At Sam’s baffled look, Kait said, “Nina likes to invent stories.”
He met Kait’s gaze with a flirtatious smile. “So you didn’t talk about me, then?”
Nina’s phone rang, saving Kait from responding.
“As you can hear,” Nina said, ignoring the phone and starting down the aisle. “Our phones have been ringing nonstop all morning. People are calling to complain about their computers.”
“I don’t understand.” Kait caught up to Nina. “Why would they call here?”
“The computers were taken down by a virus that left a message on the screen telling the owners to call our office.”
“What?” Kait shot Nina a surprised look. “You’re joking, right?”
“Wish I was.” Kait felt the tension rolling off Nina. “The machines shut down precisely at eight a.m. and rebooted to display a blue screen of death. Only it’s not your typical blue screen.”
“Blue screen of death,” Sam said, dryly. “Don’t tell me. It goes with that bot term you tossed out yesterday.”
“Ah, no, but it is computer related.” Nina wrinkled her forehead as she met Sam’s gaze. “When a Windows operating system crashes, a blue screen displays an error message warning the user it might need to be fixed.”
“Not that I don’t find all these computer things fascinating . . .” Sarcasm dripped from his words. “But why call me in?”
“It’s your vic from the homicide,” Nina said, her face devoid of expression. “We think the virus was generated by the code we intercepted from his home yesterday.”
“How could that happen?” Sam asked, and Kait saw his boredom with the subject completely disappear.
“The code was sent by Congdon, or his killer, from Congdon’s residence to a number of computers around town,” Nina explained. “It contained a virus scheduled to kick off this morning.”
“Couldn’t have been Congdon then.” Sam looked Nina directly in the eye. “He was most certainly dead yesterday.”
“That’s not necessarily true,” Kait said as they rounded the corner to the war room. “Before Congdon was murdered, he could have scheduled the code to activate.”
“Or . . .” Nina turned and backed down the hallway, “. . . the killer could have planted the virus, hoping it would lead us to Congdon’s body.”
“Then why call 911 to report the murder?” Sam asked.
Nina shrugged. “Maybe someone else discovered the body and called it in.”
“Maybe.” Kait pondered the situation. Hackers had egos a mile wide and were often driven to brag about their skills and claim the hacks. “Or maybe the killer called 911 to report the murder, and this virus is his way of saying screw you, you’ll never catch me.’”
“Actually, none of that’s important right now.” Nina stopped outside the war room and met Kait’s gaze head-on. Her worried expression tightened the knot in Kait’s stomach. “It’s the actual message that’s got everyone around here worked up.”
“Then why not just start with that?” Sam asked, clearly as irritated as Kait was with the way Nina was drawing this out.
“I wanted you to see the message for yourself.” Nina tipped her head at the war room’s open door where Sulyard and the cyber team members sat around the table.
Kait peered past them to the large flat screen mounted on the far wall. Kait quickly noted the bright blue background, but it was the scrolling white letters that made her draw in a breath.
Kaitlyn Knight killed her sister and Elliot Congdon.
Now she killed your computer.
Call the Portland FBI office to stop her from killing again.
A sudden chill iced over Kait’s body, and she couldn’t move. The letters kept scrolling. One by one on the screen, the message sinking in. She vaguely heard Sam suck in a breath behind her. Her sentiments exactly. Fenton was accusing her of murder. He couldn’t possibly set her up to take the fall for killing Congdon as his opening line seemed to indicate, but this little stunt could bring the media into the fray, casting unfounded suspicion her way. Something she didn’t need to deal with right now, and something that Sulyard could embrace as a reason to keep her away from this investigation.
“I reckon you’re right, Kait,” Sam said, his relaxed drawl not a comfort for once. “Rhodes might be involved in Congdon’s murder.”
“Might be?” Kait spun on him. “He is involved. The proof is staring you in the face.”
