Page 50 of One Final Target

“We worked out a possible scenario,” Barstow said. “He had the freezer on a timer with the lid open, so when the flow of electricity stopped, thawing and decay would start. It’s been warm. Someone would have been in here sooner or later to investigate the smell. What do cops do when they have an abandoned structure with decaying bodies inside?”

“They lock it down and then go wait in their cars, away from the odor, until the coroner arrives,” Jodie said, mind churning with the ramifications of this guy’s evil.

“Right,” Barstow confirmed. “But any cop who saw this—” he waved his hand around the photo walls—“would be forced to slow down, call out detectives, bringing more people into the mix. They’d search the house. The pressure switch you stepped on activated a timer on the bomb. You heard the click and thought it was the same thing Gus stepped on, so you didn’t move. I doubt anyone else would have thought it was anything but a creaky floorboard. The C-4 would have detonated after forty minutes, about the time it would have taken to have a house full of cops and techs.”

The room went silent as everyone digested this information.

“He wanted another big kill,” Sam said.

“Yep, our guess is he wanted as many people as possible in the house—then boom, more death and all the evidence destroyed. There also would have been collateral damage on either side, and behind.” Barstow looked at Sam. “Thankfully you were able to defuse it.”

“So it wasn’t the same as in the mountains,” Smiley said.

“No, it wasn’t. In fact—” Barstow paused and looked around at everyone there—“this device looked as if it were set up by a different person.”

“What?” Mike asked.

“You’ll have my full report shortly.”

Smiley cursed. Mike whistled low and Jodie stiffened. He’d voiced what she’d been thinking. Though he didn’t suggest the suspect was a cop, hearing him voice her thoughts... well, it was nonetheless distressing.

Mike turned to her. “Two killers? Jodie, you’re going to need protection. I’ll get a black-and-white to escort you home.”

“I don’t need babysitters.”

Barstow interrupted. “Your uncle is right, Jodie. You all need to discuss this in the command post van. I’m told they’ve set up a conference table. Lab people are here waiting to go over this place with a fine-tooth comb.”

Jodie, stung over the idea of having a babysitter, turned and left, more than happy to get out of the house. She felt someone behind her and hoped it was Sam. The command post van was parked in front of Collins’s house now. It had been moved there as soon as the explosive threat had been mitigated. Now it was further inside the perimeter and further away from the press.

As soon as Jodie stepped inside the modified motor home, she saw the conference table. A pot of coffee brewed next to a box of doughnuts. She filled a coffee cup.

“Can I have one of those?”

Sam had followed her in. He looked as tired as she felt. The stubble on his chin was lighter red than the hair on his head.

“Sure.” She gave him the cup she’d poured as everyone else filed into the room. She poured herself another cup and then found a seat at the table. Sam took the one next to her.

“You shouldn’t dismiss what your uncle said, Jodie. You might need some watching just for a bit,” Gresham said.

She turned on him in surprise. “What?”

“This guy has too much intel—the warrant service, your visit to the mountains, your whole operation. Sergeant Barstow just said he probably had trackers. It makes sense that every part of your life needs to be swept for listening or tracking devices.”

“He’s right,” Mike agreed. He took the seat across from Jodie.

She folded her arms, creeped out and angry about what this guy had done to her life. Hating being ganged up on. Especially because even in her anger, she could see the logic. “All this because he wasn’t hired to be a cop?”

“Maybe,” Mike said.

“Him and his partner,” Sam said. “There are two people working on this, like Barstow suggested. It’s the only thing making any sense.”

“Agreed,” Mike said. “For some reason they are after you, Jodie. And until now they’ve been very efficient killers.”

Jodie rubbed her arms, suddenly feeling cold, almost as cold as she’d felt in the mountains when she watched fire consume her team.

CHAPTER27

JODIE’S ADRENALINE RUSHquickly dissipated. The anger still smoldered, but she was tired. It had been a long, disturbing day. The photos had gotten under her skin like an army of red ants.

---