Chapter Seven #2
“I wouldn’t give up on him just yet,” Katie said as she used the stylus to switch to other surveillance videos not far from Eddie’s apartment complex in Gadwall Heights and elsewhere in Falona County that showed images of someone who fit Eddie’s general description, if not a positive match.
“Your CI could well be on the move, while trying to dodge Ivan Pimentel and his goons.”
“True,” Landon allowed, while still feeling uneasy. “Or we could be on a wild goose chase—considering we’ve been unable to make contact with Eddie and his known cell phones continue to be inoperative. Does that sound like a man who is alive and wants to stay that way to you?”
Would Eddie keep Raquelle in the dark, not knowing if she should be greeting him with open arms or preparing for his funeral? he asked himself skeptically.
Katie fixed her eyes on his face. “Maybe Eddie wisely ditched his main cell phone and burner phone for fear that either one could lead his pursuers to him as easily as you. All I know is that as long as there’s no body, there’s no victim per se.
But we do have a suspect—” she brought up surveillance footage of the unsub “—who may still be hunting Jernigan. Unless we can get to him first…”
“Points well taken,” Landon had to admit and thought about Raquelle. “We’ll keep looking for Eddie—and the unsub, who’s likely in Pimentel’s hip pocket and would still be expected to deliver on his assignment, if it’s still active.”
Katie smiled supportively. “Sounds good to me.”
He contemplated one of Eddie’s known hangouts—the Cridder Club—where he could have been hiding out. It was where they met as his CI to exchange intel and discuss the investigation.
I’ll check it out and invite Raquelle along to keep her in the loop, Landon thought as he left the conference room and got on his cell phone.
* * *
“HEY.” LANDON TRIED to keep his tone measured as Raquelle answered via speaker phone. “Are you busy right now?”
“Not really,” she told him. “I’m in my car after paying Eddie’s ex-girlfriend a visit.”
“Is that right?” He didn’t realize they were friends. But then, how would he know the ins and outs of his ex-wife’s life these days? Or who she hung out with, even if wishing it had been him.
“Yes.” She paused. “I wanted to know if Eddie may have been hiding out there.”
“How did it go?” Landon asked curiously, while on the road as well.
“He wasn’t at the condo.” Raquelle sighed. “Penelope said she hadn’t seen him in a while.”
“Sorry you weren’t able to locate Eddie,” Landon said, knowing how much she wanted to find him alive. He wanted that too. But with each day—hell, every hour—that this wasn’t the case, the less likely it was that Eddie would still emerge on his own two feet.
“Me too,” Raquelle lamented. “Eddie called Penelope last week, indicating he was in trouble and hoped to find his way out of it. Likely with your help,” she speculated.
“I never heard from him—until he left me a voicemail the day he went missing,” Landon told her and thought wistfully, Wish I could have made contact with him. “Maybe he intended to ask me to protect him…but never got the chance,” he said.
“Hmm…” She took a breath. “If Eddie’s still alive, he might still have that chance—if you’re willing to step in.”
“I am, of course.” Landon watched the road. First things first—tracking Eddie down before it’s too late, he thought. “If we find Eddie, I’ll do everything in my power to see to it that he’s safe from harm. Whatever it takes…”
“Thank you,” Raquelle said with sincerity.
“No thanks necessary. As my CI, it’s part of the job to minimize risks, while maximizing returns.
Eddie knew that I had his back—if given the opportunity to get him out, if and when his cover was blown.
” Landon stopped at a light. “In fact, the reason I’m calling was to tell you that I’m headed to the Cridder Club on Gelinten Road in Gadwall Heights.
It’s where I met with Eddie a few times.
The bartender, Rex Shepherd, was his friend and someone Eddie could have reached out to for help.
I thought you might want to meet me there. ”
“Yes, I would.” Her voice lifted an octave. “I went there once with Eddie. I’m not too far from where the club is located. I’ll wait for you in the parking lot.”
“Okay,” Landon said, just minutes away himself.
He wasn’t holding out too much hope that Eddie had shown up there.
But any possibility needed to be checked out.
