Key Witness (14 page)

Bank robbery.

Jimmy shot.

Email hacked.

Dad’s D.C. neighbor stabbed.

Bombing during gala.

Brianna kidnapped.

Message on window.

Gatehouse bombed.

It just didn’t make any sense. Elle wasn’t a criminal justice major, but it just seemed like these guys were all over the place. Didn’t most killers have a modus operandi—a certain way of doing things? The only link between these crimes seemed to be her family.

The FBI still hadn’t been able to identify the man from the photo. He stopped working at the IT company six months ago, and his given identity was fraudulent. That basically meant he could be anyone. His accomplice was still faceless, and there was a possibility a third person was involved.

If one of those perps was somehow connected with the family, who could it be?

Bentley was the obvious choice at the moment. He knew about Elle’s nickname.

But so did Preston.

Bob Allen had a reason to ruin her father’s reputation. But would he sink that low?

Elle leaned her head back toward her chair, feeling the start of a headache. She had to figure this out...for Brianna. For everyone she loved, for that matter.

She’d just spoken with Brianna’s mom this morning, and the woman was a mess. She was booking a flight and heading out from California, where Brianna’s family had moved two years ago. Alex had called several times and he seemed genuinely concerned.

“That paint on your window. It’s the same stuff people use to write on car windows after weddings and football games.” Denton strode into the room, proof of last night’s blast still evident in the small scrapes across his face.

Elle’s breathing quickened at the sight of him. Agent Banks was still in the hospital, but, last Elle had heard, would probably be released later today. Thank goodness no one had been hurt any worse.

She swiveled in her chair to face him. “Car window paint, huh? Who are the guys? Soccer dads who kill on the side?”

He sat down beside her and pointed at the paper. “What are you doing?”

She stared at her list and frowned. “Trying to make sense of things.”

“Did it work?”

She shook her head. “Not in the least.”

“What’s going on with Bentley?”

“My dad’s supposed to handle him. We’ll see what happens.”

“You think he’s behind some of this stuff that’s been going on?”

“It’s hard to say. My gut says no. But who knows, really? I can’t imagine anyone being this sick.” She straightened. “Do you think it’s odd that there seems to be no pattern to these crimes?”

He stared ahead solemnly for a moment before nodding. “I do. They have a method. We just don’t know what it is yet.”

She stared at the paper. “All these crimes...they just don’t seem to fit.”

He took the paper from her. “There’s a link in there somewhere. We just have to figure it out.”

“My family. My family seems to be the only link.”

“These men could be angry with your family for some reason. That’s a definite possibility.”

“But why go through all these different methods of crime? What sense does that make? Unless...”

“What is it?”

Elle’s brain whirled as an idea ignited. She took the list back from Denton and scanned the crimes committed so far. She closed her eyes as her idea settled in her mind. Finally, she pulled open her eyes and set the list back on the table. “I need to call my dad.”

“Elle, would you mind telling me what you’re thinking?”

“Denton, I think someone is trying to make a statement by acting out some of the criminal cases my dad presided over as a judge or trial attorney.”

He leaned forward. “Tell me more.”

She pointed to the list. “I don’t know about all of them. And this could be a stretch. But I know about some of the more high-profile cases because the media reported on them. One was a kidnapping of a girl from a parking lot. One was a bank robbery. Of course there were murders. I don’t remember the details of all of them, but I’d bet there was at least one shooting death and one stabbing.”

“You could be on to something.”

She shook her head. “The paint you said that they used on my window? One of my father’s last cases was a college kid who was killed by a drunk driver after a football game. The car, which went up in flames, had messages written all over the windows.” She paused and looked at Denton. “Am I crazy?”

He stood and shook his head. “No, I think you’re brilliant.”

FOURTEEN

“W
e’ve got a hit on a cell phone location.”

Elle jumped from her seat and darted to the table where a cluster of federal agents had gathered. “Where? Can you get your guys out there?”

“Brianna’s cell phone just came on out of the blue,” Agent Duffield said. “It remained on for just long enough for us to get a location.”

