Page 36 of Shadow of Fear
She shook her head. “We had no evidence of his involvement in criminal acts, so he managed to escape prosecution.”
“And Huff’s business acquaintances?” Russ asked.
“After his arrest and conviction, he alienated the true professionals in his universe.”
Dev handed her a notepad and pen. “Jot down the guy’s details. Caldwell’s too, and give it to Russ.” He looked at Russ. “Will you check into both of their records?”
“Can do.” His nostrils flared. “But everyone needs to remember, without a legitimate investigation, whatever I do is off the record. Nothing official. So keep it to yourselves.”
“You know we always have your back,” Reid said. “We won’t get you messed up in something that will hurt your career.”
“You should know, Colin is already searching the internet for information on Luongo.” Dev looked at his brother. “I’d like you to add these other guys to your algorithms, too. See what you can find.”
Colin responded with an emphatic nod.
Reid was still looking at Kinsley. “Anyone else we should be looking at?”
“I don’t know.” She scratched her head. “His wife, maybe. She left him when his assets were frozen and had to seriously downsize her life. She was most vocal about that, but she never came across as the violent type.”
“But she could be another person he might have it out for,” Russ said. “At least in my experience, having the wife turn on a guy hurts the most because it’s the greatest personal betrayal, and we should keep her on our radar.”
“Plus, she took his kids.” Kinsley leaned forward. “And even if he wasn’t the greatest father, that was bound to make him angry. Hopefully you can find her contact information. I think she moved out of state after she split with him.”
“Means Huff would have to leave Portland to find her,” Micha said.
Russ released his fingers. “Add the wife’s name to the list you’re making for me, and I’ll see if Huff traveled out of state to get to her.” He held up a hand. “But before you get excited about it, it’s not likely.”
“How can you possibly know that?” Jada asked, surprising Dev that his little sister took this long to get into the discussion.
“If he’s like most prisoners these days,” Russ answered, “he didn’t serve out his full sentence but got out on early release and is under supervision by a parole officer. They would have to approve any out-of-state visits.”
Kinsley pressed her lips together, then released them with a breath of air. “He was brought up on state charges six years ago and sentenced to ten years.”
“Which means he served sixty percent of his sentence and is out on early release.” Russ let his hands fall to his side.
“Is that common?” Jada asked.
“Depends on the crime and the number of strikes the felon has. In this case, it’s a nonviolent crime and he didn’t have any prior convictions, so sixty to eighty-five percent is the norm for that.”
Kinsley shook her head. “I’ve never understood why they don’t have to serve their full sentence. Especially when Huff deserved even more than he got, in my opinion.”
“Trust me,” Russ said. “I agree with you, but there’s nothing we can do about it.”
Jada shot Russ a skeptical look. “Why would he follow this rule, when he’s less likely to follow the other ones you mentioned?”
“It’s the kind of violation that’s more likely to get him sent back to prison. I’ll get the name of his parole officer and give that person a call. We’ll see if Huff’s checked in since his release. If he hasn’t, they’re likely looking for him.”
At the moment, Dev couldn’t imagine a worse scenario in locating Huff.
Jada’s eyebrows raised. “Looking for him, as in ‘declaring a manhunt’?”
“Not likely anything so grand like you see on TV or in the movies.” Russ smirked. “The effortto find him will be in direct proportion to how badly the authorities feel they need to address him. He hasn’t been convicted of a violent crime, so I doubt they would be that urgently seeking him. I suspect they’ll start out with a phone call and then a visit to his recorded address. In most cases, that solves the problem.”
“And if they find him, will they send him back to prison?” Kinsley asked.
“Depends on the circumstances,” Russ said. “But this early on in his release, it would be last resort to incarcerate him again. Especially with over a third of prison admissions being for parole violators. Still, if it’s not just an innocent mistake and he’s thumbing his nose at them and the rules, they’ll do it if they have to. I can try to get a feel for all of this when I talk to his parole officer.”
“Thanks, Russ.” Kinsley smiled, a most unexpected response given the situation.
