Dead Center

by Susan Sleeman

  Grady screeched to a stop at the curb, the vehicle rocking like an earthquake rumbled below. A short woman with dark hair and a split lip bolted from the house and barreled down the sidewalk.

  Grady jumped out and introduced himself. Heidi clutched his arm. “Help! Oh, help. My baby. I need to find her.”

  “Did you call 911?”

  “Yes. Yes. Police are on the way.” She tightened her grip, and Grady resisted wincing at the vice-like pressure. “But we can’t wait. You need to do something now. Now!”

  “This is Nick,” Grady said as calmly as he could when he felt the poor woman’s panic clear to his soul. “He can check the network for a video from the doorbell of the break-in. Where’s your computer equipment?”

  “In Jayla’s room.”

  “Show me,” Nick said urgently.

  She spun and ran back inside. The three of them charged after her and through a tiny combo living/dining room, then down a dingy hall to the bedroom at the end.

  A laptop and wireless router sat on a small white desk with chipping paint next to a twin bed with a pink bedspread. A metal folding chair was tipped over by the desk.

  Nick righted the chair and dropped into it, waking up the laptop at the same time. “Good. Good. No password.”

  Heidi moved behind Nick. “I wouldn’t let her have one. Told her I needed to be able to see everything she got up to.”

  “Excellent,” Nick said without looking up.

  Grady made eye contact with Heidi. “Tell me again what happened. Don’t leave out any detail.”

  “The man.” She clutched her hands together. “When I came in, he was dragging Jayla toward the back of the house. She screamed at me. ‘Help me, Mom. Help me. He shot the guy. He’s the one. I saw him. He’s going to kill me.’”

  So she had seen something, and now it had put her in danger. Grady feared this guy had planned to kill Jayla but her mother interrupted, and now he might’ve killed her after leaving the house. “Did you recognize the man?”

  She shook her head, hair dyed an inky black slapping at the air. “He was wearing a ski mask.”

  “Did he speak?” Ainslie asked. “Maybe you recognized his voice.”

  “No. No. He didn’t say a word.” She clamped a hand on her mouth then let it drop. “But his eyes. They were vicious. He’ll kill my baby. I know it.”

  “What was he wearing?” Grady asked to keep her from panicking. “His size?”

  “He was big. Tall. Over six feet. Built solid. Strong. He held Jayla like a rag doll and still shoved me off.”

  “Found the files,” Nick said, his voice calm in an ocean of panic.

  Grady gaped at Heidi. “You lied to us? You did have access to the doorbell files?”

  “No. No.” Heidi’s eyes glistened with tears. “I didn’t know. Honest. Jayla’s a computer nerd so she must’ve gotten the login from her dad or something. I had no idea.”

  “Whatever happened,” Nick said. “We have a recording from about ten minutes ago.”

  “Play it.” Grady charged behind Nick, and Ainslie joined him.

  Nick clicked play. A tall man wearing a ski mask, just like Heidi described, approached the door. He wore black pants and jacket. He reached out for the doorbell and ripped it from the wall. The video died.

  “Oh. My. Gosh!” Ainslie gaped at the screen. “Did you see it?”

  Grady shot her a look. “No, what?”

  “Play it again, Nick,” she demanded.

  Nick restarted the video.

  She stabbed a finger at the screen. “There. Stop.”

  He froze the video as the intruder’s hand twisted, revealing on his wrist a tattoo of a horse head in black, the mane looking like flames of yellow and orange.

  “I know that tattoo.” She shot Grady a tortured look. “There’s only one like it. It belongs to Matt. Matt Murphy.”

  24

  Despite the sound of sirens screaming toward the house, Ainslie couldn’t take her focus from the tattoo as a wave of shock traveled through her body. Matt was involved in this. The sheriff. The man people trusted. Matt Murphy. How could that be?

  “How can you be so sure it’s Murphy’s tattoo?” Grady asked.

  She could barely think but swung her gaze to Grady. “Our high school team is called the Broncos, but our logo had green hair as a nod to the town’s name. Matt wanted to be different. Said the yellowy-orange reflected the fire in his passing abilities.”

