Chapter Fifteen
For the third time, Callie listened to the recording of the phone call with Seth, and she tried to hear something— anything —that would help them figure out where the man was.
So far, both Nico and she were drawing a blank, but they’d sent it to one of Owen’s techs, and they were hoping a deep analysis would give them some key information.
“Someone calling themselves the witness definitely posted on the dark web,” Nico relayed to her once he’d finished a call with the FBI agent he trusted. He read from the note that he’d jotted down. “Fixer, a meeting to make a deal so that no one else has to end up like my friend. More details to follow tonight.”
It definitely sounded as if Seth was determined to go through with this, but Callie couldn’t be sure of the man’s intentions. Yes, he had said he knew that Nico worked with the FBI, but that didn’t mean Seth wouldn’t include Nico as a potential target. Seth could blame everyone involved for Tucker’s death.
Judging from Nico’s intense expression, he knew that. And had obviously worked out some things.
“There’s no need for you to be in on this meeting,” Nico insisted, something that she would have bet multiple paychecks that he would say. “You could stay at the police station.”
Sighing, she went to him. “I could, but if it’s a trap, and it probably is, you’ll need backup.”
He opened his mouth. And closed it a second later.
“It probably occurred to you that you’d insult me if you said, ‘You can take one of the Strike Force guys with you,’” she remarked.
Yeah, he’d been about to say that. Instead, he groaned and scrubbed his hand over his face.
“I don’t want you in danger,” he said instead, and it hit the right notes. Concern but acceptance that danger was part of her job.
His, too.
And while she didn’t want him in danger either, Callie knew she stood no chance whatsoever of talking him into staying out of harm’s way.
She leaned in and kissed him. She kept it brief, but it still packed plenty of heat. Always did with Nico, and that heat, this whirl of emotions he caused inside her, snapped her back to what he’d said earlier.
I’ve been in love with you since I was fifteen .
She hadn’t known that. In fact, all their time together, neither of them had ever offered up the l-word. So, saying it had cost him. Had likely made him feel, well, vulnerable to reveal his heart like that.
And she loved him for him.
Truly loved him.
Callie didn’t get a chance to say that though as he had because her blasted phone rang again. Something it’d been doing at least every ten minutes since they’d reported Seth’s call to Owen. She nudged aside the personal stuff and focused on the job.
“It’s Owen,” she relayed.
A moment later, her boss’ voice began to pour through the phone’s speaker. “I guess you haven’t heard from Seth yet?”
“Nothing,” Nico replied, frustration in his voice. Frustration she was feeling, too.
It was going on six p.m., and Seth had said he wanted seven-forty meeting. So, either he wasn’t planning on telling them the location until it was much closer to that deadline or else something had gone wrong with his plan.
“Well, I do have some good news,” Owen said. “Reed was able to get an ID on the bald shooter.”
She knew that Reed Winston was one of Owen’s operatives, along with being somewhat of a tech guru. It was the reason Owen had sent him the security cam feed of the guy’s visit to Outlaw Ridge.
“His name is Barry Quinn,” Owen added. “And, of course, he’s got a record as well as a connection to two of our suspects. Estie and Zed’s lawyer, Spenser Baldwin. Estie hired him for what she calls personal security. Baldwin hired him to accompany a PI who was doing some research on a client.”
So, they’d hired Quinn for his muscle, but obviously someone had pushed that into making him a killer for hire.
“If he’s connected to the two of them, he could easily have links to Dante,” Nico pointed out. “Oh, hell, my handler.”
“Yeah,” Owen agreed. “We need to talk to Quinn and see if he’ll name his boss to get the death penalty off the table. That is, if he’s the one who killed Morrelli and Tucker.”
That might make Quinn deal, but they had to find him first. “There’s an APB out on him?” she asked.
“There is,” Owen confirmed. “But I’ve asked if he’s sighted to alert me and keep a tail on him. I’d like to see if he leads us to his boss. That way, we don’t have to make any kind of deal with him.”
