Page 84 of Fatal Mistake
“I hope it will help,” she said, feeling like a stranger trying to make small talk when what she wanted was so much more.
“It should.” He placed the pad back on the table. “I’ll take a better look later and compare this to the device I reconstructed.”
She nodded her understanding. “Shane told me you caught the woman. Sarra.”
“Yes, but unfortunately she’s not talking.” Cal rubbed the back of his neck. “She’ll be escorted to D.C., and Max will question her again.”
“Did the rest of the team return with you?”
“Yes.” The warmth that had lightened his eyes disappeared. A darkness that made her head hurt replaced the light. “Why don’t we sit down?”
“That sounds like bad news.” She watched him carefully.
He didn’t respond, but pulled out a chair at the table for her. She sat, and he took a seat next to her, scooting close. Her awareness of him grew, but he didn’t seem to be affected by their proximity. Was she the only one whose true feelings had come to light during his absence, or was she assigning feelings to his expression that didn’t exist?
He rested his hands on the table. “Shane told you about the break-in where explosives were stolen.”
She nodded.
“Our Evidence Response Team lifted prints and confirmed they belonged to Keeler.”
Okay, good, talk about the investigation. She’d ignore his nearness, the scent of his minty aftershave, the emotions churning in her stomach, and concentrate on Oren. Ha! She wanted to think about Oren more than her feelings for Cal, which should tell her something.
She willed her mind to concentrate on the topic Cal raised. “Don’t you find it odd and sloppy for Oren to leave prints behind?”
“I do.”
“So do you think he wants us to know he’s stolen the explosives?”
“Could be.”
“Because he wants us to know he’s going to set off more necklace bombs.”
“Likely. Or it could be his way of thumbing his nose at us. Telling us that he’s so far superior to us that we can’t stop him.” Cal sat forward. “This is a common thing for serial killers.”
“You mean that they want to get caught?”
“No, that’s a myth that’s often said of such killers. But in fact, as they continue to get away with murder, they begin to feel invincible and get sloppy.”
“You think Oren might be getting sloppy.”
Cal nodded. “The blood in the tree was his, which suggests he was scrambling and could mean he’s not thinking ahead as much.”
“Could that be true of ditching the gun, too?”
“Could be, or he actually left the gun so we would find it and tell us that he was the one who tried to kill you, not Hickson,” Cal said, his voice strained. “Although we didn’t find Keeler’s DNA or prints on the gun, tests confirm slugs removed from the tower and the one found near your truck all came from that gun.”
“Oren really did set off the bomb, then, and Hickson was a pawn in Oren’s plans,” she said, not at all surprised by the news.
Cal nodded. “Also Kaci located video that shows Sarra Yasin renting a Toyota Corolla as Hickson claimed. Max stopped by the county jail to show Hickson her picture, and he identified her as the woman who hired him.”
“So Hickson told the truth. Oren used Hickson, and now he’ll end up in jail.” She shook her head. “Another life destroyed by Oren.”
Cal frowned. “Once this is over, I’ll do my best to see that Hickson gets a fair shake.”
“That’s very kind of you.”
“It’s nothing.” Cal stared at his hands for a moment before looking back at her. “You should also know, we’ve learned the name of another woman who we believe is working with Keeler.”
