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Her eyes widened. “Really? You mean it?”
“Ashley, you are so much like your mother. Your heart is big, your compassion is endless. You are also a good judge of character. If you love this boy, there’s a reason. I want to see what you see in him.”
“Oh, Daddy.” Now the tears came, and she hugged him. “Thank you.”
“Can you go pick up your uncle? I invited him, too. I don’t want him to be alone today.”
“Of course. I’ll get him, and then Bobby, if that’s okay?”
He nodded, and she ran out.
He didn’t know if he was doing the right thing but it felt right, and that was all he had to go on.
He looked over at the wall where a photo of him, Wendy, and the girls had been enlarged and framed. It had been taken a year before her cancer diagnosis. Ashley had been nine, Whitney eight. The girls hated it because they were all limbs and awkwardness, but it was Pete’s favorite picture because of the smiles on his girls’ faces.
“Thank you, Wendy,” he said, believing deep in his heart that his wife had something to do with the words he found today.
30
Kara found Pete Dunlap’s house quiet. No one answered the door, and his vehicle wasn’t in the carport. She drove over to the high school and learned from the principal that Pete had called in and said he was taking the girls out sailing. The principal had heard about Rena Brown’s murder and had questions for her, but Kara managed to quickly end the conversation.
She drove past Damon Avila’s house. She couldn’t tell if he was home—there was a small garage, but the door was closed. She decided against knocking because he was a potential suspect, and she didn’t want to get in a conversation with him right then. She then drove by the Fish & Brew; a sign on the door said they were closed for the day and would reopen tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. Finally, she called the harbormaster’s office as she headed back to the station and asked if the Dunlap family had taken out their sailboat, and if so, who was with them. The receptionist was happy to help the FBI and informed Kara that at nine thirty that morning, Pete Dunlap had taken out his family—which included his brother-in-law, Damon—and Bobby Martin.
“Did they file a boat plan?” she asked.
“Excuse me?”
“You know, like a flight plan for airplanes.” Kara had no idea.
“Oh, no. Sorry. We don’t require anything like that. But I did hear the girls talking about swimming around Skull Rock.”
“Which is where?”
“Massacre Bay, near Orcas Island.”
Hopefully, the name wasn’t a harbinger of what was to come.
Kara reported back to Matt what she’d learned.
“This is good,” he said.
“If Avila is a killer, he’s out with three teenagers right now,” Kara said. “I don’t see the good.”
“We’re close on getting a search warrant. Having Avila out of the picture for a few hours makes it less dicey to execute.”
“What happened in the hour I was gone?”
“Michael and ATF have been going through the employee records and video surveillance of the construction company C-4 theft. One of Avila’s former students works security for the company—and he was working all three nights of the three-day window the C-4 went missing.”
“That seems weak.”
“The kid asked for two weeks off on Monday and we don’t know where he is. His mother said he and his best friend went camping in Canada, that they got a good deal. She didn’t know what that meant, but she was surprised that he just told his employer he was leaving for two weeks without notice. We confirmed that he was issued a camping permit for fourteen days in Yoho National Park. No cell reception, wherever he is.”
“Do you think he’s going to disappear in Canada?”
“It’s possible. His mother seemed surprised by the questions, and his employer says he’s been an outstanding employee until he just said he was taking off two weeks, no notice. The AUSA thinks this might be enough for a warrant but is working on how to word it for the judge.”
“Are we searching the kid’s house?”
