Chapter 13
THIRTEEN
Olivia stood at the top of the hill in the rain, watching the pickup being dragged up toward them. The winch whined, forcing the truck through the mud. Finally it crested the lip onto the road, and the wrecker driver called back to his buddy, who shut off the winch.
She’d told Junior to stay in the office and had come alone to do evidence collection. After the day they’d had, he should be home in bed. But no one was willing to stay on the sidelines when multiple convicts were out, loose and able to hurt people.
The next time they found a body, it might not be that of a bad guy. It could be the body of someone innocent caught in the crossfire. In the wrong place at the wrong time. Because the police hadn’t found the convict fast enough.
“Need a hand?”
She glanced over at Izan in his full firefighter gear. “You look exhausted.”
“I could use a cheeseburger.” He shrugged, taking a drink from a water bottle. “But I’m good.”
“Sure.” A cheeseburger sounded good.
Olivia pulled on a pair of the gloves she used for evidence collection and said, “Just don’t touch anything.”
“I doubt you’ll get much in the way of prints from that.”
“That’s not what I’m after, though I will be dusting for prints. They take weeks to be run, and we need these escaped convicts caught before the results come back.”
Wind blew along the highway, flipping up her collar. She had a rain jacket on, the hood pulled up over her head. The wind whipped her hood back, so the rain soaked her hair and face. But what else was she going to do? It was far too windy for an umbrella, and she needed both hands.
She had evidence bags and collection tools. Olivia bent into the car, which shielded her from the pouring rain. But it did nothing to keep her warm. Even with base layers on and a sweater over her long-sleeve shirt, she was still chilled—and she hadn’t even started.
The first orange jumpsuit had the number on the back that she knew belonged to Mackey.
Blair Mackey had been coercing foster kids to steal for him like he was Fagin from Oliver Twist, even going so far as to take the life of kids he should have cared for.
The whole thing turned her stomach. This wasn’t a man who should be out on the streets, loose so he could profit from his disgusting tactics.
He only cared about money. He didn’t value human life at all.
Olivia tucked the jumpsuit in an evidence bag and sealed it. She marked her notebook with the relevant information.
Someone else would be doing a deep dive on fibers and trace evidence. She didn’t have the patience for it. Olivia would much rather kick a door down and throw cuffs on the bad guy.
“Do you guys have any idea where they all ran off to?”
She glanced at Izan, who was watching what she was doing, and then turned back to continue putting jumpsuits in bags.
“We know that in the days before the breakout, Mackey received a series of calls from the same number. There was no call the day of the breakout. The number belonged to an unregistered phone.”
“That’s like a burner, right?”
She nodded. “It’s possible it belonged to the officer we believe is their accomplice. There’s a theory that Rainy Athers might’ve been having an affair with Mackey.”
“A prison guard and a convict? Are you serious?”
“It happens,” she said. Thankfully not that often, and it was usually squashed before things could get anywhere near this far.
“It’s not unheard of. She might’ve gone dark side and helped them escape so she and Mackey could be together.
The others just happened to be in the vehicle.
The sad part is that her partner was caught in the middle, and he’s in critical condition.
A man could die simply because this woman couldn’t keep her feelings professional. ”
“That’s horrible.”
“It’s life.” She shrugged and turned to him, holding another evidence bag. “Unfortunately, things aren’t always the way we want them to be.”
“I’m ready for Christmas. That’s all I have to say.”
She stared too long at his jaunty smile. “Christmas?”
“Yeah, we get this all wrapped up and it’s nothing but decorations, eggnog, hanging out singing Christmas songs. All of it.”
She shook her head. “I didn’t peg you for being a Christmas fanatic.”
“The Collins family might not know so much about Hispanic culture, and I didn’t grow up speaking Spanish at home, but they are excellent at Christmas.
They all go crazy.” He grinned. “In fact, they’ll be at the church tonight, helping decorate.
I might go since I’ll be off shift. Hey, you should come with me. ” He nudged her shoulder.
“A tempting offer.”
“But you’re busy?” His expression lost a little of the excitement about Christmas.
“I don’t know what time I’ll be finished with this.” She turned to him. “But if I’m free, maybe I’ll be there.”
He grinned. “That would be great.”
“You’re ready to introduce me to your parents?” Wasn’t that a milestone in a relationship? They seemed to have suddenly jumped to warp speed, going from a first date to meeting his parents. Getting to know each other. That meant he wasn’t messing around.
His eyes flared. “I mean…if you want to meet them.”
“You already met my mother.” She turned back to her task, gathering the rest of the pile of clothing.
Underneath, she found fast-food wrappers.
They could trace the restaurant and get security footage.
Find out who was in the vehicle—whether they’d gone through the drive-through or come inside the restaurant.
“If you want,” Izan began, “maybe we could get something to eat before the decorating. Or after.”
“Maybe we could,” she echoed. “Just not from this place.” She held up the evidence bag.
Izan said, “I’ve never liked that place. Their fries are overrated.”
Olivia smiled. “Then you’ve got yourself a deal. Or a plan.”
“Or a date?”
She nodded. “Okay, a date.”
He leaned in a little, almost like he was thinking about kissing her. To their right, someone yelled, “Collins!”
He stiffened and turned to the side. “Yes, Lieutenant?”
Amelia had her hands on her hips again.
Olivia said, “She does that a lot, doesn’t she?”
Izan turned back to her. “Gotta go. Duty calls and all that. Text me later when you’re done?”
She nodded and watched him jog away, pulling out her phone. Under the hood of her jacket, she called Junior.
He answered before the second ring. “Please tell me I can leave.”
“Ha. You stay put. You were shot.”
“I’m bored.”
“Then run this license plate. Tell me who the truck is registered to.” She went to the front of the vehicle and read off the numbers and letters. “Although, if they abandoned it, then we can almost guarantee it won’t lead to them. Otherwise, we’d have never found it.”
“You think they got washed down from the highway and ran off?”
Olivia said, “I spoke with a witness who said the truck came from up the hill and washed down with the mud. So I think they abandoned it on the side of the highway and tucked it up in the trees. When the mudslide happened, it got washed across the highway and down with the other cars.”
“Maybe they didn’t plan for anyone to find it. They thought they’d hidden it well, and they took off in street clothes to who knows…Okay, the search result populated. That truck belongs to Richard Wallace.”
“Any relation of Damien Wallace?”
Junior was quiet for a second. “His brother. The guy is a plumber, uses the truck for work. I’m gonna call Detective Ridgeman. She’ll want to interview him again. Find out if he knows where we can find Richard.”
“Get me an address. I’ll go talk to him.” She looked at her watch. “If I can get that done, I’ll make my date with Izan.”
“A date? With Izan?”
“Oh shush.”
“Are you kidding?” Junior said. “This is huge. It’s epic.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m out here in the pouring rain. Can we be done with this ridiculous conversation so I can get back to work before I’m soaked through to my bones, please?”
“Since you asked so nicely.”
Olivia sighed. “It’s just a first date.” Where she was going to meet his parents—which she would not be explaining to Junior. “It’s not that big of a deal.”
She hung up on Junior so she could have time to take a shower. Curl her hair.
Okay, fine.
It was a big deal.
But so was getting this done and finding those escaped prisoners. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be able to enjoy the time off as much as she would if the world was a little safer.
So Olivia got back to work, trying not to think about kisses.