‘Anyone specific stand out in your mind?’
‘No, Lieutenant. I really don’t pay them any mind. Some of them – possibly all of them – ask their questions hoping to shock me. I can’t say I have ever had a student who seemed to be serious about actually doing it – except maybe the anthill guy, but that was a while back and I don’t remember who that was.’
Lucinda looked at her watch. She was running out of time. She needed to get back to the Justice Center for her eleven o’clock appointment and then return here to interview the other two teachers. She slid a business card across the table. ‘If you think of anything, Mr Bowen, please give me a call. What might seem frivolous or pure conjecture, on your part, could open doors in this investigation.’
‘I certainly will but I doubt if anything will come to mind,’ he said, standing with a look of relief on his face.
‘But, sir, just make sure you do not go out of town until we can eliminate your truck as the one that was at the school that morning.’
‘I–I–I am a suspect?’
‘Everyone connected to this school is a suspect, Mr Bowen. Please do not share our conversation with anyone.’
He nodded and hurried out of the room in his short, mincing stride.
Not a likely suspect, Lucinda thought, but, then again, a lot of bombers are introverts. It can be their way of making a statement without having to speak.
TWENTY-SEVEN
Jake hesitated before he finished inputting Deputy Federal Security Director Franklin Wesley’s number. He decided that having a delicate conversation with him about Connelly standing on a sidewalk wasn’t a good idea. He’d rather be in the confines of his office. He decided to call a taxi instead but stopped when he saw Sergeant Robin Colter pull up to the curb.
‘Need a ride, Agent Lovett?’
‘Sure do,’ Jake said. ‘And I could use your help with a few other things, too.’
When Jake entered the office, one of his agents intercepted him with an urgent message from Marguerite Spellman. He sat behind his desk and called her first.
‘Hello, Special Agent Lovett,’ she said. ‘I’m up in the FBI Terrorist Explosive Device Center in Quantico and I wanted to give you a heads-up on the report that will be headed your way shortly. The experts here agree with me that the explosion most likely originated in the file cabinet. It appears to have been ANFO – an ammonium nitrate bomb. Somewhere between ten and fifteen pounds of the stuff would have produced a sufficient amount of expanding gasses to create a shockwave commensurate with the damage on the site.’
‘Ammonium nitrate? That’s pretty common stuff. Can we narrow down where the bomber acquired it?’
‘Common is right. It’s actually a chemical fertilizer – not a problem in and of itself – but combine it with a little gasoline and/or propane and you’ve got a disaster in the making. The good news is that since Timothy McVeigh used an ANFO, there’s a law requiring that inert markers are incorporated into the ammonium nitrate to make it traceable. They are tracking down that data right now to determine the origin of the explosive. They found a bit of fuel oil residue as well but unless it contained additives that will show up in the gas chromatograph, that won’t be much help.’
‘Any indications of the trigger that detonated the bomb?’
‘The analysis of the debris has uncovered a small piece of the accelerometer which could have been rigged up to a file drawer so that when the victim pulled it open, it would have activated. You’ll get a full report when they finish collecting data. Just wanted to let you know where things stood at this moment in time.’
‘Thanks, Marguerite. I really appreciate this.’
‘Any time, sir. Is it true that Lieutenant Pierce has been pulled off the case?’
‘Yeah, unfortunately, it is. But that’s probably not the end of the story.’
Marguerite laughed. ‘Knowing the lieutenant, I am certain that it is not.’
Jake disconnected the call and started to dial the Deputy Federal Security Director but stopped when his door flung open and an agent shouted, ‘Local police chief on line three. He said he didn’t care what the hell you were doing but if you weren’t talking to him in thirty seconds, he was sending officers over to arrest you.’
Jake grabbed the line. Special Agent in Charge Jake Lovett, sir. How can I—’
‘What the hell are you doing in your office?’
Jake held back a smartass answer and waited for the police chief to continue.
‘I took my experienced investigator off of this case in deference to you federal jerks and now look what’s happened.’