Callie much preferred that. She didn’t want to give a killer any kind of break.
“It’s possible, likely even, that Quinn also saw Seth’s post on the dark web,” Owen continued a moment later. “And we need to discuss that. We have to come up with a plan. One that hopefully will ferret out any problems such as fire traps and hired assassins.”
This wasn’t the first time Owen had brought up the need for a plan. It had come up in the initial conversation with him. But it was hard to work out details when they didn’t know where the meeting would be.
“Reed has an idea,” Owen continued. “Sort of his version of a ruse. Hologram images of Callie and you.”
Callie was sure she looked surprised and confused. Because she was. “How would that work?” she had to ask.
“It’s best if Nico and you come into the station, and we’ll fine tune the details here. Declan and Shaw are on their way to your place and will escort you here. That’ll give you backup and prevent us from having to haul a buttload of equipment out to your place. Declan and Shaw will be there in about ten minutes. Watch your six on the drive over,” Owen added and hung up.
“Holograms,” Nico repeated. “I’d heard that Strike Force’s R&D department were working on that, but I had no idea it was anywhere near close to being operational.”
Callie couldn’t recall anyone mentioning it either. “Are we talking about the stuff they do in videos where they project music legends playing on stage with live performers?”
Nico shrugged. “I don’t know. But I can see the benefit of that in our situation. Maybe a hologram would make Seth and The Fixer believe we’re at a meeting with them when we’d be someplace safer.”
She was all for that, especially if it allowed them to capture The Fixer and take Seth back into protective custody before he did anything stupid.
Like killing someone or getting himself killed.
Her phone rang again, giving her another slam of both annoyance and concern. But this time it wasn’t from an unknown number. “It’s dispatch,” she said, taking the call.
“Callie, this is Burt,” the dispatcher immediately said. “You got a call from Yancy Dylan. Want me to put it through to your cell?”
She looked at Nico who gave her a nod. “Yes, please.”
They didn’t have time to speculate as to what his handler wanted because it took Burt only a couple of seconds to transfer the call.
“Deputy Brandon, I need to speak to Nico,” Yancy said, skipping any greeting. “Is he with you?”
Again, she waited for Nico to respond to that. “What do you want?” Nico demanded as he checked the time.
“I think someone is setting me up. Estie probably. I just learned from our techs that someone hacked into my computer. It’s possible the hacker planted something on it.”
Nico didn’t look convinced that’d happened. “And what would have been planted?” he pressed.
“How the hell should I know, but it could be something to try to ruin me. Something to make me look dirty. I’m not.”
“So you’ve said.” Again, Nico didn’t show any indication that he was buying into this. Of course, Yancy could be telling the truth, but it was too big of a risk to take the man at face value. “Do the techs have any idea who hacked your computer?”
“None, but I figure Estie’s behind this.”
Not according to what Seth had said. But again, that might be a lie as well.
“Was there anything on your computer about me being FBI?” Nico asked. “And before you answer, I’ll remind you there should be nothing about me outside of official FBI channels.”
“I don’t think so,” Yancy answered after a short pause. “Definitely nothing related to this case.”
“ You don’t think so ?” Nico questioned. “You should know if you did or not.”
Yancy cursed. “There might have been something on there about another assignment. I just can’t remember. But you have to believe me that I wouldn’t intentionally do anything to put you in harm’s way.”
Nico checked his watch again, leaned in and pressed the end call button. “I didn’t want to give him time to trace the call. If that’s what he’s trying to do. I’ve kept this place off the grid for anything FBI related, and Yancy could have called just to get my location.”
Mercy. She hadn’t thought of that, but unlike the phone Nico had initially used, hers could perhaps be traced.
There was a slight beeping sound, and Nico tapped his laptop screen to turn on the monitor for his security cameras. She immediately saw a dark van approaching the house. That gave her a jolt, and a hit of adrenaline before Nico zoomed in on the front seat to reveal Shaw and Declan.