Denton’s hands went to his hips. “Something smells fishy. Why would the cell phone just come on?”

Elle’s heart surged with hope. “Maybe Brianna got it and turned it on.”

Denton held out a hand to calm her. “Don’t get your hopes up. These guys are conniving.”

Agent Duffield sat back from the computer and tapped on his lips with a pen. “The location is only about ten miles from here. It looks like it’s at an abandoned warehouse out in the Pungo area.”

“What are you thinking?” Denton asked.

Agent Duffield stood and looked at the crowd of people waiting for his response. “Let’s get some men out there. But we’ve got to be careful. This could be a setup.”

“Or it could be a legitimate lead!” Excitement seemed to squeeze the air out of Elle’s throat.

“I assure you that we realize that.” Agent Duffield stepped toward the front door.

Elle stepped after him. “I want to go! I need to be there for Brianna, in case you find her.”

Denton’s hand gripped her arm, jerking her to a halt before she was carried out the door with the flood of agents who exited. “That’s not a good idea. We need you here. Safe.”

She looked up at Denton, the one person she’d come to trust throughout the whole fiasco. He was capable, smart and tough. “Are you going? Are you going to help them?”

He shook his head. “No, I need to stay with you.”

“Why? They need you. Can’t you—?”

“Elle, I’m not taking that risk in case this is a setup. Maybe they want us to leave you alone so they can swoop in here and act out yet another part of their grand plan. The FBI will do their job there.” His gaze felt warm on hers as he lowered his voice. “My job is to protect you.”

“Denton, I’m scared for her.”

His hand traveled down her arm until he gripped her hand. “I know.”

A figure filled the doorway. Elle gasped and stepped back from Denton. She looked over and spotted her father standing there, his brows drawn together. He wore his typical crisp business suit and had two advisors on either side of him. “What’s going on?”

Denton’s hand left hers, and Elle brought her arms over her chest. “The FBI thinks they know where Brianna is.” Elle filled him in on the details.

“We can only hope for the best.” He pulled off his overcoat. “This has gone on for a long time. Too long. Brianna’s a nice girl. She doesn’t deserve this. No one does.”

“What are you doing home?”

“I couldn’t stay in Washington, not with everything going on. There are some things more important than politics, just don’t tell that to any of my supporters.” He planted a kiss on her forehead. “How is your mother?”

Maybe her father was turning over a new leaf, so to speak. Could that be the one good thing to come out of this dreadful situation? Would her father realize how he had neglected his family? “She’s sitting in the sunroom resting. Still recovering from the excitement of last night.”

Her father shook his head and started toward the back of the house. “
Excitement
is putting it mildly. When’s all of this going to calm down?”

“When we have these guys behind bars, is my guess.” Denton shifted. “I have some questions for you, Senator Philips. Do you have a moment?”

Elle laid a hand on her father’s arm. “Before that, I have to ask—did you meet with Bentley?”

“I did. I don’t think the man is guilty, but I fired him anyway.”

“Why?”

“I can’t have someone on my staff who I don’t trust and, right now, I don’t trust him.”

“Do I need to put together a press release?”

“It’s not a bad idea. Better we do it first before Bentley takes matters into his own hands. He didn’t take being let go very well.”

“I can imagine.”

Denton stepped forward. “I’d like Elle to be there when I talk with you about a new theory. Can we do that first?”

“Of course. Let’s go to my office.” Senator Philips pointed. “This way.”

Her dad sat behind his massive desk and laced his fingers in front of him. Elle and Denton sat in the stiff leather chairs across from him.

Denton didn’t waste any time. “We need to talk to you about some of the trials you resided over as judge or worked as an attorney.”

Her dad settled back into his desk chair. “What’s this about?”

Elle and Denton exchanged a glance. Elle finally spoke up. “We think someone might be attacking people in a way that reflects different cases you were a part of.”

Her father’s eyebrows came together. “Why would someone do that?”

Elle shrugged. “Why do evil people do anything that they do?”

