Too Many Suspects Read online

  Callahan noticed the loss of color in her face and followed her gaze out the window. “Shit,” he groaned. “Are we expecting anyone else?”

  “I’m not,” Roxy answered picking up on their tension. She watched the headlights shut off but kept her voice calm. “Should we get out of the line of fire?”

  Pete glanced outside. “Relax. It’s just Sam with Henry. I texted her that we’d be at your place.”

  Roxanne relaxed, Callahan slumped against the sofa back and Roxy took a deep breath. Tiffany’s hand moved away from the gun at her waist.

  When the knock came, Roxy rose to answer. Pete waved her away and opened the door. “Glad you could make it.”

  Sam seemed aware of all eyes on them as she addressed Pete. “We just got back. Took forever in the damn Apple store. I’ve never been in one that wasn’t crowded with people who had a million questions. You’d think they were giving something away.”

  “I’d heard sales were down.” Having started the jitters here, Roxanne hoped to set everyone’s mind at rest.

  “Not that you’d notice,” Sam said. “It took us over thirty minutes to grab a clerk.”

  “Maybe they need to hire more staff,” Roxy said.

  “I don’t see how that would help much. They had ten employees working on an off-night in the middle of winter.” Sam paused to survey the people in the cabin. “So what did we miss?”

  “Not much,” Roxy said quickly before anyone else had a chance to speak. “We were trying to figure out our next step. So far we’ve only covered abandoned buildings in the area.”

  “What else can we do?” Sam asked. “We can’t cover every hunting camp or house.”

  While she unzipped her coat, Henry stood stiff behind her. “I don’t know if all of you met Henry. He’s going to be working with me.”

  Callahan grunted, “I’ve heard about him. Can’t say as I’d trust him if I were you.”

  Before Henry’s temper took over, Sam touched his arm and gave him a warning glance. “I know Roxanne had a bad experience with him. I think we’ve worked it out.” She looked to Roxanne for support.

  “He’s all right… I think.” Roxanne avoided Callahan’s scowl. “Right now, we need everyone out looking for those kids. Can’t worry about anyone’s good or bad points.”

  Roxy squinted at Callahan with sympathy. “John, I understand where you’re coming from. In another situation, I might agree with you. But we need all hands on deck for this. If he’s willing to help, I say we go for it.”

  Pete had remained in the entry next to Henry. “I don’t know what’s been going on, but I have to agree with Roxy. The more of us out there looking for these kids, the better chances we have.”

  Callahan nodded. “You’re right. I’m not going to stand in the way.”

  Sam clapped her hands together. “Now that it’s settled, we need a plan for tomorrow. Does anyone have any ideas?”

  “Aside from driving around with our heads up our asses, you mean?” Roxy said.

  “Something like that,” Sam told her.

  “We need to narrow the search to properties that are supposed to be vacant but have signs of occupancy.” Roxanne turned to Pete. “Does the county have a list of abandoned real estate?”

  “Not that I know of. I can have Gertie check on it in the morning.”

  “What about a satellite view of the surrounding area?” Tiffany asked. “Like Google Earth or something.”

  Callahan shook his head. “There’s no telling when those Google pictures were taken. Could have been months or years ago.”

  “A satellite view is a good idea,” Sam said. “And I think I have a solution.” She rolled her tongue over her lips before going further.

  “Out with it then, lassie,” Conor said. “We’ve come up with diddly so far.”

  “When I was with the bureau, I was assigned on a team to write a program to cover all the latest satellite passes over the United States. It was meant to help law enforcement in zones without street cams. The team I was on worked on it for several months before our higher-ups decided it wouldn’t be relevant and shut us down.” Sam took a breath. “I still have the program on my laptop. I can pull it up and find the latest satellite pass over this area.”

  “And what would that do for us?” Tiffany asked. “Unless there happens to be a shot of when the kids were grabbed, we’d be no better off.”

