“Why don’t we grab some dinner?” Darcie suggested. “We’ve all had a long day and we’ll think more clearly after something to eat.”
She received mumbled agreements, but Krista’s stomach was too upset to eat.
“It’s my night to cook.” Skyler stood. “If anyone wants to help, we could bang it out faster.”
“I will.” Krista jumped to her feet. “It’ll keep my mind off Opa.”
After a clipped nod, Skyler headed for the kitchen. She set a recipe for garlic lemon chicken with green beans and red potatoes on the counter. “If you could slice the lemons, I’ll start on the potatoes.” She put out a cutting board and retrieved the lemons and vegetables.
Krista took a knife from the block and started slicing while Skyler peeled potatoes.
“I owe you an apology.” Skyler paused, her peeler in midair, as if she was thinking about how to continue.
Krista looked at her. “For what?”
“One of our new forensic techs told the press about the detonator.” She met Krista’s gaze head-on. “Rookies sometimes make mistakes. I assure you it won’t happen again.”
“I appreciate the apology, but the damage is done. Just like before.”
“Before?”
“When Toby died, one of the detectives shared all the details—including his own speculations—with the press. He made it seem like there was no doubt that I had killed Toby, even when they had no proof.” Krista shook her head and went back to slicing, the tart lemon scenting the air.
“I suspect if he keeps that up, he won’t be a detective for long.”
Krista glanced at Skyler. “So it’s not standard practice to leak details to make someone look guilty and make their life a living nightmare?”
“I don’t see what purpose that would serve in the investigation. Certainly wouldn’t help move it forward.”
“I think he did it because he couldn’t prove my guilt. He wanted me tried in the media to wear me down and make me confess.”
Skyler’s eyes narrowed as she seemed to think about it. “I suppose that could happen. Not something I’d condone, though. And it didn’t work, did it?”
Krista shook her head. “I wouldn’t confess to something I didn’t do.”
Skyler gave a quick nod and went back to her work. Maybe she was starting to believe in Krista’s innocence. Maybe she’d always believed it and was just doing her job by keeping Krista on the suspect list. Krista would like to think so as she was starting to like Skyler.
They finished dinner prep in a comfortable silence. When they returned to the family room, the others looked up expectantly. Perhaps they thought Skyler had wormed some information out of Krista in the kitchen.
“Dinner’s in an hour.” Skyler sat and took out her phone.
Krista started to sit, too, but everyone continued to stare at her. The same way people had gaped at her when Toby’s death filled the news. In stores. At work. In the neighborhood. Everyone, everywhere, their eyes filled with suspicion and blame. Everyone except Opa.
Opa, oh, Opa, where are you?
The walls felt as if they were closing in. She couldn’t breathe. Think. She needed time alone. She spotted her raincoat on a hook and knew what would help relieve her stress. She crossed over to Cash. “Would it be okay if I stepped outside for a minute?”
“Sure,” he said. “Let me turn on the garden light.”
The light illuminated the steady rain soaking the patio. She grabbed her coat and slipped it on.
Cash opened the door for her. “I wouldn’t mind the fresh air, too.”
“I need to be alone.”
He stepped back but caught her hand and squeezed it. “We’ll figure this out and get Otto back. I promise.”
“How can you promise that? No one can.”
“You’re right. I can only promise that I’ll do everything within my power to get him back safely.”
“Thank you.” She smiled. “I could never have survived all of this without you.” She stepped outside and the rain immediately wet her face. She tugged up her hood and stared over the garden. Wind whistled through tall ornamental grasses. Dark shadows clung to huge boulders holding back the earth in tiers.
She thought of Opa. Wondered where he was. If he was hurt. Hungry. Cold. She’d brought danger to his doorstep. Put his life on the line.
A sob tore from her throat. She swallowed it down as tears stung her eyes and blurred her vision.
She dug through her pockets for a tissue. She felt something hard. Something that had fallen through a hole between the pocket and lining of her coat. She worked the lining with her fingers until she freed the item.
