Chapter Fifteen #2
Standing behind him, Cassidy eyed the sidearm he wore and felt an instant flood of relief he’d decided to come along on this search.
The lot felt abandoned. Away from the bustle of first responders, this corner of the sprawling fairgrounds felt desolate.
Since the explosion, an eerie tension had settled over the area.
They got no answer, and the door was securely locked.
She glanced over both shoulders, then hooked a thumb toward the cart. “Let’s take a moment to regroup.” Without waiting for his reply, she strode back to the driver’s seat and slid onto it.
She gave Max a gentle pat. “How you doing, huh?”
For his part, the German shepherd seemed markedly improved. His ears were up, his eyes bright, and an enormous pink tongue lolled out the side of his mouth as he surveilled their surroundings.
“Doing better?”
“He looks better,” Jake said as he approached. He checked the dog’s bandage, ruffled his ears, then leaned down to look his partner square in the eyes. “You’re good, right? Wanna help us look for the bad guy?”
As if he understood every single word they said, Max let out a single, startlingly loud bark.
Jake gave the dog’s neck a reassuring stroke. “You’re one heck of a trooper, Trooper Max.”
“Yes, he is,” Cassidy agreed.
But rather than climbing up onto the deck with the dog, Jake gathered her abandoned mobile phones and moved to the passenger side. The whole cart dipped under his weight as he climbed aboard. She said nothing as she took both phones back from him. “Too bad you’re not a very good assistant.”
“I was too busy holding on to Max and trying not to fall off the back of this thing to look at either of them.”
“Fine.” She sounded petulant but had a hard time caring about her tone. When he let out a chuckle, she shot him an exasperated glare. “I have to tell you I wouldn’t mind if I never read another text message again,” she said, her tone edged with apprehension.
“I don’t blame you.” He reached over and pulled her personal phone from her hand. “Tell you what, I’ll check this one if you’ll see if there’s any good information on the other one.”
Cassidy exhaled her relief and bobbed her head in a grateful nod. “Thanks.”
“My pleasure.”
She couldn’t resist watching out of the corner of her eye as he keyed in the code to unlock the phone. There were nearly two dozen new text notifications. Most appeared to be from people in her stored contacts, but more than a handful were from unknown numbers.
He started opening them, muttering under his breath as he read, “Reporter. Reporter. Someone named Suzette.”
He raised an eyebrow and she shrugged. “No idea.”
“Probably another reporter. This one looks like a food vendor. And somebody named Kevin saw what’s happening on the news and wants to know if you’re okay,” he said, enunciating each word pointedly.
The jealous tinge to his tone warmed her cheeks. “Kevin? The only Kevin I know is my cousin on my dad’s side,” she informed him.
“Came up as an unknown number,” he commented.
“We’re not close. Obviously,” she added with a laugh.
Jake fell silent as he perused the rest of the messages. “Nothing here from our guy,” he said at last.
Cassidy nodded and looked down at the phone in her hand.
“I dread dealing with the fallout from all of this.” She scrolled through the accumulated missed calls and messages.
“Not putting things back together, so much as having to talk to the reporters and all that stuff,” she said with an offhand wave.
Jake hummed in his throat. “A double-edged sword. Feed them a little and they go into a frenzy. Don’t feed them at all and they speculate.”
“Oh, Emma Parker called,” she said, looking over at him. Her thumb moved to hit the redial button before the words finished leaving her mouth. Placing the call on speakerphone, the two of them bent closer together as they listened to it ring through.
“Parker here. Is that you, Cassidy?”
“It’s me.”
“Oh, thank goodness.” Agent Parker exhaled, clearly relieved. “We got word of what happened with the Ferris wheel, but I couldn’t get a clear answer on whether you were on or off the carousel.”
“There’s a reason for that,” Cassidy said.
“Ah, got you,” Emma Parker replied. “Well, I’m glad to hear you’re okay.”
“Makes three of us.” Cassidy asked, “Are you feeling all right?”
“I’m banged up, but mostly from bailing and tripping over my own feet,” Emma said, her tone dry as dust. “My fiancé is with me now, and things are much better. Did they pass the information I gathered along to you?”
“Yes, and I think you’re absolutely right.” She and Jake exchanged a look and he placed a cautioning hand on her arm.
“We don’t know who’s listening,” he whispered.
She nodded to him, then refocused on the conversation. “Yeah, right. Yes, the information was helpful, and I think it’s setting us on the right path,” Cassidy confirmed.
Emma caught on quickly. “Some of my team have been interviewing people in the neighborhood, and one of the neighbors reported seeing a man dressed in a dark T-shirt and utility pants running away from the scene.”
Cassidy hummed. “What was Airman Baker wearing when you stopped by to interview him?”
“Gray gym shorts and a red Razorbacks shirt,” Emma recalled.
“And the timing?” Cassidy wondered if it was within the realm of possibility for Trevor Baker to have changed his clothes between the time of Emma’s exit from his home and the brick being thrown through the car window.
“Impossible. He and his wife were at the door as I was leaving,” Emma told them.
Jake leaned in closer. “Has anyone followed up with Baker to see if he noticed the person who approached your vehicle?”
“Yes, but both he and his wife claim they were back inside by the time the incident took place.”
“Would have been too easy,” Cassidy said, her lips curling up in a mirthless smile.
“True. Then again, I’m not entirely sure Trevor Baker would have been completely truthful even if he’d seen something.”
“I thought they were estranged?” Cassidy pressed.
“They are, but blood being thicker than water and all. I think Trevor feels guilty his brother’s life has been derailed.” Emma took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “But I have a hunch, and it’s strictly a hunch, that his brother may not feel the same way.”
“Why do you think that?”
“Because a police officer was attacked outside of Trevor Baker’s home. He may have been trying to set his brother up to look like the guilty party.”
“Trevor testified against Troy as part of his plea deal,” Cassidy murmured.
“Bingo,” Emma Parker replied. “And there’s your motive.”