Page 51 of Hold a Candle

Mica swallowed. “It looks deserted, but the metal fence around the perimeter isn’t that old. Probably put up right after the new owners bought it if the rate of rust and lichens growing around the base is any indication. Ye can’t see inside either.

I had to park a quarter mile down and come up behind the place to get a look from nearby trees with binoculars to see inside. Although the interior is overgrown with brush and small trees, there is a clear gravel driveway leading to a large building where the van is probably kept. I did see security cameras though. No posted guards, but that’s because they probably want to maintain the illusion of being uninhabited.”

“Did ye smell anything to indicate they might be cooking meth?” Pauley asked.

Mica shook his head. “There were some metal chimneys on the roof, but nothing coming out of them. If they are cooking meth, they just may not have been active yesterday.”

“And mayhap their orders are filled since the truck had just delivered to Hope Barks in the early morning before Ruskag was killed,” Jamie inserted.

“What?” Mica practically shouted. “How do ye know that?”

“I’m just guessing based on the story Luca related to us of the morning’s events,” Jamie replied with a surprised look.

“Why did ye think I sent ye the pic and the license plate, Mica?” Pauley asked, puzzled at her partner’s reaction.

Mica ran his fingers through his hair, looking frazzled. “Ye just sent me the pics, it didn’t show any activity. Okay, give it to me in explicit detail, every word Luca spoke. I can see I should have called ye last night and not made assumptions,” he muttered.

Pauley snickered. “Ye know what assumptions do.”

He scowled at her as if contemplating biting nails. “Just get on with it.”

Pauley filled Mica in with Jamie’s help and Mica’s endless questions until he seemed satisfied.

Mica muttered and made notes as he listened, a habit Pauley was used to. With all his squiggles and lines on his notepad, it looked similar to the stand-up white board they used in the office conference rooms.

Pauley even offered Jamie’s proposed theory that Florence might be dirty. Although he raised his eyebrows at that one, he didn’t discard it out of hand.

“Do we actually know anything about Florence’s background?” Pauley asked Mica. “Did ye do any digging?”

“I’ve seen her service record,” Mica replied. “She has exemplary firearms skills, even has sniper training. Several commendations, married once, one son who is 12 and in a private school. I don’t see any red flags in her background. She keeps to herself and doesn’t have any social connections or groups that I can see.”

“What about her new partner? Ye know anything about him other than he’s a transfer in from Edinburgh?”

“Ye mean Juice?”

“I mean Detective Anier,” Pauley corrected, rolling her eyes. “Why men insist on giving each other nicknames, I’ll never understand. And drinking a whole quart of orange juice in one go isn’t a talent.”

Mica grinned. “It is when it’s laced with Tequila.”

Jamie’s eyebrows shot up and Pauley rolled her eyes.

Mica shook his head. “No, Juice is good. He doesn’t appreciate being partnered with her, but then who does?” he muttered.

“No red flags then.” Pauley was still feeling uneasy about the woman. She moved on with her next question. “Have ye checked the utilities records of the hatchery address? Are there fluctuations in the amount of power being used that could indicate cooking times and such? If there aren’t any utility bills, the hatchery won’t be the source of the drugs and we’d have to wonder how else it fits in. Maybe just a storage facility?”

“I was getting to that,” Mica replied testily. “Ye keep throwing in questions and getting in my way.”

Pauley grinned. Mica liked to do things in order. His bulldog style of sticking to the subject at hand first could be annoying at times. Pauley’s mercurial nature threw out things as they popped into her mind.

“There is another thing ye might consider,” Jamie offered.

Both Pauley and Mica stared as if he’d suddenly sprouted horns.

Jamie stared back defensively. “What? Considering ye both are very close to the situation, sometimes someone on the outside looking in might have a different view of things.”

“True,” Pauley finally conceded. “Ye have had good suggestions so far. What are ye thinking now?”

Jamie cleared his throat. “Well...today is All Hallow’s Eve. There will be a lot of people in the city, and a lot of traffic. The festival will be going on all day, and the local police force will be concentrating on security for our citizens. I only know that from conversations with Quinn,” he added hastily, “and because it only makes sense from a law enforcement perspective.”

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