“Sorry, my bad. But if you weren’t an officer of the law, what would you do? Hypothetically speaking, of course.”
Liz pivoted to lean against the counter beside Jenna, her back to the men in the rear of the RV. “Well…for starters I might reach out to Clint’s daughter. I mean, I didn’t get to talk to her for very long, but it was pretty obvious that she knew more than she was saying. And that she was reluctant to become part of the official record. Now…” She raised a hand as Jenna opened her mouth to argue against any deal offered to Morgan. “I’m not saying she won’t someday have to answer for anything she might have been involved with in the past. I’m just saying that right here and now, I have my hands full with an active investigation that very clearly has the possibility of severely impacting public safety. I don’t have time to open any old cans of worms, so to speak.”
Jenna considered that. She almost wished they did have something they could arrest Morgan for. But Liz had a point. Stopping Clint and Gibson and their partners, the brothers Kroft, had to take priority. “I’ll give her a call.”
“Good. Let me know if there’s anything I should know. From any source.”
“Will do.” Liz moved down the narrow center aisle to join Oshiro and Andre at the back of the RV.
Jenna slid her phone out and dialed Morgan. No answer. A sharp knock came on the command center’s door, and she turned to open it.
“We got something,” a patrol officer said, his tone unable to mask his excitement. He climbed into the RV and walked past Jenna to hand Liz an evidence bag. “Found it in the kid’s locker.”
Liz glanced at it then handed it to Oshiro, who immediately got on his phone even as he began typing on a computer.
“What is it?” Andre asked.
“Receipt,” the uniformed officer gushed. “Was with a couple of burner phones.”
“Thanks,” Liz said, opening the RV’s rear door and letting a gust of air inside. Jenna shivered and crossed her arms over her chest. The air was clammy as if it was about to rain. Not quite cold enough for snow, not yet.
“But,” the officer resisted Liz’s hint, “you can track him with that, right? It’s got the serial numbers of the other burner phones. One of them has to lead to him.”
“We’re on it. I’ll let you know as soon as we find anything.” Liz peered at the young officer’s nameplate. “Officer Wentworth. Keep up the good work.”
He nodded and left, closing the door against the chill and first splatters of rain.
“To be that young again,” Liz sighed even as she turned to Oshiro. Andre stood, giving her his seat at the computer console.
“We were never that young,” Oshiro muttered. “Folks like us, we’re born old.” Then he nodded, held his phone away from his ear, and tapped the speaker on. “Say again.”
“We have a confirmed sighting of Caine,” a man’s voice came from the phone. “And it’s at the same area where one of these burner phones is pinging to.”
Oshiro and Liz exchanged glances, their eyes going wide with anticipation.
“Where?” Liz asked, already standing.
“The arena. At the Pitt basketball game.” There was a pause. “Caller said Caine was accompanied by another male, fits the description of Gibson Radcliffe. Said they were carrying silver fire extinguishers, dressed in fire department uniforms. Should we evacuate the game?”
Liz leaned forward. “We’ll call you back in a minute.” She hung up. “If we evacuate and they see it, they might trigger the bombs.”
“Not to mention the fact that it’d take a helluva lot of time to clear tens of thousands of people.”
“Why would Clint target a basketball game?” Jenna asked. “What’s he have to gain?”
“No idea, but we can’t risk it. We’re going to have to coordinate a full EOD response along with an evacuation—the brass is going to love this. Hope you didn’t have any plans for the night,” Liz said to Oshiro.
Then she nodded to Jenna and Andre. “Thanks for your assistance, but we can’t bring civilians along on this one.” She pushed the doors open and jumped out of the RV, calling to Olsen, the bomb squad leader, before Jenna could protest.
“Aw, hell,” Oshiro said, pushing back from the computer. “There go my brackets.”
Chapter 22
MORGAN’S EYES FLUTTERED open, and she strained to focus. She was lying on something soft…a couch? And she was inside. Not the barn. A proper house. “What happened?”
“You fainted.” Micah’s voice came from the haze above her.
“I don’t faint.”
“Okay, then. You abruptly fell unconscious so quickly that I couldn’t stop you from hitting the ground. I carried you in here. Then you passed out again.”