Part 26 (2/2)
The miles whipped by at pace with her thoughts. She cast a look at the sky. Although the pavement was dry, the skies looked like they could open up at any moment. A fitting way to cap off an already s.h.i.+tty day. With effort, she pushed aside the personal worries. It helped, always, to have the case to concentrate on. To obsess over something where it might actually do some good.
Her cell rang and she checked the ID. Barnes. ”Yeah, Mitch.”
”Where you at?”
She took a second to check landmarks to get her bearings. ”About four miles out of McKenzie Bridge, give or take.”
A pickup went by, tooting its horn. She realized after it had pa.s.sed that the occupants were Kathy and Rick Moses.
There was an unfamiliar note of excitement in the deputy's voice. ”I talked to the three resorts. Included the one Bentley had stayed at, because we're guessing he's going to end up involved in this, too, right?” He didn't wait for a response before going on. ”Different names were mentioned, but one appeared at the top of everyone's list. Del Barton.”
”Del?” The owner of JD's, she recalled. The slight man with the flirtatious smile and overworked wife. ”Not Joanie?”
”They say there's nothing he doesn't know about computers. I've got Deputy Sutton with me, and we're out in front of his place now. Going to take him in for questioning.”
”We should collect the computers from the resorts and bring them in for an examination. Maybe we'll find evidence of the spyware installation.”
”I'll have Gibbs contact you. Maybe the two of you can take care of it.”
”Meet you there in a few minutes.” Cait dropped the phone in her purse and stepped more firmly on the gas. It shouldn't surprise her that Barton had lied to her about his wife being the computer genius, she thought grimly. Lying was the first resort of those with a guilty conscience.
But she would be slightly surprised to discover he was their UNSUB. She'd have pegged his wife as having more guts than he did.
Which made her even more eager to talk to Joanie Barton than she was to Del.
Cait met the two deputies walking Del out of JD's just as she pulled the rented SUV up to the curb.
”Del agreed to ride down to the station and talk to us,” Mitch said blandly.
”Middle of dinner rush,” Barton said ruefully, casting a glance back toward the restaurant. ”Joanie's having a cow.” The slight shadow of nerves in his expression could be due to just that-leaving his wife to manage the restaurant on her own. Certainly he didn't appear to be overly concerned to be headed to the sheriff's office. But there was no real reason for fear yet, she reminded herself. He wasn't in cuffs. This questioning was purely voluntary.
Unless, of course, he'd refused.
”I'm sure Deputy Barnes will have you back as quickly as possible,” Cait said, standing aside as the three men headed toward the sheriff cruiser double-parked out front. She spotted Joanie Barton at the front door of the place watching her husband leave, anxiety and anger in her expression.
If Del was relatively calm, his wife wasn't.
”You!” The short dark-haired woman pushed open the front door of the restaurant with a force that sent the screen door bouncing off the opposite wall. ”This is all your fault!”
Supremely aware of the onlookers on both sides of the street watching the events unfold with avid interest, Cait kept her voice pleasant. ”Joanie.”
”I told you nothing good would come of stirring all this up.” The shorter woman approached her like a miniature tornado. ”From the minute those bones were hauled out of that cave, we've had nothing but trouble in this town. First the tourism went to pot and now you idiots have arrested Del. My Del! As if he could have anything to do with this mess!”
”Del isn't under arrest. He's answering a few questions. We've been asking lots of questions around here for the last day or so.”
”He may as well be.” The glare in her eyes would have been lethal if it weren't tinged with fear. ”What's everyone going to think, him being seen leaving with the deputies like that? That he's a suspect, is what they'll think. What are my kids supposed to do when their friends ask them why their step-dad had to go to the sheriff's office? Do you people ever think of that? Of the innocents who get hurt while you bungle around trying to figure out what the h.e.l.l happened up there in that cave?”
Despite the spike to her temper, Cait kept her voice modulated. ”Some would say the people whose bones were dumped in the cave were innocents, too.”
”We don't know that.” Joanie was gesticulating with both arms. ”Maybe they were druggies who got on the wrong side of some gang somewhere. Maybe they got exactly what they deserved, did you ever think of that? And yet law-abiding folks are getting dragged into their mess.” There was a sheen to her eyes from impending tears. ”Our business is hanging on by a thread, what with the drop in tourism. Now this. It won't matter what we do. The way people talk, it's probably already all over town that Del was taken in by the sheriff. Who's going to want to go to a place that's owned by a suspect in a murder case?”