  Roxy held up her hand. “No, I see what Sam’s getting at. If we can find one within the last week or so and can identify places that should have been abandoned, we can scan for any sign of tracks in the snow.”

  “It’s a long shot,” Sam added. “But it’s better than nothing.”

  “How long will it take you to check the feeds?” Callahan asked.

  “I’ll get on it tonight. Should have something by tomorrow morning.”

  Ever the cop, Pete asked, “Will you be committing a crime using the program?”

  “I don’t think so. I wrote it and it was officially classified as obsolete. Besides, they don’t know I have a copy.”

  “That’s got to be illegal,” Tiffany said. “Having a copy of a government program like that.”

  Sam shrugged with indifference. “Even if it is, no one will know except the people in this room. Unless one of you rats me out, I should be fine.”

  Roxy grabbed the arms of her chair and rose. “That’s settled then.” She paused for a fraction of a second. “If possible, I’d like to meet here tomorrow.”

  Before Sam could respond, Roxy silenced her with a stare. Then she quietly said, “I recently came to possess a fairly large amount of cash and I don’t feel comfortable leaving it here with no one to guard it. If necessary, I can take it with me, but I’d like a better option.”

  “You found the five million,” Sam said with a smile.

  Roxy frowned at her. “Yes, I didn’t know you were aware of it.”

  “Everyone in town talks about your treasure hunt,” Sam said. “I’ve been around for a little over a week and heard about the money several times, in a lot of different places. Everyone’s curious.”

  “Well, that’s just dandy,” Conor said. “Now we have to watch our backs as well as look for those kids.”

  - 25 -

  When Roxanne, Callahan, and the other DSS agents arrived at the cabin the next morning, they found Sam and Henry hunched over her laptop monitor. She sat in Roxy’s office chair, he peered over her shoulder. A small printer whirred as it spit out page after page while Roxy gathered the sheets into three distinct piles.

  “What’s going on?” Roxanne asked.

  “We can’t all crowd around this small screen and pick out any anomalies,” Sam said. “So I’m enlarging the sections and printing them out bit by bit.”

  “Three copies each.” Roxy straightened the pile in her hand. “That way more than one person at a time can study the area.”

  “Are the pictures clear enough?” Tiffany asked.

  Sam gave the agent a disgusted look. “They’re sharp as a movie screen. You could run them through the Times Square billboard and pick out a cat in a window. I know what I’m doing when I write a program.”

  “We’ve got to piece all these pages together. Otherwise we’ll mess up the locations.” Roxy handed a stack to Tiffany, Ron and Roxanne. “I marked the page numbers in the corner. Put six across the first row before you start on the second. That way they won’t be too unwieldy. That’ll make them about the size of a paper map.”

  “I’ve never used a paper map,” Tiffany said.

  Roxy raised her eyebrows. “How old are you?”

  “Twenty-eight.”

  “I guess that explains it.”

  Roxanne hid a smile and gathered a pile of papers. “Where can we work on this?”

  “Two should fit on the table. The other can use the
floor.” Roxy kept grabbing sheets from the printer, numbering pages and placing them in piles as she spoke. “I’m afraid we only have one tape dispenser, though. So you’ll have to share it.”

  It took over an hour but finally the printer stopped. The pages were assembled with only a few muttered oaths when one of them went crooked while being taped. Callahan studied the slapdash map over Roxanne’s shoulders as Roxy passed the last of the pages to them.

  “It all looks the same to me,” Tiffany took a break from taping to sit back in her chair. “Everything’s covered in snow.”

  “Look for a building with only a few tracks showing. Occupied places are probably shoveled or had a snow plow clean their drive,” Callahan said as he eyes studied the sheet in front of him.

  Roxy handed them three Sharpies. “I wish I had red markers but these will have to do. Circle anything that has potential. ”

  “I’m done,” Ron announced as he struggled to get off the floor and keep his map in one piece.

