Web of Deceit

by Susan Sleeman

  “But how does it help us solve the case?” Sam hated that he was sounding defensive, but he didn’t have access to such equipment, and Henry was intimating that Sam wouldn’t do a good job without it.

  “Why don’t I give you a demonstration?”

  Sam didn’t have time to waste, but he did like to keep up on the latest forensic technology, even if his department didn’t have the budget to purchase expensive new equipment. “Lead the way.”

  “Can I carry it?” Dane asked like a rock star groupie.

  “Um . . .” Henry glanced at Kait who didn’t respond. “Um . . . well . . . no . . . I mean it’s so expensive and all, and our insurance doesn’t cover you.”

  “Rats.”

  “I’ll let you start the scan running though.”

  “You’re on,” Dane said enthusiastically and followed Henry up the walkway.

  “After you.” Sam held out his hand for Kait. “Nice that they’re both so into their jobs.”

  “Hey.” She grinned at him. “I’d act the same way as Dane if someone drove up with a truck loaded with the latest weapons.”

  “I’m assuming you’re not meaning a black market dealer and his weapons.”

  That earned him an eye roll and a shake of her head, and he couldn’t help but laugh.

  In the house, Henry set up the camera in the bedroom where they’d found Congdon’s body. “Once Dane starts this up, it’ll take a few minutes. Then I’ll need to upload it to my laptop.”

  Sam’s alarm for the call to Ida chirped. “Perfect timing. I have a call to make while you get this set up.”

  Kait held up a finger. “One quick question, first. Isn’t it a little late for a scan with the body gone?”

  Henry shrugged. “It is unusual. In fact, I’ve never done one at this point in the investigation, but we were told to use everything we have, so we’ll scan the rooms to cover all bases.”

  “Let’s hope it’s not a waste of time then.” Sam took one more look at the camera as it started to rotate and gestured for Kait to join him.

  On the patio with the sun beating down on them, she dug out her phone. “I’ll follow up on Nina’s visit to the SEAL while you call Ida.”

  Sam nodded and dialed Ida. “This is Detective Sam Murdock with the Portland Police Bureau. Yolanda told you I’d call. Do you have time for my questions now?”

  “The girls just left. So fire away.”

  Sam wedged his phone between his neck and ear and dug out his notepad. “Yolanda told us on July third you were on flight number 2415 from Medford to Portland.”

  “I was, but what does this have to do with Elliot?” The skepticism Yolanda warned them about came through loud and clear.

  “Did you see him at the baggage carousel that day?”

  “Yes, I remember seeing him. He was talking to another guy.”

  “Can you describe the other man?”

  “Sure,” she said as if he’d offended her by asking. “He was tall. Black hair. He had a scar on his chin. Left side as you looked at him. Yolanda had baked her famous banana bread, and I couldn’t wait to get to her car and have a slice. So I kept thinking the scar looked like a banana.” She laughed. “Maybe more of a crescent, but you get the idea.”

  Sam’s adrenaline kicked in. Sounded like a match for Rhodes’s scar. “I have a photo I’d like you to look at. If I e-mail it or text it to you, could you tell me if it’s the man you saw?”

  “I don’t text, but I’m not in the dark ages like Yolanda. I at least have a cell phone, and I have e-mail.” She spelled out her e-mail address.

  Sam jotted it on his notepad. “I’ll send the picture as soon as we hang up. Do you recall which baggage claim area your luggage was delivered to?”

  Ida rattled off the location.

  Sam made another note. “Lastly, did you talk to or see Elliot while staying at Yolanda’s house?”

  “No, but that was par for the course. He rarely came outside. I did notice that he stayed up late at night, which was unusual for him, as he had to work early every morning. You should check with Yolanda about this, though. Nothing, and I mean nothing, escapes her attention in that neighborhood.”

  Apparently, a murder escaped her attention, Sam thought, but kept it to himself. “I’ll e-mail the picture to you along with my phone number. If you recognize him, please call me back as soon as possible.”

  “You can be sure I will.”

