Murder on Sagebrush Lane (19 page)

54

“What?”

“How do you know?”

“Who is it?”

“Are you kidding?”

“What now?”

These simultaneous questions erupted after a brief period of silence. Swannie held his hand up like a traffic cop.

“Let me explain first, then questions.” He brought out a folder from his briefcase.

“The ME conducted a thorough examination. In the course of that exam, fingerprints were taken, as well as samples of various fluids. I’ll skip over all that and get to the point. The fingerprints of the victim were compared to those of Rinaldi. Since he had a top security clearance, his prints were on file. However, Rinaldi’s known prints did not match the ones taken from the victim.”

“So whose were they?” Steve leaned forward eagerly.

“Well,” Swannie said, “that’s pretty interesting.” He reached for another report. “The fingerprints indicate the body is that of a man named Vince Weber. He’s a former employee at Sandia. Seems he left about a year ago under a bit of a cloud.”

DJ asked, “What sort of cloud?”

“Nobody would say. They cited confidentiality of personnel records. It’s a privacy issue.”

“Since the guy’s dead, what does it matter?” Harrie shrugged. “Where’s the need for privacy now?”

Steve spoke up. “This guy’s family would have to agree. It’s up to them at this point.”

DJ said, “I’ll be back in a minute. I want to make a phone call.”

Harrie, Ginger, Caroline and Steve continued questioning Swannie. Most of the time he answered, “I don’t know,” or “We’re still checking on that.”

DJ returned ten minutes later, and he beamed.

“What’s up with that grin?” Harrie asked. “You have new information, don’t you?”

“I do, indeed. I had the clerk on duty check a file for me.”

The group surrounded DJ, peppering him with questions.

He said, “Here’s the thing. I remembered a report I saw almost a year ago. It concerned a contract employee at Sandia who lost his job for security reasons. This employee contacted us, and said he had information about lax security in the department where he worked. He said he attempted to show his supervisors where the vulnerabilities were, but they denied the problem existed, and they terminated him. We agreed to investigate. When we tried to contact him again to get more details, he had disappeared.”

Harrie bubbled with excitement. “Is it the same guy? Is that our victim?”

“Yes,” DJ said. “Vince Weber is the same guy who came to us.”

“Wow,” Ginger said. “This just keeps getting weirder doesn’t it?”

Steve spoke up. “Okay, so if Weber is the same guy who came to the FBI, why was he murdered in Rinaldi’s home? And where is Michael Rinaldi?”

Harrie said, “Rinaldi wouldn’t have left without Katie. I know he wouldn’t. Something bad must have happened to him.”

Ginger spoke up. “What do we really know about Michael Rinaldi? How can we be sure of anything?”

“I heard the way Alexis Kane spoke of him. He adored both his wife and his daughter.” Harrie shook her head. “No, he didn’t have a choice.”

“Well,” Swannie said, “the truth is we don’t know anything about his reasons. And we won’t until we find out what happened to him.”

“DJ.” Caroline moved toward him. “Do you know how to get in touch with Alexis Kane? She needs to know about this. Maybe she could help us.”

“Good point,” DJ said. “I’ll call her.”

“Wait.” Harrie spoke, and her voice demanded attention.

Everyone stopped talking and turned to her. Swannie spoke. “What’s wrong?”

Harrie looked down at her feet. “Uh . . . I did something, and you’re not going to like it.”

Ginger reached for Harrie’s hand, and Caroline came to stand beside them.

DJ frowned and looked at his mother. “Are you in on this?”

Harrie said, “It’s me. They don’t have anything to do with this.”

His jaw tightened. “Okay then. Tell us what you did.”

She explained everything, from the flash drive discovery in the bear, to the phone call to Mr. Creepy Caller. She told them why she decided to bring things to a head.

“I have to be there tomorrow when this creep comes to get the flash drive.” Harrie felt her heart pounding and her muscles quivered. She had to make them see how important this was to her. She looked at each person in turn. They looked back at her with various expressions of concern, sympathy, and fear, and her frustration mounted. They simply must understand her need to see this through.

Swannie broke the silence first. “There’s a better way.”

“I agree,” DJ said. “Harrie isn’t going.”

“Not so fast,” Swannie said. “Hear me out first.”

He explained, point by point, his plan for the next morning’s meeting. Harrie protested at first, then agreed when Swannie said she could be there for the first act of their little play. DJ needed more convincing, but he, too, eventually bought into the plan.