  “Put it over there on the counter,” Roxy instructed as she scrutinized the map Tiffany had put together. “You and Conor can examine that one. When we’re finished, we’ll compare our circles. If all three have one in the same place, we’ll start there.”

  “I’ll use the computer screen,” Sam said. “I might be able to pick out something with the heat signature feature.”

  “You can tell if a place is occupied?” Henry asked. He leaned over Sam’s chair and eyed the monitor.

  “Not always, but some of the satellites have that feature. I’ve used images from three different sats over a two-week period to cover the entire county. I think two of them can pick out heat.”

  Tiffany threw down her marker and stretched. “God, this is killing my back!”

  “You’re the youngest one here,” Roxy grumbled. “Suck it up.”

  Tiffany went back to studying the map without a word. Her progress, though, was painfully slow.

  Roxy finished marking Tiffany’s map first. Roxanne and Callahan still had half a row to cover, while Conor and Ron were only on their second row. Roxy moved over to answer their questions since neither man was familiar with the area they were scanning.

  When Callahan and Roxanne completed their markings, they compared their circles to Tiffany’s. There were ten circles that matched; Sam plugged the first one into the computer to enlarge the area even further. What appeared to be tracks in the snow turned out to be rocks lining a driveway.

  The second set matched on Tiffany’s and Roxanne’s maps but didn’t show up on Ron’s. Sam moved the cursor and enlarged an area with three circles. The tracks looked more like skis than a vehicle and they led off into the woods.

  Roxy was studying all three maps while Sam did the enlargements. She tapped a circle far north near the Allegheny National Forest. “Try this.”

  When enlarged, the location held promise. Only a few tracks led into the clearing where a small cabin sat. They were obviously tire tracks although no vehicle appeared in the magnified area. Sam tried the infra-red keys but no heat emanated from the cabin, either.

  “It’s a possibility,” Callahan said. “I wouldn’t count it out. But I’d save it for last if we don’t find anything else.”

  “Try this one.” Roxanne pointed to an area at the edge of the campground run by Jones’ church.

  Several tire tracks led from a rear-access road to a tiny cabin. No car was parked there at the time of the satellite pass, but that didn’t mean much. Sam zeroed in on the cabin and searched for a heat signature. “Something’s there. It’s dim, could be an animal hunkered in but it’s worth checking out.”

  “And this one,” Roxy’s voice held a note of excitement. “It looks as if a dark vehicle is parked in front.”

  Whether the vehicle was navy or black was hard to tell, but it was definitely a van or SUV—impossible to distinguish from the roof line. With the infra-red turned on, the cabin glowed pink at the edges with bright red in the center.

  “Mark that,” Callahan said. “That should be one of the first places we check.”

  Roxanne squinted at the screen. “It looks like it’s on Judge Walters’ property.”

  “Dammit,” Roxy muttered. “We’ll have to get the old fart’s permission to go on his land.”

  “I can give him a call,” Roxanne offered. “I don’t see why he would refuse. Besides, that other possibility is on Jones’ property. We have to get permission from him, too.”

  “Why is it never easy?” Roxy rubbed her forehead and looked at her daughter. “I’ll contact Jones, you contact Walters.”

  With a little persuasion, Jones gave his permission to use the rear entrance and check out the cabin. He told her it was used for supplies when the camp operated in the summer months but he could think of no reason it would be occupied now.

  Again, he insisted he be there when they entered the campground. Roxy scoffed when she hung up. “Damned self-righteous blowhard. Does he think we’ll tear down his precious supply shack?”

  Roxanne couldn’t reach Judge Walters. His secretary told her the judge would not be in today, she should try on Monday.

  Since that was not an option, she tried his cell phone. It went to voicemail after two rings. “Damn! Do you think we can get a warrant to search the judge’s land?”

  “If it were anyone other than a Supreme Court Justice it might be possible. But we may have trouble finding a judge willing to sign one when we don’t have any legitimate cause, just a wild guess from an illegal program.” Callahan’s lips turned down on the edges. “Probably wouldn’t fly.”

