Ryleigh stared at the wall. This was the work of someone not in their right mind. Totally not in their right mind. And someone willing to risk the lives of others to make his point.
That made him dangerous and unpredictable. And he was out in the Oregon wilderness doing who knows what.
What was he capable of doing? Had he set another bomb? If so, where?
A chill rolled over her body. “Looks like he went off the deep end.”
Russ grimaced. “Yeah, but what does all of this tell us? Carla’s statement and her emails prove Sovereign Earth sent the threats.”
“Or at least Keenan did, whether he was representing the group or not,” she said, trying to ignore the danger this man presented and focus.
“The threats were big gossip in town, so what if Vick heard it and decided to piggyback off them? Set a bomb and place the blame on the group?”
She let that thought settle in. “Sounds like a good possibility.”
“And that could also help explain why he decided to do it now. He thought he had a way to exact his revenge and not get caught.” Russ got out his phone and snapped pictures of the wall. “Go through the desk. I’ll check out the rest of the bedrooms. Maybe we’ll find out where he’s camping.”
Russ strode off, and she sat in the old wooden chair on wheels.
She couldn’t bear the thought of a half-crazed bomber being out there somewhere, not knowing where, and they couldn’t stop him. She had to find something. Anything. Just a hint. That was all they needed to propel them forward.
She ripped through the drawers. Snatching up papers. Reading. Discarding.
Nothing. Nothing at all. Including no mention of his campground location.
Okay fine. She needed help. The campground could be on Vick’s computer which she couldn’t touch until they had an image made of the hard drive.
She texted Nick, who was a night owl and was sure to still be up.
Urgent. Top suspect identified. Can you come get his computer to image it?
Despite the time of night, his answer came right away.Send me the address and I’ll be there ASAP.
She fired off a thank you along with Vick’s address.
Russ came back and stood in the doorway. “Only things I found were several pairs of boots. They all have lug soles.”
“We can try to match them to the prints lifted at the bomb scene,” she said, though that wouldn’t help them find Vick. Just prove he’d been at the scene.
“If you’re done, we can do the living room, garage, and kitchen.”
“I’m done, but I texted Nick to pick up this computer.” She stood, took one last look at the creepy board, and followed Russ down the hall.
He took the living room and garage, and she searched through the kitchen with white flat front cabinets and orange tile countertops. A typical kitchen. Neat and tidy with a stack of mail on the corner of the counter. She flipped through the pile. Bills. Ads. Nothing of interest to move the investigation forward.
“Living room’s a bust. Garage too. Only gym equipment.” Russ pointed through the patio door. “I want to get a look at that shed.”
He slid the door open, the vinyl sticking on the track, emitting an awful noise that the neighbors had to hear. Under the stars and a swift wind, they crossed a cracked concrete patio holding a rusty kettle grill to the solid-looking shed with a heavy-duty padlock.
“We need to get inside here, but not without it being checked out first.”
She nodded. No way she would discover the bomber’s ID only to fall victim to one of his bombs.
Thankfully, Grady was more than glad to come out with the robobugs and search the shed for booby traps. The roach did his job in minutes, and Grady declared the shed safe. And as a bonus he’d brought bolt cutters to remove the lock. He applied it to the lock and it dropped open.
Flashlight in hand, Russ stepped inside and pulled the string on a lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. The space flooded with dim light, revealing yard tools hanging in a row on one wall and a workbench on the opposite wall.
“Bingo!” He shot up a hand and flashed her a grin over his shoulder.
