Chapter Nine #2
“I do,” she answered. “You might ask Colonel Aronson to come, too. I think this may be a game changer.”
Within ten minutes, both men jumped aboard the carousel while another team inspected the ride controls in an attempt to determine why she’d picked up speed.
Cassidy heard one tech say something about a throttle and another reply in the negative, but for the most part, she was absorbed by the debate taking place between Jake and his superior.
“Sir, I think we should—”
“I heard you the first five times, Donovan,” Aronson interrupted.
“But I am in charge of this investigation, and I disagree. I’ll ask the other K-9 teams to search for any devices we haven’t yet located, but I have to cover investigation on the five that have blown, and we have to disrupt the circuitry on those we’ve identified. ”
“But, sir—” Jake tried again.
Aronson shook his head. “You can consult with Ms. Walker on what she thinks the most likely spots are,” he said with a nod to Cassidy.
“I agree with your perimeter assessment, Ms. Walker. I do believe the circle is tightening. Unfortunately, I also agree with your conclusion we’re standing at ground zero. ”
“I have a feeling this might be one of those rare times when I hate being right,” she said dryly.
The older man’s face softened slightly. “Is there anything I can do for you, Ms. Walker? Anything you need?”
“Other than a trip to the ladies’ room?” It was a sad attempt at levity. “No, sir.”
Jake frowned as he looked around. “May we can rig something—”
This time, Cassidy derailed his train of thought. “Seriously?” She glared at Jake, incredulous. “No, thank you.”
“But you’ve been on here for hours and—”
“And I’m good,” she insisted. “Sheesh. Go find a bomb or something.”
He scowled at her. “We have got to find a way to slow this down.”
Cassidy looked around, then shrugged. “Honestly? Moving faster is a little easier to stomach.” She gave them a wry smile. “But don’t tell my fan club I said so. They go any faster, it might fling me straight off.” She paused as if considering the possibility. “On second thought…”
“Ha, ha,” Jake scoffed.
She quirked an eyebrow. “I’m not entirely kidding.”
“You can’t jump now,” Jake shot back. “You’d look like one of those jokers who put their foreheads on a baseball bat and spin before trying to run to first base.”
Thankfully, Colonel Aronson stepped in to halt their inane conversation before it veered into the ridiculous. “The speed is going to make it harder to gauge the timing on jumping down,” he commented, eying the concourse whizzing past warily.
“I guess we should get to it,” Jake said, leaning down to check Max’s harness. “You’ll be okay here?”
Cassidy resisted the urge to roll her eyes. There was still a bomb strapped to her back. How okay did he want her to be?
But he meant well, and good intentions earned him the benefit of minimal snark. She inclined her head. “You go on. I need to call Emma Parker and see if she’s come up with anything,” she said, reaching for the phone Bud supplied.
“Emma’s the best we have when it comes to this sort of thing,” Aronson said with a nod of approval. “Let me know if the two of you come up with any leads.”
She forced a tight smile. “Will do.”
She watched as the two men and the dog moved to the edge of the platform and held on, measuring the pace of the increased velocity.
Jake and Max leaped first, the dog landing with far more grace than his partner.
Aronson hesitated a beat too long, then opted to hang on for one more circuit.
Not wanting to make him self-conscious, Cassidy made a point of looking away.
He made the leap at last, and she lifted her head as soon as she heard his boots hit the asphalt with a slap.
Jake was by the commander’s side in an instant, offering a steadying arm.
She watched as the two men made their way out of the warren of aluminum gates, their heads bent together in conversation.
Max trotted along at Jake’s side, ears twitching and a spring in his step, clearly pleased to be back in the game.
Still, he turned to look at her.
And as if moving in synchronization, Jake did, too.
Cassidy lifted a hand in farewell then held up the mobile phone for them to see.
She’d saved Special Agent Parker’s number when the two of them had spoken earlier in the day.
And though she was entirely certain she agreed with the team commander’s decision to move forward with efforts to disarm the IEDs, it felt like they were finally making some progress in figuring this game out.
She sat back as much as the pack would allow and watched the world pass by. After a moment, she let her gaze go unfocused and her mind sharpened. There was something in the records. She knew it. The question was, would she be able to locate this particular perpetrator in her past?
Tapping the screen to place the call to the cyber crime specialist, she set her jaw. If whoever was on the other end of this wanted to move faster, so would they.
Emma Parker answered on the first ring. “Hey.” Her greeting was distracted. Clearly, she was in the depths of her research. “You were a busy bee in the service.”
“Just doing my job, ma’am.” Cassidy affected a laconic drawl. “And I’m still a busy bee. When I’m not being held hostage by bomb-building maniacs, that is. Have you found anything interesting?”
“I’ve isolated some of the more serious cases you worked on. Not finding any suspects with a background in explosives, but of course, these days it hardly matters. It’s not like the information isn’t out there for all to see.”
“It certainly is a popular topic for search engines,” she said. “I wonder if all those tech gurus anticipated their creations being used for nefarious purposes.”
Emma gave a soft snort. “Aside from their own nefarious purposes?”
“Well, yeah,” Cassidy conceded. “Read me some of the names and let me see if anything rings any alarm bells.”
“Ableton, Foster, Kozlowski, White…” Emma began. “They served the most time in military detention,” she added. “There are also those who got off with being dishonorably discharged as accessories to various crimes—Baker, Harlow, Inonichi, Lam—”
A few of the names rang vague bells in Cassidy’s memory. “Give me the gist on Kozlowski, White and Baker.”
“Looks like Kozlowski was multiple counts of Conduct Unbecoming of an Officer,” Emma revealed.
The moment the word “unbecoming” was out of her mouth, Cassidy recalled the details of Kozlowski’s case. “Ah, yes, Kozlowski. He was a training officer who liked to get a little too hands-on with his trainees,” she said with a scowl.
“Were you one?” Emma asked.
Cassidy shook her head with vehemence even though she knew the other woman could not see her. “No. I wasn’t involved in any way other than assisting with the arrest.”
“How about White? Looks like he was busted for discharging a firearm during a domestic disturbance,” Emma disclosed.
“Yeah, that was a mess.”
Cassidy recalled the scene. “Airman White was showing his girlfriend around on base when it became apparent she’d dated another airman in residence prior to meeting Mr. White.
The two men exchanged words. We thought the situation was resolved, but Mr. White decided to retrieve an unauthorized weapon from his vehicle and threatened the other airman—”
“Tzarnik,” Emma interjected.
“Yes. He pointed the gun at Airman Tzarnik, but when his girlfriend screamed at him, he shifted his aim just enough to put a bullet in the side of a dumpster. Of course, with shots fired, the base went on lockdown. Another security officer was positioned behind the gunman and managed to tackle Airman White before he could get another shot off.”
“Any reason for White to come after you in particular?”
“I testified at the Court-Martial,” Cassidy said. “But I wasn’t the only one.”
“Brings us to Baker,” Emma prompted. “Trevor Baker, Airman First Class, 19th Maintenance Squadron.”
“And he was discharged?” Cassidy paused to search her memory.
“Yes. Dishonorable Discharge. Accessory Possession and Absent Without Leave.” Emma read the charges off, noting, “He was a munitions guy.”
“Oh!” She sat up straighter. “Yeah, I remember Baker. He and his brother—” She broke off at the sound of another explosion coming from the south end of the fairgrounds.
The chopper lazily circling the grounds swooped back into view. Cassidy grimaced when she spotted the logo for a local news affiliate on the tail of the craft.
“I have to go.” She ended the call as she stood. The butterflies in her stomach told her the carousel wasn’t the only thing about to start moving too fast.