At Close Range

by Laura Griffin

  “Sure.” Brooke opened a blue file with the Delphi Center logo on it. “On our second examination of Dr. Kreznik’s cabin, we discovered remnants of rags soaked in accelerant that had been tacked to the structure just beneath the hot-water heater closet. Fire investigators now tell me they believe the hot-water heater was tampered with to make the incident look like an accidental fire.” She glanced at Dani. “I ran tests on the accelerant used. It’s camping fuel, which is the same accelerant used with the Ford Taurus.”

  “Are you sure it’s the same Ford Taurus?” Dani asked.

  “The tire tread is a match, according to our examiner.”

  “So, now we have forensic evidence linking the murder scenes to the car fire,” Sean said. “I’m thinking he committed the three murders and then torched his vehicle to hide any evidence before hopping a flight to Albuquerque.”

  “You’re assuming this same perp is responsible for the murder in New Mexico,” Dani said.

  “There was a fire there, too.” Sean shrugged. “Makes sense to me. Sounds like this guy likes to torch things.”

  “What else do you have on the house fire?” Reynolds asked Brooke.

  “That’s it in terms of the accelerant. Camping fuel. You could try tracking it down, but it’s sold all over the place, so I doubt that’s much of a lead.”

  “The Taurus is a lead, though,” Sean said. “It’s dark blue and it has a spotlight mounted on the driver’s side, which makes it look a lot like an unmarked police unit. I think he pulled up behind James and Tessa while they were having their little lakeside staff meeting, and he posed as a cop, which would explain how he got the drop on them.”

  Dani had a flashback of the rest stop near Big Rock. She’d been in Scott’s lap when that patrol car had pulled up behind them and made her jump out of her skin.

  “Dani?”

  She looked at Sean. “Huh?”

  “Did you read Brooke’s report yet?”

  “No, sorry.” Dani looked at her. “I’m behind on my email. You’re talking about the trace substance report you sent me this morning?”

  “Yes. I had a chance to track down the powdery substance on the carpet of the Accord driven by James Ayers. It’s lime.”

  “Lime?”

  “Finely ground limestone. Pretty common here in central Texas, where we have a lot of quarries, so I’m not sure if that constitutes a lead for you.”

  “Okay, what about fingerprints?” Dani asked Brooke. “Anything recovered from the burned Taurus?”

  “No.”

  “Any more word on that partial print?” Dani asked. “The one from the Glock nine recovered from Woodlake Park?”

  “Nothing so far.”

  “Try military databases,” Dani said.

  Brooke lifted an eyebrow and made a note in her file.

  “There’s something weird about the fire scene,” Sean commented.

  “Sounds like there’s a lot weird about it,” Dani said.

  “I’m talking about the boathouse. Supposedly, the place is a fishing cabin, right? He keeps a fishing boat there. The neighbors said he liked to come out there frequently, at least once a week, and spend a night or two at a time.”

  “Yes?” Dani asked.

  “Well, the boat looks like it hasn’t been used in months. It’s covered in dust and cobwebs, and the switch to activate the hoist is all corroded.”

  “Maybe he goes out in a buddy’s boat,” Reynolds said.

  “Or,” Sean said, “maybe he’s not going out there to fish.”

  “Could be he has a mistress there,” Jasper suggested.

  “Kreznik wasn’t married,” Sean said. “But I get your point. He could have been going out there to visit a girlfriend.”

  “If so, she might be able to give us some insight into what was going on with him around the time he was murdered,” Dani said. “We should check into it.”

  Her phone vibrated in her pocket, and she pulled it out to find a message from Ric: New development. Meet me at my house.

  She glanced around. “Okay, so . . . Sean, how about you go back and interview Kreznik’s coworker Oliver Junger and see if he knows anything about a girlfriend out at the lake house where Kreznik died.” She looked at Brooke. The CSI didn’t report to her, so she needed to be diplomatic. “And if you could keep me posted on anything new with that partial fingerprint, that would be really helpful.” She turned to Jasper. “Jasper, you follow up on the VIN from the Taurus. We need to find out whether it was an actual police vehicle that the killer somehow got ahold of, or if it was a regular Taurus he made to look like a police vehicle. Either way, it could give us a lead.”

