Chapter Five
Joslyn’s Place on Orrin Way was busier with patrons than Landon had expected but was still a good choice to meet with its proximity to Braedon College.
For whatever reason, he actually felt butterflies in his stomach at the prospect of having lunch with his ex-wife, as though it was a real date like the first one for them at the University of South Carolina.
Only this date was much different, insofar as the circumstances that brought them together again.
Landon wondered if Raquelle would have given him the time of day were it not for her obvious concern about Eddie.
Had he confided in her before disappearing?
Could she have intel that, in the absence of her brother, could still be used against Ivan Pimentel?
Landon came back to Raquelle having given him the cold shoulder ever since the divorce. Or was he overstating things? Fact was she had every right to put family—which he was no longer a part of—first, even taking back her maiden name of Jernigan to put further distance between them.
Even if that hurt more than Landon cared to admit, she was no less guilty than himself for allowing their marriage to fall apart and finding it hard—if not impossible—to pick up the pieces of a fractured relationship.
Raquelle owed him nothing and he knew it.
To suggest otherwise and want a do-over just might be asking too much.
Keep telling yourself that, Landon contemplated uneasily as he tasted the black coffee while awaiting Raquelle in a booth near the picture window.
When she showed up right on time, he waved her over while wondering if she still played the piano. He could think of no reason why she wouldn’t, given the joy it seemed to bring her. Even if his own guitar playing was infrequent these days.
Like a gentleman, Landon stood after Raquelle got to the table and said to her in a friendly tone of voice, “Hey.”
“Hey,” she responded tentatively and slid into one side of the booth.
Landon sat back on the other side. “I ordered coffee with cream.” He eyed the steaming mug in front of her, remembering how she liked her coffee.
Raquelle smiled thinly. “Thanks.” She lifted the mug and took a sip, setting it back down as she regarded him. “Do you have any news about Eddie…?”
“We haven’t found him yet, if that’s what you’re asking,” Landon wished he didn’t have to say.
But he tried to get past this obvious disappointment nonetheless—that would likely get worse—while meeting her eyes that were somehow unreadable.
“There have been some developments… Why don’t we order lunch first? ”
She was amenable to this. “Okay.”
He picked up the menu, just for effect, having already decided upon the baked whiting fillet, served with hush puppies and steamed vegetables. Raquelle went with the grilled chicken, baked potato, and house salad.
After tasting his coffee, Landon sat back.
“It’s been confirmed that an improvised explosive device was detonated remotely on Eddie’s pontoon boat.
Someone was determined to blow it up—with or without Eddie’s presence—and succeeded.
Fortunately, no other boats caught fire. Nor were there any reported injuries.”
Raquelle frowned. “But Eddie’s still missing…?”
“Yes, I’m afraid so.” Landon wished that weren’t the case, for more reasons than the most important one—his life.
“His Audi was found abandoned on Piliford Lane. A man wearing a hoodie was seen leaving the scene. We’re still reviewing surveillance video in the area to try and identify him—but given the fact that Eddie has not surfaced, there’s a strong possibility that he wasn’t the one who ditched the car. ”
“Hmm…” Raquelle gave him a thoughtful look.
“My GTA told me that a hooded man wearing baggy clothing was seen prowling around my car in the lot at Braedon College—before disappearing on campus when spotted. I was thinking that it could have been Eddie—running scared and looking for somewhere to turn…”
“Possible,” Landon allowed musingly. If her brother was still alive, it would be natural that he would reach out to her, if desperate enough.
But there was an alternative explanation on the unsub.
“If it was Eddie, he made no attempt to hang around long enough to hitch a ride with you. Based on the description of the snooper, sounds a lot like the man you saw leaving Knotter Marina prior to the boat explosion.”
Raquelle sipped more coffee. “Yes, I thought about that too,” she conceded. “If so, why would he have been snooping around my car? How would he even know I worked at the college?”