‘What has happened, sir?’
‘If you’d been with that lame-brained ATF goon, maybe this wouldn’t have happened. Or, hell, I don’t know, maybe you would have made sure there was a second victim.’
Jake shook his head, trying to make sense of the conversation. ‘What do you mean by “victim”?’
‘The nurse, you idiot.’
‘What nurse, sir?’
‘Don’t play stupid with me, agent. I know you were there. I know you just walked out on those defenseless, unarmed people.’
‘Something happened at Dr Singh’s office?’ Jake knew Connelly was not thinking clearly but …
‘That ATF bastard shot a nurse in the foot when she tried to remove him from the doctor’s examination room. What the hell where you all doing in there?’
‘We had no right to be there. I tried to get Connelly to leave with me but he refused. I wanted no part of his harassment of the doctor.’
‘So instead you left that guy to shoot up the place?’
‘The nurse – is her injury serious? How is she doing?’
‘Of course it’s serious. All gunshot wounds are serious. Or don’t they teach you that at the academy? She’s in surgery right now.’
‘What about the doctor? What about his patient?’
‘We don’t know where the hell they are. Are you satisfied? That so-called law enforcement agent got them out of there at gunpoint, threatening patients in the waiting room.’
‘You put out an APB?’ Jake asked.
‘Of course I did. Do you think I’m stupid? I am so sick of you Feebs assuming our incompetence that I could spit. Who the hell do you think—’
‘Sir, sir,’ Jake interrupted. ‘Just as you called, I was in the middle of dialing the ATF Deputy Federal Security Director to express my concerns about Connelly. I’d like to get off this call and do that right now. Then I’ll coordinate with your dispatch to help you locate the agent and his passengers.’
‘Hostages, Lovett. As far as we are concerned, they are hostages and your cohort is a fugitive. Get busy,’ the police chief said before slamming the phone down in Jake’s ear.
When Jake tried to contact Wesley, he hit a wall with a gatekeeper who insisted that the Deputy Director was not available. ‘I suggest he becomes available real fast. One of his agents has been involved in a shooting.’
Jake heard a click and then Wesley’s voice. ‘Was the shot fatal?’
‘No, sir.’
‘How bad is Connelly injured?’
‘He’s not injured at all, sir.’
‘Then what’s the purpose of this call, agent? What kind of game are you playing?’
‘Connelly did the shooting, sir.’
‘What?’
‘He barged in on a doctor who was examining a patient. He tried to take them both in for questioning because the doctor owned a red pick-up truck and both men were wearing turbans.’
‘What does that have to do with anything?’
‘Connelly is obsessed with Muslim terrorists, sir, and he sees them everywhere.’
‘Which one of them did he shoot?’
‘Neither one, sir. He shot the nurse who was attempting to remove him from the examination room.’
‘The nurse? A female nurse?’
‘Yes, sir. All five foot and four inches of her.’ Silence followed. After a moment, Jake said, ‘Sir?’
<
br /> ‘You should have been there with him.’
‘I left the situation because I didn’t like Connelly’s tactics and I was not about to assist him. I was preparing to call you when I heard what happened.’
‘You shouldn’t have left him alone.’
Jake couldn’t believe that the blame was being deflected on to him again. ‘Sir, if Agent Connelly cannot be trusted in the field alone, why is he still working for your agency?’
‘That is an insolent, impudent and impertinent question for you to voice to a superior official at a collaborating agency. I’ve half a mind to report your gross insubordination to your supervisor.’
Jake sighed. ‘I don’t think she’d be surprised, sir.’
‘Humph. I knew that you were a troublemaker when I first laid eyes on you.’
‘Sir, I really need to get going. The locals want me to assist in finding Connelly and his hostages.’
‘Finding Connelly? You don’t know where he is? Hostages? What hostages?’
‘He left the scene where he shot the nurse and took the doctor and the patient with him.’
‘Well, you better learn real quick to use your troublemaking skills as trouble-fixing skills because I’m telling you right now, the ATF is not going down on this alone.’
