Page 53 of Cold Silence
Travis mimicked a shudder. “I couldn’t wait for you to end that call.”
“She does have a real ick factor going on, but what do you think about her claim that Kent’s been working nights at the institute?”
“We both know there aren’t any night shifts. So either she lied to us or Kent lied to her about where he’s been at night.”
“How do we figure out which one of them is telling the truth?”
“Doesn’t matter. What’s important is where he’s been going at night. I’ll follow him tonight to find out.”
Claire hated the thought of Travis going out again tonight, but at least he wasn’t going to some warring country. “Maybe Kent’s leaving home to get away from her.”
“Could be.” He held her gaze. “It’s equally as likely that he’s working a second job, trying to make enough money to keep her happy. And that makes him an ideal person to steal and sell an expensive prototype.”
Travis’s dire tone settled over her as her phone rang, making her jump. She looked at Caller ID. “It’s the police department.” She put the call on speaker.
“Dr. Reed, this is Detective Purcell.” Tension deepened his voice. “We’ve finished running the tests on the cloth recovered at your house after the break-in. As we suspected, it was saturated with chloroform.”
Just like Travis had suggested, and Claire wasn’t surprised to hear such news. The scent of the sweet-smelling compound came back. As did the memory of the man’s hand hovering over her mouth. Her hand trembled, and she clasped it in her lap to keep Travis from seeing her unease. “So we’re looking for someone with access to chloroform then.”
“Unfortunately it’s often used as a solvent in laboratories and readily available.” He paused for a moment. “Perhaps you know someone with access to a lab.”
A lab? Her heart sank.
“Can you hold for a second?” She muted her phone and looked at Travis. “Mike Robb minored in chemistry in college. Maybe he has access to a lab through a friend or an old classmate. Should I tell Purcell?”
“No.” Travis met her gaze, his intensity scaring her even more. “If you tell him, he’ll question Robb, and that might spook the guy. The last thing I want is for that jerk to move up plans that we can assume are meant to cause you harm.”
Travis was right. They were barely staying one step ahead of the creep trying to abduct her. If ithadbeen him in her bedroom, he’d come close to harming both her and Travis, and she wouldn’t do anything to cause him to escalate these attacks.
13
Wishing coffee could bring him to life after his late night, Travis downed the last swallow of his fourth cup of the day and tossed it in the break room trash. He’d hung outside Kent Norton’s house until three a.m., but the guy didn’t leave home. A major disappointment. It was bad enough that Travis sat in a stifling hot car for endless hours, but seeing Claire’s expression fall this morning when he’d told her they were no closer to finding her attacker? That cut right through him.
But it was soon replaced by shock when Colonel Lynch asked to see him in his office. Travis didn’t know what to expect with the colonel in charge of the institute, but the impromptu demand by Lynch for Travis to hightail it to his office had him double-timing it down the hallway.
Travis straightened his tie and knocked on the door.
“Enter,” the colonel’s rumbling voice sounded.
Thinking Lynch would ask for an update on the theft, Travis mentally prepared and pushed through the doorway to stand at attention and salute.
“At ease.” Lynch pointed at his side chair. “Sit.”
“Yes, sir.” Travis took a seat but was far from easy.
Lynch rested his elbows on the desk and steepled his fingers. “How’s the investigation going?”
Travis brought him up to speed.
“You know, Chapman, I’ve been thinking. It would be good to have a soldier of your resources around here on a permanent basis.”
Travis worked hard not to gape at the colonel. “Permanent?”
“You blow the testing scenarios out of the water and are the best one to evaluate the software. I know Dr. Reed waits for soldiers to be available for testing and having you on site could speed the software development along.”
“Not sure that would be a full-time job.”
“No, but there are other issues here at the institute that I could use your help on. I’m not at liberty to share them right now, but I know they’ll be challenging to you.”
