“Why did you go to Alabama for the protest?” Russ eyed the man. “That’s a long way to travel for a protest.”

  “Not if you like road trips like I used to. ’Sides, it’s good to go back and visit your roots every now and again.” He smiled in the direction of his VW. “Old Van Gogh’s taken me a lot of places over the years.”

  “But you specifically went for that protest.” Ryleigh brought him back on track.

  “Yeah, so what?”

  “So if we dig into what happened back then, will we find that a bomb was detonated at that protest too?” she asked.

  “Nah, Sovereign Earth didn’t set no bombs when I was with ’em. Closest we came was to a guy who was with the Alabama group for like a minute. A real radical who liked to blow things up, but we weren’t like that, and we kicked him out.”

  “And what was this guy’s name?”

  “Pauly—Paul—Wasser.”

  “You know where we can find this Pauly guy?” Russ asked.

  “Six feet under.” Horne cackled, revealing stained teeth.

  “Did he have a favorite method of detonating bombs?” Ryleigh asked.

  “Guy was nuts. Thought he could set them off using some weird device that detonated the bomb when light hit it.” Horne shook his head. “Don’t know if he ever got one to work that way.”

  “Do you mean photoelectric cells?” Russ asked.

  “Hey, yeah. Yeah. That’s it. A photoelectric cell. Crazy right? That’s not something that seems like it would even work.”

  Ryleigh agreed it was indeed crazy. Not because it couldn’t work but because it could work and had worked. Leaving them to find the person who might’ve followed in Wasser’s footsteps. Perhaps Dean Keenan.

  20

  At the original bomb site, Finn waited for Ryleigh and Russ to climb out of the sheriff’s patrol car. Eyes alight with excitement, she stepped around the back of the car to join Finn. Russ moved at a slower pace.

  “What did you learn?” Finn asked and started them heading toward the area where the Veritas team was hard at work.

  “We have a solid lead.” Ryleigh updated Finn on the visit to Horne, telling him about a guy named Pauly Wasser who used or wanted to use a photoelectric cell as a bomb detonator.

  “We already have Colin looking into him,” Ryleigh said, that enthusiasm riding in her tone too. “And searching for any connection he might have to this bomb.”

  Finn caught her excitement. “Sounds like a promising lead.”

  “So this Dr. Fox has a lead for us?” Russ asked, direct and to the point as usual.

  “She does,” Finn said.

  “Great.” Ryleigh smiled. “Not only will we have even more to go on, but it’ll be good to meet her too.”

  Finn led the way to the back of the site where Sierra had returned to recover additional forensics, and Winter stood next to her. They both wore protective white suits, blue booties, and white masks, all dirty with black soot and grime. During Finn’s shift, he’d found Winter interesting to watch. She had dark hair to her shoulders that she’d almost angrily pulled back when she’d set to work, and a very intent stare. Not just when she was observing evidence, but Finn had noticed she seemed intense all the time, even during breaks.

  She looked up, as did Sierra, who nodded a greeting. Winter didn’t nod, but she lifted her mask and stepped forward. She ripped off one of her gloves and held out her hand to Ryleigh. “You must be Ryleigh, who Finn has told me all about. I’m Dr. Winter Fox. Veritas Center’s forensic palynologist.”

  “Thank you for coming.” Ryleigh shook hands and then stepped back.

  “Are you kidding?” Winter said. “I’m glad to be here. This kind of scene challenges my skills.”

  Russ introduced himself, and they shook hands as well. “What do you have for us?”

  Sierra joined them. “Before Winter shares her findings, I wanted to tell you that we were unable to lift any full fingerprints from the recovered bomb fragments, including the photoelectric cell. We did find a partial, but not enough to search the database.”

  Ryleigh frowned. “I was hoping for prints.”

  “As were we,” Sierra said. “And I promise you we did our best. We did however recover DNA from the partial print, and Emory started running it last night. We should have the results sometime tonight.”

  “That’s hopeful, then.” Ryleigh smiled.

