“Call or visit local storage companies. See if you can charm the info out of them.”
Russ snorted. “Charm is not my strong suit.”
“But you do know how to get information when needed.”
“Yeah, that I do.” He chuckled.
“So can you do it?”
“I can.”
“Thanks, man. You can start with units near the motel.” A text sounded on Reid’s phone. “Gotta go. Let me know what you find.”
Reid ended the call and read the text from Trent Ingram.
Finished preliminary analysis of the bomb. Ready to share details with you.
Be right down,Reid replied. He left Sydney guarding Megan and Ella to rush down the stairs to the parking lot. This was it. The meeting he’d been waiting for this morning. He would get the proof everyone needed for their warrants, and they would finally be on their way to locating Fowler.
He stepped through the snow showers toward Megan’s car, surrounded by crime scene tape. A uniformed officer stood guard nearby, his eyes hooded as sleep was beckoning him. At least he didn’t have his phone out and seemed aware of his surroundings as he noted Reid advancing on him. Frost covered the grass, and Reid shivered under the cold, but this guy didn’t seem fazed by it.
He did stand in Reid’s way, though.
A dark-haired guy with a close-cut beard came out from under the hood, his gaze wary in the sun breaking through the snow showers. Had to be Trent. “He’s clear. Let him pass.”
Reid approached the car. The hood was raised and a woman in protective gear sat inside. She was using a pump to extract air into a tube. Likely Dr. Clarke. Maybe collecting that DNA from the air.
The guy stepped out from under the raised hood. He gave a sharp nod and held his hand up. “Trent Ingram. Gloved up and would rather not change to shake.”
“Reid Maddox,” Reid said. “I appreciate you coming so quickly and doing the work pro bono.”
“No worries.” He pointed under the hood. “Brought a few teammates with me. Landon Oliver.”
A guy about the same age as Trent stepped out, but where Trent was dark-complected, Landon was blond and fair. Both were fit and looked bright-eyed for having driven hours to get here this morning.
“Landon just started with us last week,” Trent said. “His specialties are vehicle forensics and firearms audio forensics.”
Say what?
“Firearms audio?” Reid shook his head. “What in the world is that?”
Landon laughed. “I get the same reaction all the time and am happy to explain. It’s no secret our world is filled with electronics. Means recordings are presented as evidence in many criminal investigations. The recordings are from devices like smartphones, private surveillance systems, or body-worn cameras. And when a gunshot is recorded, audio analysis of the recordings can provide spatial and temporal information about the location and orientation of shot sources.”
“Interesting,” Reid said. “But how does that relate to your vehicle forensics specialty?”
“It doesn’t other than both use electronics and my education and experience is in digital forensics. Combine that with a love of firearms gets you the experience in firearms audio forensics and my love of cars with vehicle forensics.”
“So basically he gets paid to play with guns and cars all day.” Trent laughed.
“Could say the same about you except for the car part. You get to play with things that go boom.” Landon chuckled.
Reid rolled his eyes and peered at Landon. “Neither of your specialties are an issue here today, right?”
Trent shook his head. “But your suspect could’ve connected the switch to the car’s electronics. Not something we could tell before we got here and assessed the device. Besides which, Landon is shadowing each of the partners for two weeks to experience what we do.”
“And I take it this is your two weeks,” Reid said.
“It is indeed.”
