Page 77 of Spark
“And arson,” Faurier added.
Tyler blew out the unease he’d been stockpiling in his chest.“Exactly.I keep feeling like I’m missing something, but I can’t figure out what it is.”
“Okay.”Dallas rubbed a hand over his chin, leaning back against the storage shelf on the far wall.“Run it through again for me, this time, with all the details.”
Tyler did, and funny, putting all the facts in order, one by one, actually helped him focus.“This arson was meticulous.Navarro must have had access to blueprints, inventory reports, HVAC and containment system plans.He knew exactly how to not only destroy his DNA kit, but to torch everything in his path on his way out.”
Again, Tyler’s gut panged, the warning siren growing louder, and what was hemissing?
Hawk tipped his head in thought.“Navarro was workin’ with a hacker, right?And he sounds like a slippery son of a bitch with a shitload of cash.Maybe he hired someone to do the arson, too.”
“Maybe?”Tyler allowed, but Faurier shook his head.
“I don’t know.This sounds pretty personal.I’m not saying it couldn’t happen,” he qualified, “but that lab fire felt like a vendetta.”
“Not like the murder, though,” Dallas said, his brows furrowed.“At least, not in the same way.The murder was cold-blooded, sure, but it was sloppy.Not pre-meditated.Navarro left DNA behind, he didn’t get rid of the murder weapon.No calculation.The arson, on the other hand, had to have been planned down to the second.I think Hawk is right.These crimes don’t seem to have the same perpetrators.The hallmarks are too different.”
“So, what,” Ryan asked.“You think there’s a third person, here?”
Although Dallas didn’t disagree out loud, he didn’t go so far as to nod, either.“I do, but I also agree with Faurier.The lab firewaspersonal.There aren’t a lot of people out there willing to go to such lengths for a job, even one with a big payday attached.”
“Intelligence had Garza’s wife, Delia, go over all of Navarro’s financials when he was arrested,” Tyler said.Delia was a forensic accountant, and she’d worked with the unit on a handful of cases, including one where she herself had been the target.“There are some question marks, but nothing that stands out, like a big payoff.”
“So, who would take such a big risk to destroy the DNA?”Faurier asked, looking at Dallas.
“Someone with a lot to lose if Navarro went to jail.Enough that he’d set a fire of that magnitude himself.”
Clips of the lab, fully engulfed in flames, flashed through Tyler’s mind—closer, closer…closer—and he closed his eyes, determined to focus.The waves of fire, rolling up the walls and over the ceiling, scorching everything in its path.The blast of heat, so powerful that he’d had to push himself through it, his muscles screaming with every step.The containment system that had failed, the containers of ethanol, the HazMat suits…
Tyler’s chin snapped up, his pulse slamming in realization.“The HazMat suits,” he blurted, winging his gaze over each of his squad-mates.“Whoever set the fire couldn’t have just walked in and dumped all that ethanol in the lab and the ventilation system, then dropped a match and walked out.He would’ve needed a HazMat suit to handle the ethanol alone.”
“That’s true,” Hawk said.“The fumes alone could kill a person.Splashing it all over the place, then setting it on fire?No way anyone could do that without gear.The risk of smoke inhalation or being taken down by the heat would be too high.”
Tyler’s brain spun, all the pieces slotting into place with a click.Christ, ofcourse.“This guy knew there would be ethanol he could use as an accelerant in the lab.He knew exactly where to put it, and exactly where Navarro’s DNA was.He knew how to take down the entire system to set this fire.He had to have known there would be HazMat suits there to keep him protected while he did the job.”
Dallas started to nod, catching on.“He’d have had to leave it behind and bank on it being destroyed by the fire, along with the DNA and any other evidence he’d been there.No way someone that smart would risk taking it with him and getting caught with it near the scene.”
Hawk’s green-gray eyes lit with realization.“But if it wasn’t destroyed, there’d be DNA on the respirator.If it matches Navarro’s, then we’ve got him for the arson.”
Adrenaline kicked Tyler in the throat, and he commanded his voice not to shake.“And even if it doesn’t, we could trace whoever it belongs to back to him,” he said, “and then we’d have them both.”
“I’ll call Addison,” Ryan said, his phone already in his hand.
Tyler had his at the ready, too.“I’ll call Nat.I’m going to need to look at the case file again.”He thought of Esme, and how Chloe would do anything to keep her safe.
He’d do anything to keep both of them safe.Nothing was going to happen to them on his watch.Not today.Not ever.
“It’s time to put this guy away for good.”
Simon readthe report on the laptop in front of him.Calmly read it again.Digested all of the information within.
And then hurled the laptop against the wall.
Remington Fire Department, Arson Investigation Unit…reopened case #5193, Dynamics Lab Corp…forensic testing performed on items recovered from the scene…DNA results pending…investigation active.
Simon picked up his phone, not even waiting for Runner’s obnoxious greeting to come over the line.“Please tell me why the RFD has re-opened the arson investigation on the lab fire.”
“Well, hello, to you, too,” Runner grumbled.
