Ryan shifted his attention to her. “Well, can you?”

  Could she? Meant more time with Finn. Honestly, it hadn’t been a hardship to be in his company most of the time. And if continuing to partner with him moved the investigation forward, she owed it to the victim to do her best to help. “I can do it for the good of the team and to find a resolution.”

  “Good. That’s settled then.” Russ eyed Finn. “Don’t make me regret my decision.”

  “I won’t.”

  Russ stood and looked down the table at his assistant. “Pass out those packets, Allison.”

  She got up and walked around the table, handing out a thick packet of stapled papers to each team member.

  “Allison is giving you background documents Colin prepared for Gates, Eckles, his wife, and for Dean Keenan too. Take a good look at them as you finish eating, and I’ll get started on listing the latest developments on the boards.”

  Colin set down his sandwich, turkey on hearty wheat bread, that had been Ryleigh’s second choice. “I’m still working on Nye and have algorithms running on everyone. They could turn up additional info from more obscure or difficult sites to access, like the dark web, but I thought you would want to have some background to start with. I should have details on Nye by the end of the day.”

  “Great work, Colin.” Russ crossed the room, grabbing a blue marker as he passed the smaller board, and started to write below the To Do list from the prior day.

  Ryleigh slowly chewed her last bite to savor the rich flavor and dug into the report, starting with Uri Gates. He was born and raised in Adamsville, Alabama. Went to work as a logger right out of high school. Married Greta. Worked his way up to supervisor. Then a logger on his crew was killed by a tree, and Gates sunk into a dark period in his life. That’s when his wife divorced him. No red flags other than his depression. Contents of his medicine cabinet proved he still took the meds, but it seemed as if he was functioning well except for being overly careful as a supervisor.

  Ryleigh turned her glass of iced tea and moved on to Virgil Eckles and his wife, Pauline. His report was even less helpful. Nothing at all to draw attention to him. He became a logger at nineteen and worked for Tobias ever since then, a supervisor for ten years now. No serious accidents. And he was well-liked by the crews. He met and married Pauline ten years ago. She was born and raised in—wait, what?

  Adamsville, Alabama.

  Ryleigh looked up. “Anyone else see Pauline Eckles and Uri Gates grew up in the same town?”

  “Me.” Finn peered intently at his phone. “I’m looking up the town population now to see how likely it is that they could know each other.”

  That would’ve been Ryleigh’s next move, and she was glad he’d already started.

  His head came up. “A little over two-thousand people.”

  “A city that small and they’re a year apart in age,” Russ said. “They could well know each other.”

  “But if Eckles told her about Gates when he started,” Finn said. “Why didn’t she say something about knowing him from back then?”

  “They could have something to hide,” Ryan said.

  Ryleigh looked at Russ. “We didn’t ask her about Gates. We need to question her again.”

  “Indeed.” Russ wrote it on the whiteboard under his name.

  “A good lead for sure,” Ryleigh said. “Thanks, Colin.”

  “All in a day’s work.” He drained the last of his water bottle.

  Ryleigh couldn’t drink a thing right now. Not with her heart beating fast. She returned to the reports and looked at Dean Keenan. He too lived in Alabama, but in Birmingham, where he led Sovereign Earth. He’d been arrested several times for minor charges at protests and paid fines. That was until he’d assaulted an officer and served five years in prison. He’d continued to lead the group from his cell.

  “This Keenan guy’s a piece of work,” Finn said.

  “Seems like he wouldn’t be opposed to killing people.” Colin crinkled his empty bottle and pitched it at the recycle bin. “I couldn’t find any phone numbers for him. No surprise. These guys are all often paranoid and only use virtually untraceable prepaids.”

  She turned to the Sovereign Earth packet and learned the group was suspected of several bombings and violent protests, but they hadn’t been charged with any crimes.

  “Looks like Sovereign Earth isn’t such a peaceful group,” she said. “But no one has ever been able to prove it, including me.”

