Her stomach dropped. She should have done that the moment she saw the pipe bomb.
Cursing herself, she reached for her radio. She was a veteran cop with more than a decade on the job. She had worked shootings, manhunts, and accident scenes that would stay with her forever. She knew better than to miss a step.
She called dispatch, gave her location, and reported the possible explosive device. The familiar crackle of the radio felt oddly grounding.
“Backup is on the way,” she relayed to Harlan.
Harlan kept his eyes on the road ahead as if scanning for movement. “Have you ever gotten anything like that before? A text like that?” he clarified.
“No,” she was quick to say. She didn’t even have to give that any thought. “No one has ever contacted me out of the blue about David’s murder. I’ve kept digging into it over the years, but nothing like this has ever happened.”
He gave a slight nod. “I have kept investigating too. I have never gotten a text like that either.”
Her fingers tightened around the water bottle. “So why now?”
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out.” His gaze came back to her. “Could anything have happened recently that would make someone plant an explosive like that?”
Laney hesitated, then said, “I’ve been pressing the Texas Rangers to reopen the case. Evie’s been asking more about her father, and I think she deserves answers.”
His brows lifted slightly. “Are they strongly considering reopening it?”
She nodded. “They’re sending someone out next week to start the process.”
His expression changed, and the intensity went up a notch, something she hadn’t thought possible since he was the very definition of intense already. “Who knows about that?” he asked.
“Probably everyone.” Laney shrugged. “I haven’t kept it a secret.”
Harlan made a sound to indicate he was giving that some thought. He certainly wasn’t dismissing it.
“How about something involving your case load?” he pressed. “Something that maybe isn’t directly linked to David. The person who sent that text could be using David as a cover when you’re the real target.”
Laney thought through her recent cases. “It might be Kyle Benton,” she admitted. “I arrested him last month for drug possession. He is out on bail and swore he would get back at me.”
She considered it for a moment but then shook her head. “No. Kyle is not organized enough for something like this, and he doesn’t have the skillset or the funds to hire someone to do this. That IED looked like the real thing, the same kind that killed David.”
She had never seen the actual device that ended David’s life, but she had studied the photographs the bomb experts had put together after reconstructing it. The shape, the wiring, and the way it was packed were all details she had glimpsed in the brush today, and they were too close to ignore.
Laney was still considering that and the texts when movement in the trees caught her eye. Harlan must have seen it at the same time because they both turned toward the sound.
A figure stood just beyond the fence line, dressed in all black with a hoodie that not only covered his head but also a good portion of his face as well. But Laney had no trouble seeing what the person was holding.
A camera lifted, the lens pointed straight at them.
“What the hell?” Harlan spat out.
Laney was asking herself the same thing. Who would take pictures of this, of them?
One answer came to mind, and it was a bad one.
This could be the person who had planted the bomb. Maybe even the person who had killed David.
She tossed the water bottle to the ground and drew her gun. Harlan mirrored her, and together they broke into a run, closing the distance on their target.
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Chapter Two
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