“Easy enough. Everything is on file,” Hannah said. “Uncle Ronin never did anything that wasn’t entirely on the up and up.”
Dallas looked over at Logan, who shrugged and said, “Who knows? Maybe there is a treasure buried in the backyard.”
“Maybe. Meanwhile, I just had an idea,” Dallas said.
“We’re listening,” Logan said.
“Yesterday I caught up with Blade at the wharf, where he has a boat. We know that our killer went out on a private boat. I’m thinking that was Blade’s boat. We need to get back to the station, Logan, and find out where that boat is.”
Logan rose. “Let’s get going. Kelsey?”
“Yes, we got it. Don’t go out, don’t let anyone in,” she said.
“Anyone,” Dallas repeated, looking at Hannah.
“Anyone,” she said, her tone cool.
“And call,” Dallas said.
“If anything happens, we will,” Kelsey said.
“Hey!” Hannah said.
“Yes?” Dallas said.
“You call, too, if anything happens,” she said, determined.
*
Dallas and Logan hadn’t been gone long when the patrol officer in front of the house called to tell them that they were getting a visitor.
Hannah opened the door carefully, with Kelsey right behind her, after looking out and seeing that it was Valeriya.
“Valeriya, I told you that I’ll keep paying you even though I don’t need you right now.”
“Please, you don’t understand,” Valeriya begged.
“Hannah,” Kelsey warned her softly.
“I just can’t,” Hannah told her. “Valeriya, I can even get you a check now for the next week if you’re that worried.”
“No, no, it’s not about the check.”
“I’m sorry, but I just can’t have anyone in here right now, Valeriya. Not even you.”
Tears suddenly streamed down Valeriya’s cheeks. “You don’t understand,” she said desperately. “You have to let me in. I’m begging you. If you don’t let me in, he’s going to kill my baby!”
*
Sergeant Mallory from the technical division was skinny as a reed and looked like the stereotypical nerd. He had a thatch of reddish hair, freckles and giant glasses. But the minute he opened his mouth, Dallas liked him. The kid was good.
He gave them a few technical details as he explained what he had found out from the cell phones. They were prepaid and available across the country, but he had managed to discover that they’d been bought at different times at different stores in the southeast part of the state, from Palm Beach to Miami.
But the most important discovery he had made was where the bulk of the calls had come from. Most had been made from a point just southwest of the Seven Mile Bridge, which made Dallas wonder just how much time the Wolf even spent in Key West. But it was the next thing Mallory told him that gave Dallas the chills.
Pistol had revealed another detail of the Wolf’s security precautions. He didn’t just replace his own phone on a regular basis, he had his men trade phones between themselves, too. Just that morning, right before Pistol had gotten himself arrested, he’d been ordered to pick up his new phone. Mallory had traced and dated and cross-referenced calls and figured out that most on that particular phone had come from Key West. He had narrowed it down to somewhere around Duval, northwest of Front Street.
Dallas had a sinking feeling that the man who’d owned that phone up until that morning was Machete, and that meant a killer had been making calls from very near Hannah’s house.
When Mallory finished his report, Dallas, Liam and Logan all commended him. The man turned a bright red and told them he was glad to help, then headed back to his computers.
Dallas immediately filled the other two men in on his conclusion—and his fears.
“I’m going to call the cop on duty out front right now and tell him to be on high alert,” Liam said.
When Liam left, Dallas turned to Logan. “I want to interview Billie Garcia again. I want to ask him about his boat.”
“If Machete had taken his boat, don’t you think Billie would have told you?”
“I think he would have if he knew,” Dallas agreed. “But, what if Machete took the boat and Billie didn’t know about it?”
“How would Machete even know Billie had a boat?” Logan asked.
“The Wolf would have known. He knows everything about everyone he hires. He would have sent Billie somewhere on some pretext or other, then told Machete where to get a boat.”
Logan reflected on that. “Let’s get him in here,” he said. “With this case, anything is possible.”
*
Hannah didn’t even have to look at Kelsey to know they were in agreement. She opened the door wider and let Valeriya in.
Valeriya was still sobbing, so Hannah led her into the kitchen, sat her down at the table and quickly found a box of tissues for her.
“Tea?” Kelsey suggested.
“Sure. And the Jameson’s might be good, too,” Hannah said.