Say Goodbye (Romantic Suspense #25) - Karen Rose Page 0,120

like a dark cloud.

That DJ was involved in the killing was to be assumed. Which meant he knew that the FBI knew where he was. Shit. Tom hoped this wouldn’t lead to Raeburn sending in a team to arrest Pastor and DJ, if he was hiding in Sunnyside. They still had no idea where to find Eden.

“She catered to killers and mob bosses,” Croft said rationally. “She looked the other way when killers crossed her path. She’s not completely innocent, boss.”

Raeburn drew in a breath and let it out. “I know, Agent Croft.” His words were crisp, intended to intimidate, but the slight tremble in his voice ruined the effect.

Tom’s respect for the man ratcheted way up. “Who found her?”

Raeburn pointed to a white panel van parked a short distance away. “The agents who were in the surveillance van radioed as soon as they knew she was in trouble. They followed her car when it exited the parking lot, but lost her when her car ran a red light. They found her not even two minutes later, but she was already dead.”

“Does the store have security cameras?” Tom asked.

Raeburn nodded. “It was Belmont. He was wearing a surgical mask, but based on hair, eyes, and build? It was him. He found the wire and yanked it out. Destroyed and dropped it on Sunnyside’s parking lot.”

Croft frowned. “So he’s onto us?”

“No.” Raeburn pointed to the pendant that hung around the nurse’s throat, covered in blood and brain matter.

Tom’s momentary elation at their not having been made withered as his gut roiled. He recognized the pendant as one of the Bureau’s comm devices. It was similar to the one he’d given Liza to wear the day she’d accompanied Mercy to the nursing home where Ephraim Burton’s mother lived. He had to force himself to see the nurse’s features and not transpose Liza’s over them.

“DJ didn’t know it was a transmitter,” Tom said, grateful that his voice was even.

“No. We heard them talking in the car. He asked her how much ‘Kowalski’ was paying her. Luckily when she denied knowing him, she called me ‘Mr. Raeburn,’ not ‘Agent.’ He doesn’t appear to know that we’re the ones behind the bugs. That’ll hopefully give us a little more time to line something else up.”

Something else, Tom noted. Not someone else.

“We know Pastor’s still in there,” Croft said. “Maybe we just wait for him to be brought out and follow them back to Eden.”

Tom didn’t like that. “Leaving Belmont free to stalk Mercy while Pastor recuperates? That could be weeks. Where is DJ now?”

“We don’t know,” Raeburn admitted. “The van lost him a few minutes after he took the nurse from the rehab center. He might have gone back inside or he might have run.”

Croft sighed. “Dammit. Who is Kowalski?”

Raeburn brightened a fraction. “That’s the good news. He’s a local gang leader.”

Croft’s eyes lit up. “Of the Chicos?”

“We hope so. The Chicos have become insular and a lot harder to pin down since the men at the top were taken down a few years ago. No one seems to know much about their new power structure. Local PDs had heard his name but knew nothing more. No photos or even a description. I’ve got a team searching for him now.”

“What do you need from us?” Tom asked. He thought of Dixie Serratt and wondered if they should have pushed harder. She knew what Kowalski looked like. Tom was sure of it.

“I need you to find a way to get audio and video from Pastor’s room. Find out if they’ve got a leaky faucet or a broken window. Anything that would require the services of an outside contractor. We’ll get one of ours in that way. That Belmont doesn’t know that we were behind the bugs buys us some time, but I think the Sunnyside employees will be hyperaware of anyone approaching them the way Gaynor was approached. We can’t try turning one of theirs again.”

Tom was already considering the possibilities. “I could manufacture an IT crisis.”

“Do it fast,” Raeburn warned. “And thank you, Hunter. That would be most helpful.”

“And me?” Croft asked.

“You’re with me. I want a description of Kowalski. I’m betting on him being with the Chicos, so I’m bringing the Serratt woman in for an interview. I want you to lead it. She doesn’t leave until she tells us what the man looks like.”

“We’re more likely to get information out of her if we can offer protection,” Croft murmured. “She seemed genuinely terrified