Chapter 9

9

The direction the evening had taken left Dev jumpy and jittery. Kinsley's phone call caused him to clench his jaw. Hard. Tight. The muscles constricted, a headache forming, and he wanted to race out the door and get this Huff guy under surveillance.

Let it go. You have to handle this the right way.

He couldn't afford to fly off the handle and make a mistake. No way. Mistakes cost lives. Maybe the life of someone he cared about deeply. That meant not managing his search for Kinsley's suspects alone. Why would he go it alone when he had a highly skilled team on his side who would do everything within their power to come up with the best plan to keep her alive?

He'd immediately called his teammates together for a meeting with Kinsley and Jada around the dining table in his cabin. Dev had laid the binder, Huff's section face up, on the table in front of him. He ripped the pages out. It was either do that or punch a fist into something, letting his team know that he was overly distressed by the situation.

He'd reviewed Huff's file copious times while waiting for everyone to get there, but now he stared at the first page of his report. A picture of the menacing-looking man glared out from the paper. He was all muscle, strapping and tall, and his shaved head gleamed in the sunlight as he stood in front of a concrete block wall and scaffolding. His face held a grimace, and his expression said he was eager to take his frustrations out on the first person who slighted him, or at least whoever he felt slighted by.

Not the kind of guy Dev wanted threatening Kinsley. Not at all.

Dev forced himself to share Huff's details. "The guy was only forty-two years old when he went away. He'd risen up in the world of commercial construction. Surprisingly he had a solid reputation and was raking in the money."

Kinsley gripped the edge of the table, her fingers losing color. "Until the whistleblower brought all of that crashing down on him."

"What happened?" Reid asked.

"Huff's foreman had worked with him for years," Kinsley said. "But Huff got sloppier as time went on. The foreman couldn't let Huff get away with the egregious code violations anymore. He revealed dangerous construction shortcuts Huff had taken before the buildings were complete and tenants were hurt."

"But what about construction safeguards?" Russ asked. "Huff would've had to pass county building inspections, right?"

"Right." Kinsley's eyes darkened. "But he was blackmailing an inspector—guy named Arnold Wacker. Huff caught Wacker at a party forcing himself on an underage girl. At least Huff had enough decency to break it up and save the girl, but not before taking pictures."

"So let me guess." Ryan pinched his eyebrows together. "Wacker wanted to keep his secret from being revealed, so he rubberstamped all of Huff's work."

"Exactly," Kinsley said. "Lucky for him, he cut a deal to testify against Huff to avoid jail time."

"Didn't Huff threaten Wacker too?" Dev asked.

Kinsley nodded. "Huff tossed out threats at the trial to anyone who was within his hearing distance."

"So if he's our shooter, he could be going after Wacker too," Colin said. "We should contact the guy to see if he's heard from Huff or had anything unusual happen since he was released."

"We'll do that before questioning Huff." Dev tried hard not to sound angry.

"Are you sure you want to talk to him?" Reid asked. "If he's not our guy, you could set him off, and he might follow through on his threats. Then we'll have two people trying to harm Kinsley."

Dev had to admit when it came to Kinsley, he might not be thinking straight, and he should listen to his boss, whose years in the FBI had taught him how to run an investigation. "What do you suggest?"

"We get eyes on him and tail him to see what he's up to. If we find proof that he's trying to harm Kinsley, then we go in. If not, we remain hands off."

Micha tapped his sidearm. "And maybe while we have him under observation, we can see if he has any weapons. And before you tell me possessing a weapon is a violation of his parole or supervisory release, if he's out to exact vengeance, he won't care about that."

As the team's weapons expert and the guy who served with Russ in the military as a weapons tech before moving into military investigations, Dev wasn't surprised that this would be the area where Micha would offer to help.

"I agree with Micha," Dev said. "I think it's top priority that we find out if he has weapons and what kind so we can protect ourselves against them."

"Not me." Russ rested his elbows on the back of his chair and steepled his fingers. "I'm inclined to agree with Reid. We hang back for now. I'll look into the man. See if I can learn anything about him and his prison associates."

