While shaking like a leaf, Raquelle got out her cell phone from the pocket of her pleated trousers and called Landon.
When he picked up, she said disconcertingly, “I was just attacked by the man who admitted, more or less, to being hired to kill Eddie.”
* * *
FBIAGENTS ANDofficers from the Joyllis Hills Police Department joined Braedon College campus police personnel in search of the suspect as Landon and Katie went to Raquelle’s office, where she waited for them after her harrowing ordeal.
“Are you all right?” Landon asked first. Never mind that Raquelle had indicated to him over the phone that other than the shock of being pushed to the ground, where she braced herself for the fall—along with the disturbing encounter in and of itself—the attacker had not hurt her.
Raquelle nodded. “I’m fine,” she reiterated, standingby her desk. “At least as much as can be expected after being attacked and threatened by someone.”
She regarded Katie, standing beside him, prompting Landon to introduce them. “This is Special Agent Katie Kitagawa,” he said. “Katie, my ex-wife, Professor Raquelle Jernigan.” He wished she had kept his surname but couldn’t hold it against her that she wanted a clean break from him at the time their divorce was settled.
“Nice to finally meet you,” Katie spoke in an affable tone while also hinting that Landon had spoken to her about his ex in affectionate terms. “I just wish it had been under better circumstances.”
“Me too.” Raquelle gazed at Landon with a wry smile.
He kept a straight face when saying, “Why don’t we sit down and you can tell us everything you can remember about your encounter?”
“All right.” Raquelle sat at her desk, and they sat on accent chairs across from it. She sucked in a deep breath. “He approached me from behind and demanded I tell him where to find Eddie…though seemingly not even sure Eddie was still alive.” She paused. “I’m certain—based on appearance and his intimidating words—that he was the same man I saw leaving the marina the day Eddie’s boat exploded. When I couldn’t, and wouldn’t, give him what he wanted, he threatened my life—and even yours, Landon, since Eddie was your CI.”
Landon exchanged glances with Katie, then asked his ex-wife, “Did the unsub say who he was working for?”I’m pretty sure it’s Ivan Pimentel, he told himself but wanted to hear the unsub confirm this in the investigation into Pimentel.
Raquelle shook her head. “Not in so many words. He just described the person as his employer.”
Katie leaned forward. “Did the unsub say anything else about Eddie…and his possible fate…?”
“Only that he was determined to find my brother—dead or alive, as he put it—while seemingly implying that time was running out to prove that Eddie was dead.”
“In his world as a hired killer, time is always of the essence,” Landon suggested. “Meaning that unless the unsub delivers on the contract, his own life may be expendable.”
“Or, in other words,” Katie threw out, “if Eddie has dropped out of sight, the unsub may well pull out all the stops in trying to locate him…or else—”
Raquelle frowned. “Which still isn’t good news for Eddie,” she surmised.
Unless he’s already dead, Landon thought, well aware that wishing for a favorable outcome alone wasn’t always enough to make it come true. “Right now, though, I’m more concerned about your safety. If the unsub was desperate enough to accost you in broad daylight on a public campus, there’s a good chance he probably also knows where you live.”
“That thought did cross my mind,” Raquelle admitted.
Landon told her with assurance, “Until your attacker is taken into custody, I can arrange protection for you.” The last thing he wanted was for her to be a sitting duck for a suspected killer—whether on campus or at home. Landon knew she had a top-of-the-line security system in place, but he feared it could still be breached by a determined foe. He stopped short of saying he would be happy to move back in with her temporarily—not wantingit to seem like he was exploiting a vulnerability for something she wasn’t comfortable with at the moment.
“Okay,” she said simply. “I just hope you can get him—before he finds Eddie.”
Katie looked at her. “If the unsub did manage to get off campus, between surveillance video and, if necessary, pairing you with a sketch artist, we should be able to track him down sooner than later…”
Landon was of the same mind. But seeing was believing. Until such time, he didn’t want anything to happen to Raquelle. Not when they were just starting to reconnect. They needed time to see if this relationship was real or only a product of weakness that Eddie had inadvertently made possible. It could all still crumble like a castle made of sand, once the case had run its course. With Eddie a casualty for his trouble when the dust settled.
* * *
ATHELENE’SITALIANHOUSE, a restaurant on Gervais Street in the Congaree Vista section of Columbia, Ivan Pimentel sat across the table from his wife, Ava. At forty-seven, she was still as beautiful, slender and loving as the day they met. Married for twenty-five years and counting, they had three children, now all adults and doing their best to make smart choices.
Ivan tried hard not to micromanage their lives, but it wasn’t easy. Especially if he felt they were going astray. Fortunately, Ava seemed perfectly capable of using her influence to keep them from falling off the cliff, as it were.
Beyond that, Ivan had more pressing concerns. His hired killer, through Yusef Abercrombie, had failed to deliver on his mission to take out Eddie Jernigan. Or at least that appeared to be the case. But there was still no sign ofEddie, as though hehadbeen eliminated. Or was that a false read that would ultimately come back to haunt him?
Ivan feared that the art dealer stoolie was simply lying low and staying out of sight—perhaps still working with the FBI to bring down his operation. Fortunately, he had tried to stay one step ahead of them. That included clearing out the warehouse of stolen and forged works of art before it was raided by the feds. This gave them less to work with in trying to tie him to federal crimes committed in the art world and beyond.
Still, he needed Eddie Jernigan out of the picture, one way or the other.
