Chapter 7

7

Brooklyn wanted so badly to get out of the SUV and pace away her nerves. Thirty minutes had passed, and they hadn’t gotten a single update from Nick or Colin. Not even one. The guys could at least check in to say they were okay, couldn’t they? She didn’t know how recon missions like this one worked, but maybe they couldn’t talk because Kane was home and could hear them.

She leaned forward to look between the seats at Eryn. “Is this normal?”

Eryn swiveled in her seat. “Is what normal?”

“Taking so long to do the recon and no word.”

“Actually it’s only been thirty minutes, which isn’t long in a situation like this,” Eryn said. “And not hearing anything is normal.”

Brooklyn was trying to imagine Eryn as an agent on a stakeout and couldn’t visualize it. “Did you do things like this all the time when you were an agent?”

“Not all the time, no. If you’re thinking of TV shows or movies or even books, they often don’t portray the real life of an agent. Far more paperwork than an operation like this one. And I’m not big on paperwork.” She wrinkled her nose.

“Is that why you left?”

Eryn shook her head. “Had to leave due to an injury.”

“Mind if I ask what happened?” Brooklyn asked because she was interested, sure, but also because she hoped it would help pass the time until the guys reported in.

“No problem,” Eryn said, but her eyes darkened as if the memories were painful. “I was serving an arrest warrant. The guy answered the door, but as soon as I identified myself, he started to slam the door. Instincts kicked in, and I reached out to stop him. Dumb move. Really dumb.”

She shook her head and took a deep breath. “I grabbed the edge of the door when I should have palmed it on the front. He slammed it on my hand, and it suffered some pretty extensive damage.”

She stared at her left hand. “I don’t have the ability to clench my fist or grasp an object very well.”

“I’m sorry that happened,” Brooklyn said, trying to uplift Eryn when there was so much angst in her tone. “But that was enough to sideline you?”

“Yeah, the FBI wouldn’t risk the potential liability something like that raised.” She opened and closed her fist, staring at it as if it didn’t belong to her. “I could fail to be able to use my weapon or back up a fellow agent in a fight. So they benched me as an agent. I could’ve taken an analyst job, but I wanted at least the hope of some adventure. So I left to work for Gage. In many ways, I’m glad I did, and it’s been a very positive experience.”

“Really, how?” she asked, as Brooklyn couldn’t see losing her calling as ever being positive. If she was forced to permanently leave IT, she couldn’t think of anything positive about that.

“At the Bureau, it often took a long time to see that I was making a difference. With Blackwell, I see on a daily basis how I’m helping others.” She paused, and a soft smile claimed her mouth. “The job also gives me a lot of flexibility with my work schedule, and that’s great for being a mom.”

Brooklyn could only dream of what being a mom might be like. Full-time or otherwise. “I imagine it was hard to balance being an agent and a mother at the same time.”

“It was, and I was a single mom, so it was even harder. But I had my mom’s help. She’s the best.” Eryn studied Brooklyn. “But you. You really can’t go on with life until this guy is caught. I can’t believe he’s been after you for years.”

“Me either, to be honest, but when it comes to IT, the guy has out-of-this-world skills, and he seems to be unstoppable.”

“Don’t give up.” Eryn patted Brooklyn’s knee. “One thing I learned at the Bureau is that someone might be a criminal mastermind, but everyone can be stopped. Just depends on the resources thrown at stopping them, and right now, you have a wonder team on your side. We will catch him.”

The assistance from these fine people brought tears to Brooklyn’s eyes. She looked up to hold them at bay. “I’ve been fighting this with just me and Nick for so long that you don’t know what that means to me.”

She squeezed Brooklyn’s hand. “Well, now you have the resources, and if everyone we have working tonight isn’t enough, I’ll call in the rest of my team. Plus, I suspect Nick would call in his team too.”

“He would, and he’s offered, but I never felt good about taking him up on it.”

Eryn blinked at her. “Why not?”

