“Oh yeah, I’m investigating him.” Rand smiled almost wickedly.
“I think you’ve got enough for a search warrant.”
Rand broke out in a wide smile. “That’s great news, Dane.” He reached over and shook his hand. “Is the CSI team finished at the dig site?”
“Yes. Caroline can return to the site now.”
* * * *
Caroline decided to take her team to breakfast the next day and while at the restaurant, her cellphone rang. The display showed it to be Rand.
“Hi, Rand.”
“Hey, Caroline, you and your team can begin working at the dig site again.”
“Really? That’s great news. Thanks for letting me know.”
“You’re welcome, honey.”
Caroline was amazed at how easy it became for her to trust Rand again. She knew that he would do everything he could to get the charges dropped. Her relationship with him was totally different then her relationship had been with Dan. She knew in her heart that Rand would never, ever abuse her in any way.
Chapter 22
“Carlson, I’d like you to check and see what Dan Priest is driving, and see if we can possibly get a tire impression comparison. The tire impressions that were at the crime scene were from a Kelly Springbrooke number 1462. The tire impressions we took at the other site shows a Kelly Springbrooke and a Michelin XRA.”
“Okay, I’ll get right on it.”
An hour later, Carlson came back into Rand’s office. “Dan Priest is renting an SUV from Taylor’s rental with Michelin XRA. However, I found out that he traded in another rental SUV that had Kelly Springbrookes 1462 model tires. That car was still in the parking lot so I called CSI and they came out immediately and took the tire impressions. They’ll let me know shortly if there’s a match.”
After lunch, Rand went over to see Lavina Davis about getting a search warrant for Dan Priest’s apartment in Sand Springs.
“I thought this case was solved,” Lavina said.
“I did too, until new developments came up,” Rand answered.
“Are you really sure about this?”
“I’m positive that this man has something to do with the murder. The circumstantial evidence is even stronger for him than it is for Caroline Priest,” Rand added, trying not to lose his patience.
“Could they be in this together?” Lavina asked.
“No. Caroline and Dan are divorced, and he physically abused her. I do not believe she would have anything to do with him or this case. I think he’s planted evidence to make her look guilty.”
“Perhaps he threatened to harm her if she didn’t help him.”
“It doesn’t add up. Let’s get the search warrant and check out his place. There’s got to be a reason he only took a three-month lease.” While talking with Lavina, Rand’s cellphone rang and the display showed Carlson’s name. “Excuse me a minute, Lavina.” He took the call and smiled when Carlson gave him an up-to-date report on the case. “Great, thanks for letting me know.”
He clipped his phone back in its case.
“Lavina, the tire impression that we took at the crime scene matched the tires on a car that Dan Priest rented before he turned it in for a different vehicle. There was another site about four hundred feet away from the dig site where we found tire impressions and plastic cups. All the tire impressions came back matching the vehicles that Dan Priest drove, and the cups had his DNA on them. He was watching Caroline and her team at the dig site. Not only does this merit a search warrant, but we’ll need another one for Taylor Rental to seize the rental papers and search the car for blood and other evidence.”
“Okay. I’ll bring them over later today,” Lavina said.
* * * *
Lavina brought the search warrant over later in the afternoon. Rand called the CSI to meet him at Dan Priest’s apartment in Sand Springs, and several deputies came in separate cars to secure the parameter.
When they arrived at Dan Priest’s apartment and knocked on the door there was no answer, so Rand and his deputies walked through, armed, scoping out each room to be sure the place was secured and no one was hiding. As the officers finished searching each room, they called out, “Clear,” indicating that no one was in there. Once the apartment was secured, the CSI entered.
The apartment was fully-furnished, with a lot of geological equipment lying about on the floor, and a desk with a computer in the master bedroom. As CSI McLaughlin went through the closet in the master bedroom, they came across a gun, a 38 Special. They bagged it and then proceeded to go through other items in the closet. CSI Janson found the victim’s wallet with his driver’s license, social security card, and a couple of credit cards. They also found a CD, and they put in the computer that was in the apartment and listened to it. It matched the voices the CSI had retrieved from the desktop computer at the victim’s apartment in Jordan, so they bagged the CD for further analysis.
A pair of work boots had similar soles as the footprints that was found near the dig site, so it was bagged for evidence. CSI Starvorski picked up a sample of the dirt on the carpet to take in for an analysis to determine if it was the same dirt that they’d found at the site where the body was dumped. Under the bed in the master bedroom, there was a briefcase with what looked like cocaine, packaged in small plastic bags weighing about one gram, the same as the ones found at the dig site and the victim’s apartment.
When the search was concluded and Rand came out of the building, the deputy who was standing outside told him, “While you were in there, a black SUV with black tinted windows pulled up here in this parking spot and then backed away and drove off. I took the license plate down, called it in, and found that it was a rental car. I called the rental company and they said the car was leased to the perp, Dan Priest.”
“Good job, Lionel. Which way did he go?” Rand asked.
“That way.” The deputy pointed north.
* * * *
Shit. How did she manage to get them onto him? Dan wondered. He’d covered his tracks pretty good. What did he screw up that caused them to suspect him?