“Now,” Swannie said to DJ, “go call Mrs. Kane. Tell her what’s happened, and find out what Judge Connors had to say about her taking Katie.”

Swannie turned to Harrie. “Do you have a white shirt and a pair of black jeans?”

She nodded. “Do you want to see them?”

“Yes,” he said.

Harrie retrieved the items and brought them to Swannie. “Okay,” he said. “I think that’ll work. Do you have a pair of dark sunglasses?”

Harrie frowned. “I have a pair of sunglasses but they’re sort of light colored.”

Caroline spoke up. “I have a pair just like the ones Jackie Kennedy wore. Would those do?”

Swannie grinned at her. “You are wonderful,” he said. Caroline blushed and went to get the glasses.

Harrie tried them on and Swannie said, “That looks great. Now, tell me exactly what you’re supposed to do.”

“I put on these clothes and the sunglasses. I drive to the office in my car, and I go inside—just like I always do.”

“Good,” Swannie said. “What time will you arrive?”

“I’ll be there by 8:30, park the car, go to my office, and start working.”

“Excellent. Then what do you do?”

Harrie contained her impatience—barely. “At 9:30, I go into the vault in the back of the building and stay there.”

He turned to Ginger. “I’m counting on you to make sure the plan is followed.”

Ginger swallowed. “Absolutely. We know what we’re supposed to do.”

DJ returned from calling Alexis. “She said Judge Connors agreed she should have Katie, but he does want to talk to Harrie and me tomorrow. I told her about the body not being Michael, and it hit her pretty hard. She can’t understand where he is and what happened.”

Steve chimed in. “It sounds like that’s one of the many things yet to be discovered.”

Swannie turned to Caroline. “Lovely lady, I hate to eat and run, but I have things to do before tomorrow morning.”

“We completely understand, Swannie. See you here tomorrow evening?”

He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. “I wouldn’t miss it for anything.”

55

Steve and DJ sat at the kitchen table while Caroline, Harrie, and Ginger cleaned up the dishes from dinner.

“Why do you think Judge Connors wants to see us before he lets Alexis take custody of Katie?” Harrie leaned against the counter, drying a plate.

“He probably wants to get our impression of the woman before he vacates our custody order.”

Harrie turned to DJ. “That’s nuts. I spent maybe a total of half an hour with her. What could I possibly tell him?”

DJ smiled. “I imagine Judge Connors thinks your judgment, even based on such a short time with her, is valuable to the decision-making process.”

“Well,” she said, “I’ll be occupied in the morning, so it’ll have to be in the afternoon.”

“Hold that thought,” DJ said. “This is Judge Connors returning my call. I’ll take it in the other room.”

“Steve,” Harrie said, “when do you think we’ll have the results of that DNA test I took on Katie?”

“They promised it around noon tomorrow. I figured I’d pick it up then. But we still don’t have anything to compare it to.”

Caroline spoke up. “This sounds morbid, I know. But it’s possible Michael Rinaldi did not run away, and if he didn’t, he might be dead, too. If that’s the case, identifying a body could be problematic. Katie’s DNA could be used to identify her father’s body, if it comes to that.”

“Wow,” Steve said. “I must admit, I never thought of that.”

“Thought of what, Steve?” DJ entered the room, putting his cell phone back in his pocket.

Steve explained, and DJ said, “Nice going, Mom. Are you planning to become a detective?”

Caroline laughed. “Not in this lifetime. So, tell us about your conversation with the judge.”

DJ turned serious. “He hadn’t heard that Rinaldi isn’t the victim we found. He’s decided that under the circumstances, we should turn over Katie to Alexis tomorrow.”

Harrie drew in a breath. “So soon?”

DJ put his arm around her, “Sweetheart, it’s for the best. I’m glad we could be here for Katie these past three days, but her life has been turned upside down enough. Alexis needs to take her as soon as possible.”

“I know.” Harrie nodded. “We should think of what’s best for her.”

Ginger spoke up. “Are you sure you want to go through with this scheme planned for tomorrow morning? Maybe you should spend the time with Katie instead.”

Harrie shook her head. “No, I have to do this. I want to be there when this guy gets taken down. Maybe it will help find out what happened to Katie’s father. That would be a good thing we could do for her.”

Ginger hugged her friend. “Okay, then. But you’d better get a good night’s rest. Tomorrow’s gonna be a big day for everybody.”

Ginger turned to Steve. “Come on, big fella. Time to go.”