  “I’m on it,” Jasper said.

  Reynolds got up and slipped out while Dani jotted notes in her file and finished giving out marching orders.

  “We all set?” She stood up and looked at everyone. “Sean and Jasper, we’ll reconvene here same time tomorrow morning—”

  “On Sunday?” Jasper looked alarmed.

  “Yes, and no bitching. The lieutenant’s authorized overtime. Meanwhile, if you come up with anything new, I want to hear about it ASAP, you got that? Day or night, don’t hesitate to call me.”

  CHAPTER 21

  Ric and Mia’s house looked even more picturesque in the light of day, and Dani thought again about the sorry state of her yard as she walked up their flower-lined sidewalk.

  Ric opened the door before she had a chance to knock. “Rey’s on his way. You want coffee?”

  “Definitely.”

  She followed him into the kitchen, where stacks of neatly folded baby clothes covered the breakfast table. The sink was filled with dishes, and the entire counter was covered in cookbooks, all with little yellow sticky notes poking out.

  “Mia’s on a mission,” Ric said. “She’s convinced she won’t have time to cook anything after the baby comes.”

  “She probably won’t.”

  “We’ve got nine casseroles in the freezer. I had to take out the ice tray.”

  Dani glanced down the hallway toward the bedrooms. “Where is she?”

  “Walking.”

  “In this heat?”

  “On a treadmill at the gym.” Ric combed a hand through his hair. “I tried to get her to stay home and put her feet up, but she won’t listen to me. Says she’s stir-crazy.”

  The front door opened and Rey Santos stepped inside. Dani had never seen him in anything other than a dark suit, and today was no exception. He walked into the kitchen and raised his eyebrows at all the cookbooks, but didn’t say anything.

  Rey had the same simmering good looks as his brother—brown-black eyes, olive skin, and that seductive half smile that made women stupid. Yet somehow he remained stubbornly unattached.

  “Rey, you remember Dani,” Ric said.

  “Detective.” He nodded at her.

  “Hi.”

  Rey got a mug from a cabinet and poured himself coffee as Ric grabbed a file sitting on the bar. “Let’s work in here,” Ric said, leading them into the living room.

  Dani took a seat on an ottoman and watched Ric’s brother. He had to be going into the office later. Otherwise, why the tie? Dani couldn’t imagine being a federal agent. The pay would be better, but she couldn’t fathom dressing up all the time.

  Rey sat down on a sofa opposite Dani. “I made some calls, and there’s definitely something going on, like you said.”

  “Like who said?” Dani looked at Ric.

  “I told Rey how we were getting the runaround from Albuquerque. The agents there aren’t even taking my calls anymore.”

  “I’m not surprised,” she said. “I told you how tight-lipped they were with me. All questions, no answers.”

  Her two-hour meeting in her motel room in Big Rock had been frustrating on so many levels. They’d basically questioned her like a suspect in Nathan Collins’s murder. Then they hadn’t extended the basic professional courtesy of giving her any information in return. Also frustrating—she’d h
ad to explain Scott’s involvement, and they had clearly been unhappy that he wasn’t there to be interviewed, which meant they’d have to get his statement at a later time.

  “Yeah, well, I got the same treatment,” Rey said. “They definitely wanted to know why I was interested, but they wouldn’t tell me anything.”

  “Did you tell them why you were interested?” Ric asked.

  “No. But they’ll put it together eventually.”

  Dani scoffed. “Yeah, Santos and Santos, both asking about the same case. Even the feds should be able to figure that out.”

  “I contacted a guy I know with ATF, and he was a little more helpful,” Rey said. “He confirmed they had agents on the scene and that they found explosive residue. He hears it was a PETN-based device.”

  “PETN?” Dani asked.

  “A type of explosive,” Rey clarified. “It’s military-grade. This was a sophisticated IED, according to my source.”