  Sam hung up and thumbed to his e-mail, the one advanced skill he’d learned on his phone. Still, it took him a few tries to get Rhodes’s picture attached to the message. When he looked up, he found Kait’s eyes crinkled in humor.

  “E-mailing Rhodes’s pic to Ida,” he said.

  She grinned at him. “I could tell what you were doing was far more complicated than a phone call.”

  “Hey.” He smiled back at her good-natured teasing. “I told you I wasn’t very good with this thing.” He shoved his phone into his pocket. “Did you connect with Nina?”

  Kait frowned. “Her appointment must have run long. I left a message.”

  Henry poked his head out the door. “Got the 3-D rendering ready for viewing in the kitchen.”

  As they strolled inside, Sam considered telling Kait about Ida’s mention of the scar, but chose to wait for a positive ID from Ida first. In the kitchen, Dane stood at the counter, his finger on a laptop track pad, his eyes glued to the screen until Sam approached.

  “Check this out, Sam.” Dane’s enthusiasm had increased, which Sam hadn’t thought possible. “I just have to move the cursor, and we have a perfect 3-D picture of the room. We can extract any measurement that’s of interest and view this at any time. What a great way to see the scene from a witness’s viewpoint.”

  Sam watched the screen scroll past, and he had to admit the tool would be valuable in weeding out witnesses with sketchy stories.

  “And, though it’s not important in this case,” Henry added, “you could use it for shooting reconstructions.”

  Thinking about the practical applications, Sam kept his eyes on the monitor. A small fleck of blue in the corner of the room caught his attention. He stabbed his finger at the screen. “What’s that?”

  “I’ll zoom in.” Henry clicked the mouse, enlarging the shadowed corner of the bedroom.

  “There’s definitely something there.” Sam squinted, trying to identify the object peeking from behind the leg of the desk. “Can’t make out what it is, though.”

  “No problem. We’ll just go look,” Dane offered.

  They all tromped to the bedroom. Dane snapped on gloves before crawling under the desk. He came out holding a round iron-on patch in blue with an embroidered gold crest.

  Kait grabbed a glove from her pocket and took the patch. She turned it over. “World of Warcraft.”

  Sam had no idea what she was talking about. “What’s that?”

  She looked up. “It’s an MMORPG.”

  “Thanks.” Sam resisted rolling his eyes at her. “That helped clear up my confusion.”

  “It stands for massively multiplayer online role-playing game,” Kait said. “Which means it’s an online video game where groups of people play at the same time. Gamers call it WoW, pronounced like the word wow but written with capital W’s and a lower case o. It’s one of the originals and still has the largest number of paid subscribers.”

  Now they were getting somewhere. “Could the patch belong to Rhodes?”

  She shrugged. “He didn’t play. At least, not that I know of. Plus, this patch is for the Alliance guild, and I can’t see him being part of that group. I’d place him in the Hoard. So this more likely belongs to Congdon.”

  “We could use the M-Vac to extract DNA from the patch,” Henry offered. “If we find only one person’s DNA, it could te
ll us who it belonged to.”

  “Oh, yeah.” Dane grinned. “Bring it on.”

  Sam looked at Dane. “I take it this is another toy we don’t have.”

  “I’ve only seen it online.”

  “Then it’s time you see one in action.” Henry clamped his hand on Dane’s shoulder. “Let’s retrieve it, and I can show you how it gets into nooks and crannies and releases stubborn cells in places where swabs don’t work as well.”

  The duo departed, and Sam turned to Kait. “Is this lead worth following up on beyond the DNA?”

  “It’s possible Fenton and Congdon met on WoW. They might even have been in the same guild.”

  “You keep mentioning guild and Alliance and Horde. Is this something I need to know about?”

  “Guilds are groups of players,” Kait explained. “Alliance and Horde, two factions of races. Alliance is the goody-two-shoes side, and the Horde is a darker, more twisted version. That’s why I think Fenton wouldn’t be in the Alliance. This is very simplified explanation, but WoW is so complicated that I won’t bore you with more details unless we find it’s relevant to the case.” She dug out her phone. “I’ll call Sulyard and get the team started on looking for a WoW connection.”

