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Once they were out of town, Cameron floored it and had her at Barton’s Cabins within minutes. Charlie was still outside the office when he saw Cameron driving in again and waved him down.
“Come on, Cameron. You can’t go—”
Rusty leaned across the console, flashing her badge and ID. “Special Agent Caldwell. FBI. Pope is with me. How do we get to the crime scene?”
Charlie’s eyes widened as he looked from Cameron to the woman and back again. “Uh, follow the road all the way past the tiny cabins. The campsites are beyond that. The crime scene is at the end of the road.”
Cameron sped off, leaving a rooster tail of dust behind.
They found the site easily enough. It was crawling with cops and police cars.
Rusty’s eyes narrowed angrily. “Talk about stomping all over the crime scene.” She got out with her badge in hand, yelling as she went. “Who’s in charge?”
Cameron snapped a leash on Ghost’s collar and took off running to catch up.
Sheriff Woodley and Police Chief Warren were in a head-to-head argument about jurisdiction when Rusty walked up and shoved her badge in their faces.
“Special Agent Caldwell. Gentlemen, this is my crime scene.”
“The hell it is!” Woodley shouted. “It’s outside of Jubilee, which makes it my crime scene.”
“But it is not outside the city limits,” Warren said.
Rusty never bothered to raise her voice. “I don’t care where the man died. The point is he’s part of an ongoing federal investigation into human trafficking, and I am part of that investigation team. This body and whatever evidence you people haven’t already contaminated is ours.”
Woodley eyed Cameron angrily. He was already pissed at the whole Pope family for calling in civilians to search for the kidnapped child, then Pope had turned up and found the bad guy and the kid, making his office look bad. Now here he was again, on official police business, and they were questioning his jurisdiction.
“What’s Pope doing here?” Woodley growled.
“He’s under orders to assist me,” Rusty said.
“Whose orders?” Woodley asked.
“Technically, from the President of the United States. Now, sir. If you please.”
She stepped aside, waiting for them to leave.
Woodley was pissed, but he didn’t have recourse. “We’re out of here!” he shouted, waving his men to their cars, and they left the area.
Sonny Warren hadn’t said a word since her arrival, but he knew enough not to argue with a fed, and he trusted Cameron. “Ma’am. If there’s anything my office can do to aid you during this investigation, all you have to do is ask.”
“Who found the body?” Rusty asked.
Sonny pulled out his notebook. “A man named Rob Daley. He was walking his dog. Said the dog hit on the odor and headed straight for the trailer. He saw the blood on the steps, knocked on the door, and when he got no answer, peeked in and saw the body. He did not go inside. He called the police. He and his wife are renting Cabin 8. They’re staying through tomorrow. He’s coming in this afternoon to make a statement. I’ll be happy to send you a copy.”
“Yes, please,” Rusty said, and handed him her card for contact info. “Has anybody moved the body or been inside the trailer?”
“None ofmymen were inside, and the body has not been moved by any of us, but there’s blood on the steps and it appears to me someone dragged him into the trailer, so the killer may have pulled him further inside to close the door. Jack Barton said he was a college student and had been doing research out here, but he didn’t know what kind of research.”
Rusty frowned. “How did County know about the body, if Daley called the local police?” she asked.
Sonny shrugged. “I wonder that myself and will be having a discussion with dispatch. My dispatcher is related to the dispatcher at County.”
“Are all of you related to each other?”
“Somewhat,” Sonny said. “You’ll have to talk to Cameron about that. If you need anything else, Cameron knows the number.” Then Warren and his men left the premises.
Rusty watched them leave and then shoved her hands through her hair, wishing she had something to pull it back out of her way.
