Page 82 of Tough as Steele

Londyn leaned forward for a better look. “Plate on the car confirms it’s Jessica’s.”

Nate pulled to a stop near Easton’s car. He killed the engine and looked at her. “Ready?”

“As I can be.” She opened the door, letting in the moist, cool air. She got out, and Nate joined her by the hood emitting heat from the drive.

Easton shouted at the officer standing at the crime scene tape to let them through. She identified herself. Nate did the same, a grim expression on his face. He was more worried than he’d let on in the car. She’d learned on the job that some of the male detectives tried to sugarcoat things around her, and it surprised them when she spoke bluntly.

“Back here.” Easton moved to the vehicle’s trunk.

Nate took off toward him, and Londyn hurried to catch up. She took a quick look in the back seat, nodding to the forensics tech who was inventorying Jessica’s belongings. She moved on to the trunk, where blood soaked the gray carpet fabric. The AR-15 lay on top of the bright red blood, telling her that it hadn’t been in the trunk long.

Was this weapon used to produce the blood? Possibly.

Nate bent into the trunk. She saw him sniff the gun. “Gun’s been fired. No question. But how recently, I have no idea. We could be looking at a murder weapon, but of who?”

He stepped back, and Londyn took copious pictures, making sure to get the weapon’s serial number.

“The AR-15’s a common rifle for former military or an LEO to use,” Nate said. “But it’s also becoming a popular hunting rifle.”

Londyn nodded. “This feels odd though, right? Feels like he wants us to find the rifle. Match our recovered brass to it.”

“Yeah, but why?” Nate asked.

“Maybe Wigg didn’t kill Gaskin, and the shooter’s trying to pin it on him.”

“Sure seems possible,” Easton said. “Especially since the bullets recovered from when you all were fired on are 5.56s.”

Nate nodded. “The AR-15 is chambered for that caliber and for the .223s.”

“Who knows. Maybe the shooter registered the gun,” Easton said. “And we can track him down that way. Or find out who sold it to our killer.”

“What’re the odds that the gun is registered?” Londyn asked.

Nate frowned. “Honestly, I figure slim to none. Why leave the rifle behind? Especially if it’s registered. But we have to track every possible lead when we don’t have much to go on yet.”

“We’ll just have to wait for the results,” Londyn said. “What about Jessica’s personal items? Anything there that might give us a lead?”

“Nah.” Easton planted his hands on his waist. “Just clothes. Makeup. Toiletries. That sorta stuff. But I did have a video call with Dr. Albertson to show her the blood. She said it was doubtful anyone could survive based on this level of blood loss. Forensics will process a sample and hopefully get an ID.”

Londyn didn’t just want to hope, and she didn’t want to wait for the sample to go through a long queue. “Can we bring our forensic expert in on this?”

Easton’s hand shifted to his sidearm, and his chin went up. “You think my people aren’t doing their job?”

Londyn waved off his concern. ”I’m sure they are, but Sierra Rice is top in her field. She might find something that’s missed, and she has tools that even the state lab could only dream of owning. Plus, she’ll make it a priority when it would go into a line at the state lab.”

“Fine.” Easton pointed toward a row of yellow evidence markers leading away from the car. “Blood trail and drag marks. So the victim wasn’t ambulatory.”

The trail stopped in the middle of the driveway.

“Anything else that might shed light on what happened here?” Nate asked.

“The AR-15 in the trunk could, but no bullets or slugs found, and no blood spatter in the vehicle.”

Easton gritted his teeth. “We did a preliminary search of the property but didn’t locate any fresh blood. I believe the person, likely Jessica, was killed elsewhere. Dumped in her own car, driven here, and then transferred to another vehicle.”

“But why?” Londyn asked.

“Maybe the shooter feared we were looking for Jessica’s vehicle—which we were—and didn’t want to keep driving it,” Nate said. “Or the shooting was unplanned, and this was a quick fix.”

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