Page 73 of Night Watch
“You could, but I know you’re too smart to do that.” Her eyes weren’t softening at all. “Don’t make Finley lose her only living relative.”
“Ooh, you don’t fight fair.” She propped her hands on her waist.
“I’m only reminding you of what could happen,” he said, trying not to sound frustrated.
“Fine.” She crossed her arms. “We do it your way. But it would be better to dive in the daylight, so let’s get your brothers together as fast as we can and get out there.”
Kennedy clasped her seatbelt buckle, ready to click it open the minute Erik gave her the okay. After an hour-long meeting with the guys, then a thorough risk assessment, which took another hour, and finally another hour gathering supplies and loading the vehicles, she was jonesing to get into that river to locate the gun. Plus, see if there was any other item the suspect might’ve dumped but wasn’t visible on the video.
Even with the plan, Erik was scoping out the area and talking to Sierra, who’d arrived an hour ago and set up a perimeter around the ground when the guy had run from the lab to the water.
Not that Kennedy could see what Erik or Sierra were doing. He’d put blinds—sort of like sunshades—on all the windows so no one could see in. And over the back, he’d installed a tent so he could leave the tailgate open for her to exit the vehicle without being seen. The vehicle was bulletproof, but he said he didn’t want anyone to know she was in the SUV or they might be able to figure out she was planning another dive.
Brendan was atop the lab building, keeping an eye on the area through his rifle scope, and the other brothers were erecting a tarp tunnel that extended from the SUV tent to the large boulders at the river’s edge. They’d recently started using these precautions when they protected a celebrity or any other person who might draw a crowd that they couldn’t protect against. Celebrity or not, with their precautions, she wouldn’t be seen by anyone but Charlie, who’d already strung ropes in the river for their perimeter.
Kennedy might want to be out there with Charlie in the worse way, but she’d agreed to play by Erik’s rules. Problem was, at the time, she had no idea his rules would be so very restrictive.
Kennedy’s phone chimed with a text, and she let go of her seatbelt to see a reply from Finley.
If Mom had cancer, she didn’t tell me, and she didn’t seem sick.
Thanks,Kennedy replied.It was probably just something she was interested in.
The tent zipper razored open behind her, and she turned to see Erik step inside and cross to the tailgate. She took in the fine form he made in his wetsuit, which he’d put on so he could swap out oxygen tanks to save time on the dive when they ran out.
He gave her a tight look. “We’re good to go.”
She climbed over the seat. Not an easy task in a wetsuit that wanted to stick to the leather. Erik had asked her to get ready at the condo to limit the amount of time she was in the tent. She supposed she could’ve climbed into the suit in the vehicle, but anyone who’d ever squeezed their body into a wetsuit understood such a feat would be harder to accomplish there.
She scooted to where her tank and remaining gear sat on the tailgate. “FYI, Finley replied to my text, and she said our mom never said she was sick and didn’t act sick.”
“Probably just a teaching thing, then, but I’ll still ask an ME to let me know if it could be missed on autopsy.”
“I sure hope it wasn’t. I’d hate to think she had cancer and was suffering through it alone.”
“You could request her medical records, but I don’t know if you want to go there,” he said.
“Let’s see what the ME says first. If blood cancers can be missed at autopsy, I might want to get her files.”
“Sounds good. But you should know that if shedidhave cancer, suicide could be an even more compelling explanation for her death.”
Kennedy didn’t want to think that way, but Erik was right. “Let me know when the ME gets back to you.”
He nodded. “Let’s get going. You’ll go straight through the tent and tunnel and into the water. Try to remain above the surface for the least amount of time as possible. If you find the gun, send up a marker but don’t surface. Bring it in while submerged.”
He’d already run this plan with her a few times now. She got it the first time, but she also got his need to be extra careful. “Sierra find anything?”
“Washed out footprints. We’ve only had rain the one night since the guy tried to break in, so they’re pretty well intact. But that doesn’t mean it’s our guy.”
“But it could be.”
“Yeah. Could be.” He frowned. “Sierra’s casting the prints, and she’ll compare them to footprints she lifted from the deck at your mom’s place.”
“Not that it would move the investigation forward, but we would at least know it’s the same guy.”
“Okay, let’s get started. Don’t take any risks on your diving safety.”
“Don’t worry.” She rested a gloved hand on his arm. “You guys planned this to the nth degree. Besides, God’s watching over us.”