Made of white plastic, it was the size of a credit card but thicker with a small raised section. She manipulated the compartment that seemed as if it should open, but it didn’t budge. She’d never seen anything like it and had no idea how it ended up in her coat. Didn’t belong to her, of that she was certain.
Maybe someone at school dropped it in the wrong jacket in the lounge. Or maybe it had to do with the bombing. Could it be what the bomber was looking for?
Excited by the possibility, she hurried inside, went straight to Cash and showed him the card. “This was in my jacket pocket. With our dry spell, I left the coat in the teacher lounge. I haven’t worn it since the morning after the bombing.”
He took the card. “You think this has to do with the bombing?”
“Maybe. Or another teacher could’ve put it in my pocket by mistake. I don’t know.”
“Let’s assume it’s related to the bomb. How and when could it have ended up in your jacket?”
Krista closed her eyes and flashed back to that night. She hated the memories, but she let them play in her mind, reliving each little detail. Her eyes flew open. “The bomber pushed me out of the way. He could have dropped it into my pocket then.” She grabbed Cash’s arm. “He planted it on me and now he wants it back. This is it. Don’t you see? The thing he’s looking for. He couldn’t find it when he searched the house because I’d left my jacket at school.”
“But what is it?” Cash asked. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“It’s a credit card drive,” Skyler said, coming into the room from the kitchen. She took the card and pressed the end of it. Up popped a tiny flash drive.
“Cool,” Cash said. “But what’s the point of it? Why not just carry a flash drive?”
“Flash drives can fall out of a pocket,” Skyler said. “This tucks safely inside a wallet.”
“If the bomber had this in his wallet,” Brady commented, “it wouldn’t have been easy to transfer it to Krista’s pocket without her seeing him do it.”
“Just because it fits in a wallet doesn’t mean he had it there,” Jake jumped in. “Might’ve been in his sweatshirt or pants pocket.”
“We need to know what it contains.” Cash looked at Skyler. “Can you grab your computer to open it?”
She shook her head. “Flash drives are notorious hack bombs. You put it in your computer and it kicks off a virus or runs malware. I won’t take that risk with my computer. And, if this really is connected to the investigation, we need to follow evidence recovery protocol.”
Krista frowned at her. “Which means what exactly?”
“We need to get a computer tech out here to image the drive and give us a copy of the files to look at.”
“How long will that take?”
“Depends if the tech on call is dealing with something pressing.” She dug out her phone. “I’ll make a call and see.”
As Skyler talked on the phone Krista could hardly stand still to wait for the news, but Skyler soon hung up. “He’s on his way. We can have dinner while we wait.”
“Eat?” Krista shouted. “How can anyone eat when we might have the very thing the bomber is looking for to free Opa?”
*
After dinner, Cash wanted to force Skyler to move faster, but all he could do was stand behind the computer as it slowl
y opened the first file. The tech had taken the flash drive but had left them a copy of the files. The window opened to reveal a spreadsheet holding a long list of numbers and formulas.
Skyler scrolled down. “Any ideas on what we might be looking at here?”
“Don’t ask me,” Cash grumbled. “I never was a math wizard.”
“Let me take a closer look.” Archer changed places with Skyler. He clicked on a few of the cells to open long formulas far too complicated for Cash to figure out.
Archer shook his head and stood. “It’s an algorithm of some sort, but I have no idea what for. We’ll need to get someone with the right training to look at it.”
“Okay, so why would the bomber give something like this to Krista?” Brady asked.
Krista scowled at him. Cash could tell she was getting tired of Brady always asking the hard question, but that was Brady through and through.
“Let’s hold that thought until we look at the other files.” Skyler clicked on the next item.
A schematic drawing opened.
“It’s for a bomb.” Cash leaned in to study the diagram and whistled. “It’s more sophisticated than the stadium bomb. Open the other files.”
