Page 63 of One Final Target

“How about the train ticket?”

“Don’t know. Fullerton PD has been all over the station and can’t find any proof Collins even got on a train.”

“Misdirection. If he left on Thursday but was in San Bernardino on Saturday to steal a car and then try to shoot Jodie, it’s certain he found a way to San Bernardino. Is there a BOLO out for Collins?” Sam asked.

Tara nodded. “Yes. If he’s in the country, we’ll find him.”

“Do we know if Collins is still on the books at Computer Relief?”

“According to the owner, yes. However, he hasn’t turned in any work for at least a week, and two projects are overdue. The phone number Computer Relief had for him is out of service. Sounds as if he’s on his way to being fired with or without police attention.”

They reached a plain car and she unlocked the doors, turning to hand him the folder she was holding. “You’ll have time to look this over while we’re on the way to the business. It’s in Signal Hill, the city within our city.”

Sam took the folder and walked around to the passenger seat. He read as Corson drove. The file included interviews with all the neighbors and a further interview with Collins’s boss.

He sighed and rubbed his creased forehead in frustration. There was a gap here. How did Collins make the connection to move down the street from Gus Perkins? Gus hadn’t been involved in the hiring process at all. As far as RAT went, Jodie was always the face of the high-profile team. And Jodie only stepped in for the interview because her uncle was sick at the time.

“I can hear your frustration,” Tara said, smile in her voice.

“None of this adds up.”

“It sure doesn’t.”

The deeper Sam got into this investigation, the more questions were raised. His thoughts went back to the IED and the careful planning for the setup in the mountains. It hinged on a knowledge of police work. Fugitive warrants were most often served early, just before dawn. The service had to be announced three times. Whoever was in the cabin on the day Jodie’s team knocked might not have known the exact day the team would arrive, but they knew how much time they had after the first knock.

The timing of the freezer shutting off, the delay on the IED under Collins’s house—all set with police procedure in mind. Careful planning, yes, but Collins and his partner were also playing the odds. No run-of-the-mill crook planned so well. More certain now than ever about Collins getting inside help, Sam thought about Ian and cast a side glance at Tara. Collins hadn’t learned tokill and evade by himself. Ian was already on Sam’s list; should Tara be there as well? He didn’t know them, so it was hard for him to trust them—even though they were officers.

Sam decided he wasn’t going to trust anyone.

“That took a lot of guts, you know?”

“What?” Sam looked up from the folder, frowning.

“Crawling under Collins’s house, looking for a bomb.”

“Ah, it’s what the government trained me for.”

“Yeah. Good for Jodie. Things are turning around for her now.”

“What do you mean?”

Tara hiked her shoulder. “Until that IED, Jodie led a charmed life at work. Nothing was ever amiss. She pretty much got whatever she wanted. Guess her luck is back now.”

Sam considered Tara’s statement, which rubbed him wrong. “When people work hard for things, there’s no such thing as luck. I don’t believe in luck.”

“Not everyone who works hard gets what they deserve.”

“I—” He cut his response when he realized they had arrived. Tara sounded bitter, and Sam wondered about her attitude.

“We’re here.” Tara pulled into a strip mall parking lot. One small storefront bore the name Computer Relief.

“No wonder he only had to be in the office once a month. Doesn’t look like the place is very big,” Sam observed. He also checked out the parking lot. He thought he’d noticed a vehicle following them. Old habits died hard. When Sam worked patrol with Rick, his eyes constantly roved, noting their surroundings, whether or not he was driving. An older blue Jeep Cherokee with off-road tires was a couple of cars behind them. The SUV didn’t pull into the lot directly behind them but continued to the nextdriveway. Sam turned to get a better look and the vehicle made a quick left, toward the other end of the strip mall.

As soon as Tara stopped the car, Sam got out, craning his neck to glimpse the driver.

“What?” Tara asked when she opened her car door.

Sam took three long steps toward the back of their car, giving up on the Jeep driver, trying to get a better look at the license plate of the SUV.

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