She would testify, of course. Reid had beenhummingwhen he checked first Matt, then Kara. He had touched her hair and said, “This will be fun.”
Reid knewexactlywhat he was doing.
She shivered. He was creepy; creepier because he looked completely, totally normal. The guy was a killer. She felt it deep down. But when he reached into his overalls and Michael thought he had a gun, Michael ordered everyone in. Two more minutes. That’s all they would have needed.
Yes, it was suspicious that he’d come in with a laundry cart big enough to transport both of them, checked to see if they were unconscious, and had zip ties on his person. But it wasn’t a smoking gun.
From a tactical perspective, Michael felt justified going into the room at the first sign of a threat. Yet he’d told her in hindsight he wished he’d waited, and considered that he might sign up for more training. He’d been torn because the lives of his team were in possible danger, and went early. That, Kara understood.
This will be fun.
Dammit, she feared he would get away with it. They had to findsomethingtangibleto tie him to the abductions and murders.
She walked around to the back of Reid’s apartment building. He lived in the first-floor end unit. The ground floors all had tiny fenced patios. The upstairs had balconies.
The six-foot fence surrounding Reid’s patio had no gate; it was practically claustrophobic. Barely large enough for two chairs and a bistro-sized table, which was all Reid had. A canal bordered the property thirty feet to the rear; beyond that were acres of marshland. She shivered. Michael had reminded her there were more alligators in Florida than in any other state. She wished she hadn’t known that.
She didn’t like reptiles of any shape or size.
She glanced around making sure she didn’t see any ground movement that might indicate an alligator was watching her. It was warm and quiet. Barely even a breeze. She turned to inspect the fence.
Two of the boards were loose. She pushed. They didn’t budge. She pulled from the bottom.
Bingo.
Two boards came up together, revealing a space she could easily walk through—and so could Garrett Reid.
She walked around front and waited for Jim to finish giving instructions to the crime scene investigator. He came over to her. “Got something?”
“Maybe,” she said.
“I hope so.”
His frustration showed on his hangdog face as he wiped away sweat from his forehead. She didn’t blame him. He’d gone over the autopsies of all six victims and had analyzed the extensive forensic evidence, but the salt water from the ocean had contaminated most everything. The sheet and rope were common and untraceable. Many lab tests were still pending or inconclusive.
Kara led Jim through the apartment to the patio in the back and showed him the boards. “He easily could have come and gone through this space without anyone seeing him.”
“It’s not a crime.” But he looked critically at the boards. “I’ll process them. If there’s any blood or biological evidence, maybe it’s still here, but this is Florida. The weather is not our friend.”
Jim put his crime scene kit on the ground and opened the top, pulled out fresh gloves and put them on. “He drives a Ford Ranger. No camper shell, no tarp. Nothing he can easily transport two bodies in,” Jim said as he took out his collection kit. “Still, the sheriff’s department is processing the truck bed. They haven’t found any trace evidence that the truck was used for transporting bodies, and there is no secret compartment under the bed liner.”
“He could have a second vehicle,” Kara suggested. “A van maybe, or a sedan with a big trunk.”
Jim shrugged. “He could. Where is it? Only the Ranger is registered to him in the State of Florida, and no one at the resort has seen him in another vehicle—though the deputies are still conducting interviews. Maybe someone will remember something.” He didn’t sound optimistic.
Kara called Matt and told him what they found, thin as it was. “He needs a vehicle to transport two bodies. It can’t be something that belongs to the resort because they would notice it missing.”
“Flagler Sheriff’s are already checking the ownership of every vehicle in the lot. So far, nothing.”
“Maybe he uses a different vehicle every time,” Kara said.
“Anything’s possible,” Matt said. “Are you heading back to the resort now?”
“I don’t have anything else to do here, unless you need me.”
“We’re wrapping up because it doesn’t look like Reid’s lawyer is going to show today. I’ll meet you there in an hour or two.” He lowered his voice. “Ryder thinks we should stay the weekend. Everyone else is flying back to Quantico in the morning because our part of the investigation is over.”
“It’s not over,” Kara said. “I understand that we were just brought in to identify the killer, but I’m worried he’s going to slip through.”