His eyes creased in concern. “I wish I could be as sure as you are, but all this proves is that someone has it out for you, and that person most likely killed Congdon.”
“What?” She blinked hard as she tried to comprehend his stance.
“I—” He started to say, but swung his gaze down the hall.
Dressed in his usual dark suit, white shirt, and polished shoes, Sulyard had stepped into the hallway and was watching her carefully. “He’s right, Knight. You have arrested any number of people over the years who would want to get back at you.”
“But, sir,” she replied as she scrambled to figure out how to convince Sulyard and Sam of Fenton’s involvement. “The message mentions Abby. It has to be Fenton.”
Their unchanging expressions said her impassioned plea fell on deaf ears. She was alone here. Alone in this crusade, and her chest ached from the burden.
“This is exactly why I didn’t want you on the case,” Sulyard went on. “Stop thinking with your heart and use your head. Evidence is needed here. Something concrete to tie Rhodes to Congdon’s murder, not just a computer threat that could have come from anyone.”
“No disrespect,” Kait said, flinging out a last hope, “but who other than Fenton would know about my sister and have the skills to unleash a virus like this?”
Sulyard lifted his index finger. “First, your sister’s murder received extensive press coverage, and it’s public knowledge.” Up went another finger. “Second, you deal with cyber criminals with exceptional programming skills on a daily basis. So our suspect could be any number of hackers from prior cases who have done their research before seeking revenge.”
His points were valid. Too valid.
But she couldn’t give up. Not now. Not until Fenton was behind bars. “I doubt many of them have medical training.”
Sulyard tilted his head to the side. “What does medical training have to do with it?”
Kait opened her mouth to fire back the answer, but she hadn’t been authorized to attend the autopsy, so she hesitated.
“It’s looking like the killer used IV drugs to murder Congdon,” Sam jumped in, saving her from a reprimand. When he finished explaining the autopsy results, Kait sent him a thankful smile.
Sulyard, however, wasn’t smiling. “Granted, adding the medical training to the equation further limits the pool of possible candidates, but odds are someone on your list of prior arrests has a medical background.”
Just the opening Kait needed to keep the hope of Fenton’s involvement alive. “So, if I review all of my former cases and don’t find anyone with medical training, can we put Fenton at the top of our suspect list?”
Sulyard crossed his arms. “Let me be clear, here, Knight. We, and especially you, aren’t working the murder investigation. That’s PPB’s job.”
Kait took a step closer to him. “Even after this, you’re not going to stake a claim to the murder investigation? You’re just going to let the locals keep it?”
He gestured at the team waiting in the war room. “We’ve already taken charge of the computer investigation, and I’ve spoken to Lieutenant Vance. We agreed that Detective Murdock would sit in on our meeting today, and he’ll continue investigating the murder.” Sulyard paused and made strong eye contact, his solid stance a challenge, a warning to back down. “Alone.”
Kait knew she was treading on thin
ground here, but she’d never give up on actions she thought would help her find Fenton. “But, sir—”
Sulyard held up a hand. “Enough, Knight. I’ve given you too much leeway on this already. Now let’s forget about Rhodes for a minute and logically work our investigation to see if we can figure out who’s behind the computer threats.” He spun and headed into the conference room.
No matter Sulyard’s direction, she’d never forget about Fenton. When the meeting broke up, she’d pore through her past cases to make certain no one else possessed the necessary medical experience to pull off this event. Then Sulyard would be forced to consider Fenton their top suspect.
Chapter Ten
READY TO TACKLE another stack of files, Kait left the break room with a bottle of water. A few hours remained in her workday to go through her remaining records and prove Sulyard was wrong. If she didn’t finish before it was time to pick up Lily, Kait would take the files home and work on them after putting Lily to bed.
She turned the corner and spotted Nina seated in her cubicle, staring at her monitor as if mesmerized. Odd. She’d gone to the post office to see if she could find out why mail hadn’t been delivered to Congdon’s address. She’d promised to check in the minute she returned, but here she sat. It could only mean one thing.
