Chapter 43
Knight shut everything off but protocol.
Even worry. It wouldn’t help a damned thing.
Miranda needed him as by-the-book as he could be.
Anything could be happening inside that house.
He checked the back door cautiously. It was unlocked.
No surprise—he saw boot prints in the snow that belonged to a man.
Most likely Bryan Stenson’s—the man had had the same pattern on his snow boots the other day.
There were another set of prints, slightly smaller—but too big to be Miranda’s. They headed toward the front. There was blood droplets sitting on the top of the snow. The red stood out, even though the snow had mixed with it and diluted it.
Knight entered through the back door, weapon raised. Voices from the front room guided him forward. He moved down the hall and stopped where he could see into the room without stepping into Miranda’s line of fire. She had her weapon ready and was in an obvious stand-off with a man.
He was a few inches shorter than Knight and probably close to sixty, or so.
His clothing was older. The coat was old and army-style.
The guy looked like he’d come out on the losing side of whatever fight life had thrown him.
There was blood on him. Still dripping on the floor.
But it wasn’t his; Knight would bet money on that.
It was blood mixed with melting snow. Someone somewhere had been hurt.
This was their unsub. He’d bet money on that.
Miranda stood facing John. Both were armed. Miranda had seen Knight enter. Her slight nod was almost imperceptible to anyone who didn’t know her well. But…he did.
Knight stepped into view enough to make his presence known without crowding the space.
“FBI, put down the weapon, so we can talk.” Knight moved forward one step, narrowing the distance and changing the angle between them.
“Dr. Allan Knight, meet John Stenson. Bryan’s brother. Asa’s uncle.”
“Asa is safe now. We made sure of it,” Knight knew what she was asking.
“Bryan?”
“I don’t know at this point, but I can confirm the police were also called.
Responders.” They could all hear the sirens outside.
It was only a moment or two before the entire Gibson house was surrounded by local law enforcement.
Knight would prefer to get this situation neutralized before that happened.
And he wanted Miranda out of the line of fire.
If Stenson was the man who had killed the Gibsons he had an immense hatred for women. And Miranda fit the profile of the man’s victims a little too closely. If Stenson snapped and tried to take them out—it would be Miranda he tried to hurt first.
They were in a bit of a bind here. John had to know he was outnumbered.
Both Miranda and Knight had weapons trained on him now.
And they blocked him in between them. If he started shooting, it could be very painful for her, and the only thing that kept her from reacting now was that the gun was pointed at the floor instead of her.
She checked his mannerisms. Agitated. No denying that. But he wouldn’t meet her eyes now. He kept trying to turn. Toward Knight. Toward the one he thought was a bigger threat. Of course he did—Knight was a man.
It would be Knight he identified with most. Knight he felt was the biggest threat.
Their goal was to disarm and apprehend.
That was the only way they would get the answers they needed.
Knight had been with Pierce. Pierce was probably assisting Bryan and keeping Asa safe.
And then coordinating with the LEOs would be arriving at any moment.
“John, you have to put the gun down. Put it on the end table there. We don’t want something happening, and someone else getting hurt by accident. ”
His agitation level rose immediately at her words.
“You know we have police coming and we are both FBI. You won’t be able to escape today. Put the weapon down so we can talk. Did you hurt your brother outside?” Knight asked in his typical Knight-clinical tone. John turned toward him slightly. Calming.
Interesting.
Miranda definitely triggered him. She shot a quick look at Knight and tilted her head his direction. If they were going to cool this down, Knight would probably have to be the one to do it.
Miranda would just do her best to make sure nothing she did set him off any more. Unless she set him off deliberately.
She did not want to see this man die today. She wanted answers.
This man was probably the only one who knew what had happened to Terra Gibson.