Page 37 of Under Fire

“Sounds like you had a very productive day.”

She shrugged. “Depends on what you mean by productive. I still have a lot of leads to check out. I want to visit that abandoned warehouse. Do you know whether or not it’s still a crime scene or if law enforcement has released it back to the owner?”

“I’m not sure, but I can certainly find out. It’s been over two weeks, so I would think it’s officially released. If not, I’ll obtain permission for you.”

“Thanks. How are Karl and Nyla doing?”

“According to Striker, they’re fine. Nearly inseparable. They enjoy sleeping late in the mornings.”

Hollis smiled as she stood. “I just bet they do. Are there any developments I need to know about?”

“Only one. I went through reports on both Detectives Connors and Tomlin, as well as the first six officers on the scene. I recall you saying that the reason Detective Connors left the academy was due to a family emergency.”

“Yes, but few people believed it,” she said.

“Well, unfortunately, it was the truth. According to the report I received, his fifteen-year-old sister went missing and is believed to have been kidnapped by a sex trafficker.”

He heard her sharp intake of breath before she uttered the words, “Oh, no.”

“His father had a heart attack as a result and died, and he lost his mother less than a year later. The report indicates that’s when he went into law enforcement, vowing to bring down as many sex traffickers as he could.”

Locke paused to let what he’d said sink in before adding, “And as we know, it’s rumored that trafficking was one of Donnie Barcos’ businesses.”

Hollis nodded and said, “That gives Detective Connors a reason for wanting Barcos dead.”

***

Hollis definitely had enough to keep her busy, but after what Locke had shared about Detective Connors’ fifteen-year-old sister, she had nearly gotten sick to her stomach. Then he had given her a copy to read for herself, and doing so made her feel even worse. The report included a photo of her, and she had been such a pretty girl. Someone had grabbed her on her way to school with two other girls. All three were kidnapped.

And just to think all this time she’d assumed, like some of the others, that he had used the ‘family emergency’ as an excuse and there hadn’t been any truth behind it. Boy, they had been wrong.

He had probably been around twenty-three while at the academy, which meant there had been an eight-year difference in his and his sister’s ages. The report had stated the family had been a close-knit one, which was probably why the parents had taken the abduction of their only daughter hard. Like her, he had lost three of his family members within a three-year period. Although there was no record of his sister’s death, in a way she was gone from them forever. That had been close to thirteen years ago.

She stood and glanced around the room. The library was bigger than Locke’s office. Of course, he didn’t have shelves of books that went from one wall to the other, but the view outside the window of the bay was just as beautiful as the one he saw every day.

Hollis began pacing, thinking about their possible suspects. Topping the list were Barcos’ people. Then law enforcement, including the local police and the FBI. Except for Barcos’ followers, everyone else had a reason for wanting him dead since for years he’d been a menace to society. But then, she couldn’t discount the possibility of a power struggle within Barcos’ group, and someone wanting him out.

She stopped pacing and slid back in her chair, deciding to view the footage from the boutique. They sent her recordings from the day in question, plus a week before and a week after. She had been watching the video when something caught her attention. For three days straight before Agent Murray’s meeting with Karl, it appeared that a man wearing a baseball cap would enter the café at exactly noon. Although she couldn’t make out his face, the one thing that stood out was his shoes. Socks with sandals.

Hollis zoomed in on the individual, and she was certain it was who she thought. Nick Underwood. Not only did his sandals and socks give him away, but he also had a tattoo on his leg. She recalled that as well. Zooming in closer, she saw he was wearing that same watch. Hadn’t he told her and Locke he had just arrived in town the day he had been caught following her? She had solid proof he had lied. That made her wonder just how long he had been in Tampa.

She switched to another screen, the one of Underwood’s autopsy report that listed his possessions at the crime scene. A watch was accounted for, but the one described in the report didn’t match. In the video and on the day he followed her, he wore a watch with a black band and a different-style dial, but what the report described, although close enough, was different. She scrolled through photos of his possessions and zeroed in on the watch. It wasn’t the same one, but you would have to study it closely to see that.

Hollis pulled up Underwood’s booking report. The standard procedure is to remove jewelry, photograph it, and store it until bail is posted. She found photos of Nick Underwood’s personal effects and saw the same watch he’d been wearing in the video and at the marina was listed with photos. When had it gotten switched, and by whom?

Underwood would have noticed it when he left police headquarters, so she could only assume it was removed by the killer and replaced with another one. Why?

She glanced up when there was a knock on the library door. “Come in.”

Locke entered wearing his jacket. “I got a call from Detectives Connors and Tomlin. They picked up one of Barcos’ men and brought him in for questioning. The one reputed to be second in command.”

“Just for questioning?”

“Evidently they don’t have enough to charge him with anything. I’ve asked for a copy of the interrogation tape and should have it by the end of the day.”

“And speaking of tapes, guess who showed up on the boutique video a few days before Karl’s initial meeting with that FBI agent at the Lemon Drop Cafe?”

Locke lifted a brow. “Who?”