Page 111 of Concrete Evidence
MARC PACED THE FLOORof the ER while a doctor examined Craig. A balding man in scrubs exited the treatment area and called for Agent Wilkins.
“Mr. Holcombe is in stable condition,” the man said. “The doctor is admitting him.”
“Can we talk to the patient?” Marc said.
The balding man pointed to the double ER doors. “He’s the third patient on the right.”
Marc and Roden found Craig awake, his bandaged side exposed. An IV sent life-sustaining fluids into his battered body. Marc had seen enough IVs from this case.
“I’m going to make it,” Craig said.
“Of course you are,” Marc said. “How are you feeling?”
“Like I’ve been shot and left to die in a wet pasture.”
“Ranch hands looked there for you.”
“I never heard or saw anyone, but I was out of it.”
Marc gestured to Roden. “Do you remember my partner, Agent Clement?”
“I do. You look like you met the same shooter I did.”
Roden nodded. “Appears so. Our shooter might be in jail.” He told Craig about the incident at the ranch with Jake, the search warrant, and subsequent arrest.
Craig closed his eyes. “I’m a little weak. Hard to keep my brain working. What about the problem with the dam?”
“Marc and I are interviewing Jake after we leave here. He probably has the name of who’s behind the crimes.”
“He’s a peculiar guy.”
Marc picked up the conversation. “Obsessed with order and cleanliness. What happened when you were shot?”
“I was driving to the ranch and took the shortcut at the Old River Gate, where you found me. I parked my truck to open it. That’s when someone shot me.” He took a labored breath. “I stumbled through the gate and fell. Heard someone drive my truck away.” Talking weakened Craig even more.
“Thanks. Get some rest. Looks like two people were involved since your truck’s missing.”
Craig nodded.
Outside in the hall, Marc caught Roden’s attention. “If Jake is responsible, we need to investigate his friends.”
“We’ll toss it in the mix. Explain how Craig laid there all that time, didn’t bleed out, and no one found him?”
“Doesn’t make sense.”
Leanne arrived as the agents left the ER. Her reddened eyes showed her care and concern.
Marc and Roden headed to the parking lot. “The mystery of where Craig found the separate crew to lay the dam’s foundation is critical,” Marc said.
“His background is clean since his teen years. And you requested the FIG to dig deep into his financials?”
“Yes. As well as the senator, Liam Zachary, and my father. They haven’t found a thing we could use. Wish we had the ME’s report on Bruce Ingles.”
At the jail, a female deputy reported Jake refused to talk to them without his lawyer. No surprise there. They waited in wooden chairs at the sheriff’s office for Dale Morrow. The game of keeping the FBI agents on their rears continued.
“You’re not hiding a thing,” Roden said, his voice low.
“Hiding what?”
