Page 139 of Stormswept Colorado

“Try the back door,” I suggested. “Maybe it’s unlocked.” Which would be odd for a police officer, but this was still a small town. And Seth had been behaving strangely.

Susan pushed the door handle. It opened.

Officer Duncan’s body lay prone on the tile, arm reaching like he’d been going for the door.

“Oh, dear lord,” Susan muttered. “Oh, Seth.”

I glanced inside. That was enough to confirm that no medical attention would fix this. Not much smell, no insect activity. Probably happened within the last several hours.

I shut the door. It was important now that we not destroy any evidence. “Looks like a GSW. Get started on securing the scene. I’ll call it in. We’re going to need to contact the district attorney and the CIRT.” The regional Critical Incident Response Team, since this involved the death of an officer. Looked like he’d been shot in the head. We’d need the coroner and the state CSI team as well.

Her wide eyes pinned me. “But Chief, what about Finn?”

Hell. We had to check on him too. My pulse roared in my eardrums as I imagined what else we might find.

My personal phone rang. It was River. I didn’t have time right now to find out what he wanted.

Then a text came in about a minute later. I yanked my phone out again.

River

Need to speak with you. URGENT. News related to Roy Carpenter

Dammit, why was everything happening now?

“Chief?” Susan asked.

“Yeah, coming.” I just didn’t have time for River at the moment. A Silver Ridge dispatcher could be injured in his home. If Finn was still alive, we had to get him help.

We went next door. Knocked on Finn’s front door, went around to the back. Same routine. “Finn? This is Chief Landry. Answer us if you’re inside.” But when we heard nothing, I wasn’t going to mess around any longer.

“It’s locked,” Susan said, trying the knob.

“Stand back.”

Susan and I both drew our weapons. I lifted my boot and kicked at the lock. It burst open. The door slammed against the doorstop, rattling.

No sign of anyone inside.

“Finn?” I shouted.

Susan and I made quick work of clearing the home. Nobody was here. Finn was gone.

I had about ten thousand calls to make. But River had said his news was urgent, and coming from a man like him—a former CIA operative—that meant something very serious.

He picked up on the first ring.

“Make it quick,” I said. “I’ve got a major situation on my hands. Officer dead, likely murdered.”

“I did some more digging into Sergeant Roy Carpenter and his family. He had a son. Jarod Carpenter. Jarod was still a minor at the time of his father’s death. Had a few minor run-ins with the law. Then a few years afterward, his online presence vanished.”

“River,please. Get to the point.”

“Then I checked Jarod’s mother’s maiden name. It was Mackie. I just found a record of a name change, processed by a court in Colorado. Jarod Finnegan Carpenter’s name is now Finn Mackie, and according to DMV records, he lives in Silver Ridge.”

What. The. Fuck.

I was standing in Finn’s kitchen. Susan ran into the room. “Chief, you need to see this.”

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