Page 115 of Deep Tide

She sighed. “He’s not happy. But he hasn’t really explained why, so I can only guess.”

“He’s probably just being protective.”

Miranda smiled. “Who, Joel?”

Obviously, that was part of Joel’s reaction, but Nicole thought there was likely more to it. Joel probably knew at least something about Sean’s operation down here. As a member of the local task force targeting drug and human traffickers, Joel knew all about the Saledo network.

“So...” Nicole glanced around, ready to change the subject. “I don’t see the car.”

“It’s in the far bay, behind that van. Ryan worked on it.”

Miranda led Nicole past a row of vehicles in various stages of disrepair. There was a yellow convertible whose driver’s side was completely smashed in. Then a pickup with a crumpled back bumper. Next was a white minivan with its two front seats sitting on the concrete floor, foam padding bulging through the slashed upholstery.

“What happened there?” Nicole asked.

“What? Oh, that. Meth smugglers.” They walked past the van, and on the other side was Amelia Albright’s little silver Kia.

“As you know, the car was locked when police arrived on the scene,” Miranda said. “So we weren’t necessarily expecting to find any useful fingerprints inside. And that ended up being the case. Nothing except the victim’s.”

Nicole had heard this already from the lab supervisor.

“Ditto the exterior of the vehicle,” Miranda added.

“Yeah, I wasn’t expecting fingerprints in the car. I’m here about a tracking device.”

Miranda’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh yeah?”

“There’s a potentially related homicide in San Antonio, and a tracking device was installed on both victims’ cars. That’s how he stalked them before they were killed.”

“Interesting. So, two potentially related homicides, then?”

“Correct,” Nicole said. “Any chance we can take a look, see if there’s something on this vehicle?”

“Where would it be installed?”

“I don’t know. I don’t exactly know the details of the other two cases.”

“Hmm. Okay.” Miranda looked over Nicole’s shoulder. “Hey, Ryan. Do you have a minute?”

Nicole turned to see a tall guy with a goatee walking through the garage. He was dressed the same as Miranda in white coveralls.

“What’s that?” he asked, taking out his earbuds.

“This is Detective Lawson from Lost Beach. She’s here about the silver Kia. You processed it, right?”

The guy looked at Nicole. “I finished it last week. Why?”

“We got a tip that there might be a tracking device on the vehicle somewhere. Any idea where something like that would be installed?”

“Depends.” He slid his earbuds into his pocket and walked over, surveying the car. “Is it battery operated or OBD?”

“No idea,” Nicole said, wishing now that she’d thought to ask Miguel for specifics. At the time she hadn’t wanted to admit how little she knew about her own case, but she should have just swallowed her pride and grilled him about every detail.

“Well, let’s have a look.” Ryan pulled a pair of latex gloves from a box sitting on a workbench nearby. “Some trackers run on a lithium battery. Some hook up to the vehicle’s port.” He snapped the gloves on and pulled a mini flashlight from his pocket. Then he went around to open the driver’s side door and crouched beside it.

Miranda turned to Nicole. “He’s our best vehicle technician. Anything to do with fibers, tire tread, transfer.”

“Transfer?”

---