Skyler clicked on them. They were all variations on the first diagram until she opened the last one.
“Whoa!” Brady pointed at it. “Is that what I think it is?”
Cash nodded. “A suicide vest with a handheld trigger remote. Question is, is it for the bomber or for someone else?”
“Terrorist?” Jake asked.
Krista paled. “What if he’s going to make Opa wear it?”
Cash took her hand, not caring when the others stared at him. “He could be planning to use it as a security measure to make sure we hand over the right file.”
Jake nodded. “If we screw it up…”
Krista gasped and dropped Cash’s hand to clasp the back of a chair.
Cash glared at Jake. “Way to couch your words.”
“Sorry,” he said. “But it’s a good possibility.”
“Is it?” Cash asked. “He knows we have the plans and I can easily figure a way to disarm the device.”
Brady scowled. “If he is planning to make Otto wear it, he could’ve switched things up to throw you off.”
“Then we can’t let that happen.” Jake tapped the screen. “What about these website addresses on this file? Can you trace him that way?”
Skyler shook her head. “There’s no date or time he downloaded these diagrams. He could have done it years ago. It would be a needle in a haystack search.”
“Okay.” Jake leaned back. “So we have bomb schematics and a spreadsheet with algorithms. I don’t see any reason this guy would off-load the drive on Krista.” He looked around the group. “Anyone else?”
“A setup,” Cash suggested. “After Krista told him about the backpack, he might have worried she would discover the bomb and report him. We’d question her involvement and find the card, making Krista look guilty.
“Or he was afraid it would implicate him,” Archer said. “Think about it. Maybe he was afraid she’d report him before he got out of the stadium. He had no way of knowing the crowd would go wild, taking the attention of security officers. If he thought we’d detain him, the schematics would be enough to make him a suspect.”
Cash nodded. “I’d buy that, but why not just throw it away? Why does he want this back? He could easily retrieve these schematics again.”
Brady gestured at the computer. “Has to be the spreadsheet, then. Put this file in the right hands and we might be able to figure out the identity of our bomber.”
Skyler closed the file. “I’ll do my best to find an expert to review it tonight.”
Jake clenched his jaw and worked the muscles. “We have until 10:00 a.m. tomorrow to figure that out, or Krista will have to make the exchange.”
Cash saw Krista shrink back. “You can’t really be thinking she should do the exchange? Especially not with these bomb schematics staring us in the face.”
“We may not have a choice.” Archer met Cash’s gaze. “It’s not a stretch to think this will be a nonnegotiable point.”
“Don’t worry,” Jake added. “We’ll surround the area with a team to keep her safe and, of course, apprehend the bomber after the exchange.”
The last thing Cash wanted was for Krista to go meet a bomber, but there was no point in saying anything tonight. “We can discuss it again once the bomber provides instructions.”
“Okay, people.” Jake clapped his hands. “We’re done here. We’ll reconvene in the morning at eight at the office.”
The team dispersed, and Krista looked at Cash. “I should be getting home.”
“What? Are you nuts?” His voice hit the ceiling. “You’ll be spending the night here.”
She shook her head. “I have to go home. The bomber might call the house or try to contact me there about Opa. Or even Opa could call. I plan to be there if he does.”
TWENTY
Krista opened the coffee bean canister. The familiar aroma that had often comforted her in the past brought tears to her eyes tonight. Opa always ground the coffee before bed and set the timer so when they got up it had brewed and was piping hot. Tonight it was up to her.
She scooped heaping spoons of beans into the grinder and set it whirring, her emotions spinning as fast as the blade. She didn’t care if Cash was in the family room and could hear her. She gave in and had the good, hard cry she’d been fighting since Opa’s disappearance. Her body convulsed with the pain. She released the grinder to wrap her arms around her stomach.
“Don’t cry, honey.” Cash came up behind her and gently turned her to face him. “It’ll be okay.”