  “Yeah,” Colin said. “They don’t take responsibility for their work. At least not in so many words, but if you read between the lines, it’s clear people who claim group membership are behind a lot of the violent events.”

  “Are you looking into other members?” Finn asked.

  Colin nodded. “I’ve got searches running on everyone I found. After it completes, I’ll cull down the list to people who could be related to this incident.”

  Ryleigh looked at the other details for Sovereign Earth. “I see Pauline Eckles still shows up on the group’s Alabama roster.”

  “Yeah,” Colin said. “That’s where she first started appearing. Then she moved to Atlanta. From what I can tell, she was trying to move away from Keenan after a contentious breakup. She still continued to work with the group but later moved to Oregon, and then she disappears from any of their other details.”

  “Any reason given for her Oregon move?” Ryleigh asked to try to confirm her statement.

  Colin nodded. “Her uncle died, and he left his property in Shadow Lake to her. Good timing as it appears as if Keenan was still bothering her. Shadow Lake Logging had a contract to log her uncle’s property, and that’s when she met Eckles.”

  “That matches her statement to us.” Russ looked around the table. “Any other comments on the background reports?”

  “Nothing for me, except I’m eager to see Carla Nye’s report.” Ryleigh looked at Colin. “Especially to see if you can track her down.”

  “I’ll make sure you know anything the minute I find something.” Colin smiled.

  Ryleigh tapped her stack of papers. “With your ecoterrorism background and these reports, what’s your gut telling you?”

  His smile wavered. “Sovereign Earth could be behind the bombing. Not sure I buy it yet though. Not when I haven’t gotten any hits on a photoelectric cell bomb.”

  “Looks like they keep changing their MO over time,” Ryan said. “Could be why they haven’t been caught. If you don’t leave patterns, investigators can’t link the dots.”

  “It could also explain why they might’ve used a photoelectric cell on this bomb,” Finn said.

  There had to be something they were missing, and Ryleigh wished they had more data right now. “Still doesn’t explain why Keenan had schematics that didn’t show the cell, though.”

  “Hopefully, Colin’s additional research will give us more to go on.” Russ tapped his marker on the board. “Let’s run down the To Do List and get caught up.”

  He swiped his marker through getting a warrant for Tobias’s office and tapped the words deep dives on Gates, Tobias, and Eckles. “We have preliminary reports, but let’s leave this open for now. Colin, you mentioned photoelectric cells? Have you struck out only on Sovereign Earth or a wider search?”

  “Countrywide and nothing’s come up.” Colin frowned. “But the algorithm continues to run.”

  “Nick at Veritas is also searching,” Ryleigh said. “Sounds as if it’s not common. Grady and Trent said they’ve never seen one used.”

  “My search of ViCAP bears that out too,” Russ said. “We struck out in Oregon. My deputy is searching other states now. Unless that turns something up, we might not be able to connect the method to the suspect unless we can pin it down through the Veritas team’s evidence recovery.” Russ listed Grady as the responsible party for getting more information on the actual photoelectric cell.

  “Sierra was confident she could fingerprint it too,” Finn said.

  Russ put it on the board and added hotel guests. “My team is working on looking for anyone from out of town who is involved in ecoterrorism. We collected guest lists from local motels and hotels, and they’re clearing the guest’s names now.” He fixed his gaze on his brother. “What have you learned about competitors?”

  Ryan snapped his chair forward and it squealed. “My research doesn’t point to anyone who might want to hurt Tobias’s operation. None of the other businesses are in dire financial straits. One of them is closing next month because he couldn’t make a go of it anymore and is getting out before he goes into the red. Still not a red flag as he’s calling it quits. I also did some asking around. Sounds like the other loggers think of Tobias as the grandfather of the logging industry in the area and respect him.”

  “I could dig deeper online on the owners if you want,” Colin said.

  “I doubt you’ll find anything but it would be good to be thorough,” Ryan said.

  “It’s all yours, Colin.” Russ added it to the board. “Okay, let’s move on to new items, starting with forensics. Anyone have any questions about these items I just added?”

  He tapped the top item he’d jotted down.