  Dani’s stomach tensed. She pictured Scott racing toward the flaming wreckage, then racing toward her when the shooting started.

  “How was it detonated?” Ric asked.

  “Cell phone.” Rey nodded at Dani. “You’re lucky you weren’t close by.”

  Ric gave her a look, and Dani knew he still felt guilty that she’d been there at all.

  Dani felt guilty, too. Maybe if she hadn’t gone to interview Collins, he might not have been targeted. Her investigation could somehow have drawn attention to him and caused his death.

  “Also recovered from the scene,” Rey continued, “two slugs, both embedded in a tree near Spruce Canyon Road.”

  Dani tried to hide her surprise. “That’s good news. Where are the slugs?”

  “At the FBI ballistics lab. They’re looking for any sort of lead that might help them run down this sniper you told them about.”

  “So they believe me.” Dani hadn’t been sure. Everything she’d told the agents had been met with cool skepticism, as if they thought she might be making it all up—a sworn officer of the law just spinning lies to waste everyone’s time. It had been infuriating. Even more so because she hadn’t had Scott there to corroborate her story.

  “I can’t tell you what they believe or don’t believe,” Rey said. “Like I mentioned, they stonewalled me, so all the information I have is secondhand. What I know about the bullets came from a sheriff’s deputy up there. I can give you his name so you can follow up. I also understand they’ve located a spot on a ridge across from the crime scene where they’ve recovered some shell casings.”

  “Okay, what did you find out about Collins?” Ric asked.

  “As for him, I can tell you he was on our radar.”

  “You mean being investigated?” Dani asked.

  “That’s right. The FBI has a file on him, but I wasn’t able to access it.”

  Ric’s brow furrowed. “What do you think that’s about?”

  “No idea. I tried poking around and didn’t get anywhere. I got some more on Collins himself, but it’s general, the kind of stuff you could get.”

  Ric blew out a sigh. “Tell us what you have.”

  “Basically, the guy was a child prodigy.” Rey pulled out a notepad and flipped through it. “Graduated high school in Sunnyvale, California, at age sixteen. Went to UCLA. Got a PhD in biology by twenty-three and went to work for some biotech company in San Francisco. After a few years there he took a job with Trinity. Collins was twenty-nine. Single. Clean police record, except for a speeding ticket.”

  “Roswell, New Mexico,” Dani said impatiently. “I have all this already from his background check. But it doesn’t make sense.”

  “What doesn’t?” Ric asked.

  “Why Trinity?” She shook her head. “This guy’s lighting it up career-wise, so then he takes a job in Podunk, New Mexico? And I saw his living situation. He lived in a cramped little cabin and was complaining about his bills stacking up. It didn’t look like he was raking in the money or anything, so what was the motive to be in New Mexico?”

  Both brothers looked at her, but neither ventured a guess.

  “And that’s not the only thing that doesn’t make sense,” Dani said. “There’s some serious money involved here, and I don’t get where it’s coming from.”

  Rey’s eyebrows tipped up. “How do you mean?”

  “Four professional hits in two states? These crimes are elaborate. We’re talking about a car bomb, multiple house fires. Plus, a complicated double homicide with a fall guy set up months in advance to take the blame.” Just the thought of Scott’s involvement made Dani’s stomach queasy.

  “She’s right,” Ric said. “This operation is complex. Someone’s bankrolling this thing, and we have to find out who.”

  “What about the cabin?” Dani asked. “Collins said he was renting there. I wonder who owns it.”

  “I wondered that, too.” Rey took out his phone and scrolled through it. “Turns out the land is owned by a corporation, Sunland LLC. As for who’s behind that, I’m looking into it now. I’ve got some calls out but I’m waiting to hear.” Rey checked his watch. “And speaking of waiting, I need to go. I’m going to be late for my noon meeting.”

  Rey stood, and they walked him to the door. Dani felt more confused than ever. Why did the FBI have a file on Nathan Collins? And what did any of this have to do with her investigation in Texas? She couldn’t see it. She felt like she was working a jigsaw puzzle and little pieces were starting to come together, but she had no idea what the big picture was supposed to look like.

