He abandoned it? Seriously? Why would he do that, and why McMinnville?
The capital of the Oregon wine country, McMinnville was a city located near Portland. Some said it was a suburb, but it was an hour away, and Brooklyn didn’t really consider it a suburb.
Colin looked at her. “Does Tarver have any connections to McMinnville?”
“Not that I know of,” she said. “You, Nick?”
He shook his head. “I’ve never seen it mentioned in relation to him, but I can run yet another algorithm to search for McMinnville in the data I have stored on him.”
Colin looked at the sheriff. “Will you have Sierra process the vehicle?”
“I asked her about it,” Abby said. “But she’s still working the arson site, so it’s on a flatbed on its way to their lab, where it can be dismantled by her staff in their garage.”
“Doesn’t anyone else find it odd that he would abandon such an expensive vehicle?” Brooklyn asked.
“Not if he thought it could lead to him.” Dev sat and leaned his chair back on the rear legs. “A vehicle like that would draw attention for sure, and he can’t afford attention right now.”
“But it’s been there for a while,” Abby said. “Doesn’t make sense unless he was planning this murder for some time.”
“Someone else could’ve done it,” Brooklyn suggested without really thinking it through. “Like they borrowed the Hummer and didn’t bring it back. Or it was stolen.”
“No.” Nick shook his head. “Not buying the borrowed part. Kane’s not one to share his toys. The odds of him letting anyone drive a vehicle that set him back a hundred grand are pretty low.”
“I don’t care who drove it,” Abby said. “It needs to be processed for a lead that we desperately need.”
She was right. Of course she was. And everyone knew it. They did need a lead, because right now they had nothing to go on, and “nothing” wouldn’t bring Kane to justice and give Brooklyn back her life.
13
The smell hit Colin before they reached the ruins. The air was saturated with a burned odor that seeped into their SUV, but not a pleasant campfire, fireplace, or woodstove aroma people, including Colin, loved to smell. Mingled with the burned wood were furnishings and other materials releasing unpleasant odors.
And coming along with the smell was Colin’s unease in bringing Brooklyn here. The guys were likely right. Tarver wouldn’t come anywhere near this place, and she would be fine, but there was no guarantee. Something Colin needed. Craved as much as air.
He’d never worried this much before. But then, working in cybercrimes, he didn’t often see people in immediate danger. Still, it was more than that. She got to him in a way that he both liked and hated. Right now he hated it as it left him vulnerable and filled with concern.
Dev turned into the driveway and lowered his window to show his ID to the deputy securing the property.
Good. Good. A law enforcement presence would help.
“Glad to see Sheriff Day has the resources to be able to secure this place,” Colin said to Brooklyn from across the backseat.
She swiveled to face him. “Helps you know Kane didn’t get back onto the property.”
“At least not from this direction,” he said. “But having a police presence lowers the odds of him trying it from any direction.”
As did having Micha with them. Colin had convinced everyone to wait for him to finish his class so he could ride shotgun, literally. Dev loved guns and was an expert shot, but Micha outgunned him. As the team’s weapons expert and best marksman, Micha had brought his favorite rifle and would take a stand in a nearby tree to be able to continuously search the area and the tree canopy for a sniper.
“Are you usually this cautious?” she asked.
He shrugged. He couldn’t admit he had feelings for her when he’d just met her.
“Is there some reason you’re more worried about me?”
Ah, right to the point, as he was learning she preferred. He liked that among so many other things he’d observed about her. “I feel a responsibility for you.”
“Because I work for you?” she added.
“Yeah, that, and?—”
