Chapter 8
For Lauren’s sake, Grady hoped Nelson was romantically involved with this Karla woman. Deep down, he couldn’t help but wonder if Nelson was manipulating the woman. Maybe pretending to care so that she would help him orchestrate these attempts to kidnap Lucy.
Eric Howington could easily be involved too.
“Do you know if Eric Howington was in Nelson’s fraternity at Loyola?” He held Lauren’s gaze. “We know Nelson’s dead friend, Bobby Morton, went to college with him.”
“Hang on, I’ll check.” He could hear Griff typing on a computer. “No, it doesn’t look like Howington was part of a fraternity.”
Grady turned to Lauren. “Any idea how Eric and Nelson may have met?”
She shook her head, her expression troubled. “I’m sorry, but I have no idea. If Eric isn’t a friend from college, maybe from work?”
“Griff, can you get us a list of all the members of the Delta Sigma Chi fraternity? Nelson Derringer was a member, and we’d like to see who else might be involved.”
“Makes sense. I’ll ask Dom to get the list for us,” Griff agreed. “I don’t see anything that indicates Howington and Nelson worked together, though.”
Grady frowned. “That’s odd. It takes a dedicated friend to visit someone in jail. Usually people distance themselves from that sort of thing.”
“I agree,” Griff said. “Eric visited him twice in the past month.”
Grady could tell Lauren thought Eric was involved in the attacks. “Okay, thanks. What else do we know about Karla Dalton? Maybe the local cops should interview her.”
“I don’t know much yet, but interviewing her is a good idea. I’d almost rather the FBI took the lead on that, though,” Griff said. “Nothing against the Chicago PD, but we wouldn’t want to tip our hand on our suspicions.”
“Could Eric and Kayla be working together somehow?” Lauren asked. “I mean, maybe Eric is the gunman, and Karla is the driver.”
“Anything is possible, but without proof, all we can do is talk to them,” Griff said. “Do you want me to touch base with Agent Braun?”
“We can do that.” Grady felt bad dragging Griff into the investigation. “I don’t want you to get in trouble for this.”
“I’m just helping a friend,” Griff said lightly. “There’s only so much investigating I can do from Wyoming.”
“True.” He shrugged and looked at Lauren. “Do you have any other questions for Griff?”
“This is going to sound weird, but do you have a picture of Karla?” Lauren flushed. “Maybe I’ll recognize her.”
“Good point.” Griff tapped the keyboard again. “Okay, I’m sending photos of both Eric Howington and Karla Dalton.”
Grady pulled up his email address and waited for the pictures to load. Karla’s came up first. He turned the laptop so Lauren could see the screen. The woman was pretty enough, but nothing special. Not nearly as beautiful as Lauren.
Lauren stared at the photo for several long seconds. Then she sighed and shook her head. “I don’t recognize her.”
“Okay, let’s try Eric.” He double-tapped the mouse pad to bring up the second image.
Eric looked a little rough around the edges; there was a hardness to the guy’s eyes that gave Grady the sense he’d done some bad things.
Considering his criminal record was clean, either the guy was just having a rough day or he’d been smart enough to avoid being caught.
“I’m sorry, I don’t recognize him either.” Lauren looked frustrated. “I wish I knew where Nelson met both of these people.”
“Talk to Agent Braun,” Griff said. “Once he interviews them, he may be able to shed some light on that for you.”
“Thanks, Griff. And please don’t forget to send that fraternity list.”
“Will do. Dom’s working on that now. He should have an email sent to you within the hour.” Griff disconnected from the line.
Lauren reached over to enlarge Karla’s picture. It was a rather unflattering driver’s license photo. “I don’t know what to think about her. It’s hard for me to understand why any woman would choose to get involved with someone who was serving time for manslaughter.”
“I’m sure they were involved prior to his arrest.” Grady nodded at the screen. “Unless she’s one of those women who are fascinated by prisoners.”
Lauren wrinkled her nose. “I personally don’t get the appeal. Why not cut her losses and find someone else? Nelson is not worth waiting for.”
He wasn’t sure what to say to that. Lauren knew Nelson better than anyone, having been married to the guy.
It was possible Nelson had changed since their divorce, but he doubted it.
“We’ll call Agent Braun next. Maybe she’s hanging onto Nelson because she’s helping him with these attacks in exchange for a big payout. ”
“Good idea.” Lauren minimized the photo and sat back. He reached over to pick up the phone to make the call. He put the call on speaker so Lauren could participate too. This time, Agent Braun answered the call, rather than sending it to voice mail.
“Braun.”
