I offered him back his phone. “She should have known it wasn’t you as your other messages didn’t come up.”
He took back his phone and placed it in his suit coat pocket. “I don’t exactly text Ruby very often. Usually, it’s Araneae. Can you track the blocked number?”
“I can try.” I began a search, but all I could cross-reference was Ruby’s number and the time. I could probably find out where the call originated from easier than the actual number.
“Who else would she trust? Pretending to be you was their best bet to get her to leave her protected area.”
Sparrow removed his suit jacket, tossing it onto the weight bench with his topcoat. Undoing his cuff links, he paced the length of the large room and back, the soles of his leather loafers tapping across the floor.
“What was the fucking point?” I said aloud.
“I don’t know. To prove they could, like taking Araneae and Lorna.”
“It isn’t making sense, not if Laurel is the target.”
“Have we heard from Mason and Romero?”
I switched to the screen with the GPS trackers. His phone, Romero’s phone, and Ruby’s phone and shoes had turned around. They were headed north on I-90. Panning out on the GPS map, I realized how far Mason was from the hospital. “Fuck, who is at the hospital?”
“You mean besides Patrick and Madeline?”
“Shit. Yeah. I called Garrett away. Mason and Romero are on a fucking wild goose chase.”
“I sent Christian there,” Sparrow said, “and Mason had a team of Sparrows.”
“Ones who let Ruby get taken right under our fucking noses,” I pointed out.
I realized this wasn’t exactly the time to point fingers. Hell, I was as guilty as anyone else for not watching the hospital footage and realizing that we were on a loop. Nevertheless, I had a gut feeling this was all a grand diversion. The question was for what purpose?
My phone rang. Garrett’s name appeared on the screen. Instead of speaking privately, I hit speaker. “Garrett, Mr. Sparrow is with me. You’re on speaker.”
“I am where you told me to go, Mr. Murray. There’s a dead man in a Camaro. I’ve called for cleanup.”
My gaze met Sparrow’s before I spoke. “Is he alone?”
“Yeah, I’d say he isn’t very old, young twenties maybe. He’s also wearing a paramedic uniform.”
“Fuck,” Sparrow said. “Garrett, is there any sign of Mr. Pierce?”
“No, boss. And I can’t find anything as far as identification on him. No wallet. No phone. His pockets are clean.”
“How did he die?”
“The hole in the side of his head would suggest a gunshot.” There were some noises, like the opening of car doors. “The revolver is in the car near his feet. It looks like suicide.”
I turned to Sparrow. “Call off the cleaning crew?”
Sparrow’s nostrils flared. “The scene was set: paramedic steals an ambulance, it explodes, and he kills himself.”
“Except it didn’t explode.” I spoke to Garrett. “What about the rest of the car?”
“Mr. Murray, it’s as clean as a whistle, minus the blood and brain matter.”
“Ruby’s trackers were in that car or at least at that coordinate before Mason met up with him.”
Sparrow pulled out his phone. He took a few steps, but before placing his call, he turned back to me. “Let the cleaning crew take care of things. We don’t know where the gun came from. It could be a safe one from Mason or it could be a plant by whomever the fuck is doing this. I don’t want to take a chance on anything with this scenario coming back on Sparrow.”
“Garrett,” I said, “follow through on the cleaning crew. Send me pics. I’ll try to find out this man’s identity.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Once the crew shows up, please head back to the hospital. I’m worried that this has all been a distraction.”
“Yes, Mr. Murray. Pictures coming and I’ll secure the cleanup crew. What about the ambulance?”
“We have another crew taking care of it.” Fingerprints would be gone. The explosive would be removed and brought back here for Mason to analyze. The body bag and top of the stretcher would be removed in case Ruby’s DNA could be discovered.
My phone dinged as Garrett’s pictures came through. “Fuck, get his fingerprints. I can’t do much with what’s left of his face.”
“I told you. Cause of death wasn’t a mystery.”
“Check his hands for residue.”
“Will do.”
As I hung up with Garrett, I noticed Sparrow, farther away, speaking intently on his phone. From the distance we were separated, I couldn’t hear his words. That didn’t mean I couldn’t