At his kindness, her crying increased. He drew her into his arms and held her. She snuggled against him and felt a semblance of peace. She still wished he’d tell her about the parts of his past that he was withholding, but she was starting to believe that he really was exactly what he portrayed himself to be. A good, honest and decent man who’d be there for her whenever she needed him. Just as he’d been there for others when he was in the military. And now, as a deputy, putting others before himself, risking his life all the time.
The doorbell rang.
She pulled back in fear.
“Relax,” he said with a sweet smile. “Criminals don’t ring doorbells.”
Despite her tension, she laughed through choked sobs.
“You stay here. I’ll get the door.” He kissed her forehead and stepped out of the room.
She grabbed tissues from a box on the counter. As she made herself presentable, she heard male voices in a heated conversation. She waited for Cash to call out for her, but when he didn’t, she went down the hall to see who was at the door. He stood by the sofa with one of the detectives who’d investigated Toby’s murder.
Just the sight of Detective Eason sent blood draining from her head.
Eason pinned Cash with a glare. “If you didn’t want this to happen, then you shouldn’t have told me Mrs. Alger was back in town.”
Krista felt as if she’d been slapped across the face. She hurried back to the kitchen. Cash, the man who’d stood by her side, who’d just kissed her forehead and made it seem as if he cared, had failed to tell her he’d talked to Eason. And even worse, he ratted her out. How could she have considered trusting him? How had she been so wrong again?
He stepped into the kitchen and didn’t seem the least bit apologetic for bringing Eason back into her life. “A detective working Toby’s investigation is here. He has some questions for you.”
She was too exhausted to ask why he’d betrayed her this way. She woodenly walked to the family room and perched on the edge of a chair. “What do you want to know?”
“Glad to see you wised up and came back to town.” Eason stood towering over her. “Where have you been the last few years?”
She filled him in on her life in Kennesaw, sticking to the facts but telling him e
verything lest he accuse her of not being truthful. Eason took notes on his little pad, scribbling away as if he was afraid to miss a single word.
When she finished her story, he looked up and smirked. “Pretty smart using the false ID that Daddy got for you. What else did you use Daddy’s connections for? Maybe to hide the money in some offshore account?”
Krista crossed her arms. “I’ve told you, like, a thousand times, I did not touch that money.”
“Then when we request your banking information for Georgia we won’t find you lived the high life.”
“Right.” Krista scoffed. “The high life all child-care givers live on minimum wage.”
“So where’s the money?” he snapped at her.
Cash stepped closer. “No need to be so harsh, Detective.”
She ignored Cash’s attempt to help. “Believe me. If I knew where it was, I’d tell you.”
“We’ll see what your recent finances turn up and talk again. You can count on that.” Eason nodded at Cash, then stormed out of the house.
Cash locked the door and turned to Krista. “I’m sorry he was so rude. He shouldn’t treat you like that. He’s frustrated with it taking so long to close this case.”
“You would stick up for him, wouldn’t you?”
“What?”
“You told him about me.” She got to her feet. “I’m such a fool. I honestly thought you cared about me, but you called Eason. How could you?”
He tried to respond, but she held up a hand, stopping him. “Don’t bother,” she said, already on her way to the hallway. “There’s nothing you could say that would help.”
“Krista, wait,” he called after her. “It wasn’t like that at all. Let me explain.”
She fired a look over her shoulder. “How do you explain betrayal, Cash? How?”
She marched into her room and slammed her door. She paced like a penned dog. She couldn’t wait for tomorrow when she would deliver the flash drive, they’d catch the bomber and Opa would be freed. Then she could get Cash out of her life before she actually fell hard for another man who broke her trust.
*
Cash, the team and Krista sat at the conference room table the next morning. Techs had connected the phone left at Erwin’s house to a recording device with speakers and placed it in the middle of the table. The room was tense and, at times, Cash felt as if all the air had been sucked out of the space.
Love Inspired Suspense May 2015 #2 Page 15
