Читать книгу Twilight Warrior - Aimee Thurlo - Страница 12

Wright sat behind his desk, staring in the general direction of the trophy case on the north wall.

Travis waited. Trying to rush the boss was never a good idea. He did things on his own time.

“I spoke to Ms. Perry’s supervisor at the agency. Overall, he speaks highly of her. She’s competent and has a very high completion rate with her job assignments. But he also warned me that she tends to be overly proactive and often puts herself in danger by confronting troublemakers without proper backup,” Wright said.

Travis nodded. None of this came as a surprise to him.

“On the other hand, she’s also the only person we know who has encountered the suspect and walked away. She also has experience dealing with these types of crimes. That might help us catch and ID this individual somewhere down the line. That’s why I’m assigning her to you, Detective. You take time to think things through and that might cancel out her impulsiveness.”

“What exactly will her job include?” he asked, not liking the sound of it already.

“Ms. Perry will accompany you as a civilian observer. She’s not a police officer with our department, so she’s not going to carry a weapon while in the company of an on-duty officer. I don’t care if she’s got the permits.”

“What’s my assignment?”

“The serial killer isn’t our business—not officially anyway. You’ll be investigating the bombing incident.”

“Understood.”

“One more thing,” Wright said. “Ms. Perry has a reputation for playing things close to her chest. You can bet she’s got other information she hasn’t shared with us. Keep that in mind while you’re working with her.” Wright walked to the door, saw Laura detaching Crusher’s leash and signaled her to come in.

After she sat down, Wright continued, “Ms. Perry, you’ll be assigned to Detective Blacksheep. You’ll ride along with him, but you’ll have no authority or jurisdiction. For that reason you will not be armed whenever you accompany Detective Blacksheep.” He leaned back in his chair and gave her a level look. “I’ll expect you to follow Detective Blacksheep’s orders, and should you encounter the suspect you came here to find, Detective Blacksheep will take the lead.”

“To help you catch this killer, I’m going to need a little more leeway, sir,” she began.

“You have none,” he said flatly. “You heard my conditions.”

“Yes, sir,” she said.

Laura walked out of Chief Wright’s office moments later, Travis by her side. “He’s convinced that rules are everything.”

“Without rules, there’s only chaos, no progress.”

“The Travis I knew once was the patient sort but he also had his cowboy moments. I remember one night after a basketball game when some guys from Cliffside High jumped one of our pep-band members behind the gym. You ran right into the thick of it and took on six guys.”

“I wasn’t the one violating the rules—they were. I also didn’t have a choice. John was on the ground and the other guys were kicking him.”

“You could have gone for help but you chose the direct approach,” she said with a smile. “Back then, there was a limit to how closely you followed the rules. Is that still the way it is?”

He met her gaze and held it. “I was a marine. I’ve learned the importance of discipline. Now my job is to protect and serve. That’s precisely what I do.”

“As do I.”

“But for the private sector. In law enforcement the way we catch a killer determines the real outcome—whether or not he ends up convicted and behind bars.” He crossed the room and checked on Crusher, who was curled up on a pad underneath the desk next to a bone.

Travis focused back on Laura. When he spoke, his tone was all business. “As long as you respect the way our department does things, we’ll get along fine,” he said, his penetrating gaze holding hers.

His voice was soft but there was no mistaking his challenge. It was there in the tightening of his jaw and the icy glitter in his eyes.

“I’ve agreed to Chief Wright’s terms and I’ll honor my word,” she said softly, hoping to diffuse the situation. “So where do we start?”

“Let’s go meet with the lab boys and find out what they’ve learned about the bomb. That’s all we have at the moment,” he said. “Keep in mind that we can’t even be sure that the bomb was the work of the serial killer.”

“I’m sure.”

“I’m not. In our line of work, we automatically make enemies. Anyone who has a grudge against you is a possible suspect.”

“This is more than a coincidence, but if you want to explore unlikely possibilities, we could say that they were aiming at you and didn’t know which vehicle you drove,” she said.

“The most dangerous criminals I’ve put away are still behind bars.”

“They’ve undoubtedly got families,” she answered. “Or maybe partners that weren’t apprehended.”

“That’s exactly my point. We don’t have enough evidence to arrive at any conclusion,” he said. “Let’s go see what the lab techs have for us.”

Leaving Crusher asleep beneath Travis’s desk, they walked to the far end of the building. As they entered the lab, they saw several techs working at various stations. Travis focused on an older woman in her late fifties who was peering into a microscope.

“Mrs. Delaney,” Travis said softly.

“One moment,” she said. After a few more minutes, she glanced up at them. “I know why you’re here, Detective,” she said, looking at Travis, “and I have some preliminaries for you.” She brushed a strand of ash-colored hair away from her face and pinned it back in place. “Whoever put this bomb together knew what he was doing. It was homemade and bulky because of the low explosive used—basically ammonium nitrate and diesel fuel. These components are difficult to trace to a source because they’re so common. The detonator, an electric blasting cap, should be a lot easier to track—if we can get the serial number. A throwaway cell phone was used to trigger the device.”

“Do you have anything I can follow up on right now?” Travis asked.

“One thing caught my attention. The ammonium nitrate is fertilizer grade and we’ve identified the brand for you,” she said, writing it down for him. “Tracking down a recent sale might give you a lead, but of course it could have been purchased several months ago. Or stolen.”

“At least it’s a place to start. Thanks,” Travis said.

“Was there a tracking device found in the vehicle or maybe out in the debris field?” Laura asked as they were about to leave.