  Sierra nodded. “We did recover fingerprints from Carla Nye’s documents. Hers, which are in the database from a protest arrest. And another set of prints lifted from the bomb schematics. Those prints were also in the system from protest arrests for a Dean Keenan.”

  “No other prints?” Ryleigh asked.

  “No.”

  “And Keenan’s and Carla’s prints both matched to their names?” Russ asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Then we know they weren’t going under assumed names,” Russ said. “That could’ve changed though. We need to be open to the possibility that they’re both now using assumed identities to fly under the radar.”

  “But we now know for sure that Keenan touched the schematics,” Finn said, his mind awash with the possibilities. “They could be his plans, and she stole them from him. But what I still don’t get is why she didn’t take the items with her.”

  “Maybe she left them behind as an insurance policy,” Ryleigh suggested.

  Russ cocked his head. “You mean like if he wanted to kill her, he couldn’t until he had the plans in hand that could implicate him in a bombing.”

  Ryleigh nodded, her gaze locking with Russ’s. “We really need to find her.”

  “We will.” His shoulders rose. “You can count on that. Maybe the alert will help.”

  “Nick and Colin are working on getting additional information on both of them,” Sierra said. “It’s nearly impossible today to live without at least one connection on the web, and she’s bound to slip up somehow. When she does, one of them will catch her in their algorithms.”

  Ryleigh’s expression brightened, likely excitement from her IT background. Finn honestly found all the internet searching boring, but the data Colin and Nick provided was priceless in today’s electronic world. Plus, this kind of surveillance was very efficient. With some keystrokes, Colin or Nick could provide information that would take a person weeks, maybe months, to locate with boots on the ground. If they found the data at all.

  Finn had never been sent on an op as a SEAL without detailed analysis of intel found in the cyber universe, but he also personally surveilled his target or their allies whenever possible.

  “Thank you for making the extra trip to your lab to process the items,” Ryleigh said.

  “Gave me a chance to see my hubby.” Sierra looked at Winter. “You’re on.”

  “Before you start, Dr. Fox.” Russ took a step closer. “I’ve never heard of a palynologist, so give me the low down.”

  Winter explained her job.

  Russ frowned. “That’s clear as a bell. Give me an example.”

  Winter shifted on her feet, and her booties whispered on the rubble. “I have a perfect one on this investigation. I reviewed the evidence collected from Mr. Gates’s house. The item recovered on his steps is a white prickly poppy seed.”

  “And that means something significant?” Russ questioned.

  Winter gave a sharp nod. “This plant can be grown here in Oregon under ideal conditions, but it typically grows only in the South and requires dry conditions, which we definitely don’t have here in the winter months. The plant would rot in our wet clay soil.”

  “You’re saying someone carried a white poppy seed on their footwear to his house,” Finn clarified. “Does it grow in Alabama?”

  “Absolutely.”

  Russ flicked his hand in the air. “That’s a long way for a little seed to stick on a shoe.”

  Winter nodded. “It could’ve been caught in a tread and dislodged somehow when the shoe flexed or something like that. Or the footwear might not have been worn until arriving here. Could’ve also hitched a ride on socks or pants. Even a jacket. Any article of clothing, really.”

  “And that tells us someone from the South, maybe Alabama, was in Gates’s house,” Finn said, but he didn’t get too excited as they already knew from the Roomba that Keenan had been in Eckles’s place.

  “Exactly.” Winter’s deep blue eyes lit up. “And a similar seed was recovered from the passenger floor of Mr. Gates’s truck and in the bedroom at Mr. Eckles’s house where Ms. Nye stayed.”

  “We think Keenan has been in two of these locations, so he could be our seed carrier,” Russ said. “I need to ask the Eckles if he went into the bedroom where Carla slept.”

  Ryleigh looked at Russ. “Or Carla could be the seed carrier.”

  Russ nodded. “Could be. Still, I’ll stop by Eckles’s place to ask if Keenan went into that bedroom.”

  “Couldn’t you just call them?” Finn asked.