“Vest up before we leave,” Nico instructed, grabbing the Kevlar they’d worn for their meeting with Tucker.
She texted Shaw, letting him know they’d be right out, and then she put on the vest before Nico and she went to the garage to the Hummer. When Nico drove out and away from the house, Declan and Shaw were right behind them.
Of course, the men’s presence wouldn’t necessarily prevent an attack, but Quinn, Seth or The Fixer might think twice before they came after four armed law enforcement officers.
They had barely made it onto the private road outside of Nico’s house when her phone rang again, and because she’d connected to the Hummer’s Bluetooth, they saw Owen’s name pop up on the dash monitor. She answered it right away and hoped there weren’t already signs of trouble.
“I just got word that Zed’s lawyer, Spencer Baldwin, was murdered in the parking lot outside his office,” Owen informed them. “The killer or someone else disabled the security cam so there’s no feed. No witnesses either. His assistant heard the gunshot and went running out to check on him, but she didn’t see the shooter.”
The assistant was lucky she hadn’t or she would have likely been killed, too. “Do the cops there have a suspect?” Callie wanted to know.
“No, but they’re looking for Quinn and Seth.”
As was every law enforcement agency in the tri-county area. Maybe someone would find them before them before they struck again.
If it was one of them, that is.
She could see Seth going after the lawyer because he might believe the man was connected to Tucker’s death. Or go after him simply because he was defending Zed Coulter, the killer who’d set this nightmare into motion by murdering Abilene.
“But why would Quinn want Baldwin dead?” Callie came out and asked while she kept watch around them.
“We’re still looking into that, but it’s possible Baldwin hired Quinn as The Fixer, and with all the heat coming down on Quinn for several murders, he might have wanted to eliminate anyone who could ID him as the killer.”
True. That would work. It would also mean Nico and she would be his potential target since they’d seen him firing those shots at them.
“Yancy or Estie could have killed the lawyer,” Nico pointed out. “After all, he’s the one that sent me that naked photo of Yancy and Estie.”
Owen made a sound of agreement. “Which means we don’t know who the hell we’re dealing with in this meeting that Seth set up. How far out are you?”
“Only a couple of minutes,” Nico replied.
“Good. Because we need to come up with several contingencies. In the meantime, I’m trying to get Estie and Dante back in here for interviews. That’ll take two of our suspects off the streets.”
Yes, it would. Unfortunately, it would leave Yancy and Seth free to put whatever plan they had into motion.
“See you soon,” Owen added before he ended the call.
Callie took a moment to try to work through everything they’d just learned, adding and weaving to the other bits of info. Another dead body and a jammed security camera. That pointed to Seth. But maybe the real killer wanted them to think that.
Nico took the turn toward the police station, and both of them cursed when they saw the high school marching band on Main Street. Two people were in golf carts both in front of them and behind them, and the carts had been rigged with flashing lights to prevent anyone from plowing into the band.
Only then did Callie remember this was the final dress rehearsal for the Founder’s Day celebration. Thankfully, it wasn’t the full-blown deal with floats and VIP vehicles, but the rehearsal had drawn a few spectators, which meant there were far more people than usual out and about.
Shaw hit the siren that had been installed on the Hummer, causing the band to scurry off the street and onto the sidewalk. Good. Because Callie didn’t want Nico and her sitting out in the open like this any longer than necessary.
Once the last of the band members cleared, Nico was able to turn into the parking lot of the police station. The jammed lot that had more vehicles than usual, maybe because of traffic they’d pulled in to allow the band to do its thing.
She glanced around, looking for any signs of a threat. Or their suspects. She didn’t see any so she stepped from the Hummer.
Her feet had just touched the ground when she heard a slight buzzing sound. And something sharp slammed into her neck.
The pain shot through her, and Callie tried to speak. But she couldn’t. As she was falling, she heard the footsteps rushing toward her. Felt the arms latch around her. And someone dragged her away.