“No, all we got was the cell phone and it was a cheap model. We can’t track back the call it received setting off the bomb, but we’re trying to find out who sells that model in this area,” Mrs. Delaney answered.

As they walked out of the lab, Laura remained silent.

“What’s on your mind?” he asked after they’d picked up Crusher and were headed toward the department’s underground garage. His pickup would remain at the station where it would be double-checked for evidence. In the meantime, he’d been assigned one of the department’s SUVs.

“Bomb components can be followed up anytime, by phone or computer, usually,” she said. “So what do you say we take a ride over to the Rez and see what their cops have on the Navajo victim? Or we could check with the Bloomfield police and see what other similarities we can find between the crimes that might tell us more about the suspect.”

“You’re looking for patterns, not just victim profiles, right?” he asked, reading her correctly.

She nodded. “An organized serial killer, for example, stages a crime scene, then takes a trophy, something he can hold. I looked but I couldn’t tell if anything was missing from my friend’s place. We’d only reconnected a few months ago on the internet and I’d never been to her home,” she said, her voice wavering.

If she’d only arrived early instead of late, she might have been able to prevent Nancy’s murder. As soon as the thought formed, she pushed it back. This wasn’t her fault. Deep down she knew that. Allowing herself to shoulder additional guilt would only undermine her ability to think clearly.

What she could do for Nancy now was catch her killer and see that justice was served. It was what she did, and Laura knew it the only way she’d ever find peace again.

“What you want is tricky at best,” he said slowly. “Keep in mind that those cases don’t belong to my department and getting that information will entail my calling in favors.” They pulled out into the street. “I’ll also have to justify our interest, and we still have no conclusive proof that the murders are connected.”

“The only way we’re going to get that proof is to keep digging,” she insisted.

“First things first,” he said. “I want to follow up on those nitrates.”

She expelled her breath in a hiss. “Okay. So how many stores do you have around here that might carry something like that?”

“Five. Two are feed stores on the outskirts of town, closer to the farms and ranches,” he said. “I get Crusher’s dog food at one of them. We can go there first. It shouldn’t take us long to check out the retailers.”

“We could save time by calling ahead to see who carries the brand we’re looking for,” she said.

He shook his head. “Word of the explosion has probably gotten around, and community businessmen might be reluctant to talk to the police. They’ll want to avoid trouble and negative publicity. We’re more likely to get the information we need if we catch them off guard and question them face-to-face. Keep in mind, too, that any one of the people we talk to could be the bomber.”

“I was thinking I’d do the calling from my own cell phone. I’m not law enforcement. We could save ourselves a trip if they don’t carry the brand.”

“No, it’s still too risky. If the bomber’s also the killer, he knows your voice. He may panic and run.” He took a deep breath then let it out. “You should take my older brother’s advice about not leading with your chin.”

She smiled. “I can bide my time in an investigation but I’ve never been as patient as you are.”

He glanced at her, then back at the road. “We can’t afford to telegraph our moves. Surprise is one of the key elements in situations like these. It keeps witnesses off balance. Even the slowest thinker can set a plan in motion if you give them enough time.”

“In this particular instance, maybe your way’s better. But sometimes you have to cut corners. Big payoffs often come with the willingness to take a risk,” she said.

“I’m not opposed to taking risks. It all depends on what’s at stake,” he said, giving her a slow, lazy smile.

From anyone else, the gesture would have scarcely merited a second thought. Yet Travis had that indefinable something extra. It was a quality that was hard to describe. A man either had it or he didn’t. And Travis obviously had more than his share. She suppressed the shiver that shot up her spine.

“So where are we headed first?” she asked, seeing Travis turn west and go down a side street.

“Franklin’s Feed.”

“I remember that place,” she said as memories, mostly unwelcome, filled her mind.

“You worked there one summer in exchange for riding privileges. You were crazy about horses back in high school. You saved every penny you earned hoping to buy the Franklins’ old mare.”

“Mabel,” she said, nodding. “But I was never able to get enough cash together. It broke my heart when I finally realized that it just wasn’t going to happen.” She took a deep breath.

“But, in retrospect, it was a good thing. I would have had to sell her when my mom decided it was time for us to move again.”

“You got too attached to that old horse,” Travis said. “But I’ll say this. You were always happy when you were working in the barn.”

“Getting attached to things was easy for me back then,” she said.

“And now?”

It was the gentleness of his voice that somehow got past her defenses. “I don’t have horses, dogs or even a goldfish. Life is easier without emotional complications.”

“Maybe so, but I really enjoy having Crusher around,” he said, stopping at a red light. At the sound of his name, the dog stuck his head out between the front-seat backrests. “Down, Crusher,” Travis commanded. “He’s a great companion. Now that my brother’s moved out, it’s nice to know that even when I’m asleep, there’s someone watching my back.”

“So it’s a good thing for you that I’m here. Now you have two of us watching your back,” she said. “And best of all, only one of us drools.”

He looked at her, then dropped his gaze slowly, taking in the curve of her breasts, then working his way back up with equal thoroughness. When he finally met her gaze, he smiled. “Nope. You both drool.”

She burst out laughing. Travis had matured into one heck of a man. He commanded a situation without being overbearing and he was easy on the eyes. All in all, Travis was a minefield of temptations, but her instincts assured her that she’d found the right partner for what lay ahead.

“We’ll restore the balance,” he said, cutting into her thoughts. “We’ll cover each other’s back and do what has to be done.”