Chapter Twenty-Three
RAYNE RETURNED TO the bedroom when Seth signaled he was ready to begin their discussion. She closed the door behind her and walked toward the bed. “Grant.”
The man she adored woke instantly and turned his head toward her. “Is Seth ready?”
She nodded. “Do you need a soft drink or water?”
He grabbed a pillow, pressed it over his wound, and sat up, swinging his feet to the floor. “Better go with water this time.”
Good choice. “I’ll get your water while you sit down.”
“Has anyone found information on other soldiers or their family members who might be our culprits?”
“Nope. Most of our teammates were on the balcony or stretched out on the floor for a quick nap themselves.”
“Good. I’d hate to think I’m such a wuss that I need to turn in my man card. I’ve been hurt worse than this and kept going.”
Rayne laughed. “Your man card is safe, babe.”
After she selected another bottle of water for Grant, they joined the others in the living room.
Seth turned to Riley. “I know it’s only been a few minutes, but I also know how fast you work. Do you have anything for us?”
“Check your Fortress email. I found two traffic cam shots. I’m still looking for more of those and security camera footage along the street.”
Grant pulled out his phone, logged into his email, and tapped on Riley’s message.
Rayne did the same and studied the shot. Although the picture was grainy, Rex was recognizable. Another person sat beside him in the SUV. Unfortunately, the passenger wore a large hoodie with the hood raised and kept his head lowered so his face wasn’t in view of the camera in this shot.
She brought up the second photo. More of the same except the passenger’s head was turned toward Rex and was raised higher. At least she could tell the passenger was Caucasian from the profile.
Although this photo was as grainy as the first one, the change in the passenger’s position made it possible to see a partial outline of the face. Rayne tapped the picture and enlarged it. Enlarging the photo only blurred the picture more. Not the result she was looking for.
She clicked on the Fortress imaging program. Zane Murphy’s computer program could clean up the images. Whether the process would be enough to identify the passenger was anyone’s guess.
Rayne uploaded the photos and clicked on three options, then waited for the result. When the pictures appeared, she frowned. Still not good enough to identify the passenger.
She tapped a few more keys, highlighted the passenger’s side profile, and waited. Seconds later, the enlarged section of the photos popped onto the screen. Her breath caught. Cruel was the only word that fit under the circumstances.
“Got something?” Grant asked.
Rayne handed her phone to Grant. He studied the photos, the muscles in his jaw tightening. Yeah, that’s how she felt. How could they do that to Beau?
“What is it?” Seth asked, his gaze shifting from Rayne to Grant.
Grant handed his team leader Rayne’s phone.
Seth studied the photo for a moment, his facial expression hardening as he handed the phone to Teagan.
She scowled. “That’s messed up. Who would do that?”
“What did you find, Rayne?” Iona asked.
“I ran the traffic cam photos through the Fortress imaging program and focused on the passenger’s profile.”
“Well, don’t keep us in suspense,” Riley said. “Who is it?”
“Eileen Reed.”
“Oh, man. Teagan is right,” Elias said. “That’s messed up.”
“It’s cruel,” Teagan spat out. “She worked with her lover to murder her husband. Hasn’t she heard of divorce?”
“What can we do about it?” Iona asked. “We can’t let them get away with this.”
“We won’t.” Seth returned to the oversized sheets of paper stuck to the wall with his marker in hand. “At the moment, though, we don’t have enough evidence to pin Beau’s murder on his wife and her lover.”
“That’s not our problem,” Rayne said. “We’re not cops anymore. All we have to do is line up what we have and show it to law enforcement. Their job is to chase the leads to make their case.”
“I’d still like to give them more than this,” Grant said. “I want this to be an easy slam dunk, so all the cops have to do is present it to the district attorney.”
Riley glanced up. “I’m still working on camera footage. I’ll find more and provide law enforcement with enough photos and a timeline so they’ll be inclined to at least pull Rex and Eileen in for questioning.”
“Rex won’t be an easy nut to crack,” Andre said. “He had the same SERE training we did. I doubt he’ll talk.”
“He will when I finish my task. The photos and timeline will place them in the area at the time of the murder. Hopefully, I’ll find more. Because they were an item, I know what to look for.” Artemis’s computer whiz smiled. “They won’t know what hit them by the time I’m finished.”
Elias folded his arms across his chest. “Are they responsible for the other murders or just Beau’s? Did they kill Grant’s cousin and Selena and Dante?”
“No proof yet, but I believe they’re only guilty of Beau’s murder.
The MO is different for the other murders.
