Page 72 of Pied Sniper

“I expected you to know all the information about that.”

“Some, but not all. I think we should talk to him.”

“What about looking into Rose Busch? Garrett says she had a DUI so her fingerprints are on file.”

“I told Lucas to do a background check. He’ll call us when he has some information.”

“Let’s go.”

I grabbed my phone and jacket and followed Solomon as he slid his jacket on. We jogged downstairs and a few minutes later, Solomon pointed the car away from downtown. “How do you know your contact?” I asked.

“Just from talking to him at the range. He’s ex-Army who specialized in armory. He opened the gun range after he was discharged and it’s pretty popular with former military.”

“So he’s an expert?”

Solomon waved his hand. “An Army armorer spends a lot of time doing paperwork and checking in and out weapons. Others in the unit do the maintenance. That said, he’s more knowledgeable than I am about weapons, so I think his opinion will be worth it. No guarantee he’ll be helpful, but I’d like to hear what he says.”

“I think we need all the help we can get. Sure, we’re turning up information on Tiffany but it’s all stuff from the past. It’s not helping us locate her.”

“It might help us discover the motive. The why will lead us to who.”

“The why still seems to be about money.”

“Then they’re going to be really disappointed when they find out Tiffany doesn’t have any. She’s close to flat broke, and that worries me,” said Solomon.

“Her ability to pay the ransom? Abigail said she might cover it.”

“And if she doesn’t? They could kill Tiffany.”

I couldn’t get that thought out of my head. It was still troubling me when we pulled into the parking lot. After touring the lot twice but finding no empty spaces, we pulled back onto the street.

“Is it just me or is this a crazy time of day for the gun range parking lot to be so busy?” I wondered aloud.

“It’s not a very big lot,” Solomon pointed out but my attention was drawn to something else. A man in a dark suit with hair barely curling at the collar of his white shirt. He wore sunglasses and looked out of place against the concrete parking structure painted with colorful graffiti tags. I pointed as I said, “Is that Maddox?”

Solomon narrowed his eyes. “Looks like him.”

“What’s he doing here? The range has nothing to do with the investigation. At least, not directly.”

“Go find out and meet me inside.”

“Yes, boss.” Solomon pulled over and I hopped out and jogged over to Maddox. He was staring at his phone, then turning this way and that, craning his neck. “What are you doing?” I asked and he jumped.

“Jeez, where did you sneak up from?” he asked, his hand hovering above his concealed gun.

“Ooh, jumpy. Over there,” I said, flapping my hand in the vague direction where Solomon dropped me off. His SUV was already out of view and I hoped he didn’t have too long of a walk back. “I spoke to Garrett briefly and he said you were on your way back from a dead-end lead.”

Maddox relaxed. “Correct, but I wanted to follow up with another clue.”

“I’m all ears.”

“I figured, and since you found it, it won’t hurt to tell you. The ticket you picked up at the apartment overlooking Tiffany’s belongs to this parking garage.”

“Huh.” I frowned. What were the odds that the scrunched-up parking ticket from the abandoned building would lead them here?

“Thatiswhy you’re here?” Maddox continued.

“No, we came to talk to one of Solomon’s contacts at the gun range across the street.” I pointed to the flat-roofed, dark building.

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