"Prison associates?" Dev asked. "His parole will prohibit him from hanging out with felons, too, so how will they help?"

"Just like living at their release address isn't always followed, neither is this." Russ wiggled his fingers. "Who knows? I might find someone else he's hanging around with who could be involved in trying to harm Kinsley."

"I don't know about any friends," she said. "Back in the day, he was a real loner except for Spencer Caldwell. He was Huff's right-hand man."

"Did he go to prison too?" Dev asked.

She shook her head. "We had no evidence of his involvement in criminal acts, so he managed to escape prosecution."

"And Huff's business acquaintances?" Russ asked.

"After his arrest and conviction, he alienated the true professionals in his universe."

Dev handed her a notepad and pen. "Jot down the guy's details. Caldwell's too, and give it to Russ." He looked at Russ. "Will you check into both of their records?"

"Can do." His nostrils flared. "But everyone needs to remember, without a legitimate investigation, whatever I do is off the record. Nothing official. So keep it to yourselves."

"You know we always have your back," Reid said. "We won't get you messed up in something that will hurt your career."

"You should know, Colin is already searching the internet for information on Luongo." Dev looked at his brother. "I'd like you to add these other guys to your algorithms, too. See what you can find."

Colin responded with an emphatic nod.

Reid was still looking at Kinsley. "Anyone else we should be looking at?"

"I don't know." She scratched her head. "His wife, maybe. She left him when his assets were frozen and had to seriously downsize her life. She was most vocal about that, but she never came across as the violent type."

"But she could be another person he might have it out for," Russ said. "At least in my experience, having the wife turn on a guy hurts the most because it's the greatest personal betrayal, and we should keep her on our radar."

"Plus, she took his kids." Kinsley leaned forward. "And even if he wasn't the greatest father, that was bound to make him angry. Hopefully you can find her contact information. I think she moved out of state after she split with him."

"Means Huff would have to leave Portland to find her," Micha said.

Russ released his fingers. "Add the wife's name to the list you're making for me, and I'll see if Huff traveled out of state to get to her." He held up a hand. "But before you get excited about it, it's not likely."

"How can you possibly know that?" Jada asked, surprising Dev that his little sister took this long to get into the discussion.

"If he's like most prisoners these days," Russ answered, "he didn't serve out his full sentence but got out on early release and is under supervision by a parole officer. They would have to approve any out-of-state visits."

Kinsley pressed her lips together, then released them with a breath of air. "He was brought up on state charges six years ago and sentenced to ten years."

"Which means he served sixty percent of his sentence and is out on early release." Russ let his hands fall to his side.

"Is that common?" Jada asked.

"Depends on the crime and the number of strikes the felon has. In this case, it's a nonviolent crime and he didn't have any prior convictions, so sixty to eighty-five percent is the norm for that."

Kinsley shook her head. "I've never understood why they don't have to serve their full sentence. Especially when Huff deserved even more than he got, in my opinion."

"Trust me," Russ said. "I agree with you, but there's nothing we can do about it."

Jada shot Russ a skeptical look. "Why would he follow this rule, when he's less likely to follow the other ones you mentioned?"

"It's the kind of violation that's more likely to get him sent back to prison. I'll get the name of his parole officer and give that person a call. We'll see if Huff's checked in since his release. If he hasn't, they're likely looking for him."

At the moment, Dev couldn't imagine a worse scenario in locating Huff.

Jada's eyebrows raised. "Looking for him, as in ‘declaring a manhunt'?"

"Not likely anything so grand like you see on TV or in the movies." Russ smirked. "The effortto find him will be in direct proportion to how badly the authorities feel they need to address him. He hasn't been convicted of a violent crime, so I doubt they would be that urgently seeking him. I suspect they'll start out with a phone call and then a visit to his recorded address. In most cases, that solves the problem."

"And if they find him, will they send him back to prison?" Kinsley asked.