She didn't lack sympathy for the woman, even if Joanie couldn't see beyond the ramifications to her family. Her business. ”As I said, Del should return soon. And he told me that you're the brains behind the Internet cafe, so I'm certain you have a handle on that part of the business, as well.”
”You misunderstood,” the woman said flatly with a toss of her head. ”Not surprising since you and the sheriff's department have screwed up every single other piece of your work. The cafe is Del's baby. I know enough to log people in and out, but he does all the troubleshooting. He's absolutely brilliant with computers. Ask anyone around here.”
”We have.” Edging away, Cait sent the woman an insincere smile. ”They all agree. There's nothing he can't do with a computer.”
And that was exactly why the man was headed back to Eugene for questioning at this very minute.
Chapter 19.
It was all over town. He'd had three calls already with the news. Del Barton had been taken in for questioning by the cops.
There had been more, of course. Details factual or exaggerated, he didn't know. He didn't listen carefully past that first part. His heart had stopped beating in his chest at the words. Then had sped up like a runaway locomotive. For a moment he thought he was having a heart attack.
The sheriff's department had Sweetie.
He paced his house, ignoring the next few calls. To think prior to that first call he'd been feeling peaceful. Joyful, even. Still pumped about the plans he'd made with Sweetie-had that just been last night? With a renewed sense of purpose he'd gone to the shed and moved Barb Haines's carca.s.s into the enclosure holding his beloved beetles. Had experienced a feeling of absolute bliss as he'd watched them cover the bones like a hungry ever-moving blanket. He'd raised them by hand, from the larva he'd acquired over the Internet. They never failed to instill a thrill of pride.
But then he'd gotten the first call.
He knew how these things worked. The fact that Del hadn't been cuffed meant he wasn't under arrest. If there had been enough evidence against him, he would have been. This part was preliminary.
But it'd also make it harder. Far harder for Sweetie to get away like they'd talked about. Fear was firing frantic bursts of panic through his veins. But he had to be calm. Had to think. He couldn't afford a mistake this time. It wasn't enough to take Fleming out of the equation. He had to make it clear that Sweetie couldn't possibly be involved with those bones.
And then, midstride, it hit him. The thought was so shocking in its clarity that he paused, certain there was a flaw in it.
But there wasn't. And it was so simple he laughed out loud in sheer delight.
Taking Fleming out of the equation not only removed the brains from the investigation. Killing her while Sweetie was in custody absolved him of all guilt.
He looked out the window. It was nearing dark. Swiftly, he got his pistol. Then, after a moment, also grabbed his shotgun. Extra ammo. All of the callers had given a full account of Fleming standing on the sidewalk engaged in an argument with Joanie. And he knew, because he'd been keeping tabs on her, that she hadn't checked out of the McKenzie Motel. Chances were if she'd been in town she might stay here tonight. If not . . . he headed for the back door. If not, he knew she had a room in Eugene, too. If he couldn't pick her off driving by in her vehicle, it shouldn't be too hard to make some calls. Find out where she was staying and then pay her a visit.
With Fleming dead, their problems were over.
Zach stared at the meager contents of his refrigerator and muttered a curse. The last of the bread had mold on it. He'd emptied the milk carton two days ago. And even he wouldn't eat the lunchmeat that was hard and curled up at the edges. Unless he was willing to dine on sheetrock, he'd have to go to town for something to eat.
And only hunger would have driven him to head for his Trailblazer and start for town. The prospect of a sandwich and beer was too tempting. He wasn't in the mood for company, but he wouldn't say no to a chance to kick some a.s.s in pool.
He was in the mood to kick some a.s.s.
The fact that the a.s.s most in need of kicking was his own just made his mood meaner. He took the gravel faster than he usually did and heard the rapid ping of the rocks as they shot up and sprayed his vehicle. Consciously, he let up on the accelerator. Every time he thought of Andrews's expression when she'd probed about the missions he'd run in the army, he wanted to put his fist through something solid. Like she'd have a clue about scouting surveillance and counterintel. About the kind of men it took and the training it required.
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