  “Thanks for sparing me,” he said sincerely.

  She eyed him. “If you want to keep up with investigations, one of these days you’ll need to join the rest of the technologically savvy world.”

  “Are you offering to help?”

  “Sure. After we have Fenton behind bars.”

  Right. It was always about Fenton Rhodes. Get the man at all costs.

  As Kait talked with Sulyard, Sam’s phone rang, and he was soon speaking with Ida about the photo.

  “That’s the guy,” she blurted out. “The one with Elliot that day.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “Positive. The scar is unmistakably the same as the one on the guy I saw.”

  “Thanks, Ida. I appreciate your help.” Sam hung up and looked at the bolts still protruding from the floor. He couldn’t help but wonder if Rhodes had taken Congdon captive as soon as he flew into town. If he had, Congdon could have been held prisoner in this room far longer than they’d first thought.

  Sam didn’t have a hard time visualizing Congdon in chains. Paralyzed for two full weeks. Terrified. Day after day, wondering when he was going to die. Or worse, maybe wondering how long he was going to live like that. Seeing, feeling, but not being able to move.

  Sam’s gut churned as he watched Kait talk with Dane. Strong, beautiful Kait. The woman who’d found her way through his resolve to avoid relationships. How on earth was he going to tell her that, if he was right about this theory, Rhodes could be even more of a monster than she or any of them had first thought?

  Chapter Seventeen

  THE SUN NOW low on the horizon, the vivid reds and oranges warned of coming nightfall. Sam scoured Kait’s property for anything out of the ordinary. Landscape lighting hadn’t kicked in yet, leaving shadows clinging to the shrubs and plants in her backyard. Moving large plants aside, he searched behind them. When he was certain no hidden danger existed, he followed the stone path along the side of the house, stepped through a solid gate, and joined her in the driveway.

  She opened her car door, looking him square in the eye. If she feared Rhodes coming after her, she wasn’t showing it. “We good?”

  “We’re clear,” he replied.

  She exhaled a breath, the first hint that she might be concerned, as she grabbed her purse and briefcase. He opened the back door and stood blocking any attack from the road.

  “I want out,” Lily complained from the backseat.

  Sam kept his focus ahead and moved back so Kait could exit the vehicle and access Lily. Should Rhodes be foolish enough to try something, Sam remained in his human shield mode. Kait shouldered her case and leaned inside the car.

  “My friend Sam is going to come inside for little while tonight,” she said to Lily, sounding like this was a happy event.

  “To play?” Lily looked up, anticipation widening her eyes.

  Her hopeful attitude was just what Sam needed after the last few days. This was what it would have been like coming home to Danny. A son to brighten a dismal day. Sam was smart enough to know being a parent wasn’t all rainbows and sunshine. There would have been the usual stresses of parenting, but to have had the chance . . .

  Kait backed out of the car holding Lily’s hand, and he stepped back, allowing them to exit. He waited until the car door slammed then said, “Straight inside, Kait.”

  “He’s grumpy,” Lily said seriously. “Don’t like grumpy.”

  “He’s just in a hurry to get inside.” Kait headed up the walkway.

  “Can we play?” Lily asked.

  “We’ll see.”

  Sam followed them up the walk lined in tall purple flowers, the sweet scent filling the air. Lily chatted nonstop about her day and waved an art project at Sam. He couldn’t identify the green blob glued to a large sheet, but she claimed it was a turtle from the book La Tortuga.

  “It’s nice,” he said.

  “Kait said it was bootiful.”

  “That it is.” He wanted to stand here, smiling at her pudgy little face, maybe tug on her curly pigtails, but he’d already lost too many people in his life. He wouldn’t take his focus off his job and risk their lives.

  The minute Kait had the door open, he shooed Lily inside and locked the door while Kait disarmed her security system.

  Lily took a step, but Kait clutched her hand. “Sam wants to look at our house, but he wants to do it alone.”

