“Not exactly,” Fallon said.
Jasper’s beam caught the truck and to his credit, he didn’t even flinch. Not bad for a young rookie. “I’ll need to call the crime scene unit from State, and I’ll also need to wake up the Chief.”
“I don’t think that’s necessary.” Buddy pointed toward Harvey’s Cabins. “I texted him, and there’s his SUV.”
Sure enough, Dawson’s vehicle was coming down the access road from the bed and breakfast and turning onto the main road. He pulled up in front of the house and was out of his SUV in seconds. He jogged over barefoot, T-shirt and jeans, pistol holstered at his hip. “That’s an interesting place to park your truck. Kind of makes a statement.”
Fallon’s cheeks heated from a combination of pure embarrassment and unchecked frustration.
“I didn’t get you out of bed at three in the morning for wisecracks.” Buddy ran his hand through his hair—again. “You need to see this.”
Dawson made his way up the porch and stared at the piece of paper without touching it. His brow furrowed as his lips drew together in a tight line. “Jasper, call Detective Lester from State. Don’t go through the office, contact him directly.”
“On it, Chief,” Jasper said.
“Lester’s not gonna like the Aegis Network working on this, and I won’t tell my team to stand down. This is personal. Not to mention they brought Fallon into it… because of me. All because of that fucking case.”
“You don’t know that.” Dawson planted his hands on his hips.
“I’ve been incredibly vocal when it comes to human trafficking,” Fallon said. “I speak at schools. I do volunteer work. I have my fundraiser. I could’ve pissed someone off. Stepped on someone’s toes.”
“What you do is incredible and most definitely needed.” Buddy’s hardness had softened slightly, but that darkness was right under the surface. She could feel it radiate off his skin. “But has anyone ever targeted you? Or sent you a message warning you to stop?”
“Well, no.”
“This isn’t about you,” Buddy said.
She glared. “It is when someone tries to kill me.”
“Someone has a target on both your backs, and it’s my job to protect you.” Dawson shifted his gaze toward Jasper, who was doing a perimeter check of the truck, light sweeping the gravel. “The Jane Doe case has been handed off completely to the FBI.”
“I’m not surprised. Who’s lead?” Buddy asked.
“Special Agent Liam Flagler,” Dawson said. “Chloe gave him high praises.”
“He’s a good man. Great agent. I’ve worked with him before.” Buddy leaned against the railing. “What changed that the FBI now has jurisdiction?”
“Her prints don’t come up anywhere. We did facial recognition. No hits. But her labs came back and there were benzos in her system. We also found out what that substance was under her nails.” Dawson rubbed his temple. “It’s a mixture of marine epoxy resin and fine blue-gray silica dust. It’s the compound used to seal false bulkhead panels on boats and shipping containers.”
Buddy turned and kicked the railing. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”
“What is it?” Fallon raced to his side and rested her hand on his bare shoulder.
He shrugged it off as if she’d burned him. “It’s a rare compound that Simon used to create walls inside the vessels he used to transport his victims across oceans. There are only a couple of companies that make it, but we never could connect one of them to Simon.” He squeezed the railing so tight his hands turned white. He dropped his head and let out a snarl. “We got court orders to search records—every detail. We had forensic accountants in there. The best of the best. And we couldn’t find a single one that sold to Simon.”
“Could he have made it himself?” Fallon asked, her mind rapid-firing on the information, but unable to file it in a way that made sense. She understood everything. Knew what it meant. But somehow it didn’t track.
“Anything’s possible, I suppose.” Buddy pushed from the railing, turned and started pacing. “Anything else I should know?”
“That’s all I got.”
“Hey, Chief,” Jasper called. “Lester said he’ll be here in twenty. Crime scene unit will be here as soon as they can. I can tape it off and wait for them, if someone can come in early and cover the rest of my shift.”
“I’ll cover it. It’s only a few more hours. I just need to put on some shoes and proper clothes,” Dawson said. “But I want to take a look around first.”
“Be my guest.” Fallon wrapped her arms around her middle. Tears burned the corner of her eyes. It wasn’t just the events of the last few days. She didn’t know how to help Buddy. How to ease his tension. His suffering. His self-torture.
She’d spent the first year after Tessa disappeared trying to get abducted. Wanting to know what it was like. Needing to feel and experience whatever her best friend had. Then came the depression. The overwhelming sadness that consumed her, followed by anger and self-hatred. She lashed out, self-harmed, and self-medicated.
