Page 38 of Race to Save Her

“We believe it might be the person who stashed the human body parts here. Obviously, they weren’t expecting Bates to have SWAT out front of his property after an armed robbery,” Katie said.

“Do you have proof?”

“No, but who would want to shoot at us? I believe it’s more of a warning. They could have killed us as soon as we stepped out of the car.”

Stern seemed to ponder that theory. “Why are you here?”

“We were just returning from the jail after talking with Bates and decided to have another look around.”

“Why?”

“We wanted to establish if someone could have hidden the body parts without Bates knowing.” Katie watched the detective, trying to ascertain if he was on their side or uncomfortable that they were stepping on his territory.

“I see,” he said. “I’ve heard about you two—impressive case history.”

“Thank you,” she said.

“Is there anything Rockview PD can do for your investigation?” said Stern.

“Help us figure out who Puzzler is,” said McGaven.

“Puzzler?”

Katie nodded.

“I can put out that name to the gang unit and some confidential informants.”

“Anything you can do would be appreciated.” Katie’s face changed to more of a frown as she tried to keep her breathing even and steady.

Detective Stern took a couple of steps toward her. “I’ll put a priority on this and let you know what we come up with.”

Katie forced a smile and nodded.

“That would be great,” said McGaven, picking up on the strained silence.

Detective Stern looked around. “I’ll have our forensics map the shots and update you as soon as possible.”

As Katie and McGaven walked toward their car soon after, Katie tossed McGaven the keys. As they pulled away from the curb, McGaven said, “So where to now?”

“We need to visit Shelby Roberts’ work and her home,” said Katie.

“DNA reported that her prints were already on file because she had previous for theft,” he said.

“Can you check that out?”

“On it.”

Katie closed her eyes while McGaven drove and thought about the shooter. It wasn’t clear how it fit into their investigation, but she was determined to find out.

TWENTY-FIVE

Tuesday 1715 hours

Katie drove toward her house, her mind still reeling with the case. She felt that she couldn’t keep her usual position of authority heading up the cold case unit if she didn’t take a moment for herself. Her current biggest fear was more of Shelby’s body showing up—or pieces of it.

When she pulled into her driveway, she saw her uncle’s white SUV. The patrol cruiser was still parked on the street with a direct view of her house. Katie sighed. She wondered if McGaven had called the sheriff because he was worried, or if her uncle had a sense that maybe something was wrong—or out of the ordinary. She hadn’t yet sent a report regarding Ames, but he may have already heard about it.

She got out of her Jeep and the front door opened immediately with her uncle and Cisco there to greet her.