Part 18 (1/2)
”I don't know.” He shook his head. ”I'm loath to trust my instinct after-”
”Rebecca.” She reached out, touching his arm.
He closed his eyes, resting his hand over hers.
”I'm sorry,” she whispered.
He nodded, letting the moment pa.s.s silently.
18.
Jake wasn't sure if he was thankful for the interruption of his ringing phone or not. The moment he and Kayden had been sharing was one of the most profound of his life. She'd reached out to him in more ways than one, and his heart hadn't stopped hammering since.
”Cavanagh?” he said, the name becoming his own again.
”It's Booth.”
”You got the results?”
”I could be calling to check up on you two kids,” he said with humored pleasure.
”Kids? You aren't that old, old man.”
”Old enough to be your father, but that's not why I'm calling.”
”Tell me you've got good news.”
”It's definitely good news for Natalie Adams.”
”The sample was clean.”
”Yes indeed.”
”And you're sure it came from the same chalk block as Conrad Humphries'?”
”Exact match, minus the Dodecanol, of course.”
”And you're positive?”
”Ran them twice.”
It was good news for Natalie Adams, though who was to say she hadn't separated the chalk earlier than she claimed and added the Dodecanol? But what would her motive be?
Booth cleared his throat. ”Thought you'd sound happier.”
”Just not sure we've ruled anyone out.” And the threats kept coming.
”Any luck with the suppliers?”
”No. Landon's still working that angle, trying to track any Dodecanol s.h.i.+pments made to Imnek in the last few months. At least we've been able to cross several off the list.”
”How many more to go?”
Jake sighed. ”A couple dozen.”
”Landon's tenacious. He'll keep at it until he gets answers.” Booth chuckled. ”Reminds me of someone else I know.”
As Jake hung up, Kayden said, ”Samples were clean?”
”You got it.”
”So where does that leave us?”
”We know the Dodecanol was added after arriving at Natalie's. I'm going to call Landon and get a warrant to search all areas of her shop and home, but I suspect we won't find anything.”
”Then why go through it, and will you even be able to convince a judge to issue one now that the sample has come back clean?”
”Because we need to be positive, and it won't be easy.” He smiled. ”Actually, it might be a whole lot easier just to ask.”
Jake had been right. Rather than insisting on being served a warrant in front of her staff or patrons as Brody had been, Natalie agreed to let Jake and Kayden search her work and home as long as she was present. Both had turned out clean-no sign of Dodecanol. Without its presence-or apparent motive-it was time to take Natalie Adams off their list of suspects.
”Where now?” she asked as Jake stepped to the driver's side door of their rental car.
”Back to Vivienne's.”
”Any luck obtaining a warrant to pull her and Stuart's credit-card statements?”
”Landon went to the judge this morning.”
”You really think if they did it, they'd be stupid enough to pay for Dodecanol with a credit card?”
”It's not something you can just walk into any store to get, and I doubt even if you could that the killer would go local. Imnek is too small a town for something like that. But just in case, Landon's running Dodecanol suppliers, searching for any deliveries to Imnek in the past six months, plus canva.s.sing any local businesses that might have carried it.”
”I heard you telling Booth. So no luck so far?”
”Only in crossing half a dozen suppliers off the list.”
”I know it's frustrating, but it's still progress-narrowing down the suppliers. Are you also checking for deliveries to Anchorage?”
”Yes, specifically to Stuart Anderson's home and business addresses. He could have easily brought it down with him.”
”The killer would need a decent amount of time with Conrad's chalk. Time to effectively blend the Dodecanol in,” she said.
”How long would you say?”