Goodbyes were said all around, and Harrie went to check on Katie. The child was sleeping peacefully, her bear cuddled up in her arms. Harrie stroked her soft hair and adjusted the coverlet.

When she returned to the kitchen, Caroline had finished putting away the dishes, and DJ sat with a cup of coffee.

“Okay, Mata Hari. Where’s this mysterious flash drive you discovered today?”

She raised her eyebrows. “Hey, according to my history books, Mata Hari went before a firing squad. So I’d just as soon have a different name for my undercover activities. How about Agent 99?”

DJ laughed. “Probably more appropriate.”

Harrie retrieved the flash drive from her purse, and brought her laptop to the table.

DJ set up everything and inserted the flash drive in the USB port. When it came up on the screen, he whistled. “Whoa. This is heavy-duty encryption. I need to turn it over to the computer forensic guys first thing tomorrow.”

Harrie frowned. “But I need to show it to The Creep.”

“Don’t worry,” DJ said. “We’ll replace it with a decoy. This one is evidence.”

DJ’s phone chirped again. “Scott,” he said. “Hi, Swannie.” He listened and uttered an occasional “okay” or “uh huh.” When he hung up, both Caroline and Harrie waited to hear the details.

“So?” Harrie held out her hands. “Give, already.”

He smiled. “It’s all set. He even has the decoy flash drive we’ll need. All you have to do is follow the plan.”

Caroline said, “Don’t tell me you’re actually going to let Harrie meet this creep.”

DJ shook his head. “Absolutely not. Her body double gets that job.” He turned to Harrie. “Sergeant Cabrini Paiz will be dressed like you. Be sure you leave the dark sunglasses on the desk for her before you retire to the vault.”

Harrie narrowed her eyes. “It’s not fair. I arranged it.”

“Maybe not,” DJ said, “but it’s a hell of a lot safer.”

56

Colin Crider eyed the small adobe building as he drove up. The sign above the door looked new. It read, ‘24-Hour Clinic.’

He got out of the car and stretched. The small town of Grants, New Mexico, lay sixty miles of empty desert west of Albuquerque. The clinic sat on the eastern edge of town.

Inside, a heavy-set woman in a white polyester pants suit seemed in command. She looked up and over her glasses at him as he entered. The nametag she wore said ‘Betty.’

“My name is John Smith,” he said. “I believe an injured man arrived here last night?”

Nurse Betty stared at him blankly. “Name of patient?”

It seemed an unnecessary question. In a clinic small as this, in a town like Grants, he wondered how many other severely beaten men had arrived during the past twenty-four hours.

Crider pointed to the room behind her. “I believe that’s him,” and he moved past her. She made a feeble attempt to block his progress, but failed. She shrugged and went back to her paperwork.

Crider had seen a lot of violence in his career, but he hadn’t expected this. Whoever attacked this man had really done a job. One arm was in a cast, and layers of gauze covered the top and back of his head. The swelling in his face rendered him almost unrecognizable, and his puffy eyes looked purple.

Crider scanned the room. The closet door stood open, and he checked inside. The clothes appeared unwearable. He picked up the shoes and wondered what had happened in such a short time to render them useless. The first priority would be obtaining new clothing.

Crider leaned over the bed, feeling for the patient’s pulse. He seemed deeply sedated, and that posed a problem. As much as he wanted him out of here, he couldn’t do it like this. He pondered his options and made a decision. He went back to the nurse’s desk.

“My friend is in bad shape, and his clothing’s been destroyed. Where can I get him new things to wear?”

“There’s a Wal-Mart about a mile up the road.” She pointed to the west. “You can get all kinds of clothes there.”

He looked in the direction she pointed and nodded, then turned back and said, “How long will he be unconscious? I need to get him out of here.”

Nurse Betty frowned. “He can’t leave until the doctor on call releases him. Procedures must be followed, you know.”

“Yes, I know, but I must get him to a specialist in Albuquerque. There’s a lot of damage to his face, and he needs treatment you can’t give him. Where’s the doctor on call?”

She studied his face for a moment, then shrugged. “He’s gone for the day. He won’t be back until morning. But the patient won’t wake up until tomorrow anyway. Can’t you come back then?”

Crider thought quickly. He handed her his card. “Call me if there is any change in the patient. I’ll be back here at 7:00 a.m., and I’ll speak with the doctor then. Please leave word that I’ll take the patient with me tomorrow.”

Nurse Betty looked at the card and frowned. “There’s only a number on here. What kind of a card is this?”

“The kind I use, Betty. Please make sure the doctor gets my message.”