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“In progress. So far, nothing, but they’re being cautious in case there are bomb-making materials or anything potentially dangerous.”
“So what you’re thinking,” Kara clarified, “is that Avila’s former student helped steal the C-4.”
“It’s the most logical answer. Either way, we need to talk to him. Maybe he didn’t know what Avila was going to do with it. Then he heard about the explosion and panicked, went to Canada. We’ll find him. Canadian authorities have been alerted, and we’ve flagged his passport. He’ll be allowed back in the country, but we’ll be waiting for him.”
“Okay. And Avila?”
“Just waiting for the warrant. We’ll search his house, and if we find anything, we’ll get an arrest warrant. This may be the break we’ve been waiting for.”
Kara was worried about the Dunlaps, and said as much to Matt. “We need to keep this under wraps. If Avila suspects anything, he has four hostages right now.”
“I briefed Sheriff Rasmussen and he’s keeping the intel limited to just our team—plus Deputies Anderson and Redfield, who’s back on duty today.”
She frowned.
“I know you have concerns about Marcy, but those seem to be personal—her potential abuse of power related to her ex-boyfriend.”
Kara still had a nagging feeling that she was missing something, but she didn’t know what and couldn’t articulate it.
“You’re right,” she said.
“We’ll pass on your concerns to the sheriff when we’re done with Avila.”
Michael returned to the conference room. “I just sent the information to the AUSA, but we finished going over the ferry records. Avila went to the mainland the Monday before theWater Lilyexplosion, on the last ferry out, with his vehicle. He returned Tuesday on the noon ferry. Early Tuesday morning, there’s a glitch on the construction site security tape that I suspect tells us when the C-4 was stolen.”
“What kind of glitch?” Matt asked. “Why didn’t they notice earlier?”
“The thief wore a hoodie with a reflective material that essentially made the camera blind. We can see that someone was there, but have no visual of that person—face, or even body type.”
“Can I see it?”
Michael pulled out his phone and Matt and Kara both leaned in to watch the clip.
It was tagged 3:13 a.m. last Tuesday morning. As they watched, a bright blur came onto the screen and approached the door. The blur stayed there for ten seconds before slipping inside. Less than ninety seconds later, the blur reemerged and left the way he came.
“Two minutes, in and out,” Matt said. “Impressive.”
“He didn’t have a key is my guess,” Michael said. “The lock is digital—either a code or a passkey. He was there too long for either, but the company said that the door was accessed with an unassigned code at the same time this recording was made. They aren’t alerted when that happens.”
“What does unassigned code mean?” Kara asked.
“It’s a code the device recognizes but it wasn’t attached to an employee. They don’t know how that happened and are working with the security company to prevent it in the future.”
“Avila is a math teacher,” Kara said. “It could be he hacked in or something. That is way over my skill set. I can pick almost any lock, but I can’t break into electronics.”
“I’m going to push the AUSA. I’ll get a warrant. Michael, you and Kara will take the two deputies to search Avila’s house. Ryder, you good to join them?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Give me ten minutes.”
Kara left the conference room to find Marcy. She ran into Deputy Redfield. “Glad you’re feeling better.”
“I still can’t believe they kept me in the hospital. Ridiculous. I’m good. I heard you need me? A warrant search?”
“Yes. Where’s Anderson? We could use both of you.”
“She left sick,” he said. “Maybe thirty minutes ago? She wanted to stay, but after the virus, we have pretty strict protocols, and she had a low-grade fever, so the sergeant sent her packing. She’s out for twenty-four hours, minimum. I can tag someone else. Sheriff said anything you need, you get.”
