Sonofabitch.
Dominic stared into the box as the world spun around him. Brown stained satin lined the casket but no corpse filled it.
Someone cursed. Agent Pine.
Peter Galveston was dead. Dominic knew he was dead, but someone was trying to mess with his head.
“Can you tell if a body was removed? Or if there was even ever one in there?” Ava asked quietly making sure her voice didn’t carry.
“Judging from the stains and bodily fluids there was definitely a body in here,” the ME answered.
But it was gone now.
Dominic managed to swallow the huge lump that filled his throat. “Close it up. I want the casket transported to the nearest crime lab for processing. ASAP. Highest priority.” He looked at the men who’d assisted getting the coffin out of the ground.
“I need you to question all these people,” he told Pine and the other agents. “I don’t believe someone stole this body without help. The pastor too. Maybe someone made a donation to look the other way that he couldn’t refuse.” These people were the main suspects until the FBI figured out different. “Push them hard on accessory to murder of a federal agent. Bag the teddy bear and any visitor books inside the church. Get a warrant if the pastor resists—in fact get a warrant anyway. Courier everything except the coffin to the National Laboratory.” Dominic started striding away, Ava on his heels and Agent Pine catching up behind them to drive.
“Where will you be?” Pine asked.
Dominic checked his watch. “I’m going to check Galveston’s cabin. You know where that is?”
Pine shook his head. “But I can find out.”
“Don’t worry about it. Drive us into the nearest town with a rental office. I can find the way from there.” Dominic called the chopper pilot and told him to go home. He had the feeling they were going to be stuck here for some time.
Chapter Twenty-Three
From the car, Dominic had called Frazer who had then called the head of the task force about Peter Galveston’s missing body. The press were going to go ape. Now he stood outside the restaurant while waiting for their lunch to be delivered. Neither Dominic nor Ava had eaten anything since last night. Dominic didn’t even remember what it had been. He called his boss, who was thankfully distracted by the fact he was about to get on the plane to fly to Southeast Asia.
“I hear you had some unexpected help resolving the hostage crisis,” Savage said once Dominic had finished updating him on the Galveston situation.
Dominic scratched his head. He hadn’t confronted Ava about that yet. Since the siege ended, his focus had shifted straight back to this case and the fact someone wanted him and his colleagues dead. Everything had been a whirlwind of activity as they struggled to get one step ahead of this UNSUB. He was still trying to figure out whether to be impressed with Ava or furious. Or both.
“How is Frank Jacobs doing?”
“Alive. Doctors think he’ll make it. Knife missed his kidneys by an inch. Nicked a lung but didn’t do as much damage as first feared.”
“Any word about the warden?”
“She’s going to take some time off. All the inmates involved will be transferred.”
Standard procedure.
“Including Milo Andris?”
“Especially Milo. His attachment to the warden could turn ugly. He could feel she owes him now. She might feel she owes him. It’s better if everyone starts from scratch. So,” Savage was clearly striving for casual, “Ava Kanas was in WitSec?”
“I think officially she still is.” Dominic looked up and spotted a pharmacy nearby. Through the window he noted his lunch order hadn’t arrived yet. He headed for the pharmacy, still talking on the phone.
“Don’t worry,” Savage offered, “the information about her full identity has been left out of the official records of the incident. We called her a trainee negotiator and as there is no record of her at CNU, there’s no mention of her name.”
Dominic blew out a breath of relief.
“Did you know?” Savage pressed.
Dominic might have lied to Charlotte and Eban, but he couldn’t lie to Savage.
“No, but looking back I didn’t give her much chance to tell me. I was so focused on the siege that every time she tried to talk to me, I assumed it was about the UNSUB killing agents and told her to wait until the siege was finished. She didn’t even open her mouth in the negotiation room until Gino was seconds away from raping the warden.”
Dominic picked up a packet of condoms and some headache pills. He didn’t know whether to be disgusted by his lack of self-control, or impressed by his planning-for-anything mentality.
“I had no idea about her past, but it explains her relationship with Van Stamos. I do know that without Kanas’s intervention the siege would not have ended so well for the hostages.”
He paid cash and slipped the merchandise into his pocket. Headed back to the restaurant.
“Always expect the unexpected.” Savage laughed.
“Don’t ever forget it. Keep safe on your travels, Quentin.”
The man swore. “Are you sure you don’t want to go to Jakarta?”
“Hell, no.” Dominic had been there plenty of times and never on vacation. “You’ll do great.”
“Watch your back, Dom. Someone has a hard-on to put you in the ground.”
He thought of Caroline Perry. “That someone might be dead.” God, he hoped so.
“And they might not be. The good news is even if they are alive, I doubt they know where you are right now, but that won’t last long once the press hears about Galveston’s missing corpse. Until we confirm the UNSUB was Perry, and was definitely working alone, do not do anything stupid and keep Kanas close.”
Dominic grunted. Keeping Kanas close meant he was definitely going to do something stupid. And that wasn’t even what bothered him about the whole thing. Keeping her close didn’t seem like a problem, and that was in of itself becoming a major issue for him.
“When will you be back at Quantico?” Savage asked.