"Depends on the circumstances," Russ said. "But this early on in his release, it would be last resort to incarcerate him again. Especially with over a third of prison admissions being for parole violators. Still, if it's not just an innocent mistake and he's thumbing his nose at them and the rules, they'll do it if they have to. I can try to get a feel for all of this when I talk to his parole officer."

"Thanks, Russ." Kinsley smiled, a most unexpected response given the situation.

"Don't thank me yet." There was a grim note in his tone. "The officer will likely ask what my interest is in Huff. As I said, I don't have a legit investigation involving the guy, and I'll have to do some tap dancing."

Reid glanced around the table. "Might we be better off if we pass this information to the detective investigating the parking lot shooting. Huff could become a potential suspect, making him good for the shooting, and the detective would have a legit reason to follow up with his parole officer."

"I won't do that. Not now." Dev made sure his tone brooked no argument. Not even from his boss, who Dev had to make strong eye contact with to keep him from speaking. "I won't give up control over our first lead that easily."

"Then we should talk about how we get eyes on Huff and start watching his every move," Colin said. "If he is our shooter, we need to get a handle on it before he strikes again."

"So what's the plan?" Reid asked.

Dev stood, looking each one of his teammates in the eye for a moment. "As much as I want eyes on Huff, like yesterday , we first need to talk about escorting Kinsley to her apartment to file a police report." Dev explained his and Colin's logic at not calling law enforcement right away. "I thought we could leave before sunup so if our shooter has any intentions of watching her place, he probably wouldn't have rolled out of bed by then."

"Again, I ask, what's the plan?" Reid demanded.

Dev looked at him. "How many guys can you spare for the day tomorrow?"

"I need at least a skeleton crew here. We have to keep the business running." He glanced around the table. "Who's scheduled for training tomorrow?"

"I have the Basic Tools for Adventurers class at ten." Ryan mocked, yawning, and Dev knew it was because the beginner's class was often boring to teach. "After that I'm free."

"And I'm on right after him with my basic gun safety class," Micha said. "Then at one, I have three hours scheduled at the firing range with our guests."

Reid focused on Micha. "I hate to ask, but is there any way you can take Ryan's class too?"

"Two beginners' classes in one day?" Micha pretended to shudder. "All kidding aside, I can do it as long as Ryan gives me the props I need."

"Already in a bin in the storage area and marked with the class name," Ryan said. "I'll email you the class outline."

"Thanks, but I'll probably just wing it, so I'm not quite as boring as you." Micha laughed.

Ryan rolled his eyes. "Funny, man."

Reid glanced at Russ, but he flashed up a silencing hand. "Don't even bother asking me to take a class. You're giving me enough to do while I'm still trying to keep law and order in this county."

Reid turned to Dev. "So that leaves you with a four-man team."

Dev nodded. "That's enough to run a decoy SUV and confuse our shooter in case he's watching."

"What time do you want to leave?" Ryan asked.

"Sun comes up around seven. We should be on the road by three."

Ryan groaned. "Just when we can count on Austin sleeping through the night, I have to get up early."

"I'm so sorry," Kinsley said, sounding and looking as if she meant it.

Ryan waved his hand. "No worries. I'm just joking. Life is good and getting up is no problem."

"Thank you." She smiled, but her lips wavered. "And thank you to everyone. I'll never be able to repay you all for what you're doing for me."

"We appreciate your thanks, but we don't expect or need you to repay us," Reid said. "We're glad to help in any way we can. I'll also work on the schedule for the next few days to see how I can free guys up to put Huff under surveillance."

"Thanks, man," Dev said. "Once we get this visit to the apartment under our belt, I want to get eyes on Huff and start watching his every move. If he is our shooter, getting a handle on his movements could be the very thing that stops him from striking again."

After the team left, Kinsley remained at the table with Dev, who was comparing the binder against Kinsley's spreadsheet of investigations as Colin worked on writing algorithms for the other suspects. She'd expected them to want to go to bed since they all had to get up early, but Dev was like a dog with a bone and focused his attention on the binders.