“I can’t afford them, and they only have a limited number of pro bono dollars, so I don’t want to take that away from someone really in need.”

“Girl, you are really in need.” Eryn’s nostrils flared. “Trust me. This is no way to live, and I for one, am honored to help you get out of the situation.”

Her fierce defense relieved Brooklyn’s feelings of imposing. “Thank you.”

Eryn waved her good hand. “A while back, I had a ransomware hacker threaten my life and needed the team to help me locate and bring him in. Means I know a bit about what it’s like to be stalked. Mine was for a much shorter time. I can’t imagine living under the strain and stress for years.”

“I’m glad it all worked out for you.” Brooklyn’s attention was captured by movement in the scrub. She scanned the darkness. “It’s Nick and Colin. They’re back.”

She wanted to race out to meet them, but lowered her window instead. “What did you find?”

“Hold on, and I’ll be right there.” Colin stopped to talk to Reid. His posture was rigid and stiff.

Her heart dropped. “It’s not good news.”

“How can you tell?” Eryn asked.

“Colin’s posture. He’s tense.”

Eryn leaned over the seat to look out the front window. “He’s definitely not relaxed.”

He suddenly spun and marched to her open window. “You need to prepare yourself for some bad news. It’s not what we expected to find. Not at all.”

Colin stood by the guys near the burned-out shell of a building, the smoke still curling into the night sky. He’d pulled one SUV into the drive and pointed the headlights over the scene for a better look. Eryn and Micha volunteered to escort Brooklyn back to the compound and keep watch over her while the others scouted the property. The best plan in his mind when he couldn’t be certain that Tarver wasn’t hiding somewhere in the woods, waiting to strike. Even if Colin’s brain continued to say keep her close at hand, he knew he’d made the right decision.

“You think he was on to us?” Nick asked. “Burned his own house down so we couldn’t find any leads, then bailed?”

Colin stared at the ruins. “If so, it was effective. Looks like the fire burned hot, and we won’t find much here to go on, if anything.”

“We need to call the locals and report the fire,” Ryan said. “But let’s split up and take a quick look before we do.”

“I’m not sure we need to call them,” Dev said. “We don’t know a crime was committed here. We can notify the landlord, and they can take care of bringing in the authorities if they want to. Or we just let it be and let them find it when they do.”

Colin looked at his brother. “I’m with Dev on this. Keeps us out of it, and we won’t be in any official reports. That way Tarver won’t know we were on to him.”

“Makes sense to me,” Nick said.

“Then we won’t see any of the sheriff’s reports.” Dev faced the house. “And we need to do more than take a quick look. We can do a grid search of the yard and house perimeter. With the heat, we’ll have to wait on the house.”

Colin agreed. They might’ve arrived at the tail end of the fire after it had died down, but the burning embers were still too hot to walk on. “If we don’t find anything actionable, we get out of here. Then I’ll find the landlord’s name and make an anonymous call.”

Reid firmed his shoulders. “So let’s move. Hopefully, we’ll be done in time to spare Russ from orientation duty.”

Nick eyed Reid. “Is it really that bad?”

“Not if you don’t mind teaching someone how to boil water.” Dev laughed.

“Oh, right. It’s bad then.” Nick chuckled.

“Follow me.” Colin led the men, then assigned coordinates to process the scene.

Carrying flashlights, they formed a straight line and marched forward as one, sweeping the beams over a yard littered with fallen debris. Every now and then, one of them paused to look closely at something, and they all stopped with him. But it turned out to be nothing, and they moved forward again until they reached the house without locating any leads.

“Fire was set intentionally.” Reid held up his hand, and they all looked to where his beam was focused on the embers. “See the clear lines of accelerant residue? Indicates it was poured, not the pattern of a fire occurring naturally.”

“And looks to me like the majority of the burning took place on the floor level not the ceiling in this area.” Dev waved his light around an area where the structure still stood. Location said it was the entryway.

