“I’ll have the office call Uber to see if we can get a better idea of timeframes.” Evans stepped up beside her, blocking her path to the service center. “Now, there’s just a few questions I need to ask about the lot.”
Kennett walked in front of Cain, motioning toward the service center door. He followed the patrolman while the deputy kept Betsy busy with his unnecessary questions. Going to be a long day.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Cain followed Kennett through the back door to the service center door and stopped. The place had been ransacked. No. Ransacked wasn’t a strong enough word for what panned out in front of him. “What the hell?”
“Good question.” The patrolman narrowed his focus to a blood-covered crowbar on the concrete floor.
Tires sprawled like obstacles on a football training field, blocking pathways, as Cain made his way further inside the shop. Wrenches and ratchets and gauges lay in heaps next to overturned tool chests. Cut air gun hoses dangled like vines in a jungle, their apparatus smashed through windshields of cars pulled inside to be to be ready for early morning service. Even the cars had been ransacked.
This wasn’t a robbery gone bad. Someone had been looking for something. Something they figured was hidden in this building. Not a random act of a quick grab-and-run with enough to trade for a bag on the street either. This was a big money hit.
A gasp caught his attention. Knowing it had to be Betsy coming into the building, he turned to gauge her reaction. He wanted to be sure she understood the danger lurking around this hit. From the look on her face, she understood.
“Don’t touch anything, Betsy,” Cain shouted.
She nodded. “I understand.”
With a look of shell-shock and bewilderment, she made her way through the maze of catastrophe littering the building. She scanned the space from floor to ceiling, side to side, stepping around the police busily tagging and photographing the scene.
At the sight of the bloody crowbar being bagged for evidence, her expression changed. Now she was mad. Mad as hell. That could be dangerous for her. Could be dangerous for him protecting her. Because like it or not, they were going to be a pair until this was solved.
He met her in the middle of the building. “You okay?”
She raised her eyes to his. “Why didn’t they just take what they wanted and leave? Why tear everything apart? The most expensive tool or car on the lot isn’t worth Papa C getting hurt.”
“Anger. Greed.” Cain swallowed the thought of what would have happened if Betsy had been there. “Fear.”
“I don’t understand.”
He steered her behind Deputy Evans as he led the way back outside and headed toward the main building. She wrapped her coat tight against the cold for the half-block walk.
Evans’ steps were firm and all business. “Whoever did this was searching for something.”
“And they’re mad as hell they didn’t find it.” Cain was mad, too.
Kennett followed close behind. “Mad enough to make a point with a man’s life.”
“Or…” Cain’s gut tensed with a warning. “…did Carrington recognize someone in the bunch. I’m not telling you your job, Deputy Evans, but you might want to put a guard outside his hospital door.”
“Agreed.” Evans motioned to Kennett to get that in place. “Check to see when the doctors think we’ll be able to talk to Papa C.”
“Got it.” Kennett stopped as he made phone calls.
“But what could they possibly think I have worth this much destruction?” Betsy asked.
“I’m just speculating here, but last night could have been about a drug deal gone bad. And if the thugs didn’t get what they wanted, they may think you’ve got the money or goods that were in play with the lookie-loo’s death,” Cain answered. He ran through the DEA checklist in his mind as they walked across the lot.
He had to make sure he didn’t miss anything. Not being in the Agency or on the police force, he wouldn’t have as much access to evidence, so he needed to stay alert right now.
“I don’t have whatever they want.” She hadn’t missed a beat with her answer. “Besides, why would they think it’s hidden at the dealership?”
“That’s what we’ve got to figure out. And that’s why it’s important that I’m in place at the dealership. Makes it easier to spot someone working on the inside.
Entering the main dealership building, they were met with the same destructive search scene. Cain and Betsy made their own pathway through the display room as Deputy Evans and Kennett disappeared down the hall leading to her office. Every vehicle had been vandalized. Seats sliced. Door panels ripped open. Trunks ravaged. She shook her head as they kept walking toward the business area.
The two lawmen stood in the center of the hallway.
