the X-ray, but couldn’t tell what else might be in there.”
“What about the characteristics?”
He shrugged. “Crude. Simple. Almost anyone could do it, following instructions on the Internet or in books. It’s easy to put together. The problem for amateurs comes when they try to put explosives in it. That’s a lot trickier. Plus it’s a little more difficult to obtain C-4 or other explosives than it is to get blasting caps.”
Sunny listened, confused. “But if it was just a blasting cap and some wires, then what was he trying to do?”
Griff looked at her. “Scare you. Warn me.” He turned back to the officer in charge. “Can we have the package now?”
The officer nodded. “Sure. It’s all yours.”
“Get me a paper bag,” Griff said to Sunny.
She stepped around the package and retrieved a grocery bag from the kitchen.
Griff had pulled on latex gloves by the time she got back. He carefully lifted the opened package and placed it in the bag just as Carver approached.
“That your bomb?” Carver asked.
Griff stood and handed him the bag and the notes Sunny had given him. “Make sure CSU goes over all this with a fine-tooth comb. Check the printing on this and the two notes—see if they match.”
Carver’s eyebrows flew upward when he saw the notes, and he shot Sunny a look of irritation. “Two notes?”
She lowered her gaze.
“I’ll get CSU on it,” he said to Griff. “We’ll see if we can lift any prints, too. What was the bomb?”
“Crude. Blasting cap triggered to go off when the package was opened.”
“Mmm, could have cost a finger or two.” Carver frowned. “Who do you think—Means?”
“It’s worth checking out. Working in construction, he might have access to blasting caps. I’ll write up the report on the notes and get it to you.”
Even after the officers and the bomb squad van left, Sunny couldn’t stop trembling. She wouldn’t have given a thought to opening a package. She or Lil could have been injured.
“I don’t understand,” she said to Griff. “Who would send me a fake bomb? Why? What were they trying to accomplish?”
“I told you, it could have been a warning, a scare tactic, a diversion. It might not even be connected to the kidnapping.”
“Not connected?”
“Emily’s disappearance has gotten a lot of publicity. In addition to the Grosses and Emily’s biological father, there are others who aren’t happy with you—Thomas the deadbeat dad, Jennifer Curry. I have copies of your case files from the police. There’s almost always an injured party—even if it’s only in their own mind.”
With every word Griff spoke, Sunny felt her carefully constructed fantasy crumbling. “I don’t understand. All I ever wanted to do was help people. Give them the happy ending they were looking for.”
Griff just looked at her, his face carefully blank. “Haven’t you figured it out yet? There are no happy endings.”
GRIFF RAPPED on the open door of Lieutenant Carver’s office. The older man was on the phone, but he waved Griff in.
“No, you stay on the canvassing. I’ll go over and talk to her parents.” Carver wiped his face. “Thanks.”
When Carver hung up, Griff stepped closer to his desk and handed him three sheets of paper. “Here’s the report I promised you about the notes Sun—Ms. Loveless received.”
“Great. Nice of her to finally tell us about ’em.”
“She was afraid. They told her they’d kill her baby.”
Carver’s bushy brows drew down as he angled a glance at Griff. “They all say that.”
Griff nodded, chagrined. He sounded like a rookie. Worse, he sounded like a rookie with a crush on a crime victim, and he knew that was exactly what the veteran police lieutenant was thinking.
Carver heaved a big sigh and nodded toward a chair. “Sit down. I’ve got news.”
Griff didn’t like the tone of Carver’s voice. This didn’t sound good. He sat. “Is it about Mabry?”
“First of all, the preliminary report on the notes is that the first one was written by a different person than note number two or the lettering on the fake bomb.”
“Yeah?”
Carver nodded. “Our handwriting expert states that the second note and the address on the package could be the same person.”
Griff filed that information away. “What else?”
“Brittany Elliott’s missing.”
Griff’s pulse sped up. “She’s gone to her boyfriend, Means.”
Carver nodded.
“What do the parents say? When did she disappear?”
“Apparently she was supposed to spend the night with her best friend. When she didn’t come home by noon, her parents called the friend’s parents. Brittany hadn’t been there.”
“Damn. I didn’t expect this. Means’s profile doesn’t fit with