  He made a quick, but thorough tour around Kait’s home—checking closets and under beds, and confirming windows were locked before returning to the entryway. “We’re clear.”

  Kait sighed, and let go of Lily’s hand. Lily immediately slipped it into his and looked up at him again. “Are your grumps gone?”

  “Yes.” He gave in to her sweet smile and grinned at her.

  “Want to play?”

  As an only child, Sam didn’t have nieces or nephews, so he had little experience with children and didn’t know how to answer. But it was hard to say no to eyes that looked just like Kait’s, and even harder to say no when, after wavering for a few moments, Lily’s lower lip popped out and trembled.

  “Maybe another day, Lily,” Kait suggested. “Sam and I have some work to do.”

  “Please.” She looked at him; brown eyes the size of saucers pleading.

  Crack, went Sam’s heart as he let the innocence he hadn’t experienced in his life for so many years settle around him. “Maybe we can play for just a minute.”

  “Yay!” She jumped up and down, jerking his hand.

  “Thank you,” Kait mouthed and then flashed a warm smile.

  Memories of her gazing up at him on the deck the other night assaulted him, and his pulse leapfrogged. He was drawn to her in a way he couldn’t put words to, and she got to him. Big time, burrowing under his common sense and making him want things he couldn’t have.

  “C’mon.” Lily tugged on his hand, bringing him back. “Play in my room.”

  Kait’s eyes crinkled in apology. “I’ll get dinner going. We can work on the case after we eat.”

  Dinner, huh? He hadn’t expected a dinner invite. It would give him a chance to be sure Kait and Lily were safe. And . . . a home-cooked meal, which he hadn’t had for a long time? Bonus.

  He let Lily drag him down the hallway and into a room painted a cheery yellow. The walls held characters he guessed were from a TV show or book, their clothes painted in bright orange, purple, and green. Lily dropped his hand and went to a low shelf filled with toys. She pulled out the board game Candyland and plopped down on the floor.

  Sam knelt on a plush area ru
g and helped her set up the board. “I’m not sure I remember how to play this game.”

  “I’ll show you.” She pulled her legs in and scooted closer to the board. “Me first.” She took a white card from the pile and turned it over, revealing two red squares. She picked up her plastic man and hovered the piece over the second red square without settling it in place. Her face scrunched up, and she looked like she might cry.

  Afraid he’d done something to cause this reaction, Sam asked, “What’s wrong?”

  “Lord Licorice and the bats.” Her lip trembled.

  Sam looked at the man dressed in black, located next to the red square. “It’s okay, sweetheart. It’s just a picture.”

  “He’s real,” she whispered. “I saw him in my room.”

  “In your room?” Sam asked so forcefully Lily jerked back. “In your room?” he repeated softly.

  “Nantie Kait says he’s pretend. I know he’s real. I saw him in my room at night.” Her tiny voice filled with resolve, and Sam believed her. At least, he believed she thought she was seeing a man.

  “Want you to stay tonight,” she said. “To keep him away.”

  Sam’s chest constricted from the fear in her voice “I’ll talk to Kait about it.”

  “She’ll say no.” That adorable lip popped out again.

  “We’ll see.” He got up and ruffled her hair, then went in search of Kait. He found her in the kitchen chopping large ripe tomatoes.

  “That was quick.” She turned. “Don’t expect a lot for dinner, we’re just having . . . what’s wrong?”

  “Why didn’t you tell me Lily thinks a man comes here at night?” he demanded.

  Kait’s shoulders rose into that hard line he’d seen every time she felt threatened. “I’m not sure why you think I’d tell you about our private lives.”

  “What if it’s Rhodes?”

  “First of all,” she set down the spoon and crossed her arms, “this started long before we heard a peep from Fenton. Right after an incident at Lily’s preschool when a non-custodial father tried to abduct his daughter. That’s what I think is fueling these dreams. Second, there’s no proof anyone has been in the house. When I check, the security system is always on. The doors are locked, and I’ve changed the password multiple times. Besides, if Fenton snuck in here, I’m sure he would do something other than look at Lily and sneak back out.”