” Seth pressed a clean sheet of paper on the wall and wrote the names of the victims and their methods of death.
“I may be wrong, but my gut says they killed Beau while the other murders are the handiwork of someone else.”
Teagan grimaced. “Beau’s death isn’t as clean as the others. He believed Eileen and his children had been taken hostage and the only way to free them was for him to die. The rest of the deaths were straight-up clean killshots. It’s the kind of murder I’d expect from a sniper.”
That was saying something coming from a world-class sniper like Teagan. Rayne trusted her friend’s assessment. “Did you have snipers on your Red Dawn team?”
Seth nodded. “We had two snipers plus their spotters. They’re all dead, and one sniper was Hal Vance.”
“Donovan’s stepbrother.” Teagan looked thoughtful. “Looks like skill for the job ran in the family.”
“Since Riley is tied up looking for photos of Rex and Eileen, we need someone to look for another sibling.”
After a glance at Iona, who nodded, Elias said, “We’ll take it.”
“Good. Teagan, contact Alex Morgan and Jon Smith. Let’s find out what they know about Donovan Vance.”
“That you don’t want to be in his crosshairs,” she muttered.
“No one wants to be in yours, either.” Seth glanced around the living room. “You have your assignments. Work fast. We’ve been invited to dinner at the Bowen home.”
Grant froze.
“Been there, done that.” Andre shook his head.
“Are we sure that’s a wise idea?” Elias asked. “Two people ended up with bullet holes the last time.”
“I understand your reluctance, but we’ll eat indoors this time,” Seth said. “Out of respect for Grant’s mother, we’re going.”
“I’m surprised she’s up to hosting a dinner party,” Iona murmured. “Won’t she be too worried about Mr. Bowen to host so many people for dinner?”
“Mom loves to entertain. Plus, the dinner will take her mind off of Dad for a while and shift her attention to something she enjoys, which will help lower her blood pressure.”
“Let’s get back to work.” Seth returned to the sheets of paper on the wall and filled in the MO of the deaths.
Rayne scooped up her laptop and started researching the group of men who’d gone off the grid. By the time she finished, Seth announced it was time to leave for the Bowens’ residence.
Soon, the operatives’ caravan made its way to the farming community where Grant grew up. They parked in front of the house and walked to the front door to ring the bell.
Isabella opened the door. Her lips curled. “So, we’re trying this again, huh?” She stepped back and motioned for them to come inside. While leading them to the kitchen, Grant’s sister glanced at him. “You look like you’re recovering fast.”
Rayne frowned. “Looks can be deceiving.”
Grant squeezed her hand.
Yeah, she got it. Don’t admit you’re injured. Rayne didn’t see the need for secrecy. After all, Grant’s sister knew he’d been shot. What did it matter if he admitted he wasn’t as pain free as he appeared?
Isabella looked at him more carefully this time. “You always were good at hiding things. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry you were injured, and I’m glad it’s not as serious as Dad’s injury.”
“How is he?”
“Improving slowly. He might go to a regular room tomorrow.”
“Who is keeping watch at the hospital?”
“Some guy named Eli. He switches off with this really intense dude named Jon.”
Rayne and the rest of the operatives exchanged glances.
It had to be Eli Wolfe and Jon Smith, two tough as nails Navy SEALs.
Jon’s skill as a sniper was better than Teagan’s and Donovan’s.
In fact, the only sniper Rayne knew who was in the same class as Jon was Alex Morgan, the sniper from the Durango team.
No one wanted to meet Jon or Alex in a dark alley. You wouldn’t come out the winner.
“Who’s watching over the rest of the family?”
Isabella frowned. “No one. We know the danger exists. We’ll be careful. In fact, all of us are staying here on the farm until the police find the shooter. We’ll watch over each other.”
“That’s not good enough, Izzy.”
“Has to be. We don’t want someone dogging our steps and watching our every move.”
“That’s what Dad said, and look where he is now.”
“Low blow, Grant.”
“It’s the truth, and you know it.”
“We’ll be fine. Worry about yourself and your friends.” She stalked ahead of the Fortress operatives.
“Easy, Grant,” Seth murmured. “They’re allowed to refuse our help, no matter how foolish the decision might be. Several of our family members made the same choice.”
Including Rayne’s mother. She prayed they’d catch up with Donovan Vance before he targeted anyone else.
When they entered the large farmhouse kitchen, Grant’s mother turned away from the counter where she’d been mixing something in a large bowl.
She gave the group a tired smile. “Welcome back. Hopefully, this time we can eat our meal in peace.” Her smile faded as she looked at Grant. “You’re hurting.”