“Accelerant trail comes from there too,” Reid said, moving his light. “Like he backed out dumping gasoline or another accelerant on the way out.”

“Not surprising.” Colin took a few steps closer to the section of building in front of him. He swung his light over the glowing embers that seemed to draw him in and came to a sudden stop, his heart wanting to stop too. “No. Oh, man. No. Is that a body?”

Dev added his light to the area. “Looks like it. Burned beyond recognition.”

“Do you think Tarver got caught in his own fire?” Reid asked.

“Could be.” Colin had to swallow hard not to want to hurl. He didn’t want anyone to die, not even Tarver, but if this turned out to be him, Brooklyn’s problems would be over. Would she leave then? Go back to Portland? Likely.

That didn’t sit well with him, but a man had died, and figuring out what happened here took precedence right now. Colin had plenty of time to think about Brooklyn leaving later. “We have no option but to call the locals now.”

“Yeah, of course.” Nick stared at the body. “But there’s no way they’re equipped to determine ID on such a badly burned body.”

“They’ll have to call in the state,” Dev said. “I know they have at least one anthropologist on staff.”

Reid shook his head. “Going to take some time, then. They’re notoriously backlogged, and we won’t get an ID for a while.”

“No problem.” Nick got out his phone. “I’ll call Kelsey Dunbar. She’s our anthropologist and can likely be here in an hour.”

“An hour?” Ryan swiveled to gape at Nick. “From Portland? That’s at least a three-hour drive.”

“Did I forget to mention we bought a helicopter?” Nick grinned. “We’re starting to get so many calls for our services from outside the city that we needed to quit wasting valuable time behind the wheel.”

“Of course you bought one.” Reid shook his head. “I’d like to have even a tenth of your budget.”

If Nick was offended, his expression didn’t show it. “We couldn’t afford one when we were first starting out like you. You’ll get there.”

“I hope I’m around then.” Dev rubbed his hands together. “Maybe I should start taking pilot lessons now.”

The others laughed, breaking the tension as Dev was famous for doing.

“Hopefully, if Kelsey is called in, we’ll at least be kept in the loop,” Ryan said.

“Not if the local sheriff calls her,” Nick said. “We’ll have to contract with the county, and the findings will be private unless the sheriff is willing to share.”

“Too bad we’re not in Russ’s jurisdiction,” Reid said. “He would play ball for sure and keep us updated on what was going on.”

Colin wished the same thing, but if he knew one thing about working an investigation, it was that it was rarely as easy as he would hope. “Nick, you go ahead and call Kelsey. We’ll wait on making that call to the local authorities. That way when they do arrive, she’ll be here, and they’re more apt to use her services.”

“On it.” Nick stepped back and tapped his phone.

“I’d like to get a closer look,” Colin said.

“We can’t destroy potential evidence,” Reid said. “We all need to back away.”

“A zoomed-in photo won’t hurt anything.” Colin got out his phone. “You all light the area up best you can.”

The guys swung their flashlights to flood light over the body, covering it like a blanket of light.

Colin focused on the victim and zoomed in to take several shots. The scorched remains turned his stomach. This wasn’t the first time he’d seen a charred body, but this one was further damaged than the other man he’d seen. His camera displayed an accelerant trail leading to the space where the victim lay, so perhaps he’d been caught in the thick of the flames.

He snapped several shots and moved to new locations to take additional photos from different angles. Satisfied he’d recorded all he could with his restrictions, he stowed his phone.

Somehow stowing the phone removed the clinical feel from his actions, and the loss of life and the idea of someone’s loss of a loved one hit him. Hard. Even bad guys had parents. People who loved them. “Would you guys join me in a prayer for the family of this person who perished in the fire?”

He didn’t wait for an answer. No need. All the men were Christian. He led them in a prayer—the only thing he could do for the deceased right now—but he would also commit to finding his identity and give the family some closure.