  Grady still looked confused. “Why would Matt take Jayla? What does he have to do with all of this? Is he involved?”

  “What’s going on?” Heidi cried out. “Who’s this Matt guy?”

  Ainslie glanced over his shoulder at her. “He’s a sheriff from Texas, and it’s too complicated to explain.”

  “Maybe he shot Wade.” Grady shifted his focus to Nick. “Look for video on the night Wade was shot.”

  “Already on it.” Nick’s gaze remained on the screen, and his fingers flew over the keyboard.

  “Police,” a male called out from the front door. “Ms. Upson.”

  “Coming,” Heidi replied but didn’t move.

  “Go meet them,” Grady encouraged. “Tell them what happened and what we’re doing.”

  Grady gave her a gentle push to get her going, and she raced off.

  “I don’t get this.” Ainslie faced him. “Why do you think Matt would shoot Wade?”

  Grady tilted his head, his hand clamped on the back of his neck. “Maybe Murphy has something to do with Neil’s murder, too.”

  “Matt? No. He was a model kid. Perfect. He wouldn’t kill someone.”

  “There was that blood on Neil’s shirt. It could be Murphy’s DNA.”

  Could it? “He’s a law enforcement officer. Wouldn’t his DNA be in the database?”

  “Not necessarily. It’s not mandatory and it’s up to local agencies to decide if they add the information. And as the sheriff, Murphy could easily keep his profile out of the database.”

  “Found footage,” Nick announced. “The file was deleted from the hard drive not more than fifteen minutes ago, but it’s backed up to Google’s Cloud.”

  “You think Matt deleted it, or made Jayla do it?” Ainslie asked.

  “Sounds likely, but no way to tell.” Nick started the footage playing.

  Ainslie had to squint to make out the events across the street, but the camera did capture a tall man approach Wade, who was sitting on Ethan’s stoop.

  “That guy’s way too big to be Ethan,” she said. “But his build fits Matt.”

  Grady leaned closer to the monitor. “Too bad his back is to us.”

  In the video, Wade shot to his feet and planted his cowboy boots on the sidewalk and his hands on his slender hips. The two men’s curt jerking of hands and terse body language played out for several minutes, the exchange seeming to get more and more heated.

  “They’re arguing,” Ainslie stated the obvious, but she’d felt a need to say something.

  The guy raised his fists to Wade and slammed one into his face.

  Wade stumbled, but then roared back at his assailant.

  The man dodged the hit and pummeled Wade until he slumped, hands on his knees. The man said something then turned toward the camera.

  Ainslie searched his face. “It’s Matt. It is him. It really is. Oh my gosh. Wow. Just wow!”

  He started to walk away. Sauntering. Taking his time as if having punched Wade was no big deal. At the sidewalk, he spun. Drew a handgun from his holster.

  Ainslie grabbed Grady’s arm. “Matt’s going to shoot him.”

  Matt raised the weapon. Fired. A reddish spark lit the night.

  “Muzzle flash,” Grady said.

  Wade dropped.

  “That’s the proof we need to free Ethan.” Ainslie continued to hold Grady’s arm. She’d waited for this moment for over a week and expected to feel relief, but an innocent teenager had been abducted, and they had no idea where she might be.

  All they
knew now was that a killer had her.

  She stared at Grady. “We have to find Jayla. We just have to.”

  He nodded. Just once, but it held a heavy weight. “I have no idea where to begin to locate them.”

  Nick swiveled on the chair. “Murphy’s driving a rental, right? Most rentals have GPS trackers on them. We find the rental company, we find the tracker.”

  “But there are how many car rental companies?” Grady asked. “That’s going to take some time.”

  “Not really,” Nick said. “Murphy is going to be his own downfall.”

  “Explain,” Grady demanded.

  “He insisted on stopping by the lab last night, so his SUV will be on the lab’s security feed. We just have to hope the camera got a clear look at the rental company logo. Then I hack into their system, and presto, we’re tracking the dude.”

  “That’s not legal, is it?” Ainslie asked, worried Nick would get into trouble.

  “No,” he said. “But a kid’s life could depend on it, so I don’t much care.”

  Grady gritted his teeth. “The police can get a warrant to get the same information.”

