He nodded. “In the notes attached to the main case files, but I have the originals with me."
"Good.” Anton paused, and then he asked, “Have you questioned Ranger Grant about Rosehall?"
"There's no need. I read her mind at the time—that's how I caught Jontee, remember?"
"That doesn't mean you got every scrap of information she knew."
"Believe me, I read her mind very thoroughly."
Anton frowned. “But isn't she from the golden pack?"
"Yeah? So?"
"Well, the golden pack is among the strongest telepaths ever recorded. Even the weakest of them can generally wipe the wall with telepaths from other packs."
It was Cade's turn to frown. “I caught her at a very open moment, though."
"It shouldn't have mattered. The minute she felt you invading her mind, she would have slammed down as many shields as she could.” Anton's frown deepened. “You might have caught information about Jontee, but I very much doubt you'd have caught everything she knew."
I never said I hadn't seen anything, she'd admitted to him yesterday. But you never asked that question, did you? Just charged right in and took.
And he'd been too busy fighting desire and trying to defend his past actions to even pursue the admission.
Maybe she was right. Maybe this investigation did need another leader. One with a clearer head and was not so intimately involved. “Any word from headquarters regarding my possible replacement?"
Anton shook his head. “Not yet."
"And Trista?"
"She's with the kid, crosschecking the names she and Ronan collected today."
Cade nodded. “What time is Hart due in?"
"He's returning to Denver to grab one of the mobile forensics vans, so I wouldn't expect him until morning."
Cade nodded and glanced at the bagged and tagged items strewn across the table. “Discover anything yet?"
"Nothing helpful. The partial tire tracks match those sold as standard on at least three different makes of four-wheel drives. The shoe tracks we found in the forest don't appear to match the partial print found near the tape recorder. I've scanned both through to the labs to see if they can come with a shoe make or anything else useful."
"Let's hope they find something.” Cade rubbed a hand across his still-aching jaw. “I'm going out with Ranger Grant later tonight to find and question the woman who paid the kid to leave the note under her wiper."
Anton raised his eyebrows. “A woman? Did the kid give you a description?"
"Average height, late teens to early twenties, blonde, blue eyes and buxom."
Anton snorted. “Every teenage male's wet dream."
"Exactly, which makes me suspect she was also paid to bribe the kid."
Anton nodded in agreement. “You intend to question the ranger while you're at it?"
"Yeah.” Whether he actually got any information was another matter entirely. She wasn't exactly happy with him at the moment. He tossed the empty beer bottle in the trash can. “Call me if you get anything."
"I will. Just make sure you've got the phone turned on this time, or we will use the locator."
Cade ignored the barb, but he heeded the warning as he headed for the door.
* * * *