He turned to wait for Nick, who sounded like he was ending his call. Brooklyn came to mind. How was he going to break the news to her? She would be distraught. Shocked. Maybe even more terrified. He wanted to break it to her gently.

He looked at the guys. “Keep this to yourselves for now, and I’ll tell Brooklyn.”

“You think it’s Tarver?” Dev asked.

Colin shook his head. “From what she and Nick say about him, I can’t see him getting caught in his own fire.”

“That’s the feeling I get too,” Reid said. “After Nick is done making his call, we should search the rest of the property before notifying the locals.”

Colin nodded, and they stood watching Nick until he shoved his phone into his pocket.

He stepped over to them. “Kelsey has to pack up the chopper with needed supplies. Figures she won’t be here for ninety minutes. She’s going to bring Sierra, our forensics expert, too. We hope the local sheriff will let her process the scene.”

Colin nodded. “We should have Dev talk to him.”

“The he is a she,” Dev said. “Sheriff Abby Day. I went to college with her and used to know her pretty well.”

“I didn’t know that,” Colin said.

“Lots you don’t know about me. Especially my college days. Was safer that way.” Dev laughed.

Colin rolled his eyes. “Good to hear you know her, if you have a good relationship. But I was thinking you should call because you were a former deputy and speak the same language.”

Dev scratched his cheek. “You were law enforcement too.”

“Yeah, but a fed. You know that can often bring tension with locals.”

“Good point.” Nick looked at the building. “Maybe Russ could run interference too.”

“No,” Reid said forcefully. “If this somehow blows back on us, we don’t want him included in it.”

“Okay.” Nick raised a hand. “Point taken.”

“Let’s take a look around the rest of the property while we wait for your teammates.” Colin turned on his flashlight again. “Line up for another grid search, but we’ll head east.”

They formed a straight line, and Colin fell in on the end. His nerves were on edge. Were they going to find another body? Some other evidence of a crime? Would it be bad for Brooklyn or help them bring Tarver in?

Colin cared an unreasonable amount for the little time he’d spent with Brooklyn. Was it just championing the underdog or one of those love-at-first-sight things that he didn’t really believe in? But could he be wrong? Did it exist?

One thing was for sure, there was a connection between them. A strong one.

They inched forward picking their way through debris, the lingering smoke curling into the air was a reminder of the fatality.

“What’s that?” Ryan asked, his light skipping ahead and illuminating a structure that hadn’t been touched by the fire.

“Let’s check it out,” Dev said.

“We will, but keep to the grid until we reach it,” Colin said. “Never know what we might find on the way.”

They made their way toward the structure. Single story, the large box of a building was about fifteen feet square with concrete walls that had iron bars in the upper part of the front. A strong lock hung on a door on the side that also looked as if it was electronically controlled.

Ryan ran his flashlight beam over the area. “If the place wasn’t so fortified, I’d say it was a kennel. But no chains or way to tie up a dog, and even the biggest dog doesn’t need such a strong structure.”

“Maybe the building was already on the property, then someone converted it to a kennel,” Reid suggested.

“You all wait here. I’m going to take a look inside.” Colin snapped on disposable gloves and opened a door as thick as the cinderblock walls. It held two locks. One was a simple metal hasp, the other electronic. Odd for an animal enclosure. The smell of feces and urine hit him hard, but his quick look with the flashlight didn’t reveal anything moving. He did see plenty of animal hairs littering the floor among the large droppings.

“Whatever he kept in here was big. Scat is huge,” he said. “And furry, but not furry like a dog, more cat like, I think.”

“He didn’t ever have pets when we knew him,” Nick said.

Colin faced the guys. “I don’t think this was a pet.”

Nick’s gaze narrowed. “Then what?”

Colin shrugged. “Hopefully Sierra can shed some light on what was housed in this enclosure. The animal could be loose now and wandering around the area.”

He looked back at feces the size of a baseball. “I, for one, do not want to run into any animal in the daylight that could produce such large scat, much less the dark.”