studied the paragraph, then read it aloud. “‘Lauren let slip what you’re planning, and I think it’s brilliant. Scary but brilliant. I plan to be far away when it happens though, and I’ll need money to live. I’m sorry to say our lab is going to be shut down, so I need to disappear if you don’t want your name revealed.’”
Jane touched a finger to the page. “She says something on down about a bomb. Did you see that? Two paragraphs down past her talking about her trouble with the lab.”
Reid jumped down a couple of paragraphs. “‘Everything you’re planning will go up in smoke with that bomb.’”
He looked up at Elliot. “We’ve discovered someone is after some radioactive material in a lead box. This might be the guy.” He returned his attention to the paper. “‘I already have a letter ready to go if you don’t see your way to helping me out. Two hundred thousand will set me up somewhere in South America, and I’ll never say a word about your dirty bomb. You’ll never hear from me again, and I’m sure that’s the way you’d prefer to keep it. So would I.’”
Elliot winced. “A dirty bomb. That’s been a big fear for a long time. Why would anyone want to use one?”
Reid had no answer to that question. No sane person would even think of it. He gazed at the paper again. “Looks like the guy is agreeing. He says he’ll put the money in a Swiss bank account on June 1.”
“Two days after she’s killed,” Jane said. “That can hardly be coincidence.”
“No,” Reid agreed.
Jane’s face paled. “Stolen radioactive material was bad enough. But actual nuclear contamination? Inconceivable.”
“Let’s talk to your dad. If anyone knows what went on out in that compound, he does. The man who keeps more secrets than the CIA may be the only one who can give us some direction.”
Thirty-Five
Jane couldn’t get the thought of a towering mushroom cloud on US soil out of her head. She clung to Reid’s hand as they walked toward the SUV with Parker at her other side. She let him in and got behind the wheel.
“I think Dad would have told me about something like a nuclear device if he knew anything,” she said.
Reid buckled his seat belt. “When has your dad ever been forthcoming?”
“But this is truly important. He’d want me to find it, to warn people.”
“Like the stuff in the safe-deposit box was minor? Or your mother’s whereabouts? Every time we talk to him about this case, we find out something important.”
She started to reply but her phone rang. “It’s Jackson,” she said as she answered the call through the vehicle’s speakers. “What did you find?”
“No trace of them, Chief. Tents are gone, no boats or inflatables.”
“Did you check the other side of the island in case they moved after the storm?”
“Yep. Walked around the whole thing, which is why it took so long. They aren’t there. I’ll ask around when I get to town and see if anyone saw them. Alfie might have some idea. He knows everything else that’s going on in town.”
“Okay, thanks for looking.” She ended the call and exhaled. “I didn’t realize until now how much I was counting on being able to find and talk to Gabriel.”
“They only had small boats. He would have had to come to the harbor.”
“Unless he arranged for a larger boat to pick them up. There are plenty of captains out there looking for charters.”
“True. So we’re back to checking with your dad.”
“I guess so, but I think it’s a dead end too.” She wanted to pound on the steering wheel and scream. “Gabriel must have gotten off the island before he broke into your place.”
“He would have known you’d look there first. Are there any other remote places to hide?”
“A thousand. I have no idea where to check next.” Jane started the engine and drove away from Elliot’s houseboat.
People were out picking up tree limbs in their yards from the tornado yesterday, and the sounds of saws and hammers penetrated the police radio chatter. Several people waved and she waved back. And a few turned their heads, which hurt.
“What do you make of Elliot’s findings?” she asked.
“I was concerned to know of the dirty bomb’s existence, but the thought of someone using it here in the US? Terrifying. What could be their reason for it?”
“A terrorist group could want to cause fear.”
He nodded. “Or an assassination. Anyone big coming to the country in