. Paige probably should have gone back to the hotel, but she’d insisted she was going to continue working.
Mick hadn’t objected that last time.
It surprised Al—M
ick had the ability to curtail anyone working the field at any time. His department, Ed Dennis, and Jules’s people. That was it.
But Mick hadn’t said a word. He’d just driven them back here.
“Anything?”
Seb shook his head. “We’re right back where we started.”
“Are we even sure Jon Mundy and Wade are connected anywhere?” Al asked. “Other than the fact that they live in the same county?”
She turned toward the bulletin board.
Chapter 34
Cody stepped off the small plane that was assigned to PAVAD and smiled at the man who waited impatiently. It was a Brockman. That was a surprise. “Hello, Mick.”
“Cody. Nice to see you again.” He was so gruff. Beautiful, but very unapproachable. His mother had made a point of telling Cody all about the struggles Mick had had with communication disorders when he’d been a child. But how sweet and helpful he’d been.
Meredith had been matchmaking, and they had both known it.
Cody had almost let her. She liked Mick. He had a wounded air about him that she didn’t doubt a lot of people overlooked. “How are they?”
His expression darkened even more. He was such a handsome man, with the look of his father. Although Mick was a lot bigger. His dad was barely over six feet. “Concussions. Stitches. They were damned lucky to be parked so far away from Mundy’s vehicle.”
She nodded, but she wouldn’t be fully reassured until she saw Al and Paige for herself. They hadn’t been friends for an overly long time, but something had clicked between her, Payton, Kelly and Carrie, Paige, and Al when Cody’s department had transferred from Indiana to St. Louis. “Someone was watching out for them.”
“This time.”
“What do you need from me?”
“Process the damned car as quickly as you can. Sebastian says you have experience with explosives as well.” He looked at her expectantly. Cody nodded. She’d spent some time with the bomb squad. Just to get some basic skills on how vehicular explosions behaved. “At least that’s what Lorcan wants.”
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