Cut and Run (Lucy Kincaid #16) - Allison Brennan Page 0,107
nothing to indicate whether the gate had been swabbed or inspected.
She tracked Ash down. “Ash, did you process the Victoria Mills crime scene?”
“No. Not my case. Why?”
“It doesn’t say whether the side gate was inspected for evidence. But there was no blood in the house, I don’t think the killer left that way. Even if he rinsed off in the pool, there would be trace on the doors, water in the house, something to tell us he left that way. And the front door was locked, but the side gate didn’t have a lock, just a latch. That gate went out to the driveway, and there was a small amount of blood found on the driveway.”
“I can ask Kyle. He was in charge.”
“And?” It was his tone that had Lucy curious.
“He has seniority, but I was promoted over him because he’s lazy. Don’t repeat that. He’s not incompetent—he just doesn’t like being in the field. Give him a microscope and he’s great. But collecting evidence? We butt heads.”
“Would you mind reviewing the forensics and seeing if anything else was missed? That’s the only thing that jumped out at me, but there could be more.”
“Yeah, but you really owe me, because if I find anything wrong I’m going to write him up and then our working relationship is going to be worse than it already is.”
“You are the single most meticulous CSI I have ever worked with. We need more of you, and I would be happy to tell your boss that.”
“Actually, your boss already wrote up a commendation for my file on the last case we worked on. That must have come from you.”
“You did an amazing job. Your computer simulation alone was worthy of a commendation, but the fact that you worked so well with the FBI lab at Quantico is what helped us solve the case.”
“Well, I appreciate it. Really. I’ll take a look, but I don’t know that it will do any good. As far as we’re concerned, the case is closed.”
“Because Grant confessed?”
“And we haven’t heard about anything else. If it went to trial, we’d prepare for court, but…” He shrugged, then eyed her. “He is guilty, right?”
“I don’t know,” Lucy said. “He recanted.”
Ash snorted. “And every felon is innocent.”
“This time … there are some extenuating circumstances. I honestly can’t say whether he’s innocent or guilty, but because this case is connected to the Albright case, I need to look at every possibility.”
* * *
Lucy was driving back to FBI headquarters when she had a call from an unknown number.
“Kincaid,” she answered.
“It’s Nate. We have him.”
“Ricky?”
“He’s alive and well. We’re leaving in the morning. We don’t want to be on the road at night.”
“Thank God,” she said. “He’s okay? Really?”
“He doesn’t want to leave, but Javier—Jill Young’s cousin—talked to him. He’s scared and confused. He’s not a kid—he went from nine to adult—but is still a kid, if that makes sense.”
Lucy understood. “Did you show him the pictures?”
“Chavez.”
“How certain was he?”
“Absolutely certain. He didn’t hesitate.”
She’d had Nate create a series of photos that included Chavez, Douglas, the sheriff of Kerr County, and three FBI agents.
“And no one else?”
“No. Why?”
“Douglas is angry that we cut him out. We executed a warrant on the bank—Pollero is in the wind. Left the house early, didn’t go to work, visited his daughter for breakfast, and is just gone.”
“Damn.”
“And I didn’t tell Douglas what we were doing. He read me the riot act. Chavez wasn’t the lead detective.”
“But he was there at the Youngs’ house when they questioned the twins.”
“Maybe we should alert Douglas.” But it would not go over well.
“Just because Ricky didn’t identify him doesn’t mean that he isn’t also involved.”
Lucy knew Nate was right, but she didn’t like being put in this situation.
“I guess we’re lucky at this point that he wants nothing to do with me, but I’m going to tell Rachel. Let her make the call about who is looped in.”
“How did she take my spontaneous trip?”
“You’re using vacation, not sick time.”
“That’s it?”
“She’s hard to read. My gut tells me she’ll put a comment in our files, but she’s not going to go further. But my gut could be wrong.”
“Not usually.”
“She wasn’t happy, but she wasn’t angry.”
“Good enough. What’s been going on with the case?”
“I’ve been working with Sean and Max, which is interesting.”
Nate snorted. “I’ll bet.”
She filled him in on the case. “I can use you as soon as you return.”
Nate said, “We’re leaving at dawn. Hope to be in San Antonio between one and