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“Chief, was a page from Davis’s book left behind?” Logan asked. “Like with the other cases?”
“If so, we haven’t found it yet. If it was in the car, I doubt it would have survived in the water.”
“Did he have a phone with him?” Kaely asked.
“We did find one in the car.” He cleared his throat. “It was inside an evidence bag. It appears Agent Cole had the presence of mind to protect it before the car sank. That tells us he knew what he was doing. We just don’t know what caused him to drive into the river. Detective Palmer interviewed Agent Cole’s daughter, but she was too distraught by the news to really talk to us. Her mother is on the way here. We’ll talk to Stephanie more before she leaves town to be with her family.”
Knowing Jeff was aware he was going to die and yet was thinking he needed to preserve evidence was too much for Alex. As she fought back tears, she managed to choke out, “If a copy of a page from John Davis’s book was in Jeff’s possession, he would have added it to the evidence bag. I think it will show up in the mail.”
“I agree,” Kaely said.
“Wasn’t Jeff advised not to use an unsecured phone?” Monty asked. Alex could see he was visibly shaken. He’d worked with Jeff for several years now. Everyone who’d ever been in Jeff’s unit admired him. He was great at his job. He had the ability to chastise his people if they needed it, but he also praised them when they deserved it, making them feel as if they were part of something special. Anyone who’d worked with him was hurting.
“We don’t know yet,” Gorman said. “When we asked for Stephanie’s phone, she told us it had gone missing that morning. We searched her workplace but couldn’t find it. She did manage to say something about her father insisting she contact him only by text, but until we look at Cole’s phone, we won’t know what caused him to drive off that pier.”
“The UNSUB was there,” Alex said. “He took Stephanie’s phone. That was the only way he could pull off this plan. He didn’t have any other way to get to Jeff. It’s just like the other cases.” She frowned at Gorman. “Were there security cameras? Could we have gotten him on video?”
“Yes. A bait-and-tackle business sits right next to the pier where Jeff’s car went into the water. We’re getting the tapes now.” He paused for a moment. “I have a hard time understanding this. Agent Cole wasn’t that far from the boat shop where his daughter worked. And he was armed. If he received one of these calls, why didn’t he just drive to the shop? He could have protected his daughter without committing suicide.”
“He no doubt had only seconds to decide what to do,” Alex said. “A block away was too far. And maybe he wasn’t sure his daughter was even there. It was too risky. He wouldn’t take a chance with her life. No parent would. He wouldn’t have done what he did unless he was convinced he had no other option.” Her voice broke. “We need everything you can give us, Chief. Please bring us any new information as soon as you get it. Every time this UNSUB makes a move, he gives us more to go on. We’ve got to stop this guy. Now.”
Terry got up and joined the chief. “We’ve lost one of our own,” he said. “We’ll keep you updated on our investigation. We know Jeff meant a lot to you. He was our friend too. Logan Hart will be acting unit chief until we have a permanent replacement.” He nodded toward Logan. “I’ll need to meet with you. Please stay behind.” He swung his gaze over the people sitting in front of him. “The rest of you are dismissed.”
As others left, Alex stayed seated with Kaely, Monty, and Logan, aware that Reinhardt was still there too. What should they do now?
“Let’s go back to our room,” Kaely said to her. “I want to talk about this guy. See if we can add anything else to the profile.”
“I’ll talk to Terry and join you all later,” Logan said.
“Just come to our room when you’re done,” Alex said. “And could you ask Terry if there’s someplace else we can work? Our rooms are too small. We need a dry-erase board. And a large corkboard.”
“This place is crazy with them,” Logan said. “I’m sure that won’t be a problem.”
“Just tell Terry we want to refine our profile. See if we can give them any more information that will help find the UNSUB,” Monty said.
“All right.” Logan got up and went to the front of the room to talk to Terry. As Alex and Kaely stood to leave, Donald Reinhardt turned around and looked their way. His expression changed when he saw Kaely. His mouth thinned, and his eyes narrowed. The hostility in his face was chilling.
As she left with Monty and Kaely, Alex couldn’t help but wonder about Reinhardt. Kaely thought he couldn’t be their UNSUB, but at that moment, Alex wasn’t so sure.
