Page 86 of Counter Attack

“No.”

“You searched for that?” Nathan asked.

Madden stood straighter, hooked his thumbs on his belt. “If there’s a safe or anything hidden in that condo, I’ll eat my badge.”

Nathan turned toward Alex, his eyes twinkling. It was clear he’d love to see that, but then, so would she. “Do you have an explosive detection dog?” she asked abruptly.

Carl nodded. “A Belgian Malinois. We didn’t use her yesterday because you have a good explosive detection dog.”

“Any chance we could take her and her partner with us to check out the condo?” She turned to the detective. “Unless you used the dog when you searched it?”

Madden’s mouth twitched. “That’s a pretty good idea. We didn’t have Mal then, and Belle, our first explosive dog, was retired.”

“I’ll call her handler and have him bring the dog to the condo,” Carl said. “Probably come myself.”

He would be a good buffer. “See you there.”

A few minutes later they stepped out into the sunshine. For the first time since this case started, she had hope. Her euphoria lasted until they were a block from Denton’s condo.

Nathan pulled into the same spot she and her partner had parked in the last time she was here. Alex climbed out of thetruck, her insides cinched so tightly she had trouble breathing. She’d never returned to the site where she’d killed a man.

Alex turned as first Madden, then the K-9 officer pulled into the parking area, followed by Carl Wingate. Didn’t any of these people travel together? Alex almost laughed out loud. She’d only been chief deputy three days and already she was thinking about budgets?

“You ready?” Madden asked as he approached.

“As I ever will be.” She and Nathan fell in beside the detective as they approached the building that had once been a warehouse. Ten years ago, it’d been converted to expensive condos. “How did Denton afford this place on his salary?”

“Good question, and one we never found the answer to.”

“Why not? Everyone leaves a paper trail,” Nathan said.

“Not Phillip Denton. My personal theory is he was in WITSEC since his paperwork was fake and Phillip Denton didn’t exist before five years ago.”

“Wait,” Alex said. “There’s no mention of Denton being in the federal witness protection program in the report.”

“I told you, it’s my personal theory. I contacted the US Marshals, and they denied having any knowledge of him so I left it out.”

“Surely they wouldn’t protect a bomber,” Alex said.

Madden snorted. “They might, since he was dead and his activities would reflect badly on the Marshals.”

It wouldn’t be the first time a federal agency covered its rear. Madden took out a key, and Alex stiffened. She’d been so busy talking she hadn’t realized they’d reached the common entrance. Her stomach knotted again and a band tightened across her chest.

When she’d been here before, she’d admired the way the renovator kept the integrity of the building and had used part of the ground floor as a courtyard. Today she barely noticedas she followed Madden to the second floor and Denton’s condo.

The detective used another key to enter the condo, transporting Alex back to the day she and her partner came to interview Denton...

“You don’t really think anybody who can afford to live here is a mad bomber, do you?” he said.

She didn’t, but one of Phillip Denton’s neighbors had reported him for suspicious activity on the hotline created after the mall bombing. “Doesn’t matter what we think, the captain told us to check him out.”

The ground floor was beautiful, with a courtyard and pathways. They climbed the stairs rather than take the elevator. Denton’s condo was the first one they came to.

A TV blared through the door, and Alex rang the bell.

“Go away!”

“Police, Mr. Denton. We need to speak with you.”

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