  “I’ll keep trying to reach him.” Roxanne slipped her phone into her pocket. “We should check out Jones’ property in the meantime.”

  “Let’s finish all the matches first. If we go flying out of here, we might miss something. There’s only five more that were circled on all three maps.” Everyone accepted Callahan’s voice of reason.

  Sam stayed focused while she examined the other locations. None proved as promising as the campground and Judge Walters’ place.

  Roxy grabbed her coat and threw Conor’s parka to him. “Let’s get moving. I’m not gonna wait around for Jones to show.”

  “Whoa, slow down a minute.” Callahan patted the air with both hands. “We need some sort of plan. What are we going to do if Pearse and Seamus are there?”

  “Either arrest them or shoot ‘em,” Roxy said. “Don’t think we have much choice.”

  “If they’re in the cabin, how do you propose we get the kids out safely?” Tiffany stretched her arms and yawned.

  “We’ll worry about that when the time comes,” Roxy said. “Right now, we should at least check it out. It’s the only way to know for sure if anyone is in the place.”

  Callahan’s hair stood on end as he passed his hands through it. “We don’t all need to run out there and storm the place. We should send one or two to keep an eye out from a safe distance where they won’t be seen. If we get a visual on who or what’s inside, we can call in the state police and SWAT if necessary. You and Conor can take the first shift but stay out of sight.”

  Conor nodded. “We can do that.”

  “It’ll be cold out there. Ron and Tiff can spell you in two hours.” Callahan checked the time on his phone. “It’s 10:30 now, you should be there by 11:00. Ron and Tiff can take the 1:00 to 3:00 shift if you don’t spot anything before. Just don’t engage with them or let them see you, no matter what. That goes for all of you.” He included Ron and Tiffany in his warning.

  “Henry and I can take over at 3:00,” Sam offered.

  “I’ve had some stealth training and experience,” Henry said. “If nothing develops before then, I can check it out without being seen. I guarantee they’ll never know I’m there.”

  “We might need to take you up on that,” Callahan said. “Pete gets off duty at 4
:00, and that’s the end of the twenty-four hours the kidnappers gave Leonard. If we don’t hear from them again, Pete and I will meet up with Sam and Henry to decide what needs to be done from there.”

  Roxy slid her arms into her parka and zipped it. “In the meantime, we need to get eyes on that cabin right away.”

  “Don’t forget about Judge Walters’ place,” Roxanne interjected.

  “You keep trying to reach him,” Callahan said. “If we find nothing at the campground, Walters’ place is the next logical step. I’ll talk to Pete about a search warrant but I don’t hold up much hope.”

  “Lock up when you leave,” Roxy called over her shoulder.

  “Hey! What about the…” Roxanne started to ask about the cash but her mother cut her off before she could say the word.

  “It’s in a safe place. No need to worry about it.” Roxy continued down the steps and jumped in the driver’s seat with Conor trailing behind.

  Sam and Henry would return to the B&B where Kate had offered Henry the room vacated by Ron when he moved to the farm. The ex-FBI agent wanted to keep an eye on the computer in case a satellite made a new pass over the area. She’d also review the info she had to see if anything else popped out.

  Tiffany and Ron were going to meet with Pete about the search warrant, and Callahan planned to drop Roxanne at her office, where he assumed she’d be safe.

  To her surprise, Roxanne managed to talk Callahan into stopping by the B&B so that she could pick up her car. She just hoped the damned thing started after sitting so long in the cold.

  They reached the B&B at the same time as Sam and Henry. Roxanne pumped the gas and held her breath. The starter whined but did not kick in after several attempts. She slammed her hands on the steering wheel. “Dammit!”

  Henry tapped on the window and gestured for her to open the hood. Callahan and Sam watched while Henry tinkered with something and yelled for Roxanne to try it again. This time, the engine kicked over after a few whimpers.