  “I could, but each time we talk to the couple, they suddenly remember something they left off before, and an in-person visit might gain us additional information.” Russ looked at Winter. “Great information. Thanks. Have you located anything here?”

  “I have.” Winter smiled broadly, and her face came alive. “Near the bomb site, I located a partial footprint most likely from a boot as it had a lug sole pattern. I’ve determined the particulates are comprised of ninety-three percent pure calcium carbonate.”

  “And that means what?” Russ asked.

  “Some might think it means limestone, but limestone is purer. I suspect this is marble dust.”

  Ryleigh’s long eyelashes fluttered. “Where would that come from?”

  “Several places,” Winter said. “It’s commonly used to add texture to oil paints so perhaps an artist who mixed his own paints and got it on his sole from that. Or it can be used in mortar. There are other uses too, but not as common.”

  Russ planted his hands on his waist. “Means we could be looking for someone who paints?”

  “Yes,” Winter said. “The concentration was small so it could’ve been picked up elsewhere too.”

  “Like?” Finn asked.

  Winter shifted on her feet. “In this general area, I’d say the Oregon Caves.”

  Russ cocked his head. “Oregon Caves.”

  Winter nodded. “The caves are made of marble, and a person could potentially pick up dust from touring the caves. Especially if they went on the off-trail caving tour, which I did once. It’s a requirement to wear lug-soled boots on this tour because you crawl over boulders. You have to belly crawl, and squeeze through spaces as small as eleven inches high and only nineteen inches wide.” She shook her head. “The spaces were so tight, I’ll never forget those numbers our guide shared. I didn’t think I’d make it through them, but I did.”

  “But why would you?” Ryleigh shuddered. “I’m slightly claustrophobic, and it makes my skin crawl to think about it.”

  “I don’t know if my shoulders would even fit,” Finn said. “But I wouldn’t mind going on a tour like that.”

  “I’ll leave it to you guys to try.” Russ shook his head. “Crawling around in a hole in the ground isn’t my idea of a good time. I’ll take the wide open outdoors, thank you very much.”

  “We have a far different idea of a good time.” Winter laughed. “But seriously. Since the caves are so close, I think you have to consider them as a possible source.”

  “We could be looking for someone who visited the caves or even works there,” Ryleigh said. “I’m leaning toward visiting, which Keenan might’ve done since he’s from out of state.”

  “Or even Carla Nye,” Russ said. “We can’t rule her out yet.”

  “I think the size of the boot print might do that,” Winter said. “We haven’t determined a size yet but we’re leaning toward a male boot due to the width of the print.”

  “Did you find this dust in Gates’s house?” Finn asked.

  Winter shook her head. “We analyzed the debris the Roomba picked up and no sign of it. If it’s important, I can go back and do more samples. I could even sample boots if you would like. Just let me know.”

  “The boots we saw Keenan wearing in the Roomba video weren’t lug soles,” Ryleigh said. “He would’ve had to wear different footwear on the cave tour.”

  “Not unlikely,” Russ said.

  “I don’t know anything about your suspects,” Winter said. “But reservations are required for the off-trail tour, and I’ll bet they keep records.”

  Russ pulled his shoulders back. “I’ll get a subpoena for their records. With any luck, that list will contain the name of our bomber.”

  The clock hit noon, and Ryleigh and Finn still had to finish their shift at the crime scene while Russ left to talk to the Eckles on his way to his office to arrange the records subpoena. Ryleigh wanted to use the last hour until Ryan arrived wisely, so she was looking for Blake to get an update, and Finn came along with her.

  She found the former sheriff at the small command center he’d set up near the first building. He looked up from his seat behind a white folding table and laptop screen. “I saw you talking to Sierra and Winter, so I assume they updated you on their findings.”

  “They did,” she said.

  “If you want to take a seat.” He pointed at two folding chairs across the table from him. “I can give you a quick rundown on where we stand on the various scenes.”

  “Thank you.” Ryleigh sat in the metal chair, warm from the sunshine.

  Finn turned a chair next to her to straddle it and rest his arms on the back.