Well, he was going to have to take care of Caroline now. He would make her disappear.
The only way they could possibly know of his involvement was if she’d cast suspicion on him. He hadn’t banked on the sheriff listening to her instead of paying attention to the evidence.
“Time for your demise, Caroline.”
* * * *
Caroline and her team were busy working on putting T-rex bones in boxes so they could take it to The Dinosaur Lab and analyze them. A black SUV pulled up and parked next to Caroline’s SUV. When the man got out of the vehicle, Caroline knew immediately it was her ex-husband.
“You guys stay and continue working on the bones, I’ll go and see what he wants.” Caroline stood up, wiped the back of her neck with the back of her hand, and approached Dan. “What do you want?”
“I need you to get into the vehicle.”
“Like hell I will!” Caroline said in a knee-jerk reaction.
“Well, if hell’s where you’d like to go…” He pulled out a Beretta and aimed it at her.
“Now, get in the truck,” he said menacingly.
“Where are you taking me?” Caroline asked.
“Someplace no one will find you.” He pointed the gun at her and motioned to the SUV. When she didn’t move, Dan said, “If you don’t get in the car, I’ll shoot one of the students.”
Caroline slowly walked over to the passenger side of the vehicle and got in. Dan got into the driver’s side and they drove off.
* * * *
As Rand and Carlson were on their way back to the station in Jordan, Rand got a call on his cellphone.
“Callahan,” he answered.
“Yes, Sheriff Callahan, you need to get out to the Hell Creek State Park dig site. There’s an emergency. Caroline was taken at gunpoint by some man and forced into a vehicle. They drove off,” a young woman said in a rush, yelling into the phone.
“Hey, hey, calm down and tell me slowly what you just said.”
“This is Cathy, one of Caroline’s students. A man showed up and forced Caroline to get into his black SUV, and he had a gun.”
Rand called in for extra deputies to head to Hell Creek State Park and get a statement from the team, and he also ordered a blockade at the junction of Highway 200 and County Road 543. He told them to be on the lookout for a black SUV with black tinted windows, and two people in it, a male driver and a female passenger. Rand also called in deputies to come by chopper to the area between Jordan and Hell Creek State Park in search of the vehicle and any sign of Caroline and Dan Priest.
The phone call had put fear in Rand’s heart. His adrenaline kicked in and he was riding high. Rand and Carlson brought the cruiser to an abrupt stop midway to the state park. No one in a black SUV had passed them yet. They pulled out their rifles, loaded them, and waited to hear from the air patrol to whether or not they had spotted the SUV and-or the occupants. It seemed like forever, but within ten minutes, he heard the chopper in the distance. They called in on the CB radio and reported that they were flying overhead around the Badlands and the state park. Other deputies came to the scene and waited with him until they learned which direction the vehicle was heading.
“My guess is that they will have to park the vehicle somewhere. There really isn’t any good terrain for an SUV,” Rand mentioned. Soon, Rand heard his name on the CB radio and went to answer it. “Yeah, Roy, what have you got?”
“We see tire tracks about a half mile from where you guys are. They look fresh. They’re on the west side of the road, going into what looks like a ravine area.”
“Okay, thanks, we’ll be checking that out.” Rand got in the cruiser. He hollered at the other deputies, “Follow me, we’re going a half mile up.”
Carlson got into the passenger side. Rand gunned the cruiser and sped down the road. They found the tire tracks that Roy had spotted from the chopper and followed the tracks down to a ravine where there were pine trees and shrubs. Hidden in the pine trees, they found a black SUV with tinted windows. With guns drawn, they stealthily approached the SUV, but the vehicle was empty. Rand looked around the vehicle to see if he could find footprints. He spotted them leading off from the vehicle through the brush and tumbleweed bushes.
Rand turned around to face his deputies. “Okay, everyone takes a partner and go in twos in each direction. Jack, you and Andy go west.” Rand pointed in that direction. “Traci, you and Rick go eastward, and Carlson and I will follow the actual footprints. Keep in touch everyone, and if you see anything at all, let me know.”
Rand felt like they were walking forever, following the prints. Caroline seemed to be dropping little things, leaving a trail for them—a gum wrapper, a tiny caliper, a tissue paper. Every several feet Rand found something that she had planted to lead him to her.
The chopper had been circling a particular area for a few minutes when Roy called Rand. “I just saw Caroline. She came out in an open area for a few minutes, and then the guy ran out, grabbed her, and dragged her back under the trees. You’re about a quarter of a mile from them.”
“Okay, am I going in the right direction?”
“Yes, you are.”
Rand called his deputies and told them to rendezvous in the middle. They had found where Caroline was.
Chapter 23
It seemed like Dan and Caroline walked forever before she finally convinced him to stop and rest. The skin around her ankle bore open sores that hurt and were bleeding.
She asked him, “Did you have anything to do with the murder that took place a few months ago at my dig site?”
“Yes, I did,” Dan admitted.
“Why did you kill him?” she asked, amazed that he admitted he had done it.