Beyond that, being in the presence of his ex-wife was something Landon relished, even if it was under less than ideal circumstances for both of them.
* * *
RAQUELLE ANXIOUSLY AWAITED LANDON, while hoping he might achieve better results in the search for Eddie.
She had to believe he was still alive—even as she feared the odds might be stacking up against that with no word from her little brother to that effect.
But she thought it possible that this deafening silence might have been his way of attempting to shield her from the murky art world he had ensconced himself into.
One that clearly Landon was also heavily invested in, albeit on the right side of the law.
She recalled that he had immersed himself in fighting against white-collar criminals during much of their marriage and had been good at it—helping to put away some deserving individuals.
Now Landon was focused on art-related crimes, which Raquelle was sure he excelled at just as much.
Hadn’t his dedication to the job played a big role in their marriage disintegrating?
Her reverie was interrupted when she saw Landon’s Chevy Tahoe pull into the lot beside her car. She got out when he did and felt comfort in knowing they were both on the same page, at least when it came to wanting to find Eddie alive—if he was still somewhere to be located.
Landon flashed her a quick look and said, “Thanks for coming.”
“Thanks for asking me to,” Raquelle countered, realizing that he was on duty and could have chosen to go it alone—but didn’t.
He nodded. “Let’s see if Eddie has been here—”
“All right.”
They went inside the midsized club and saw that it was mostly empty in the before noon time. Raquelle had actually considered that they might see Eddie sitting at a table, drinking beer as she had with him there. But there was no sign of her brother. Could he be hiding in a back room?
It wasn’t long before Landon spotted the man he was looking for and told Raquelle, “There he is…”
She turned to the bar a few feet away, where the bartender was a tall and thickly built Native American man in his thirties with long brown hair across his shoulders, brown eyes, and a horseshoe mustache.
They walked over to him, and Landon asked knowingly, “Rex Shepherd, right?”
He stopped drying glasses, peering at them warily. “Yeah. Who are you?”
Lifting up his identification, Landon answered, “FBI Special Agent Briscoe—and this is Raquelle Jernigan, Eddie’s sister…” That immediately commanded the man’s attention.
Raquelle took this moment to speak up herself.
“Eddie’s been missing since his boat blew up the other day—and it was destroyed deliberately.
As someone Eddie described as a good friend—” she chose to exaggerate this for all the right reasons “—we were wondering if he might have come to you for help?”
Rex scratched his mustache and said, “Yeah, Eddie came here—said some really bad people were after him. He asked if he could borrow some money. I gave him what I had, which wasn’t much but probably enough to catch a bus out of town.”
“And when was this?” Landon asked intently, leaning against the bar counter.
“The day his boat exploded.” Rex lowered his chin. “Said that after escaping the explosion, he had nowhere to turn…”
Landon frowned. “He did—but Eddie chose not to seek help.”
Raquelle made a sound in agreement, feeling she would have done whatever she could have to help him. Landon clearly was of the same mind. Yet to Eddie, none of the options were to his liking. At least where it concerned involving her—which she had to respect.
Now they were left wondering if he had managed to get out of the area…the state maybe. Or had Eddie been prevented from doing this?
Just then, Landon’s cell phone rang. He removed it from the pocket of his chinos, glanced at the caller ID, then answered workwise, “Briscoe…”
Raquelle watched as his expression went from nonchalant to distressed to something resembling resignation before Landon told the caller he was on his way.
“What is it?” Raquelle had to ask him, piqued, as he put the phone away.
“An adult male’s body was discovered in the woods, not far from Eddie’s apartment complex.” Landon’s brows knitted. “They think it could be Eddie…”
She choked up in hearing this but said, hoping against hope, “Maybe it’s not him.”
Landon placed a firm hand on her shoulder sympathetically. “I need to head over there. If you’d like, I can make the identification, if necessary, sparing you from—”
Raquelle cut in adamantly, “I don’t need to be spared, Landon. If it is my brother, I need to see for myself—and deal with it…” No matter how painful it would be to her.
“Okay,” he concurred. “You can follow me.”