“Agent Braun, this is Grady McFarland. We spoke earlier. I’m here with Lauren Chandler.
We have you on speaker. We recently learned two people have visited Lauren’s ex-husband in jail over the past few weeks.
” He quickly gave the FBI agent the details Griff had given them.
“Lauren doesn’t recognize either of these individuals.
She hasn’t been close to her ex since their divorce. ”
“How did you get this information?” Braun asked.
“Through a friend.” Grady knew the federal agent could probably figure out they’d gotten the intel through Griff. “We understand these individuals don’t have a criminal record, but we think it’s worth interviewing them.”
“Oh, you do, huh?” There was no mistaking the sarcasm in Braun’s tone. “What makes you think they haven’t already been interviewed?”
Grady arched a brow at Lauren. “I guess I’d have expected you to mention that when you updated us on the case.”
Braun sighed loudly. “Okay, look, I appreciate your efforts to help. But we’re handling the investigation. All you need to do is to stay low and out of harm’s way until we have this guy behind bars.”
“Excuse me, Agent Braun, but it’s my daughter’s life that’s on the line.
” Despite the polite words, Lauren’s voice was sharp.
“If you think I’m just going to sit back and do nothing, you’re sadly mistaken.
If I need to escalate my concerns to the governor or our state senators, I will gladly make some calls. ”
Grady smiled encouragingly, then added, “Lauren has put her life on hold because of this, and Lucy is missing school. This has already gone on for longer than it should. I expect you to update us with the results of the interviews.”
Braun was silent for a moment, as if he was remembering how wealthy Lauren was. “Okay, fine, I’ll update you as soon as I have more information to share.”
Braun’s vague response made it clear the interviews had not been done. Grady managed not to mention that and simply thanked the agent and disconnected from the call.
“Maybe I should make some calls to the politicians my father supported.” Lauren’s expression was troubled. “I knew they didn’t seem to be moving on this case with a sense of urgency, but Agent Braun’s attitude made me want to smack him.”
“I understand, and I think you made your position on this loud and clear.” He reached over to take her hand. “I’m sure they’ll follow through with the interviews. Don’t worry. Now, I think the pizzas are probably done.”
Her blue eyes widened in horror as she jumped to her feet. “I forgot all about them!”
“It’s okay.” He rose and quickly took the hot pads from her hands. The pizzas were golden brown, not burned. He grinned and pulled them out. “See? They’re perfect.”
She flushed and shook her head. “You must think I’m lame.”
“Not at all.” He knew she could do everyday things. It was more likely that she wasn’t accustomed to doing them.
Lauren smiled ruefully, then called to her daughter. “Lucy, time to eat.”
“Aw, Mom, my show is still on!”
“I thought Captain Jack’s was your favorite?” Lauren asked.
“It is!” Lucy tore her gaze from the television, then scrambled off the sofa. “Okay, I’m coming.”
He cut the pizza into slices, thinking how ironic it was that a kid would choose a frozen store-bought pizza over the Chicago deep dish the city was famous for.
Bringing the pizza to the table, he closed the laptop and set it aside. His attempts to investigate the case on his own weren’t going as well as he’d hoped. So far, it was only through Griff that they’d gotten anything useful.
“I’d like to say grace,” he said, when Lucy had finished washing her hands at the sink. Lucy glanced at her mother but didn’t argue.
“Bow your head, Lucy,” Lauren said.
He cleared his throat. “Dear Lord Jesus, we thank You for this food we are about to eat. We also continue to ask You to keep us all safe in Your care. Amen.”
“Amen,” Lauren and Lucy echoed.
He waited for Lauren and Lucy to take what they wanted first, before digging in to his own pizza. For something they’d picked out of a grocery store freezer, it wasn’t terrible. He smiled at Lucy. “I can see why this is your favorite.”
Lauren shot him a skeptical look, but simply added, “It’s good, isn’t it, Lucy?”
The little girl nodded, her mouth full of pepperoni pizza. Grady was glad Lucy had gotten some playtime, building a snowman, then watching TV. He hoped the fear of the gunfire had faded so that she wouldn’t suffer more nightmares.
When they finished eating, Lucy darted back into the living room. “Mom, can you help find my show?”
“Normally, I don’t allow her to watch this much television,” Lauren said in a low voice. “Too much screen time isn’t good for kids.”
“I know, but this is an extenuating circumstance, don’t you think?” He stacked their plates and carried them to the sink. Their lunch dishes were still there too.
“Yes, I do.” She joined him, watching as he filled one side of the sink with warm sudsy water and went to work. “I can do the dishes.”
“So can I.” He grinned. “I bet I have more KP experience than you do.”