Page 87 of Bring Them Home

Trent’s brow tightened. “Everything all right?”

She nodded. “I confirmed the execution of the warrant went fine, but otherwise…”

“Huh. Well, I’m sure he’ll be in touch soon.”

“Hope so. You ready to head out?”

“You bet.”

She stood and handed him a Hannah’s coffee.

“I’m getting spoiled. But thanks.”

She smiled at him. “Don’t mention it.” The truth was she’d do so much more for Trent.

They got on the road for Manassas and were there with time to spare. They found Rideout pacing around a metal slab with Abigail McGee’s body on it. He was talking into a digital recorder. He stopped and looked up when he must have heard them come in.

“Guess none of us have anything better to do on a Sunday morning.” Rideout smiled at them. The expression stood in stark contrast to his sarcasm.

“There are lots of better things, but if you can give us something that gets us to the Archers, then our sacrifice will have been worth it.” She approached the table, glancing down at Abigail’s remains. Rideout had cleaned her up, but her body had been masticated by wildlife just like Paul Archer’s body. Not as much, but it was still a grotesque sight. Amanda considered herself to have a strong constitution, but the coffee soured in her gut.

“Well, I haven’t gotten a lot so far, but I’ll bring you up to speed. Cause of death is that hole you’re looking at right there. Instant kill shot, lights out.” Rideout pointed at the entry wound in Abigail’s forehead.

“Liam wasn’t sure if it was a nine mil or something larger,” Amanda said.

“Since I could recover bullet fragments, I can confirm it was a forty-five caliber.”

“That’s something anyway,” Trent put in.

Rideout continued. “Time of death was Thursday late morning to early afternoon. I recovered what was left of the round and forwarded it for ballistics testing. Those in the lab might be able to tell us make of gun.”

“We can hope.” There were databases, but they could only help so much. When it came down to solving a murder, the ideal solution was to have one’s hands on the actual murder weapon. Then comparisons could be run with fine-point accuracy.

“I can also tell you based on lividity and other factors she was shot where she was found.”

Shot like a sick dog in the back field… “Liam messaged that her tongue was cut out when she was alive.”

“Uh-huh. I’d say definitively.”

Nina… She shivered as her nightmare resurfaced. “Do you think that happened where she was shot?”

“I can’t say for certain, but I heard there was a room in the basement of the house with lots of blood. That’s probably where it took place.”

If so, had Abigail been held with the Archers for a length of time? Had Valerie and Brooke witnessed Abigail’s tongue being cut out? Had they also watched, powerless, as they dragged her away? “Do you think the knife or blade that stabbed Paul Archer could have been used to remove her tongue?”

“It’s possible, yes. That’s all I have for now. You might want to step back.”

They did so and hung around for a while until Rideout was out of fresh discoveries. He promised to keep them posted if he found anything after they left.

Back in the car, Amanda googled what guns fire a 45-caliber round. It turned out several manufacturers made at least one model. Glock, Sig Sauer, Smith & Wesson, Heckler & Koch, to name a few. “Trent, bring up gun registrations attached to Hernandez.”

“You don’t think he used a legal firearm?”

“Please, just look.”

He worked on the onboard computer. Soon after, he was listing three guns Hernandez had registered under his name.

“None of them fire forty-five caliber,” she said.