Deep Hurt - Eva Hudson Page 0,64
the steel doors waiting for Gurley to re-emerge. When he eventually did, ten minutes later, he ignored her completely and marched back to the jeep.
“Well?” Ingrid said, running after him. “What did you find out?”
Gurley crunched the gearshift into reverse and drove a fast wide loop to turn the jeep around. “The last inventory was taken at seven p.m. yesterday evening.”
“So that means the gun and bullets went missing some time last night.”
Gurley didn’t respond.
“Then it couldn’t have been Foster,” Ingrid continued. “He had to be staking out a muddy field in the middle of nowhere last night.”
“Sherwood didn’t get there until eight-thirty. Foster had plenty of time.”
“Oh come on, how could he have entered the base without anyone seeing him and then break into the locked munitions store? Stuff must go missing here all the time.”
“We can’t rule out the possibility that the suspect is now armed.”
“You just spoke to him—did he sound like a man who’d break into an Air Force base? He’s just interested in looking out for his kids.”
“I don’t know what’s gotten into you. Why are you so keen to believe Kyle Foster is innocent?”
After talking to Rachelle Carver and Yvonne Sherwood, Ingrid wasn’t entirely sure what to think, but she was determined to keep an open mind. “You must have CCTV cameras on the base. Check the footage. You’ll see Foster had nothing to do with it.”
“The two most useful cameras are out of action. The lenses have been smashed. Glass and small rocks were found at the base of the poles they’re mounted on. Foster could easily be responsible for that.”
“It still doesn’t explain how he got onto the base in the first place.”
“What is it with you? Why have you started defending him?” Gurley stamped his foot on the gas and the car lurched forward.
“I’m not—I just don’t see why he’d do something like that. Has he even had small arms training?”
“He’s a first lieutenant in the US Air Force—of course he has.” Gurley took a sharp left turn, slamming Ingrid hard against the passenger door.
Slightly winded, Ingrid grabbed onto the dash and righted herself. “Tell me how he got past the guards on the security gate.”
“How big do you think the perimeter fence is here?”
Ingrid shrugged. “A mile… two miles?”
“Ten. We check and repair it on a regular basis, but it’s possible there’s a hole some place.”
“A place that Foster just happens to know about?”
“I’m treating Kyle Foster as an armed suspect who kidnapped his own son. If you want to cast him in a different light, fine. But I’m warning you—I won’t have your out of whack judgment affect the way this operation moves forward.”
“Guilty till proven innocent, huh?”
“It’s the military way.”
“Foster has no reason to arm himself.”
“Leverage.”
“What?”
“You heard what he said. He’s started making demands. Making them in possession of a lethal weapon is a whole different ball game.”
“But he wants to protect his son, not threaten to hurt him.”
“Who says he’ll threaten Tommy? Besides, you didn’t believe that bullshit just now, did you? He’s trying to pin the blame for what happened to Molly on her mother. Sonofabitch. The ‘making sure Tommy’s safe’ line is a smokescreen. He’s just trying to protect his own ass. Please tell me you didn’t fall for it.”
They drove back the rest of the way to Gurley’s office in silence. When they arrived, Ingrid followed him into the building even though he hadn’t bothered to invite her. He was on the phone requesting a helicopter to take them to Newcastle before she’d even sat down.
“You think that’s really the best way to use our resources?” Ingrid asked when he hung up. She was doing her best not to scream at him for being so gung-ho he hadn’t even considered the facts.
“There’s no point in looking for him here, is there?”
“But you said yourself—it’s a lot of ground to cover. The Northumbria police are in a much better position to search for him.”
“While we sit around doing nothing?”
“As soon as they have something solid, then we follow up. In a chopper it wouldn’t take that long to get there.” Ingrid wasn’t sure she was getting through to him at all—his expression was completely blank. “Besides, I’d like to see the CCTV footage from the local train stations. I’ve already arranged for the force here to make it available to us.”
“Why?”
“I’d like to at least check if he has Tommy with him. Wouldn’t you?”
Gurley opened his mouth, but couldn’t come up with a counter argument.