She didn’t like being discussed like this when she could speak for herself and had to step in. “Dev’s right. I live a very simple life. Mostly working, and there’s no one in my personal life who would want to hurt me.”
Dev gave her a long, piercing look. “No jilted boyfriends who might want to get back at you?”
She tried not to wilt under his intensity. “I’ve had a few relationships that ended, but nothing in the way you’re describing. I’d like to think I’m friends with my exes.”
“Any of them into guns?” Colin asked.
She shook her head. “At least not when I dated them.”
“Still wouldn’t be a bad idea to check them out,” Reid said. “In any case, get an alibi for the times you were shot at and also last night with the drone.”
“Are you sure that’s necessary?” She looked around the table and tried to lighten her tone. “I can’t imagine you would like it if I tried to contact all your past girlfriends.”
“Oh man, the stories they could tell.” Ryan laughed.
The others, except Dev, joined him.
The door opened and every one shot a look in that direction, but Dev’s hand also flew to his weapon.
Russ strode through the door. He wore his uniform of khaki pants and a black polo shirt, a badge clipped on his waist. He glanced around the room. “You’re all acting like you’re going to meet a girl’s parents for the first time. Relax. It’s just me.”
Dev released his weapon and let his hand fall to the table. “Glad you could make it.”
Russ jerked out a chair to straddle it, then leaned his arms on the back. “What did I miss?”
Dev brought him up to date, but didn’t ask him about his official role as related to the DNA and fingerprints. “What about you? Did you learn anything about any of our suspects?”
Russ sat back and clasped the back of the chair. “I got the same Portland address for Huff as your buddy shared. Lives with his mother. He’s checked in with his parole officer and is in good standing. The officer didn’t think he was up to anything illegal, but then he added, ‘there’s no one better than an ex-con to try to pull the wool over your eyes.’ He said he’d keep me in the loop if Huff’s status changed or if there was any reason to believe he was out to hurt anyone.”
“Did he mention Huff’s wife?” Kinsley asked.
“No, but I asked about her. Shedoeslive out of state with the kids like you thought. Idaho. He hasn’t asked to go visit them. He has to check in every week, but Idaho is close enough for an unauthorized trip between check-ins.”
“Then we should call the wife,” Dev said. “Make sure she at least knows he’s out.”
“She should be notified by the corrections system if she asked to receive a notification,” Russ said. “But I’ve seen them screw up and miss telling people.”
“I want to call her.” Expecting an argument, Kinsley looked at each man. “She should identify with me more than with any of you, and I think I could get information from her that she might not share with you guys.”
“Agreed,” Dev said but looked at Russ. “What about Huff’s sidekick?”
Russ sat up straighter. “Now Caldwell’s an interesting story. No sheet, but he’s known to PPB. At least he was, for burglary and fraud, but he’s in the wind now. He no longer lives at the Portland address in DMV. Been gone since shortly after the trial and left no forwarding address with the complex management. Finding him might take some good old-fashioned legwork, like checking in with neighbors to see if anyone knows where he went. Trouble is, he lived in a sketchy area and the neighbors are most likely transient.”
“Still, it’s something we need to do.” Dev grabbed a notepad. “I need the address, and I’ll put it on the list so when we send someone to Portland, they can check it out.”
Russ rattled off an address in the northeast part of the city, which could be sketchy, as he’d said.
“There’s another option,” Colin said. “Do you guys remember my friend, Nolan Orr?”
“The former Secret Service Agent?” Ryan asked. “The one who resigned from the presidential detail to start an investigations agency in Lost Lake?”
Colin nodded. “He’s the one. So anyway, he’s hired a team of five other investigators and has focused his agency on finding missing people and things.”
Russ scoffed. “There can’t possibly be enough work for an agency with one investigator, much less six of them, in a town the size of Lost Lake. And especially one dedicated solely to finding missing things and people. The town is smaller than Shadow Lake, and we don’t even have one investigator here.”
“They’re not focused only on local investigations,” Colin said. “They take cases all over the country.”
“You think Nolan would be willing to try to locate Caldwell for us?” Dev asked.