Another phone slammed in Jake’s ear. He left his office and called police dispatch on his way to his car, hoping they could find Connelly before any more damage was done.
TWENTY-EIGHT
Lucinda rushed into her office, grabbed her notes on Amber’s situation and went down the hall to the conference room. She was five minutes late for the meeting and was relieved to see that Lieutenant Barry Washington, Sandy Purvis from CPS and Leticia Fletcher, the CASA volunteer attorney, were just arriving and not already seated and waiting on her.
After a flurry of greetings and the filling of coffee cups, they sat down around the table and Lucinda delivered her presentation about Amber’s home situation, the medical report and the desired arrests of the mother and her boyfriend. ‘At the moment, Amber is safe – she’s staying in the home of a girlfriend. Andy, to this point, has not seemed to be in imminent danger but, with an abuser, we know that could change at any moment.’
‘Most of them usually do stick to children of one gender in a particular age group,’ Barry said, ‘but there’s no guarantee of that.’
‘I don’t like any children to be in that kind of environment. Regardless of whether they are being directly victimized or not, it is still a toxic situation. What kind of timetable are we looking at, Lieutenant Pierce?’ Sandy asked.
‘I don’t want to take the children out of the home until the arrest is made because of the risk of flight. I’d like to do it all simultaneously and before Monday – that’s when Amber’s mother said she had to return home,’ Lucinda said.
‘So there will only be one child in the house at the time of arrest?’ Sandy asked.
‘Exactly. And I have a short-term solution for their housing if you all can make it happen. Dr Evan Spencer, the father of Amber’s friend, is willing to take care of both the children until a more permanent placement can be found. Leticia, I thought that you might be able to facilitate that.’
‘Emergency orders are my specialty,’ Leticia said with a grin.
‘Wait a minute,’ Sandy interrupted. ‘What about Dr Spencer’s wife?’
‘Deceased,’ Lucinda said. ‘She was a murder victim actually; it was my case and that’s how I got to know the family. I’ve spent a lot of time with them in their home and with the two girls outside of it.’
Sandy leaned forward and rapid-fired questions. ‘Any other adults in the home? Any other children? And what do you know about this man?’
‘No other adults live in the home but one person frequently there is Kara, the girls’ sitter. She’s in her late twenties and very reliable. When needed, she spends the night even for as much as a week at a time when the doctor has to be out of town. The oldest girl, Charley, is Amber’s age. The youngest, Ruby, is six years old. Dr Spencer is a well-respected orthopedic surgeon. He used to go out of the country on a regular basis to work with Doctors without Borders. Since he’s been a single parent, he’s cut back on that – no more than two or three trips a year now. They live in a condominium overlooking the river – the place has more square footage than two or three typical ranch homes. Each of Dr Spencer’s girls has her own bedroom and there are two additional bedrooms. When Kara needs to be there overnight, a couple of the girls will have to double up but otherwise each child will have separate space.’
Sandy narrowed her eyes. ‘And you trust him?’
‘Yes, absolutely,’ Lucinda said.
‘Ever doubted him?’
‘Well, yeah, but—’
‘I don’t like the sound of that, Lucinda.’
‘He was my first suspect in his wife’s homicide.’
‘Oh dear God!’
‘Listen, Sandy, we got the guy who did it. In fact, he’s dead.’
‘Did Dr Spencer kill him?’
‘No, I did.’
‘Sorry, I just—’
‘Don’t apologize for taking your responsibility for these children seriously. Listen, the girls found their mother’s body – and it was a gruesome crime. Dr Spencer bumbled about a bit in the beginning, but he soon lived up to the demands of parenting two traumatized little girls. I don’t think anyone could have done better. I do not think Amber and Andy could be placed in better hands for the transition.’
‘I will have to interview him and Amber and Andy, too, before Leticia moves forward with the temporary custody.’