  Nick Thorn - Deep dive on Carla Nye and Dean Keenan and try to trace emails

  Sierra Rice - Process forensics located at Gates’s house, especially fingerprints, the Roomba, and particulates

  Sierra Rice - Process DNA and fingerprints on photoelectric cell and Nye’s documents

  Sierra Rice – Process Nye’s bedroom at Eckles’s place and Gates’s truck

  Kelsey Dunbar - Identify victim and determine cause of death and look for Gates’s keys in his pocket

  Emerson County deputies - Find Carla’s cell phone

  Emerson County staff - Review video from explosives’ depot.

  Grady and Trent - Talk to eyewitnesses to the explosion and the first firefighter on scene

  Grady and Trent – determine type of explosives used for bomb

  “I called the logging company in Alabama and confirmed that Gates did indeed work there,” Ryleigh said. “Thankfully, his former wife didn’t answer, and I was able to confirm he was well-respected. The manager I talked to said he left due to a dispute with his former wife, just like he told Tobias.”

  “So he didn’t lie,” Russ said. “Good to know.”

  “And I’ll need a key to the explosives’ depot so I can let Grady and Trent take a look at the explosives Tobias’s team uses.”

  Russ got a key from his pocket and slid it down the table, then glanced at Finn. “Unless of course you have one you’re not telling me about.”

  Finn rolled his eyes. “You know I don’t, and I got ahold of the locksmith who’s in charge of making the depot keys. No one has asked him for a key, and he hasn’t made one for anyone since I hired him.”

  “Then only four people had a key.” Russ locked gazes with Finn.

  “Unless one of the other guys found another locksmith to cut a key,” Finn said. “But they would have to be dishonest to do it.”

  Russ continued to stare at Finn. “Barring that, if we confirm the explosives were the same type as stored in the depot, that would mean only four people could have set the bomb.”

  Finn sat up higher. “Only three. You know I didn’t do it.”

  “We’ll see,” Russ said. “We’re through half of the video feed from the depot.”

  “And?” Finn demanded.

  “Nothing yet except legit access as noted on the log.”

  “The explosives could’ve come from anywhere,” Finn said. “We have no proof to the contrary.”

  “I’ve also got feelers out in the state looking for any missing explosives,” Russ said.

  Ryan tapped the table, taking his brother’s attention and immediately lowering the tension level in the room. “I’ve also asked the other logging company owners to check their inventories and get back to me if there’s anything missing.”

  Russ spun and wrote the information on the board.

  “The last to do item would refer to Grady or Trent talking to me,” Ryan said. “That hasn’t happened. I’m guessing they’ll interview me on my shift.”

  Russ nodded and ran his gaze over the group. “A lot has happened in a short time. Have I missed anything?”

  The others shook their heads.

  “Jenkins will do a daily report for us, but he’ll also have the experts notify us right away of anything they think needs immediate action.” Russ capped his marker. “Let’s talk prime suspects at this point. Theories?”

  “Eckles doesn’t have motive,” Ryleigh said. “But he had access to the explosives and the site, and his wife’s connection to Sovereign Earth could tie him to a bomb.”

  “I’m not liking him for it.” Russ leaned against the wall and crossed his feet at the ankle. “But I can’t rule out a possible connection to it through Nye and Keenan. The sooner we locate them the better. With the alerts out on both of them and Colin’s algorithms, hopefully we’ll see success on finding her.”

  “I also think Eckles and his wife are holding back,” Ryleigh said.

  “Agreed.” Russ stood. “Let’s bring them in for questioning this time. Put the fear of the law in them.”

  Russ set down the marker. “Anyone have anything else to add or are we ready to get back at it?”

  “Ready for sure.” Ryleigh got out her phone to call Eckles and his wife and demanded they come in for an interview. She couldn’t wait to get back to questioning them and unearth whatever it was they seemed to be holding back.

  Finn didn’t like being excluded from another interview, but at least Russ had allowed him to watch through the one-way glass in the interview room. Ryleigh sat next to Russ at a small table, and Pauline Eckles had slumped into a seat across from them. Russ had separated the couple to interview them one at a time to see if he could trip them up in a lie.