A problem.
“You memorizing that screen?” Kait asked jokingly to keep her unease at bay.
Nina looked up, but the vacant, distracted expression remained.
“Uh-oh.” Expecting a long discussion, Kait put the icy water bottle down. “What’s wrong? Is it Fenton? Something to do with the mail?”
“No.” Nina grabbed a sheet of paper from under the many files and reports scattered across her desk and handed it to Kait. “There was an order to hold the mail at Congdon’s address. As you can see, it was created online.”
Kait reviewed the form but didn’t see anything odd. More importantly, she didn’t see anything that tied the hold order to Fenton or provided the necessary information to track down the request.
“I realize that report’s about as helpful as a pocket on the back of your shirt.” Nina shifted in her chair. “I asked for the IP address where the request originated from, but the supervisor clammed up. If you find probable cause to request additional information, we could ask Sulyard to approve a warrant request.”
Kait frowned. “No way he’ll go for it, since it’s not related to our investigation of the computers.”
“Sam’s bound to request it.”
“After Sulyard’s warning earlier, it’s not likely Sam will share the information either.” Kait dropped into the desk chair. “Not that it will do much good even if he did. If Fenton requested the hold, he likely routed it though so many servers it’ll take forever to hunt down the address. If we can even find it.”
Nina picked up a pen and tapped it against the desktop, her face raised in thought. “Let’s assume for a minute that Rhodes is behind this. He’s not the perfect criminal. No such thing exists. He had to have slipped up somewhere.” Her pen stilled midair. “This could be the one little detail that will lead us to him.”
“I wish.” Kait studied the hold order, hoping to find something had miraculously appeared on the form to lead her to Fenton. Of course, nothing appeared.
Maybe she was wrong. Maybe she should listen to everyone else. Not stop looking for Fenton’s role in this investigation, but stop getting her hopes up over every little thing. Fenton wouldn’t be careless. It wasn’t in his nature.
She dropped the paper on the desk and sighed. “I doubt he erred on anything that would leave an electronic footprint.”
“Hey.” Nina leaned forward and peered at Kait. “You’re not giving up, are you?”
“What? No. Of course not. It’s just all these setbacks . . . wishing others could see what I see.” A shudder ran through Kait. “I feel so alone.”
Nina’s fingers brushed against Kait’s hand like a butterfly, lighting, then disappearing in a flash. Her touch was meant to comfort, while keeping anyone else from seeing it and reinforcing their belief that Nina was a real softie—something Nina fought all the time in the office. Not a good reputation to have for a tough agent.
“I’m sorry I can’t be as certain as you are about Fenton, but you’re not alone.” Her warm tone helped to soothe Kait’s frustration. “I’m with you all the way, and I’ll do anything I can to help.” Her eyes clouded over. She sat back, circling her arms around her waist and staring at her desk.
Kait followed Nina’s line of sight and believed she was looking at the multi-picture photo frame on her desk. One slot held her parents in a severe unsmiling pose. Another, her aged Grandmother Hale, gray hair with a tinge of red and a wide smile much like Nina’s. And the last, a blank spot that had once held a casual shot of her former boyfriend Quinn. She’d removed his picture a year ago when they’d split up, and she’d left it blank to remind herself that relationships were more trouble than they were worth.
Could she be focusing on the pictures because something bad had happened with one of her family members? She paid for her Grandmother Hale to live in a lovely assisted living facility in Portland. Maybe she’d gotten a call.
Kait wouldn’t be much of a friend if she didn’t try to find out so she could help. “The mail hold is nothing to get upset over, Nina. So, what’s wrong?”
She didn’t speak or make eye contact, and that raised Kait’s concern.
“Nina.” Kait got in her friend’s line of sight. “What happened?”
Her chin trembled, and she blinked hard as if trying to hold back tears. “I ran into Quinn.”
