Saturday 19 December, 5.00 P.M.
‘He really did disarm it,’ Adam murmured as he and Trip stood in the small meeting room that the hotel had provided for their use, watching the restaurant’s security tape on Trip’s laptop for the third time – but not the footage of the shooting itself. The dining room camera had only gotten a partial view of the young man’s face before he’d been shot. The most revealing footage had come from the camera mounted outside, specifically the three seconds that the man had crossed the street, approaching the restaurant’s front door.
‘He unzips his coat right there,’ Trip said, pointing at the laptop screen. ‘Then . . . right there he yanks the wires.’ He paused the video. ‘You wouldn’t notice it if you weren’t watching. I missed it the first time I saw the tape. I thought he was adjusting his collar.’
‘He knew someone was watching him,’ Adam said. ‘Meredith thinks he was talking to someone, that he was wearing an earpiece.’
‘He was,’ a mild voice said from behind them.
Adam looked over his shoulder and had to fight not to scowl when Agent Quincy Taylor closed the door behind himself. ‘Did you find it?’ Adam asked, trying to keep the anger from his voice. The man had been . . . What, Kimble? the voice in his head asked sarcastically. Patting her hand to calm her? Because you weren’t there to do so?
Agent Taylor blinked at him. ‘Yes,’ he said, his wary tone indicating that Adam hadn’t hidden his anger all that well.
Even Trip was giving Adam a strange look. ‘Where was the earpiece?’ Trip asked the forensic investigator.
‘In a puddle of brain matter,’ Agent Taylor answered flatly. ‘One of the bomb disposal techs saw it there and took a photo for me, because the crime scene isn’t cleared for my team yet. Did I hear you say the victim pulled the wires out of the bomb?’
Trip nodded. ‘Sure looks like it. The kid must have known what he was doing, to be that bold. One false move and he could have been blown to bits.’
Adam forced himself to pull his head out of his own ass and focus on his job. ‘Maybe he knew what he was doing. More likely he just didn’t care. If the bomb had detonated at the door, the impact would have been a lot less serious.’
‘You think he was trying to save the people in the restaurant?’ Trip asked.
‘He tried to save Meredith,’ Adam answered. ‘He told her to get down, to run, just before he was shot. That indicates to me that he was still afraid of the bomb.’
‘So he wasn’t sure if he had disabled the device,’ Trip said thoughtfully. ‘That boy knew he was gonna die either way. You can see it on his face. How he flinches right before he yanks the wire.’
Adam sighed, his chest tight with compassion for the kid. ‘He said “he” was going to “kill her.” We can start with the assumption that the person the kid was afraid of was the one who shot him and drove away. We’ve got a BOLO out on the black SUV, ads for “Plumber’s Helper” on both sides.’ Multiple witnesses had seen it driving away. ‘But it’s a fake company and nobody seems to have seen a license plate.’
‘A witness caught the SUV on video,’ Agent Taylor said. ‘I got a partial plate and added it to the BOLO. That’s the other thing I came in to tell you.’
Adam blinked in surprise, but at least Trip did too, so Agent Taylor wasn’t keeping him out of the loop deliberately. ‘When did you get the video?’ Trip demanded.
‘Just now, when I went to check on the crime scene. That was after I finished cleaning Dr Fallon’s hands,’ Agent Taylor added pointedly. ‘And that’s all I was doing, Detective Kimble.’
‘I know. She was pretty freaked to have her hands covered in human remains. Thank you for making the situation easier for her, Agent Taylor.’
The man nodded once. ‘Quincy.’
‘Adam,’ Adam returned.
‘And I’m Trip,’ Trip said sarcastically. ‘Why didn’t that witness bring the video to us when we first got here?’
Quincy seemed unruffled. ‘They’re kids. Brothers, ten and twelve. They were goofing off, play-interviewing their parents about what they’d find under their Christmas tree. They were two blocks away when the SUV passed through their picture. At first, they didn’t know they’d gotten anything valuable. The press put the BOLO in their “breaking” report and the kids saw it. They walked up to me when I was outside, saw FBI on my jacket and showed it to me, then emailed it to me.’ He tapped the screen of his phone. ‘I just emailed it to you, Trip. They’re waiting in the lobby with their parents.’
‘Thanks,’ Trip said. ‘We got any leads on who might want the doc dead, Adam?’
‘Or why she was carrying a gun?’ Quincy added.
‘Really the same answer,’ Adam said. ‘She had a gun because she’s been stalked and/or threatened by parents of her child clients.’
Trip frowned. ‘What kind of threats? Has she reported it?’
‘She’s reported everything that’s a specific threat.’ He scowled. ‘Apparently, at least one of her clients’ parents has been showing up when she runs in the morning and at the store where she shops. And whoever it is just smiles at her. There’s no explicit threat.’
‘But plenty of implicit,’ Quincy said, his jaw going hard. ‘She didn’t tell you who she was afraid of, did she?’
‘No,’ Adam admitted, wondering if he was relieved or even more jealous that Quincy seemed to be protective of Meredith too. ‘She refused to tell and I didn’t push.’
‘Why the hell not?’ Trip exploded.
Adam gave him a bland look. Which was difficult because Jefferson Triplett was at least four inches taller than he was. ‘She was protecting her clients’ privacy. I didn’t push because she was close to breaking. I’ll get the information, one way or the other.’
Trip’s returned look was more of a glare. ‘I’ll ask her. You treat her like spun glass. She’s tougher than she looks.’
Adam’s brows shot up. ‘How do you know that?’
‘Because I Googled her when I arrived on the scene,’ Trip said. ‘She’s faced down some nasty-assed characters in the last five years. Any of which could have put a contract out on her. Our suspect list is goddamn long.’
‘What nasty-assed characters?’ And why hadn’t he known this? God, Kimble, you’re a selfish, clueless bastard.
‘At least three drug dealers, two pimps, and a corporate shark who vowed he’d see her pay for getting his kids taken away.’
Adam frowned at him. ‘You did not get all that off Google.’
Trip looked a little shamefaced. ‘Fine. I also asked Kendra. Officer Cullen, I mean.’
Kendra was Wendi’s sister. Both women were close to Meredith. ‘How would Kendra know?’ Adam asked suspiciously. ‘And why would she tell you anything?’
‘They run together in the morning sometimes. Kenny told me about the dealers and pimps when I got here. She was one of the first cops on the scene. She was the one who saw the bomb, actually.’ Trip seemed to hear the pride in his own voice and awkwardly looked down at his enormous hands. ‘We’ve, uh, gone out a few times. Kendra and I.’
Quincy rolled his eyes. ‘Good God. Are you all panting after each other? Adam, you looked like you wanted to take off my damn head today and Trip’s getting the low-down from her best friend’s sister.’ He huffed out a breath. ‘Look, I’m going back to work. I just wanted to tell you about the earpiece and the video.’
‘Thanks, Quince,’ Trip said, embarrassed, then waited until the man was gone before continuing. ‘I’m going to the lab to follow up on the bomb. The lab techs are transporting it as we speak. I want to take a look at those wires the kid pulled out. If he was able to disarm it so easily, we’re not talking about a sophisticated bomb-maker.’
‘How long before I can access the crime scene?’
‘At least an hour. The disposal team has to make sure the threat’s eliminated.’