Page 39 of Facing the Enemy
“Doubtful. He was attacked in the early hours of the morning. I’ve been thinking about how to tell you.” Gage shared Jack’s injuries and his brother staying with him. “The attacker left him for dead,and if the security guard hadn’t found him, he’d have bled out. The knife wound came within inches of his heart.” He reached for my hand, and I let him.
The horror of Jack’s assault brought back reminders of Trenton. “Oh, my goodness, Gage. Any idea who did it?”
“No and yes.” He blew out the frustration of suspecting one of many.
“I know what you mean.” Was this about their current case or vengeance from a previous one? “I’m glad his brother will be with him. Any evidence?”
“He received a note stating, ‘The world was a better place with one less FBI agent.’ All bad guys claim the same thing, except not all write love notes.”
First me and now Jack received a threat. Were they connected? “Have you had an opportunity to run the handwriting?”
“Requested it. But I haven’t seen the report.”
The writer of my note wasn’t in the handwriting database. I thought back through any crossover cases that I’d worked in conjunction with Jack and Luke or even the four of us. Jack’s previous partner needed a break from violent crime against children and now worked the Civil Rights division. Not a single idea surfaced. Who were these people? Who would be targeted next? “What’s going on, Gage? Have you been threatened and not told me?”
He stiffened. “How could I have told you anything when you blocked me from your life?”
I heard the disappointment ... and more. “I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt you. I have no idea who or why Jack was attacked, and I wish I could offer something solid. Grief has altered my emotions, my thinking ... everything.”
“Risa, I need you back in my life.” He reached over and kissed my cheek, then held my hand in a firm grip.
I blinked and dug deep into my being to pull away my hand. “Possibly when this is over,” I whispered. “I can give you an explanation for deserting you. At the time, my actions were intended to help me work through the loss.” I wanted to tell him the real reason I’davoided him and my parents, but I was afraid. “I’m running in too many directions. Right now, I’m wondering if Carson might be working for a crime syndicate.”
I could almost see the wheels turning in Gage’s mind. “One of our many questions for the kid is, who else is involved? That will help put the right perspective on Trenton’s case.”
“I can’t think of a single reason for him to target me that night.” I fidgeted in the seat. “I just want answers. Jack’s attack is another matter. Is there anything you can tell me that would help talk it through?”
“I wish. Jack and I are investigating a kidnapping with the strong likelihood of national or international fingers. But his attack could have been a separate issue, which means a case you and I handled or Jack and his partner worked. No one’s been released from prison who is currently under suspicion, and I’ve ordered surveillance on any who are borderline cases that involved us. CARD is working with us as always. You and I have experienced every angle of violent crimes against children. We’ve shut down online predators and porn. Returned kids in parental kidnappings and discovered bad situations that made us shed tears. Pick one of those, and we might find answers.”
“Were any of Jack and Luke’s cases linked to ours?”
“I’ll dig deeper. But you and I know crimes drip into more than one division. It’s possible you, me, Jack, and his former partner worked parts of the same crime. And we won’t have more info until Jack’s stable and we’re able to talk to Luke.”
“Hey,” I said. “Working two cases simultaneously is unfair. I’m so sorry to have dragged you into this.”
He gave me a smile that wiggled into my heart. “I volunteered, remember?”
In Santa Fe, Gage leased a Ford Explorer and drove straight to the motel housing Carson. Inside the vehicle and in the middle of driving, Gage removed the nerd glasses and shrugged out of his red sweatshirt to a plain black one under it. Neither of us had eaten, but neither of us were hungry. Our appetites were for answers. How I longed tomove forward with an arrest and put my life back together. Whatever that might be, and I longed for Gage to be part of it.
At the hotel, we learned Carson, alias Andy Sloan, had checked out about the same time we’d boarded the plane in Houston for Santa Fe. The manager identified his photo. I feared my favorite college student had eyes on us.
“Can we see his room?” Gage showed him his creds.
“Sure, but the room might have been cleaned.” From what I saw of the hotel, I doubted the rooms were ever cleaned. We followed the manager to the room Carson had used, all the while I prayed for something to give us a clear path forward.
Gage and I entered a room that smelled like sewer overflow. A wrinkled bed and a thin, bare, off-white towel pooled on the floor. He and I searched a plastic container with drawers, behind a cracked mirror, an open closet, under the bed, and flipped the mattress. Plenty of dirt and cobwebs, but no signs of Carson.
22
GAGE
Carson Lowell had fooled Risa, and she’d not taken it well. The ruse of taking her college class, posing as an eager student, taunting her with his short story, escaping Houston under the guise of a road trip, and outwitting their pursuit of him added up to a dangerous criminal. I’d met kids who were geniuses, and instead of using their high IQs to make the world a positive place, they chose illegal ways to fill their pockets.
“We need rest, and I need to contact the FIG to track down Carson,” I said outside the motel. The setting sun streaked across the sky’s canvas in magnificent shades of yellow, copper, fiery red, and purple. I paused to thank the Creator for His handiwork.
“A desolate kind of beauty,” she said. “Like the area’s been forgotten for thousands of years.”
“Eight thousand of them to experience the same magnificent sunset. I suggest we get rooms and head out first thing in the morning. Or sooner if I’m notified of Carson’s location.”
