Tell No Lies (Quinn & Costa Thriller #2) - Allison Brennan Page 0,46

had gotten for her. She owned only a motorcycle, and that was still in her garage in Santa Monica.

Ryder was living in a small apartment building on the edge of town within walking distance to most of the downtown area. She parked down the block. It was already after five. She didn’t see anyone on the street, but since it was still daylight, she was doubly cautious. She sent Ryder a text message: I’m here.

As soon as he opened his door, she walked inside and closed it behind her. Then she shoved the evidence bags toward him.

He took it, looked inside. “What’s this?”

“Before we found Hargrove’s body, Joe and I were at an abandoned mining town southwest of Harshaw. A ghost town, empty for decades—you can do some research and find the history, but it doesn’t matter. One of the only buildings remaining was a church. I found this bunny and empty water bottle on church pews where two people had clearly been sleeping. Short someones—both under five feet tall.”

“Kids?”

“Yes. My guess? Migrants or runaways. Either way, maybe you can send the evidence up the food chain, see if the prints or DNA matches any known missing children. I want to go back to those buildings tomorrow, before dawn. Quietly, in case they returned and are sleeping.”

“Did you talk to Matt about this?”

“I told him I needed to talk to him about something unrelated to the Southwest case. But the more I thought about it, the more I realize he isn’t going to have the time to tackle this now. There are two kids who may be in immediate trouble. That’s why I need your help to cut through any bureaucratic bullshit. If they’re migrants who are being trafficked, I need to be there because other than Matt I’m the only one who speaks Spanish on this team.”

That was a bit of an exaggeration. She understood a lot more than she could speak, but she got by.

“We should turn this over to the border patrol,” Ryder said.

“Run the prints first, make sure they aren’t runaways.”

“Probabilities are that they’re not.”

“They’re still in trouble. Just do it, okay, Ryder? Please?”

He gave her a half smile. “I have to run it by Matt first, but I don’t think it’ll be a problem. Phoenix has an auxiliary forensics lab. They can process the evidence. I can scout the ghost town.”

“Alone?”

“I can handle myself.”

Kara wanted to go herself...and dammit, she should go. But since it wasn’t her primary assignment, maybe Ryder could handle it.

Except...she felt somewhat responsible for him. Maybe it was stupid, but Ryder was an analyst. He’d been in the military, but not in combat. He was probably one of the smartest guys she’d ever met...but book smart didn’t equal street smart.

“I’m going with you. Early, okay? We’ll be back before anyone will miss us.”

“You need to talk to Matt,” Ryder said. “It has to be his decision, Kara. I know you are used to doing things your own way, but Matt’s our boss. I can’t investigate something unrelated to Southwest, Emma Perez and now David Hargrove without his permission.”

“Then tell Matt this—if he says no, I’ll go myself. It’s about a thirty-, forty-minute drive, mostly on crappy dirt roads. The car you got me isn’t really suited for the terrain.”

“So you want me for my truck.”

“You have a four-wheel drive. So yes, I prefer you to drive.”

“Again, I have to clear this. It’s out of my hands.”

“I’m going with or without you. So if you aren’t coming, I’m taking your truck.”

“I’ll tell Matt what you said.”

“Good. Do that. I have to get to the Wrangler. I’m already late.”

* * *

Matt met with Wyatt at his house just outside of the Patagonia town limits, not at the small marshal’s office downtown. While Wyatt was confident that his deputy Roberto Vasquez and Rob’s brother, Pedro, who worked at the refinery, were both solid, he understood the need to keep this investigation quiet for now.

Wyatt offered Matt a beer, which he declined. “I have work to do. Joe has been leaving me messages and I’m going over there after this.”

“I’ve put in a request for David Hargrove’s phone records. According to his wife, Tanya, he told her that he was helping out a friend and would be at the picnic around noon.”

“Was she worried when he didn’t show?”

“She said she wasn’t, she was too busy to notice.”

“You believe her?”

“I have no reason not to, but my gut told me she was more concerned than she