The door opened, and a member of housekeeping stood frozen in the doorway. The man backed away. “Sorry. I didn’t realize anyone was here.”

Elle waved him off, trying to ease his obvious anxiety. “No problem. But, please, work on the upstairs for now.”

He nodded toward the distance. “Is it okay if I clean the message from the kitchen window?”

“The police have released that scene, so that should be fine,” Denton said.

The man paused. “It may not be my place to say this, but I wanted to let you know that I saw a man creeping along the fence outside a few days ago.”

“A man? What did he look like?” Denton asked.

“In his twenties. Red hair. Skinny as skinny could be.”

Elle’s gaze locked on her father’s. “That sounds just like Travis Ambler!” She turned toward Denton. “He’s the man who’s made threats against my father in the past. He sits outside his office as a one-man protest sometimes. Something just doesn’t seem right about the man. His animosity extends beyond the normal anger people have against politicians. Then the next moment he acts like he idolizes my dad.”

Denton shook his head. “We had Ambler checked out.”

“And?”

Denton sucked in a deep breath. “And he’s accounted for during the bank robbery. In fact, a dozen people saw him sitting outside your father’s campaign office in Norfolk.”

Elle wasn’t ready to let this drop. “Maybe there are more than two people involved. Maybe there are three. If he was creeping along outside the house, he could be our guy. Maybe there’s some kind of twisted reasoning here that will help this to make sense.”

Denton patted his hands in the air. “I’ll make sure someone looks into it. I promise.” His gaze turned back to her father. “Now, can we talk to you about some of those cases?”

“How about you tell me what you’re thinking?”

Denton shifted in his seat. “A bank robbery?”

“I judged a case where a bank robber killed one of the tellers.” Her father’s face went still. Finally, he said, “Go on.”

Elle cleared her throat. “The case where that college kid was killed by a drunk driver?”

“Right. I was the lawyer for the family whose son died. The drunk driver got five years after the car he hit exploded into flames.”

“Just like the guardhouse,” Elle mumbled. “What other high-profile cases were you involved with?”

“Probably the one that was the biggest media storm involved the girl who died in the undercover drug sting. She walked into the middle of the operation, and that drug lord they’d been trying to take down for years shot her before getting away. There were two police officers involved, but the accused was able to walk on a technicality—the authorities forgot to read him his Miranda rights. Later, the man went to jail on other charges, but never for this woman’s murder.”

Elle looked at Denton. “What could they be planning with that?”

Denton grimaced. “I don’t know. It doesn’t tie in with anything so far.”

Elle’s heart thudded with sorrow. “And then there’s Brianna....”

The lines on her father’s face tightened. “There was one kidnapping case I was involved with.”

Elle leaned forward. “What happened?”

“The girl was snatched from outside a grocery store.” He shook his head. “But she was found the next day.”

“Found?”

“Dead.”

Elle hung her head. “Brianna’s been missing for a day. And she was snatched in a parking lot outside her apartment. Of course, these guys aren’t following the cases detail by detail.” Elle shivered. That didn’t mean her friend would be killed today. It couldn’t mean that. She had to keep hope alive.

Denton nodded. “Just enough to get their point across.”

Her dad cleared his throat, a new somberness falling over him. “The only other kidnapping was...”

“Emily.” Elle’s nerves panged with tension.

Denton shifted in his seat to face Elle. “How long did they have Emily?”

“A week.” Her throat burned as she said the words. Would the pain ever subside?

Denton touched the arm of her chair. She was certain he would have touched her had her father not been there. “How did they find her, Elle?”

“She was in the woods by a creek. She’d been dead for several days before they found her.” What if there was a clue there? Or what if that’s where they were holding Brianna? “I want to go there.”

Denton shook his head. “Elle, that’s not a good idea. I’ll go.”

“You can’t go by yourself. You’ll never find it.”

Her dad stood. “You know where it is?”

“I go there all the time.” She shrugged, realizing her admission. “I know it seems weird, but it just helps me to deal with everything that happened. I want to go. I’ll show you.”