“He ratted out the mob boss and they wanted him dead. They put a contract out on him and I tracked him down.”
“What are you, mafia?” Caroline asked.
“That’s what some people call us,” Dan snorted.
“What about the drugs?” Caroline asked.
“Seems Michael Seprino continued in the drug business even though they put him in witness protection and gave him a new identity and new life. I’m taking the drugs back to the boss.”
Caroline grew sick to her stomach. She never knew he had a secret life with the mob.
“Did you plant the drugs, or were you looking for them?” Caroline asked.
“I planted them there so the police would continue to think you had murdered the man, and that you were interested in the drugs.”
“What about the cellphone?” Caroline asked.
“I stopped by your room one night and your SUV was unlocked. I shoved the cellphone under your seat.”
Caroline was shocked. “Why did you try to pin this on me?”
“Because you deserved it.” He smirked derisively.
“So you took stuff from my dig site and planted it in the victim’s apartment?”
“Yep.”
“You hate me that much?” Caroline asked.
“Hate wouldn’t begin to describe it. But really, my job was to kill Seprino. I could have put the body anywhere and no one would have found him. But after I saw you here, I decided to make it look like you did it. That was repayment for having me arrested and put in prison. You couldn’t leave it alone with just a divorce, you had to go and file charges against me.”
“No wonder why I divorced you. You are worse than I ever imagined,” she retorted.
“Don’t talk to me like that,” he hissed.
He took a couple of steps toward her so she grabbed a large limb lying beside her. “Don’t you even think of trying to hit me.”
“No, I’ll just kill ya,” he snarl as he raised the gun up and aimed it at her. Dan heard a chopper flying overhead and he looked up. He grabbed Caroline roughly and shoved her under the rock formations.
“You won’t get away with this. They already know who you are and that you have me,” Caroline said defiantly as she tried to step out where they could see her.
She knew if the chopper was overhead looking for them, then Rand was also looking for them.
* * * *
Dan had his back facing the south and when he looked up at the chopper, Rand and his deputies crept up behind him. Caroline saw them, and Rand put his finger to his lips, signaling Caroline to keep quiet. Caroline faced Dan as he looked back at her, pointing the gun.
Rand put his gun to Dan’s neck, unlocking the trigger. Click. “Drop the gun,” Rand said calmly.
In a split second, Dan stood surrounded by men. Traci grabbed Caroline and pulled her off to one side. When the deputies wrestled Dan to the ground and handcuffed him, Rand walked over to Caroline. She ran up to him and threw her arms around him.
He held her tightly as he whispered, “It’s over, honey, it’s over.”
“Rand, he confessed that he killed that guy and planted the drugs and all the other evidence to point toward me,” she blubbered through the cascade of tears and sobs.
“I know, honey. We had just finished searching his apartment when I got the call you were taken hostage. We’ve found all the evidence now.”
“Can you let my team know that I’m okay?” she asked,
Rand pulled his cellphone out and called the deputies he had sent to the dig site. “Hey Tory, let Caroline’s team know that she’s all right and the suspect is in custody. You guys can leave as soon as you get all their statements.”
They watched as the deputies took Dan in handcuffs and started the walk to where the vehicles were parked half a mile away.
* * * *
Rand took Caroline to her dig site so she could take her team back to the motel. After she dropped them off, she called her attorney and arranged to meet him at the district attorney’s office. She called Rand, and he, too, agreed to be there. Rand presented the case to Lavina Davis about Dan Priest and his arrest. Caroline’s attorney asked Lavina to dismiss the c
harges. Lavina called the judge and he agreed to hear them at three that afternoon.
After they all entered the judge’s chambers, he said to Caroline’s attorney, “You may start.”
“Your Honor, we now have new evidence that clearly shows that my client is innocent of all charges against her. The crime was committed by her ex-husband, Daniel Priest, who has been arrested and is in jail now. We are asking for the charges to be dismissed.”
“Are you sure that they are not in this together?”
“Yes, Your Honor, we are sure.”
“How does the district attorney feel about this?” He turned and looked at Lavina Davis.
“We concur with the counselor, Your Honor. Mr. Daniel Priest acted solely on his own, and is guilty of the crime of murdering Mr. Marc Baker, also known as Michael Seprino.”
“Why do you feel that he has committed this murder?” the judge asked.
Rand spoke. “All evidence collected shows Daniel Priest to be the murderer. He also has mafia connections. He’s known as the hit man for the John Bosso crime family.”
“I see. Why would he then plant evidence to incriminate Ms. Caroline Priest?” the judge asked.
“His excuse was that he was getting back at Caroline for filing abuse charges against him. He had to serve time for it,” Caroline’s counselor said.
The judge looked back at Caroline’s attorney. “Your client had no knowledge of this?”
“No, sir, she did not.”
“Your Honor, here is the list of all the evidence we found when we conducted the search warrant, and the actions taken by Daniel Priest.” The district attorney handed him all the evidence that was in the file.
He reviewed the evidence and then looked at Caroline. “Your charges are dismissed and you are released with the apologies of the court.”
The Last Dig Page 14