‘I can set you up with Dr Spencer, and I’m sure you could talk to Amber in his home. As for Andy, you’re going to have to make a decision without talking to him – we can’t risk the mother and boyfriend finding out what is happening. Maybe you could go with fourteen days as a probationary period for custody. I promise you that Dr Spencer will give them a safe, caring environment.’
‘Maybe seven days,’ Sandy said. ‘But I am not making a promise, Lucinda. As much as I trust you and your judgment, I can only commit to taking the necessary steps to make a determination. The best interests of the children trump everything else.’
Lucinda beamed a broad smile. ‘I know that, Sandy. That’s why I called you. Now, Leticia, once you get the go-ahead from Sandy, how fast can you move to make it happen?’
‘Twenty-four hours or less.’
‘Sandy, how long do you think it will take you to decide?’ Lucinda asked.
‘Can you arrange an interview with Dr Spencer and Amber today?’
‘By the end of business hours?’
‘Not necessarily. This evening will be fine. If you can do that, I can give you an answer in two days.’
Lucinda turned to Leticia, ‘So you can get to a judge over the weekend, if needs be?’
‘Oh, yeah. I live next door to one. She knows I won’t give her a moment of peace if she doesn’t listen to me when I say “emergency situation”. I’ve trained her well over the years.’
‘Terrific. Let’s get busy. Barry and I will be ready to make the arrests as soon as you guys have everything in place.’
After Leticia and Sandy left the room, Lucinda said, ‘Barry, can you take care of the paperwork for the arrest warrants and bring the DA up to speed? I’ve got to get back to the high school.’
‘Woodrow Wilson High School?’
As soon as he asked, Lucinda realized her mistake. ‘Um, well, actually—’
‘I thought you were off that case.’
‘What case?’ Lucinda asked while she tried to plaster a look of innocence on her face.
‘Don’t play dumb with me. The explosion, Lucinda. Are you trying to lose your job?’
‘How about if you just say, “Gee, I have no idea where Lieutenant Pierce is”?’
‘I swear, Lucinda, one day you are going to play too fast and loose and not be able to wiggle out of the way when the axe c
omes down. And I don’t want to be standing there holding your hand when it happens.’
‘I won’t let that happen, Barry. You know me: if I go down, I go down alone – today, tomorrow, forever. I implicate no one.’
Barry sighed. ‘Anybody ever tell you that you’re an adrenaline junkie?’
‘Hey, you know my personal philosophy of life, don’t you, Barry?’
‘Lie hard, die young?’
‘Sounds a little too preordained for me, don’t ya think? Nah, it’s this: if you’re not living on the edge, you’re taking up too much space. See ya later. Keep me posted. I’ve got some cliff-walking to do.’
TWENTY-NINE
Jake checked in with the desk sergeant in charge of coordinating the search for Connelly. He was asked to visit Connelly’s office to speak with the office manager, Maggie Lazarus. He found her at her desk, trying to cope with never-ending phone calls. She went through a dozen calls in record time, answering with a curt ‘ATF’ and ending the call with a slam of the receiver before saying another word.
Finally, she looked up at Jake. ‘Sorry. Media calls just won’t quit. If someone was trying to call in an imminent threat, I doubt they’d get through. May I help you?’
Jake held out his badge and said, ‘I need to talk to you about Connelly.’
‘Doesn’t everybody?’ she said with a sigh. ‘I can’t hear myself think with this constant ringing and blinking red lights. Could we go down to the coffee shop on the corner and talk?’
‘Sure, let’s go,’ he agreed.
‘Let me grab my purse so I can lock up. There’s no one else here and I really need a break.’
They descended in the elevator without a word. Outside of the building, Maggie pointed to her right and said, ‘It’s just up at that corner. If you want some ideas of where he might be, I may be able to help. If you want answers about why he hasn’t been forced to retire before he went totally off the rails, those decisions are way above my pay grade.’
‘You have an idea, though, don’t you?’
‘I’m not supposed to talk about internal ATF matters to outsiders, but under the circumstances …’ She trailed off without completing her thought.
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