Her father waved. “I’ll call the police and let them know to meet you there.”

Elle started toward the door. “Come on. Let’s go.” She didn’t wait to see if Denton followed behind her as she darted toward the door leading to the garage.

“Whoa, Elle.” Denton pulled her to a stop. “We’ve got to keep level heads here. I know you’ve got a lot of emotions right now. We can’t let them get in the way of your safety.”

Elle nodded. “I know. I just want to find her. I just want her to be okay.”

“We’re not going into the woods until backup arrives.”

“Okay.”

“Take a deep breath.”

She sucked in air, trying to tamp down her emotions.

Finally, Denton nodded. “Okay, let’s go.”

* * *

As they bounced down the road, Denton couldn’t help but think about worst case scenarios. His knuckles were white as he gripped the wheel. He had to keep Elle safe. The most important thing right now was ensuring that she wasn’t hurt. Because that was what he’d been hired to do...and because he was starting to care about her.

Care about her in ways he shouldn’t. Losing his wife had made him feel like his heart had been ripped out. He wasn’t ready to love someone else again...or was he? Because Elle made his heart race like it hadn’t raced in a long time. She filled his thoughts and made him look forward to each time they interacted. And when she cried, there was nothing more that he wanted than to pull her into his arms.

This wasn’t good. Wasn’t good at all.

He glanced over at her and saw her reaching for the empty place at her throat where her necklace used to rest. That heirloom obviously meant a lot to her. “You doing okay?”

She nodded, but she didn’t look okay. Her face was pale, her breathing heavy. “They’re recreating a kidnapping. What kind of sick people are we dealing with?”

He rested his hand on her knee as they sped down the road. There was nothing he could say. They both understood the grave situation. Life hung in the balance. The two men had chosen to play God, to decide when someone’s final day would be. Nothing seemed to stop the madmen, and all of their leads so far had gotten them nowhere. With every breath, danger loomed closer. Safety seemed a distant memory. Denton didn’t remember feeling this level of uneasiness since his days in the Middle East as he faced insurgents who’d hated him simply because he was an American.

“Turn here,” Elle directed. A few minutes later, they pulled to a stop at the edge of the woods. His cell phone rang as he put the SUV in Park. It was Elle’s father.

“The police are on their way.”

“Did they find anything from the cell phone trace?”

“Nothing.”

“Thanks for the update. We just arrived.”

Elle jumped out of the vehicle, and Denton scrambled around to her side. His gaze scanned the area for any signs of danger. Nothing. Not visible to the eye, at least.

“Come on.” She started toward the tree line.

Denton grabbed her arm and pulled her back. “Not so fast, Elle.”

“It’s just right down that path.” She took another step toward the trees.

“Elle, we need to wait for the FBI. We don’t know what’s waiting for us behind this parking lot.”

“But what if Brianna...”

“I know.” He pulled her into his arms, and she melted into his embrace. He held her until he heard the sound of tires against the gravel. Then he righted himself, jumping back into professional mode.

Three police cars and an FBI sedan pulled to a stop. Once the team was assembled, Elle lead the officers down the path. Denton stayed at her side, his gaze roaming his surroundings for any sign of danger. Who knew what these guys were planning next?

The trail continued, deeper and deeper into the woodsy swampland. Elle didn’t hesitate or cringe or show any fear. Her gaze only showed her determination and focus. The woman looked like she’d done this a million times before. Of course, she said she had been back here many times previous to today, all in honor of her sister. Denton could only imagine how painful those visits must have been, the memories that were sure to surface.

And now Brianna... How much grief could one heart take?

Finally, they stopped by a murky creek and followed the water along the banks. Their footing was rockier here as the trail gave away to the embankment.

“Not much farther,” Elle called over her shoulder.

“Elle,” Denton said.

She slowed, but only for a second.

“Let me go first.”

“But—”

“Elle, let me go first. Just in case.”

“In case what—?” Realization spread over her face. She paused and allowed him in front of her. “It’s not much farther. Just a few feet.”