She couldn't go to bed while they were still working. If only there was something she could do to help. Anything, really. She'd already looked up the latest contact information in her binder for their suspects, added it to her list of names, and passed it off to Russ before he departed. A starting point. One she wasn't so sure would pan out, but they needed to delve into it anyway.

They. This amazing and selfless team. She couldn't be more thankful for them. Reid reviewed his schedule, and Micha and Ryan would travel to Portland to keep an eye on Huff first thing on Sunday. There was no complaining. No questions asked. Just respect for the cause. For her needs.

Dev wanted to go with them. He couldn't hide it. His posture fairly vibrated from the desire. But he also didn't give in to his desires. He'd swallowed it away and chose to stay behind with her. To protect her.

Was he doing so because he had feelings for her or was he doing it because she was his sister's best friend? Kinsley honestly didn't know, but the intensity of his behavior led her to believe he had feelings for her. Or was that just wishful thinking?

Jada returned from tucking her mother into bed and linked her arm in Kinsley's to draw her into the family room. "I don't know about you, but I don't think I can talk about this anymore and still be able to sleep tonight. I need some downtime."

"Agreed. What do you suggest?" A good question, but could Jada come up with anything to take Kinsley's mind off Huff's glaring looks at his trial?

Jada pulled Kinsley closer. "Why don't we take your box to the bedroom and spend some time looking at more of the fun things you brought for our week together?"

The perfect solution. If she didn't mind goofing off while these men were working so hard on her behalf. But she had Jada to think of, too. Her friend was asking for help, and Kinsley could provide it. Especially if she wasn't needed out here.

She dredged up a smile. "Let me ask Dev if there's anything else he needs from me."

She started for him, but Jada held her back by the arm. "Do you like my brother?"

Kinsley worked hard to keep her mouth from falling open and came up with an appropriate answer. "Of course I like him. I like all of you. You're the family I never had."

"That's not what I mean, and you know it." Jada ran her gaze over Kinsley's face. "I'm asking if you like him. As in romantically."

"And if I did?" She extracted her arm from Jada's hold. "Would that be such a bad thing?"

Jada scowled. "Only if things went badly between you, and I ended up losing you as my best friend. I couldn't risk that happening. So promise me you won't go down that path with him."

"I don't even know if he wants to go down that path." Kinsley was fishing for any knowledge Jada might have, and she instantly regretted her behavior.

Jada's eyes darkened. "He'd go down that path with you in a heartbeat. He's only too ready to do it. He's had a crush on you since we were young, and it hasn't let up."

A crush? Really? Did Jada know what she was talking about?

Kinsley took a long look at her friend's face to see if she could gain any answers, but Jada was staring across the room at her brother.

"How do you know that?" Kinsley asked.

"He told me." Jada swung her gaze back to her. "Several times."

Interesting, but… "Then why hasn't he done anything about it? He hasn't even said a word to me."

Jada took a wide stance, planting her sneakers on the floor as if ready to do battle. "Because I made him promise not to."

"You did what?" Kinsley couldn't control her surprise and her voice shot up, drawing the brothers' attention. She lowered her voice and took a step closer to Jada. "When did you make him promise that?"

She rested a hand on one hip and jutted the other one out, her defensive posture that she'd had since a little girl. "Back in high school and again just yesterday."

Kinsley's heart sank. Yesterday's exacting of a promise from Dev truly meant Jada believed they shouldn't be together. "You shouldn't have done that. We're adults now."

"I'm sorry." Jada grabbed Kinsley's hands and held them tight. "Don't be mad at me. I know I was being selfish. If you want me to tell him it's okay to pursue you, I will, but promise me, you'll never let him come between us. Never."

Kinsley couldn't promise such a thing. She would like to, but she knew how romantic breakups could destroy all the relationships around the couple if they split up. If she dated Dev and they parted under difficult circumstances, Jada would have to support her brother. End of story. No matter how much she loved Kinsley, she had to side with her blood relatives, leaving Kinsley out in the cold.

And just like that, Kinsley remembered her tenuous hold to this family. She wouldn't do anything to jeopardize it. Even if this fine man had feelings for her for years, there was no way she would pursue them.