“It does seem like a thirteen-year-old should be hard to lose.”
“Yeah.” He turned on his computer and pulled up the link to the security footage Ben had sent him. “While you do that, I’ll see what I can learn from the videos.”
He spent the next twenty minutes watching the footage on repeat. It looked like the same guy. And he seemed to know exactly where the cameras were again, even though this time Eliza was in the ICU rather than the ER. “How does he do it?”
“Huh?” Caleb looked up at him.
“Come look at this.” He slid to the side to make room for Caleb, then hit play. He was silent while Caleb watched.
“The guy is dancing in and out of the cameras.” Caleb frowned as he pointed at the screen. “We never get a good look at his face.”
“Exactly. There’s no way to identify him. So he’s about six feet and has a dark crewcut. How many men does that describe?” Todd bit back his frustration. “Please tell me you had better luck.”
“Marginal. My buddy confirmed that the Brandenbergs were taken into protective custody, but needs clearance to say more.”
“Great.” Todd stood and went to the Keurig to brew a cup of black coffee. He needed something to keep his eyes open. As he waited for the machine to warm up, Caleb’s phone rang.
His partner put the phone on speaker, and Todd hit brew, then hurried back to eavesdrop.
“Hey, Chuck. I’ve got my partner, Todd Westmont, with me. Thanks for calling back. What can you tell me?”
“I can confirm what you told me. Ryan Brandenberg had launched his own investigation after his friend died of a drug overdose. Supposedly, his friend had purchased oxy from a dealer, but it was laced with street fentanyl. No one had Narcan on hand, and the friend died because everyone thought he was napping. Ryan insisted twenty-year-olds don’t have heart attacks, but you know how rare autopsies are in Nebraska unless a crime is suspected.”
“Yeah.” It remained a highly controversial feature in Nebraska that county attorneys often served as the coroners.Lawyers could be great—Tricia and Sydney were good examples—but they didn't have the medical training to determine the cause of death like Nebraska law asked them to do. “So how did the Brandenbergs get involved?”
“After Ryan died of a drug overdose, his parents took up his investigation. They found his notes and connected the dots to the drugs that have pushed in from out of state. You may have heard about what happened in Tyler?”
Caleb nodded. “Our friend was part of that investigation.”
“Well, the Brandenbergs had proof that gang was moving into Wayne. The college kids were too appealing a target for their product.” Chuck rustled some pages. “The Brandenbergs brought what they learned to the FBI, and we put them in protective custody until the trial.”
“When was that?”
The man sighed. “Supposed to be next month.”
“Ouch.”
“Yeah. All the work, gone.”
“So what happened?”
“We’re still trying to figure that out.” There was a noise like he was stacking his papers. “They were supposed to be driving to Omaha for an appointment with the US Attorney. Basic trial prep. They never made it.”
There was a gap in what Chuck was telling them. Todd spoke up. “Car accident?”
“When we found the car, Bill and Odette were dead.”
Caleb frowned. “Injuries from the accident?”
“No. Gunshots to the head.”
Todd quirked an eyebrow at Caleb. “Where was Eliza?”
“No idea.” The man sighed. “We’ve searched for her since. Part of me hoped she wasn’t in the car and had a head start, but there was evidence someone had been in the back seat.”
How would she have gotten away? Or did she only break away later? He had so many questions that Eliza was probably the only one who could answer.
“Any idea who did this?”