  “But that will take time.” Nick stood. “Time Jayla might not have.”

  “Do it,” Grady said. “I’ll coordinate with the responding officers. If they get the warrant before you hack the rental site, then you can hold off.”

  “No can do from here. I set the lab’s router for local access only. Means I need to go back to the lab.”

  “Can’t you get someone else to look?” Ainslie asked.

  “Yeah, sure, if I wasn’t so paranoid about network security and hadn’t set it up with a retina scan.” He held up his hands. “I know, I know. If I croaked no one else has access, and I should do something about that, but—”

  “Forget about that for now. Let me get the officer’s contact info, and we’ll get out of here.” Grady marched out the door.

  With Jayla missing, Ainslie didn’t want to leave Heidi alone, so she followed Grady to the other room. Nick was hot on her heels.

  Heidi sat on the tattered sofa, and three officers huddled by the door. Grady quickly brought them up to speed on their role and shared their plan but stopped short of telling them about the impending hack.

  Ainslie sat next to Heidi. “You heard Grady, right? We need to go back to the Veritas Center. But I want to make sure you’ll be okay here.”

  She pressed her palms on the knees of her worn jeans. “One of the officers said she’d stay with me.”

  “Perfect.” Ainslie touched Heidi’s hand. “We’re going to find Jayla. I promise.”

  Heidi met Ainslie’s gaze, the woman’s eyes tortured. “You can’t promise that. No one can.”

  Grady didn’t care what the speed limit sign read. He did ninety on the highway and held the needle near fifty on side streets to reach the center in record time. He didn’t even come to a complete stop before Nick bolted from the vehicle and raced through the lobby.

  Grady shifted into park and killed the engine. Sierra had arranged for her brother Erik to serve as liaison between the team and his agency, but he remained on scene with Heidi.

  Grady got out his phone. “I’m going to call Erik for an update before we head inside.”

  “Officer Byrd,” he answered.

  “We’re at the center,” Grady said. “Any updates?”

  “Murphy’s vehicle was spotted crossing the Ross Island Bridge. Jayla in the front seat with him.”

  “So he’s headed west.” Grady was surprised at the sheriff’s direction and that he hadn’t already killed Jayla. Did he need her alive for something? “If he planned to kill Jayla, I thought he’d go somewhere remote. Head east out into the Gorge or Mount Hood National Forest. And then he’d also be close to the airport.”

  “He’d know we could’ve captured his vehicle on nearby CCTV and would be monitoring the airport,” Erik said.

  Grady thought about it while watching a car pull into the lot. Nick’s best tech, Zach, who sported a man bun, sloppy T-shirt, and torn jeans, jumped out and raced for the lobby. Nick had called him in on the way over, and it was always refreshing to see when their staff dropped everything to help.

  “You still there?” Erik asked.

  Grady focused. “Murphy has no reason to think we know he’s the guy who took Jayla.”

  “What about the doorbell video?”

  “He kept his head down when he arrived so we couldn’t ID him.” Grady looked at Ainslie. “Did we ever mention in front of him that we were looking for the video feed of the shooting?”

  She squinted her eyes. “I don’t think so.”

  “Still, he ripped it from the wall,” Erik said. “And has to be smart enough to have wondered if it recorded the shooting, right?”

  Ainslie nodded, though Erik couldn’t possibly see her. “Maybe he’s the one who deleted the file.”

  “But again, he didn’t touch the cloud file,” Grady said. “And as a sheriff, he would have to know about backups like that.”

  Ainslie fired a questioning look at Grady. “What if Heidi interrupted him before he could delete that file?”

  “Yeah, yeah. Could be.” Grady was liking the idea the more he thought about it.

  Ainslie’s eyes widened. “If he knows about the cloud file, then he needs to keep Jayla alive to gain access to it.”

  “And we should be watching for him to try to delete it.” Grady whipped open his car door. “Gotta go tell Nick. I’ll call you back.”

  He bolted from the SUV into rain now spitting from the sky, the change from the glowing sunset quick, as often happened in Oregon. Ainslie followed and they charged past a surprised Pete but didn’t stop to explain. They took the stairs to Nick’s lab on the third floor. Grady burst into a cold room, where Nick sat at one of the many computers lined up against the wall. Zach sat at the last one. Neither of them looked up.

