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“No, and don’t even let Homeland know you thought it. They’ll move in and take over. They won’t give a fuck about Dulcie, and I need to find her killer.”
“We’ve got your back.”
“Whoo hoo!” said Pete. “Look what I found.” He held up an evidence baggie containing a shell casing. “The ME thinks that whoever killed them used a silencer—something about the mark they leave on the bullet. He says he’ll have to do an examination, but he thinks the bullet might be a match.”
“They were in a hurry,” said Alice with a grin.
“They had to realize they’d failed to take us out and that the calvary was right down the road. I’ve got Dulcie’s laptop with me. Harper’s going to see what she can do to break into the clone we have on mine.”
“You’re convinced that’s the key, aren’t you?”
“I think it’s the best working theory we have. But I’m certainly willing to listen to any theory somebody else might have.”
“We’ll keep processing the scene.”
Spence nodded and then began to process Harper’s truck. It had taken a lot of damage. He stared at the passenger side door. It wasn’t just a dent; the entire door was caved in, and Spence marveled at the tenacity and presence of mind she’d shown in getting the shotgun, loading it, and taking out those who had tried to ensure that whatever it was that Dulcie had found would never see the light of day. He might not have fired on them, but he would damn sure see they were made to pay for what they’d done.
In a larger city, there would have been a forensics team to do the necessary grunt work to try and secure either evidence or clues that would result in a successful prosecution. But out here in the middle of nowhere, they were on their own. He did have to admit that both the local rangers and those in the sheriff’s department had been more than willing to pitch in.
Spence was convinced that until they could get to Dulcie’s data, they would have no way to figure out why she had been killed and who was responsible.
Dawn had started to creep over the horizon when several pickup trucks flanked fore and aft by sheriff’s deputies made their way down to the sizeable group of those still combing through the vehicles. Spence recognized one of the pickups as Harper’s dually with which she pulled her horse trailer. They stopped just outside the taped off area, and he watched as every one of the locals stopped what they were doing, started smiling, and headed toward her.
“Are we stopping for a reason?” he asked Pete.
“You bet. My guess is Harper made breakfast for everyone.”
Spence chuckled.
“That good?” asked Alice.
“That good.”
He joined the others, ducking under the yellow crime scene tape and hauling Harper into his arms so he could kiss her.
“I thought we agreed you’d stay at the farmhouse,” he said to her.
“No, you told me to stay put. I never agreed to anything. These people have been working all night to help find my sister’s killer. I can’t do what they or you do, but I can cook. I thought at the very least, I’d feed them.”
“Hard to argue with that. How are you feeling?”
“I’ll admit, I’ve had my moments where it really hits me that they tried to kill us. But in some ways, it makes me feel like we’re on the right track.”
Spence saw Alice taking a call and by the looks of it, she didn’t like what she was hearing.
Harper must have seen it as well. “Take a burrito for you and her.” She pushed him towards her. “Go on. I’ll be fine.”
Grabbing two of the burritos, he headed over to Alice. “That didn’t look like good news.”
“Well, it wasn’t, but I suppose not as bad as it could have been. Somebody ran Mike Bradley off the road yesterday on his way back to Jackson Hole. He rolled down a ravine…”
“Is he dead?”
“No, but it was touch and go. We’ve got his family in custody and two armed guards on his door. The local cops are going over his SUV and said they’ll let us know what they find. What the hell is going on?”
“No idea. But we need to get one of the tech boys out here working on it.”
“I’ll put in a call.” She took a bite of the burrito he’d shoved in her hands. “Oh, my god. This is amazing.”