As Landon watched the uneasiness sweep across her face like a shadow, he responded candidly, “If Eddie was indeed the intended target of the boat explosion—but survived—the perpetrator likely had enough intel to know about you and may simply have been fishing, in search of Eddie.” I hope it doesn’t go any deeper than that, he told himself while hoping that campus surveillance video could pinpoint the person and where he might have gone.
What if the unsub feared being identified by her?
Based on what Raquelle said she saw of the possible bomber, it didn’t appear as though she would be able to finger him.
She would still need to watch her back and Landon told her so, to be on the safe side.
“Be extra vigilant on campus and off. If you see this man again—or think you see him—let me know.”
Raquelle heeded this warning but said bluntly, “Right now, I’m more concerned about Eddie’s health and well-being. What exactly are you doing to find him? If he’s still alive, how do you plan to keep my brother safe?”
Two big questions that deserved responsible answers. Landon wanted to give them to her to the best of his ability but was glad that the food arrived. It bought him a little time to contemplate how best to respond, while hoping to temper her expectations.
* * *
RAQUELLE STARED AT Landon over her food, waiting for a response to her concerns about Eddie.
If he was on the lam in fear of his life, she certainly wanted the authorities to find him before whoever it was that wanted Eddie dead did.
She assumed Landon felt the same way—even if his motives may have differed from hers as an FBI agent, considering that Eddie was working for him as a CI before he went missing.
After slicing a fork into his whiting fillet, Landon looked at her and said coolly, “Right now, Eddie’s still considered a missing person.
This includes a possible abduction. To that end, the Falona County Sheriff’s Office has been notified.
They have personnel from the Special Victims Unit’s Missing Persons team searching for him.
Same is true for the Gadwall Heights Police Department, after Eddie’s apartment was broken into in their jurisdiction, in relation to his disappearance. ”
That’s something, Raquelle told herself, giving her hope that Eddie was hiding and not a kidnapping or, worse, homicide victim. She peered at Landon and forked a piece of lettuce from her house salad, then repeated her question intently, “And what is the FBI doing to locate and protect Eddie?”
Landon swallowed food before dabbing a napkin on his lips and insisting, “Everything we can. As a confidential human source for a federal investigation by the Art Crime Team, Eddie’s disappearance under suspicious circumstances has the Bureau’s attention.
Apart from agents working with local law enforcement to try and find him—including dispatching a search and rescue team and K-9 unit to search in and around the wooded area near Eddie’s apartment complex—the info has been put into the FBI’s National Crime Information Center and Violent Criminal Apprehension Program.
Both are repositories for major cases, which include info on missing persons in relation to acts of violence, such as the bombing of a boat.
“Similarly,” he pointed out while scooping up some hush puppies, “the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division’s Missing Person Information Center has also been alerted, along with the Tribal Access Program—in case we need to exchange info that could lead to finding or identifying Eddie.”
“All right,” Raquelle said, digging her fork into the baked potato while feeling reasonably comfortable that they were taking her brother’s disappearance seriously.
Landon seemed to read into her thoughts as he forked a steamed carrot.
Meeting her gaze, he said, “Just so you know, I’m just as concerned for Eddie’s safety as you are, Raquelle.
Aside from being a confidential human source, he’s still my brother-in-law—more or less—and I actually consider him to be a friend, strange as that may seem… ”
It does sound weird in a way but believable in another, she told herself, knowing the character of both men. Even if they were so different and—as it turned out— apparently on opposite sides of the law.
She looked at her ex. “Thank you for saying that,” she said sincerely.
“These days, especially since the breakup with his last girlfriend, Eddie hasn’t quite seemed himself.
” If she was being honest about it, though, Raquelle realized now that he had more than one thing on his mind.
“Having someone he looked up to as a confidant—even if it was for investigative purposes—was probably good for him.” She frowned thoughtfully. “Till it wasn’t.”
Landon acknowledged this while pinching the bridge his nose, musing. “About that…” He held her gaze unwaveringly. “I need to know if Eddie talked to you about his recent dealings in the art world…”