  Pauline rubbed her belly. “You know this stress isn’t good for a pregnant woman.”

  “I’m sorry for that,” Ryleigh said, sounding sincere. “But if you don’t have anything to hide this shouldn’t be stressful at all.”

  “Come on now.” Pauline rolled her eyes. “You know being called in here is stressful. Likely why you did it.”

  “Then let’s get to our questions so you can go on home.” Russ sounded surprisingly gentle. “When we last talked you didn’t mention knowing Uri Gates.”

  “Uri? Oh, wow. That’s a name from the past. I went to school with him.” She blinked several times. “What’s he got to do with anything?”

  “He’s the night supervisor at Shadow Lake Logging.”

  “Are you sure?” She scratched her cheek. “There’s only one night supervisor, and Virg said the new guy’s name is Smokey.”

  Finn watched for duplicity in her expression, but she looked at Russ and Ryleigh with a level gaze. Finn had learned how to read people and it looked like she hadn’t been hiding the fact that she knew Gates.

  “That’s Uri’s nickname,” Russ said.

  “Okay, wow. Just wow. That’s crazy that he would end up working with Virg. Uri was a year behind me in school, so we didn’t hang out, but he was on the wrestling team and I was a cheerleader, so I knew him.” She flashed her gaze to Russ and held on. “Don’t think I’m involved because of this. I haven’t seen Uri or talked to him since high school. After he graduated, I’d heard he went off somewhere to start logging.”

  “What did you do out of high school?” Ryleigh asked.

  “Me?” Her eyes flashed wide open. “I couldn’t wait to get out of that stinking little town, so I moved to Birmingham with my best friend. We took minimum wage jobs as file clerks and shared an apartment.”

  “How did you get involved with Sovereign Earth?” Russ asked, his tone more direct now.

  Pauline frowned and hunched over the table. “Same way Carla did and the way a lot of the females in the group did. I met Dean in a bar. Started going out with him and he brought me in.”

  Ryleigh leaned closer to Pauline. “Where did Dean and Carla hook up?”

  “Georgia.” The word came out on a spit of disgust. “Dean got more and more radical, and that just wasn’t me, so I broke up with him. I tried to leave the group then, but he hounded me. So I lied and said I got a job transfer to Atlanta, figuring he’d finally leave me alone. I didn’t really get a transfer, but I did move there. I met Carla at work, and one night when we were out, Dean showed up. He started by begging to get back with me, but when I told him to take a hike, he hit on her. No matter how much I warned her, she fell for his charms and got involved with him.”

  “Did she remain in Atlanta and have a long-distance relationship?” Russ asked.

  “Stayed in Atlanta, but no long-distance for Dean. He moved in with her and sponged off her. His true MO for women.” Pauline shook her head. “I don’t really blame Carla. He’s very charismatic, drop-dead gorgeous, and hard to resist.”

  Finn didn’t like to hear that. The guy’s charisma and charm could make him hard to find because he could locate women all across the country who would let him hide out with them.

  Ryleigh and Russ dismissed Pauline and brought in her husband. Russ’s hope for tripping them up in a lie grew slimmer by the minute as a sullen Eckles gave the same answers as his wife.

  “Did you ever mention Gates to your wife?” Russ asked.

  “Yeah, sure,” Eckles said. “We called him Smokey at work, so that’s the name I would’ve used.”

  “Did you know Gates was from Alabama?” Ryleigh asked.

  “Is that so?” His tone rose. “Wonder if he knew Pauline.”

  “They grew up in the same town.”

  Eckles shook his head. “Now isn’t that something? I mean, I knew he had a southern accent, but we never got into personal details.”

  Russ planted his palms on the tabletop. “Don’t you find it a coincidence?”

  “Well, yeah, sure. A big one. Wait!” He shot up in his chair. “If you think this means Pauline or I had something to do with the bomb, then you’re still way off base.”