Page 91 of The Lost Bones
“Sounds like a plan.” He sat back and crossed his legs, sipping his coffee. When she glared at him, he shrugged innocently. “What?”
“Are you going to sit here while I watch sex videos?”
He turned crimson and cleared his throat, standing up. “Of course not. I’ll… I’ll check the county property records to see if Hamilton owns a unit in one of those buildings.”
“Good idea.”
Once he’d gone, Mackenzie turned her attention to the video again, pressing the play button and hoping that she’d catch a glimpse of the man. But as he picked up the camera and placed it back in position, mumbling an apology, all that was visible was the gray tiled floor and his generic black shoes.
She moved on to the next video. Her skin crawled at how icky it all was. There was no consent. It was surrender. It was evident from the faces of these women that they weren’t into it, but it didn’t matter to the man.
The next video was January 2011. Everything played out like it always did. The room looked exactly the same. Then something happened that caught her eye. The man’s movements on the couch became aggressive, and the couch slid back, revealing that the floor was hardwood.
Her eyebrows dipped low. She double-checked the previous video: the floor was tiled. She saw Peterson walking by and called him over.
“We believe that this unit is in a building in this residential complex,” she explained, showing him the area on the map. “We are looking for a unit where the flooring was changed from tile to hardwood between October 2010 and January 2011. I think that will narrow it down. Maybe the residential office will have a record; if not, then check with flooring companies in town.”
He scribbled down the details on a notepad. “Did you know that wet wood, unlike dry wood, can conduct electricity? I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay, Peterson.”
“I’ll be right on it.” He nodded eagerly and hastened away.
Nick came around the corner and gestured to Mackenzie to follow him to the interrogation room.
“What’s happened now?” she asked gingerly, noting the deep frown marring his face.
“Ballistics came back on the bullet.” He stopped in front of the two steel doors. One led to the interrogation room and the other to the observation room.
“And?” She held her breath.
“It was a Remington Model 700. A sniper rifle. My dad uses one for hunting.”
She twisted her lips. “Does that help us?”
His eyes searched hers. “It’s also used by the military. So I followed a hunch.” He paused before ushering her into the observation room.
Mackenzie gasped. Courtney’s husband, Brett, was in the interrogation room, sitting across from Austin.
“I saw the news.” His lips quivered, hot tears rolling down his face. “That missing man’s girlfriend said how this was all happening because of that detective!” He was shaking, his eyes bloodshot, only a fragment of the man Mackenzie remembered meeting. “Why should innocent people get pulled into whatever sheis a part of? Why did my wife have to die? Why did I have to tell my kids that they’ll never see their mother again?”
Mackenzie wanted to press her hands against her ears. His wails were like shards of glass piercing her eardrums. But she couldn’t look away. The least she could do was witness the carnage left behind in her name.
“You really fucked up,” Austin said in a measured tone.
“You don’t understand!” Brett shouted, his lips tugging downward. His voice was angry, but his face was tragic. “How would you feel if someone you loved was murdered because of her? What would you have done?”
“Austin should not be on this.” Nick was about to leave, but Mackenzie grabbed his arm.
“Don’t. Let him.”
She felt like she was observing an intimate moment. But she wanted to know what Austin thought. He had stopped downright despising her, but she wondered if he still had something against her.
“I would have hated her for a long time,” he confessed. “Even though I would have known that I was just misdirecting all that rage. But I would have thought of what I had to lose, and what was the right thing to do.”
“Yeah, and what’s that?” Brett challenged.
“Being there for your kids, you asshole,” Austin retorted.
