Chapter Seven #3
They exchanged uneasy glances. Letting a bomb blow went against everything they worked for, but Aronson agreed. They needed to let the perp think they were still flailing. Because they were.
“As long as your people can live with the collateral damage,” the commander said, his tone resigned.
“I’ll make sure it’s okay,” she assured him. “We need to buy some time.”
Aronson stood. “I’ll make sure we pull back to a neutral site from ten minutes to the hour to ten after. If nothing blows, we’ll reevaluate the window.”
The phone Bud Thompson provided lit up with an incoming call. The on-screen ID showed the call to be coming from the Little Rock Air Force Base.
“It’s the base.” She swiped to connect the call.
Aronson turned to Jake. “I’m hopping off. Keep me in the loop.”
“Hello?” Cassidy watched as Aronson jumped down, then put the call on speakerphone so Jake could listen in.
“This is Colonel Vesta Linton. Commander, 19th Mission Support Group. Is this the Cassidy Walker?” The caller’s question carried a teasing note.
Cassidy couldn’t help but smile as she put the pieces together. “Vesta? Holy cow.” She laughed. “Who let you be in charge?”
“Shh. They haven’t figured it out.” Colonel Linton sounded as warm and friendly as Cass remembered.
She was also a woman who didn’t waste much time on pleasantries.
“I would say I’m surprised to hear from you after so long, but not nearly as surprised as I was to hear from Governor Beauford’s office.
Girl, what have you gotten yourself into? ”
Her smile stretched wide, but then she caught Jake’s quizzical expression, and it quickly faded. “Vesta, I’ve got Jake Donovan from the State Police here with me, and we have you on speaker.”
“Understood.”
Cassidy glanced at Jake, then dove in. “We have a nasty situation here, and we need your help.”
Vesta Linton shifted into business mode without hesitation. “Fill me in.”
“There’s a person claiming to have planted multiple explosive devices around the state fairgrounds.”
“The fairgrounds? Didn’t the fair open this week?” she responded without missing a beat.
“Tomorrow.” Cassidy forced the bile rising in her throat down, then continued. “Possibly.”
Vesta didn’t miss a beat. “What can I do for you?”
Blowing out a breath that ruffled her hair, she elaborated. “We think this may be someone with a vendetta. One maybe connected to my time on the base.”
“They’re coming after you personally?”
“Sounds like it.” Cassidy’s tone was grim.
“What do you need from me?”
“Records,” she responded, meeting Jake’s eyes directly. “Anyone I tagged while I was there. We’re going to be taking a hard look at any of the more serious cases, but if you can dump everything into a file, we can parse it. There will be a tech from the State Police reaching out to you.”
“How much information? There may be limits to what I can give you,” Vesta warned.
“Let’s start with serial number, date, charges and any sentence imposed,” Cassidy said, holding Jake’s wrist as she rattled the request off. “If we can find some kind of pattern, we might ask you to go deeper.”
Vesta hummed her agreement. “Fair enough. Who should I be looking to hear from?”
Jake leaned over to speak into the phone. “Special Agent Emma Parker, from our Cyber Crime Division, will be reaching out.”
“Very good,” Vesta replied. “I’ll get the information pulled. Cassidy. I expect to hear from you when this situation is cleared up.”
“Will do, Vesta. Thank you.” Cassidy ended the call and found Jake watching her, a curious expression on his face. “What?”
“Old friend?”
“Actually, yes.” She matched his tone but didn’t offer anything more.
Jake didn’t give up. “You serve together?”
Cassidy sighed and then fixed him with a bland stare. “Yes. Actually, Vesta was a member of my first training class.”
His eyebrows shot skyward. “And now she’s in charge?”
“Looks that way,” she said, going for a casual tone.
But Jake was not accepting the brush-off. He bent closer, a mischievous gleam in his eye. “Did she get promoted over you? Is that why you left?”
“You’ve been watching too many daytime dramas,” she said with a laugh.
His smile came slow. “Do they even have those anymore?”
“I bet you listen to true crime podcasts while you cruise around with your doggo.”
Jake chuckled, then made a move to stand. “Max prefers classic rock on satellite radio.”
Cassidy’s heart sank as she watched Max scramble to his feet as well. They were heading back into the search, and once again, she’d be left alone with only her own personal bomb for company.
“Hey, don’t forget to update your boss.”
Jake swiveled and gave her a smart salute. “Will do.” Then, walking backward, he checked his watch. “We’ll be back for three o’clock. We’ll bring water and snacks.”
A glance at her own phone sent a surge of relief through her. Twenty minutes. She’d see them again in twenty more minutes.
“Something salty,” she requested. “Like me.”
He held up a hand to indicate message received. “Sweet it is.”
Before she could answer, he turned and jogged away.
Cassidy sagged in her seat, but smiled nonetheless. Jake Donovan thought she was sweet. It wasn’t much, but it was enough. For now.