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“Nothing here,” Jace called. He was checking out the backseat.
The brain matter and blood were splattered against the driver’s seat and windshield. The window was blown out, presumably by the bullet. The dead man’s head hung forward, but his white ponytail was sticking up. There was a small hole on the right side of his head and a larger one on the left side. Someone had shot him from the passenger seat, or at the very least, leaning in the passenger window.
“It’s definitely Lawrence, although I can only tell because of the ponytail.” Dane took a step back. The smell was getting to him. “How long do you think he’s been here?”
Koa shrugged. “Sitting in the sun with the rest of the windows up has gotta speed up decomp, but I’d still guess he’s been there a while. Overnight maybe? What do you want to do?”
Dane swore. What he wanted to do was forget he saw this and head to the hospital to see Mac. He’d been trying to keep thoughts of her out of his head all day, but this just brought it back like a sucker punch to the gut. This so easily could have been her.
Dane told Koa, “Call Cain and fill him in. I’ll call Manu and get him to put me in contact with one of the CGIS agents.”
Koa nodded and pulled out his phone.
Jace frowned. “Manu is about to get a hard lesson in life if he has to see this one. Let’s keep him away if we can.”
Dane nodded. “He doesn’t need to be involved.” He hit redial on his cell. Typical of Jace to think of Manu. Jace had a big heart and tended to want to take care of the world. “Manu,” Dane said. “Yeah, we found him.”
“Is he okay?” The anxiety in Manu’s voice was palpable.
“Give your phone to one of the special agents. I now it’s Saturday and everyone isn’t in, but pick whoever you think is good.”
“Is he dead? Ohmygosh. How’d he die?”
“Manu,” Dane said in a calm but firm voice. “Just do as I asked.”
“Yes, sir.”
He heard all kinds of rustling noises and then the sound of the stairwell door. The echo of footsteps and panicked breathing was next, and then the sound of another door opening. There was another thirty seconds of silence and then a few murmurs.
“Hello? This is Special Agent Danny Collins. Who is this?”
“Collins, this is Chief Petty Officer Dane Landry. We found Quinten Lawrence. He’s parked over at the port.”
“What the hell is he doing there? We’ve been trying to reach him.”
Too late.Dane tried not to sigh. “He has a good excuse for not picking up. He’s dead.”
“Shit.” There was a beat and then, “Where are you exactly?”
He gave Collins their location and told him they’d wait. He hung up and looked at Koa. “What did Cain say?”
“He cursed a lot and then said get to the hospital ASAP. They’ll have dinner, and we can discuss our next move.”
Within seven minutes a half dozen cars pulled up and screeched to a stop about forty feet away. A squat redheaded guy got out of the first car and hurried forward. “Which one of you is Landry?” he asked.
“I am.” Dane stepped forward.
The redhead came over and offered a hand. “Collins.” He let go of Dane’s hand and walked around to the front of the car. “Shit,” he said and got pale underneath his tan.
“By the looks of things, someone was in the passenger seat when they shot him.”
“Yeah,” he said, but he was distracted by checking over the scene.
Dane, Jace, and Koa stood back for about twenty minutes and let the agents get on with their work until Dane had had enough and moved forward. “Collins.”
The agent looked up and walked over.
“We have places to be. Can you take our statement so we can go?”
