Page 57 of Tough as Steele

She needed to practice the same thing. Hurting went two ways. So if she had no intention of dating this man, then she best stop flirting with him. She hurried up to walk next to Bristol instead. “You know Easton?”

Bristol nodded. “He’s one of the good ones. Sharp. A team player. High case closure rates. We lucked out that he was on call.”

“By the way,” Londyn said. “I haven’t gotten Charles’s assault file. Mind following up with the detective?”

“I’m not surprised. It’s an old paper file that he’ll have to hunt down in the file room, and I don’t really want to bug him when he’s doing you a favor.”

“I don’t want to nag him, either, but Mimi’s life could depend on it.”

“Fine. I’ll text him.” Bristol got out her phone and tapped the screen as they walked toward Easton.

Nate’s phone chimed. Londyn turned to look at him.

“My LT,” he said. “He got authorization to ping Jessica’s phone, but it isn’t pinging anywhere. Must be off or disabled.” He shoved his phone into his pocket and muttered, “The only easy day was yesterday.”

“And that wasn’t so easy either,” Londyn said, knowing he’d quoted a saying SEALs were famous for uttering when things got tough.

Bristol finished thumbing in her text just before they reached Easton, and she introduced everyone. The detective was short, muscular, and had a shaved head. He wore jeans and a blue Multnomah County Sheriff’s polo shirt and windbreaker.

He pinned his sharp gaze on them. “I’d like to work together on this homicide. Figure you wouldn’t have been here if it wasn’t for your investigation, and we can help each other out.” He held up a hand. “And before you think I’m aiming to get a seat on some task force, you can forget about it. My caseload is far too heavy for me to ask for more work. That said, if there’s anything I can do to bring your missing woman home safely, just ask.”

“We’re glad to share information.” Londyn told him what they knew about the abduction, Jessica, Gaskin, and Wigg. “We still haven’t made the connection between the three of them, but we will.”

“What can you tell us about the ammo used in Gaskin’s shooting?” Nate asked.

“A .223 Rem, 55gr FMJ.”

Looking impressed, Nate nodded. “That’s pretty specific at this stage of your crime scene investigation.”

Easton shifted on his feet. “Found a box in the barn. Forensics thinks the slug from the wall is a match.”

“Full metal jackets hold their trajectory and have greater penetration against soft tissue,” Bristol said. “Which tells us the shooter means business.”

“Bullet trajectory puts this shot at eight hundred yards,” Easton said. “Takes a talented shooter to make a clean headshot at that distance.”

Nate looked at Easton. “Wigg’s a former army sharpshooter.”

“Isn’t it odd that he would kill Gaskin at his own house, though?” Easton asked. “And from such a distance when he could just walk in his own door? Plus, why leave the body to be found here where it would be connected to him? That’s odd too.”

“Maybe he planned to remove the body,” Londyn said, “but we arrived on scene and interrupted him.”

“Could be.” Easton tapped his chin with his finger.

“What about the bullets fired at us?” Londyn asked. “Same caliber?”

Easton shook his head. “We’re just starting to recover them, but no, looks like 5.56mm NATO cartridge.”

“Basically the same as the .223 but a military cartridge,” Nate stated.

“Looks like it. I had the bullet and casing we recovered from the house and shooter’s stand delivered to the state lab along with a few of the 5.56s. Don’t hold your breath for the results. There’s a backup in processing, and there’s not much they can tell us right now that we don’t already know unless they recover prints or DNA.”

“The tire tracks by Mimi’s car came from a truck,” Londyn said. “Did your forensic team cast any tracks?”

“We did but it’ll take a few days for them to cure.”

“More promising is that they tracked the trajectory and found the shooter’s hide at about eight hundred feet,” Bristol said. “Brass was still there.”

“Odd that the shooter didn’t police his brass.” Easton widened his stance.

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