“What about you?” Kiley set her backpack on the floor. “How will you get back?”
The woman gestured at a small blue Toyota behind them. “My boyfriend will take me to the office.”
“Tell him thanks for me, and thanks to you for delivering the wheels,” Kiley said.
“Gives us a chance to spend some time together, and you know I’m always glad to help.”
Kiley opened her backpack. “I have evidence I need delivered as soon as possible to Detective Lancaster at Metro. Can you handle that for me?”
“Sure thing.”
Kiley got Firuzeh’s possessions from her tote and had Harrison sign the log before handing them over to her. “Thanks again.”
“No worries.” Harrison took the evidence and headed for the little sedan.
Kiley darted to the Escalade, quickly sliding behind the wheel. She continued to act like there was a fire somewhere. Evan supposed she could be running so she wouldn’t have time to think about the bomb—about seeing the car seat and teddy bear. He knew he’d like to forget it. Or she was energized again and wanted to move forward in the investigation. He preferred the second thought as he carried their meal to the front and climbed in.
She plugged her phone into the vehicle’s information system, the screen displaying her texts. She tapped through them. “There’s one from the D.C. analysts. They tracked Waleed down. He’s holding a meeting at his headquarters in an hour.”
“How far away is it?” Evan set the bag on his lap and put a bottle of water in the cup holder.
“Fifteen minutes. Means we have time to drop in on the professor and still get to the meeting before it breaks up.” She fastened her seat belt.
“After hearing about the Dragunov, you still want to talk to the professor?” He opened a water bottle and handed it to her.
“I don’t think Flagel killed her. Especially not with a Dragunov. But he could’ve hired someone.” She lifted the water to her mouth and guzzled half the bottle in one drink.
“Still, it’s not likely.” Evan buckled his seat belt.
“Yeah, but if we only ran down likely leads, we wouldn’t be doing our job, would we? And we have the time, so...” She looked in the mirrors and merged the SUV seamlessly into the heavy airport traffic.
“What about the dance school?”
“Don’t worry. No way I’d miss out on stopping there. They don’t close until ten.”
“Sounds like you’re really counting on finding something in the locker.” He took a swig of water and put the bottle in the holder.
“Counting on it, no. Hoping. Honestly, Firuzeh could’ve simply hidden the key because she didn’t want her parents to find out she was dancing.”
“We’ll know soon enough.” He felt the zing of excitement in knowing a lead could pan out, and he got out her sandwich. “You good to eat and drive?”
“No time to take a break.” She held out her hand, and he laid the sandwich on her palm. “One of the reasons for no rabbit food. Makes eating and driving much less messy.”
She opened the package, took a bite, and glanced at him as she chewed. “I forgot to mention. Your report on Waleed was extremely thorough. He’s something else.”
He pulled back the sandwich wrap. “He is indeed. And slippery. I honestly don’t know if he was personally involved in the bombings, but hewasthe shooter on the two assassinations. We just never found enough physical evidence to prove it.”
She chewed and tapped her thumb on the wheel. “One thing I found odd. It’s unusual to turn from the Iraqi army to ISIS.”
Evan nodded and washed his savory bite down with water. “He blames the U.S. for the drone strike that killed his father, and joining ISIS is a way to get back at us.”
“But why, when there’s zero proof it was one of our drones?” She clicked on the blinker, moved into the left lane, and kicked up her speed.
“Only he knows his motives, but I suspect his brother Ibrahim had a hand in it. He’s a known ISIS operative. He likely persuaded Nasim of our guilt to get a top sniper to immigrate to America and join his cell. Or he just needs to accuse someone. I mean, if I lost my dad that way, I’d be looking for someone to blame.”
A flash of pain crossed her face.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “That was insensitive. You’re thinking of what happened with your dad.”
