Page 23 of Shadow of Hope
“Colin’s already started, and I’d like the team’s help on the investigation if you can swing it.”
Reid didn’t reply right away. “What’s your take on this? You believe she’s innocent?”
“I do.”
“You’re a great judge of character—might even do a better job than most of us—but I’ve been picking up on a vibe that says you have a thing for this woman.”
Micha’s first instinct was to deny it, but he sure didn’t like being lied to, as Ava’s recent actions confirmed, and he tried never to tell a lie himself. There were times he had to omit things on the job, but this wasn’t one of those times. “I admit it, but it’s not a big deal and isn’t swaying my opinion. I promise.”
“If that changes, be sure you tell me. Until then I trust you have this in hand, and I’ll figure out how to find time in our schedule to keep the business moving forward and help her get her life back.”
Micha appreciated his boss’s confidence in him. “I’ll collect the pieces from the catapult for evidence processing. If you can pull some strings and get it on the Veritas Center’s schedule, I’ll drive the evidence up to Portland overnight and be back before the morning. I’m glad to pay for the work, too.”
“I might be able to do you one better. I’ve got a former agent friend who works at Blackwell Tactical in Cold Harbor. They have a chopper and make regular flights to Portland. Maybe we can get the evidence on one of those flights.”
“I’d appreciate that,” Micha said, and he would. Cold Harbor was only an hour away, which would be a much shorter drive than the three-hour one-way trip to Portland. “Call me as soon as you know if Ryan can make it. If I don’t answer, I’m with a client and please leave a message.”
“Will do, and you keep your head on a swivel out there.”
“Always do.” Micha ended the call and silenced the phone. When Reid’s call came in he didn’t want anyone to hear the ring.
He shoved the phone into his pocket and joined Ava, who was pacing the trail.
She cast a hope-filled look his way. “Can they send someone to replace you?”
“Likely Ryan. But he has a young baby and will need to arrange to leave his family for a few days. Reid will get back to me with a final answer.”
She frowned. “I hate taking Ryan away from his family.”
Micha waved a hand. “No worries. We take turns teaching this session. I’ll take the class for him when his name comes up in the rotation again.”
“I wish I could help too.”
“You can by listening to me and staying safe. That, more than anything, will be a big help.”
“Of course.”
“Now I want to get back to the camp for a plastic garbage bag to pick up the catapult and take it to a lab for forensic testing.”
“Oh, wow. Yeah. Very CSI of you.” She gave a nervous laugh.
“CSI, huh? Don’t tell me you’re one of those people who watch TV crime shows.” He started down the path and waited for her to move into place by his side.
“Guilty, but why?” She blinked those thick eyelashes up at him. “Is it bad?”
“They don’t exactly follow law enforcement protocol, and a lot of the forensic science they use doesn’t exist—very futuristic that real law enforcement labs could only dream of employing.”
“Makes for good TV though.”
“I suppose it does. I just can’t get past the inaccuracies.” He fell silent, and as they approached the camp where the others were up and sitting around the fire with coffee in hand, he stopped to look at her. “You’ll have to keep going by Kari until we leave here. We don’t want to raise any suspicions.”
She frowned at that. Too bad, he wouldn’t change his mind. He could be flexible on some things, but this was too important.
“When will you tell them we’re leaving?” she asked.
“Not until right before we depart. That will keep the questions to a minimum.” He ran a hand through his hair. The strands were going every which way, making him think he had a bad case of bedhead. “I’ll say you have a medical complication and have to go back to base, but that you hope to return tomorrow. That way if we do have someone in our group working with Layne, he’ll stay put and not try to accompany us.”
“Sounds like a solid plan.” She drew in a long breath and let it out. “What about a cover story for why we were out here?”