  Grady quickly updated them. “We need to monitor the cloud—”

  “Yeah,” Nick said calmly. “Already have Zack working on it. Perfect timing. I’m just pulling up Murphy’s vehicle so you can get the plate number to the police.” Nick tapped the monitor as a picture of a still shot of an Escalade’s bumper loaded.

  Grady took in the white vehicle’s details, dialed Erik, and reported the information.

  “I’ll get that added to the alert,” Erik said, and it sounded like he’d taken off running. “And we’ll contact the rental agency.”

  “Let me know the minute you have the information.” Grady disconnected the call and stood expectantly behind Nick. “What do you think? Is it time to hack the rental agency?”

  “Yeah,” Nick said.

  “Can you do it without being traced?” Worry for Nick darkened Ainslie’s eyes.

  “I’m the best and can hide my tracks well, but…” He shrugged.

  “I can’t tell you to do something that risks you going to prison,” Grady said.

  “No one’s telling me to do anything.” Nick looked up. “Plus, with the exigent circumstances, I doubt I’d get much more than a slap on the wrist.”

  “But you might still have a record, and worse, you could be banned from computer use.”

  “Yeah, that could happen.” Nick looked like the thought made him physically ill. “But a girl’s life is at stake, so we move forward.” He started typing.

  “Someone is accessing the cloud file right now,” Zach said. “It’s the phone assigned to the kid, Jayla.”

  Nick whipped his head to look at his tech. “You have a location?”

  “Yep. Coffee shop.” He rattled off an address not far from their location.

  Grady looked at Nick “That’s not in PPB’s jurisdiction so Erik can’t respond. And I sure as heck don’t want to risk some rookie responding to a hostage scene. We’ll call Erik to have him liaison with the locals. While he does that, we’ll get eyes on Murphy before he changes location.”

  “Let’s go.” Nick jumped up and faced Zack. “Kee
p your eyes on this and keep me updated on any changes.”

  Grady looked at Ainslie.

  She waved a hand. “Before you tell me to stay here, forget it. I’m coming with you.”

  She ran for the door, and Grady had no time to argue. If they found themselves in danger, he would insist she stay in the car.

  He got them on the road headed toward the coffee shop less than a mile away and used his car’s infotainment system to call and update Erik.

  “I’ll get someone out there ASAP,” Erik said. “If you get there first, it would be good if you sent me pictures of the vehicle to help with planning an appropriate response.”

  “Will do,” Grady said, and hoped they planned a silent response where they cordoned off the exits and didn’t race into the lot where they’d risk spooking Murphy.

  Erik ended the call, and Grady devoted his attention to driving. He reached the street holding the shop and slowed at the corner. No way he was going to draw attention to their SUV by roaring into the lot. He turned into the parking lot.

  “There!” Ainslie pointed out the windshield. “Parked out front. A white Escalade with the correct plates.”

  Grady came to a stop and assessed the situation. The SUV was sitting in the second parking spot, parallel to the building, the spaces in front and back open. “I’d like to block him in, but the way he parked makes it impossible.”

  “Likely Matt’s plan.” Ainslie leaned forward, her gaze focused ahead. “We’re not dealing with just anyone here. He knows how to evade arrest.”

  Nick scooted closer and peered between the seats. “Looks like they’re in the car. How do you want to proceed?”

  Grady watched the vehicle. “I think the only thing we can do is keep eyes on Murphy and maybe take those pictures Erik asked for.”

  “Matt knows us,” Ainslie said. “The minute we step out of the SUV, he’ll take off.”

  “He doesn’t know me.” Nick rubbed his hands together. “You guys wait here, and I’ll take the pics.”

  He slid out of the car. Cell phone in hand, he covertly started snapping pictures of the SUV and the area. He walked up to the coffee shop, head down like he was minding his own business and went into the building. Grady could see him just inside, where he took a few more covert photos before going to the counter and ordering. He came out holding a paper cup, and he took a quick look at the Escalade before continuing on to their vehicle. He was a natural in his ability to fly under the radar.