“You what?” Kait’s voice traveled through the space, drawing attention from their co-workers. She scooted closer and dropped her voice. “Where? When?”
“At the post office. He was there with his brother Tyler.” A war of emotions battled in Nina’s eyes, and Kait wasn’t certain which one would win the skirmish.
Kait didn’t care what others thought. She took Nina’s hand. “Oh, sweetie, why did you let me babble on and on about Fenton when you were so upset?”
“I’m still processing, you know.” Her voice cracked, and she paused to gather her thoughts. “I don’t know how I feel about seeing him, and I knew you’d insist on talking about it.”
“Of course I want to talk about it. The guy shattered your world. Did you speak to him?”
“Said hi, but that’s all.” She shook her head in slow, sorrowful arcs. “I thought I was over him, but seeing him again was like a sucker punch. And seeing Ty. I didn’t realize how much I missed him, and I . . .” Her voice trailed off.
Kait’s heart constricted at her friend’s sadness. Nina’s brother had drowned when she was young, and she’d embraced Ty as the sibling she’d never had, making the breakup with Quinn doubly painful.
“I’m so sorry, sweetie,” Kait said.
Nina pulled her hand free. “It’s not something I’m going to dwell on.”
“Looked to me like that’s exactly what you were doing.”
“Not on purpose, I assure you.” She pressed her lips together and stared past Kait’s shoulder. She seemed to be looking for the resolve to move beyond this. Kait wished she could supply it, but Nina would have to find the strength on her own.
“Do you mind if we table this for now?” Nina asked.
“Of course not.” Kait smiled “Let’s get together tonight to talk. Okay?”
Nina sighed and nodded. “I’ll bring the wine.”
Kait’s phone rang, but she wouldn’t answer until she was sure Nina was doing well enough for Kait to move on.
Nina waved a hand. “Go ahead and get it. I’m okay, I promise.” A look of resolve erased her uncertainty, a sure sign she’d be okay. For now, at least.
Kait checked Caller ID. Sam’s ico
n popped up, and she felt a strange little catch in her chest. “It’s Sam.”
“Figured as much when I saw your face light up.” Nina winked.
“My face didn’t light up,” Kait denied, though she suspected it had. “I’m sure he’s calling about the case.”
“Right.” Nina grinned. “So what are you waiting for? Answer it.”
Kait pressed Talk. “Sam. I’m surprised to hear from you.”
“I’m surprised to be calling.” He didn’t sound happy about it.
“Uh oh, that doesn’t sound good.”
“No . . . no . . . nothing bad has happened in the investigation. I just . . . I shouldn’t be calling you about anything related to it.” Dead silence filled the phone, but Kait resisted speaking and waited him out. “It’s just . . . I have a lead, and you were so down when your supervisor . . . well . . . you know. When he shut you down. I thought . . .”
“Why, Sam Murdock, are you trying to be nice?” She used a joking tone, but she was touched by the fact that he’d gone against protocol to include her.
He quickly snorted. “Don’t go all mushy on me, or I’ll hang up.”
She genuinely laughed, surprised that for the first time today, she could forget about her problems. A warm feeling settled in her heart, all because of Sam Murdock. A feeling too close to Nina’s pronouncement a moment ago, and one Kait intended to avoid analyzing.
“So, the lead?” she asked, returning them to the case.
“There’s a video of the person, a man, who made the anonymous 911 call. Our tech picked it up from the convenience store, and it’s ready for viewing. Thought since I don’t have a photo of Rhodes, you might take a look at it. You know, just in case . . .”
“Just in case Fenton made the call?”
“Yeah, that.”
“Are you kidding, I’m all over this,” she said quickly before he changed his mind about including her. He could have simply requested a photo of Fenton to compare to the video. The fact that he’d asked her to accompany him was a bonus she wouldn’t question.
Web of Deceit Page 9
