Soundbyte (-byte series Book 5) Read online

I could see the barrel of the gun as whoever it was raised it to fire again. Using the position of the barrel as a guide, I took the shot. There was a clatter and a thump followed by silence.

  From beyond the cabin, I heard Kurt’s voice. “We have Doyle.”

  Lee and I moved on the cabin.

  Inside we found Maguire with a hole in his forehead. Lee high-fived me. “Impressive.”

  I shrugged. “Would sooner have taken the prick alive.” I toed his body, no reaction. I didn’t expect one. His brains were all over the far wall.

  No reanimation worries here.

  I yelled to Kurt. “Don’t bring her in here.”

  He called back, “We’ll wait outside.”

  Lee and I searched the cabin. We had no real idea what we were looking for: diamonds, signs that Campbell was there, a clue as to what the hell was going on. We just needed something to start making sense. How did I kill him so easily? I could hear the question rolling around my head and then the answer that followed. Just because he’s a hit man doesn’t mean he’s good under fire. I thought about it for a second. Maybe he just sucked at his job.

  I pulled out a drawer and flicked through the contents. It contained letters, random rubber bands, a few pens, and a key.

  “Lee, this look familiar?” I held the key up so he could see it.

  He nodded. “It does. Looks like a key to a locker.”

  “Do they still have lockers at any of the Metro stops?”

  He shook his head. “Don’t know about Union, but I doubt they have them at the others.”

  “It’s got a number on it.”

  “If we can figure out where the locker is, we should be able to find it,” he said with a smile.

  I looked at the pieces of paper and brochures in the drawer, hoping something would jump out. And it did.

  “He likes museums.” I held up brochures for a recent exhibit at both the Freer Gallery of Art and the Natural History Museum. I turned on my phone and called Sandra.

  No signal.

  Crap.

  I pocketed the key and the brochures. They seemed important. With no sign of Campbell, we went outside. Kurt was crouched beside Maria Doyle, sitting on the ground.

  Sam stepped beside me. “She’s clean, wasn’t armed,” he whispered.

  I smiled a little. Good to know.

  “Maria, I am Ellie Conway, we met a while ago,” I said introducing myself. I handed my rifle to Lee, who shouldered it and went back into the woods for our backpacks.

  “What happened to John?”

  My mind flipped over the name. John. Who was John? John Brown. Pearce Maguire.

  “He’s dead.”

  A bit blunt but there aren’t too many ways to say it.

  Tears welled in her eyes.

  “What are you doing out here?”

  Lee came across the clearing carrying the backpacks. I showed him my phone. He nodded and walked back down the track to try for cell reception.

  Maria was struggling with words.

  “Iain said I’d be safer with him than in the city because whoever wanted to hurt me wouldn’t know where I was—”

  “Where is Iain?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t know, he went out yesterday afternoon with John and never came back. John said he’d gone for supplies and not to worry.”

  “Did you leave the cabin with John yesterday evening?”

  She nodded. “We ate at a diner in Harper’s Ferry.”

  “You didn’t wait for Iain to come back with supplies then?”

  “No, I thought he’d be back by the time we returned.”

  “Maria, do you know who Iain is?”

  “Of course, he is my husband. We’ve been separated for a number of years.” Confusion clouded her eyes. “Why?”

  “Where does he work?”

  She tilted her head as if the question didn’t make sense. “Work? He works for an insurance company.”

  I guess you could put it that way.

  “Which one?”

  “An international company, that’s all I can remember.”

  Well, it ain’t State Farm.

  “Did he ever talk about coworkers, his boss?”

  “He mentioned a boss a few times when we were together, I’m not sure, Jerry or Jeremy or Joe. It was a J name. I think.” She paused. “John. Jonathon something. Yes, that was it. He used to blame him every time he disappeared for a week or so, on business.”

  Jonathon Tierney. I’d put money on it. And that was good for me, I needed corroboration that Campbell did indeed know Tierney as he mentioned in his cipher.

  “Jonathon Tierney?”

  Her eyes lit up. “You know him?”

  Yup.

  Now I was more willing to contact Tierney and ask for the information I needed on Campbell’s operations.

  “Maria, did Iain say anything to you about John Brown?”

  “He didn’t like him.”

  “He said that?”

  She shook her head. “He didn’t say anything to me about him. I overheard them talking outside.”

  “And what were they talking about?”

  “John wanted to know why Iain and I left the city and who Iain was working for.”

  Oh, now we’re getting somewhere.