  Ric closed the door behind his brother and turned to look at her. Dani realized she hadn’t even said good-bye to the man, and he’d spent the last twenty-four hours busting his ass to help them.

  “You okay?” Ric asked.

  “I don’t know.”

  “You look like hell, by the way. No offense.”

  She couldn’t get offended because she knew he was right. She was going on four days with almost no sleep. Her nerves were raw, and her emotions were much too close to the surface.

  “Maybe you should go home,” he said.

  “What, and put my feet up?”

  “You won’t do any of us any good if you have a crash. I think you need a break.”

  She took out her keys. “Well, since you put me in charge, it’s really not up to you.”

  “I’m serious, Dani.”

  “I know.” She pulled open the door. “I’m going back to the station to work these new angles. Call me if you come up with anything.”

  He sighed, but he seemed to know it was pointless to argue. “You do the same.”

  • • •

  It was dark by the time Dani swung into the Smoky J’s parking lot and spied a number of familiar cars. Inside she found half a dozen of her coworkers around a table covered with drinks and plates.

  As she approached, Sean glanced up from a platter of ribs. “Hey, we were just talking about the case. What’s the latest?”

  “You tell me. I guess there’s been an arrest since everyone’s done working?”

  He smiled. “People gotta eat, Dani.” He took a swig of his beer. “Why don’t you pull up a chair?”

  “I’m fine.”

  “Really.” He gave her a sharp look and pushed out the chair beside him. “Take a load off.”

  She glanced around and noticed the cool looks aimed in her direction. It probably wasn’t a good idea to alienate everyone while she was leading up her first big case, so she relented and took a seat.

  “Want a beer?” Sean asked.

  “No.” She looked at Jasper. “What’s the word on that vehicle identification number?”

  He wiped his mouth with a napkin and had the decency to look guilty. “I, uh, got something back on that. The car used to be in the motor pool with San Antonio PD.” He pushed his plate away. “Not anymore, though. It was in a wreck, so they put it in an auction with some other vehicles.”

  “When?”

  “ ’Bout six weeks ago. Car was p
urchased by a guy in San Antonio, but then ten days ago it was reported stolen.”

  “Ten days?”

  He nodded. “I requested the police report, but I haven’t heard back yet.”

  “Why didn’t you call me?” She didn’t bother to hide her annoyance.

  “I was waiting on the report.”

  “San Antonio is a lead, with or without the report. Didn’t I say to call me with all leads anytime, day or night?”

  “Yeah, but—”

  “Anytime means anytime.”

  Sean was staring at her now, clearly annoyed.

  “Sorry.” Jasper checked his watch. “I’ll put in another call, see what the holdup is.”

  “Thank you.”

  He left a twenty on the table and headed for the door, and Dani felt a twinge of guilt. But only a twinge.

  She looked at Sean. “What?”

  “I didn’t say anything.”

  He didn’t have to. His face said it all. He thought she was being a bitch, and she was, but she didn’t care.

  Sean sipped his beer, watching her as he rested it on the table. “What’s the problem, Dani?”

  “This is a murder case, not a purse snatching. Why the hell is everyone sitting around eating barbecue?”

  “It’s called meeting basic human needs.” Sean wiped his hands on a napkin and tossed it on the table. “What’s the big deal?”

  “The big deal is, I could have been following up with the San Antonio thing.”

  “How?”

  “Maybe our suspect got on a flight to Albuquerque after the murders.”

  “Maybe so, but how are you going to check without a name?” Sean paused and watched her. “What else is wrong? You don’t look good.”

  Dani bit back a retort. She knew she looked like crap. She felt like crap. She was running on coffee and Yoo-Hoo, and the headache she’d been trying to squash all day had reached monstrous proportions.

  Sean leaned closer. “Come on, Dani.” He kept his voice low so that only she could hear. “Don’t run yourself into the ground. That doesn’t help anyone. You’re supposed to be leading this thing.”

  “I know.”

  “So, stop cracking the whip on everyone and take a break for once. We’ll all be better off.”