  “We have fully completed Mr. Gates’s house. His vehicle is complete too, and I know Sierra told you about the keys and phone. Her team back at the lab are running the many prints that were lifted.” Blake tapped a key on his keyboard and looked at the screen. “A text from one of our techs at the Eckles’s property asking for clarification. They’ve completed the bedroom where Carla Nye stayed, and of course, you know they found her cell phone. But he wants to know if we want the entire house processed or just the bedroom.”

  Ryleigh looked at Finn.

  He shrugged.

  Ryleigh wished Russ were here to weigh in, but this was a detail she was fully capable of deciding. “If the team keeps working on the bedroom, will it alter things here?”

  Blake leaned back and put his hands behind his head. “We could move faster here if they were on site.”

  That could be a big factor in meeting Russ’s deadline that night. He didn’t want the feds called in, and despite having been a fed herself, she didn’t either. It was a matter of pride now to solve this investigation before needing their help. “We’re more apt to get a lead here than in the Eckles’s house so bring them back here.”

  “You got it.” Blake dropped his chair to the ground with a thump and typed a reply on his keyboard using a fast two-finger method. “Also of interest is that Grady and Trent have determined the make and model of the photoelectric cell and are tracking down the locations where it’s sold. That might bring news sooner rather than later.”

  “Perfect.” Her phone rang, and the caller ID announced the Veritas Center.

  “Someone at the center,” she said and quickly answered.

  “Hey, Ryleigh, it’s Kelsey,” she said. “I have some information for you.”

  “Hold on while I put you on speaker so Finn and Blake can hear.” Ryleigh tapped the speaker button. “Go ahead, Kelsey.”

  “I’ve found what I think might be your missing key for the explosive depot next to the remains. There’s a lump of brass in a scrap of denim fabric attached to white fabric that looks like material used in jeans pockets. The heat from the fire melted the brass, so it’s not recognizable as a key. Still, you have to think it would be the most likely brass item he would carry in a pocket.”

  “The fire was hot enough to melt brass?” Ryleigh asked.

  “Seems so. The nearby bone was severely burned too and bone doesn’t burn at the typical lower temperatures of a routine house fire. Of course, this fire wasn’t routine as we had an ample supply of fuel from the wood and sawdust. So short answer is yes, the fire in this particular location was at least hot enough to melt brass.”

  “And I take it from what you’re saying, you can’t tell it’s a key for sure?” Finn clarified as he was known for doing.

  “True,” Kelsey said. “And I can’t even say for sure that he was carrying it in his pocket. It could have been something nearby made of brass that then melted and stuck to the fabric. If you bring in a key, we could do a metal analysis to compare this lump to it.”

  Ryleigh glanced at Finn. “We’ll get a key to you if we find it’s crucial to have it analyzed.”

  Finn nodded his agreement.

  “On another note, I have an answer you’ve been waiting for,” Kelsey said. “I’ve confirmed that the explosion was the cause of death.”

  “Way to bury the lead.” Blake smiled.

  “I like to go out with a bang. Oh wait, no. That’s bad isn’t it? What with the bomb and all. I better stick to the facts.” She chuckled. “I found trauma to the bones that I believe came from shrapnel, but it’s all superficial. However, none of those wounds were life-threatening. Not even close. But he sustained a wound to the skull. I believe it’s from a metal shard that the bomb turned into a projectile and that was fatal.”

  Finn shared a quick glance with Ryleigh that she couldn’t interpret. “Could it also have come from someone hitting him with something metal?”

  “No.” Kelsey’s firm tone discouraged any discussion. “The concussive force left a specific fracture to the bone that a human couldn’t have inflicted from a blow. The only thing that might have the same concussive force would be a bullet, but the diameter of the wound is too large for a bullet, and the shape is wrong as well.”

  “Did he die immediately?” Ryleigh asked.

  “I can’t say for certain, but the shard would’ve pierced his brain so it’s likely.”

  Not that it mattered, but Ryleigh hated the thought of any prolonged human suffering, especially if he wasn’t the bomber.