  “What did Iain say?”

  “He said we were taking a break, a fishing trip. He said we had to make a decision about some of our properties.”

  “How did Brown know about the house Mrs. Southey rented and that you’d go there?”

  Tears rolled down her face. “I told him. A long time ago, I told him about the houses Iain and I still own together.”

  “Okay, let me get this straight … Iain showed up at your apartment at night and suggested a fishing trip so you can discuss what to do with properties you jointly own.”

  “Yes, he said that. But that wasn’t the real reason he wanted me to leave with him.”

  I nodded. “John Brown was already there at your apartment?”

  “No. John showed up before we left.”

  “So, how and why did you leave DC with Iain?”

  “Iain was trying to convince me to leave the city. He wanted me to go to the FBI and tell them I was in danger and it was something to do with the Heathcote diamonds. Before I could, John turned up. He saw the card your people left. It was sitting on the hall table. Iain and John fought. Iain knocked him out and grabbed me.”

  Things began to slide into place. Iain Campbell was after the same person we were, but Maria’s presence compromised his ability to take out Brown.

  “Why the FBI and not your brother?”

  “I don’t know. When I said I’d just tell my brother, Chris, and let him deal with it, Iain said no, it had to be the FBI.”

  “Did you call my office and leave an anonymous tip?”

  “Yes.”

  “We need to get you out of here. Are you hurt?”

  She shook her head. “I’m fine.”

  “And you were outside because?”

  Her face flushed a little. “There is no bathroom in the cabin.”

  And he let her go without him, knowing we were coming? That didn’t make sense.

  “Why didn’t you go back in the cabin? Why were you walking in the woods on the other side?”

  She shrugged. “I was scared. You arrived before I could go back in.”

  “Why not keep walking and escape?”

  “Because Iain said he’d come back for me.”

  “Let’s get you out of here. I bet your brother will be pleased to see you.”

  Sam took some crime scene tape from his backpack. He tied it to the door and wound it across the front of the cabin.

  It bothered me that there was no sign of Campbell. I moved faster than I intended, forcing myself to slow down and stay with the group. We caught up to Lee. He called Sandra and alerted local police to the crime scene. He’d asked that they secure the scene and guard the body until our forensic people could get out there. A
t the car I waited until everyone but Kurt was in the vehicle. Lee occupied my usual spot as navigator/front seat passenger. Sam and Maria were in the back. Kurt was going to drive. I’d sit in the back with Maria and Sam. Thank God we don’t drive sedans.

  I made the first of three calls that I needed to make while Kurt and I leaned against the hood.

  “It’s SSA Conway, Delta A, I’m out at Harper’s Ferry, and we need divers.”

  “What’s the situation Agent Conway?”

  “Possible body recovery.”

  “We’re on our way.”

  “Is Tara Sutherland on today?”

  “Yes, she is.”

  “Awesome. I hear she’s very good.” I grinned to myself as I hung up.

  The second call was to Misha.

  “We will be on our way back to DC later today. How’s it going with Zachary?”

  “I don’t see an involvement. I have been talking to Zachary about his family and his friends,” Misha said, his Russian accent was quiet, yet dripping with bodice-ripping sex appeal. “He asked that I call his friend, John Brown. I am unable to locate Mr. Brown.”

  “His friend, John Brown?” I repeated.

  “That is what he said. You know this man?”

  I put a bullet in his head half an hour ago.

  “You could say that. Find out as much as you can about the relationship between Brown and Zachary. Let’s see how much of his story measures up with what we think we know.”

  “You are confusing me …” Misha laughed. “Always one step ahead, my beautiful friend.”

  “I’ll see you soon.”

  I hung up and made another call.

  D�j� vu.

  “Shangri la special services.”

  “Just put me through to Tierney.”

  “Yes ma’am,” she replied.

  “Thanks.”

  There was a click and then silence. Two breaths and then another voice.

  “Agent Conway?”

  “Yes.”

  “Another problem?”

  “Perhaps. Who is Iain Campbell?” I asked.

  “We need to meet.”

  “I’m in Harper’s Ferry. I’ll be in the city later tonight.”

  “The usual place at the usual time?”

  “I don’t know yet. I’ll call you when I’m in town. Be available.”

  I hung up.

  Kurt coughed. “Everything all right?”

  “Sure. Campbell is CIA. Tierney wouldn’t want to meet me if he wasn’t. Misha said Zachary referred to Brown as his friend and asked that he be called. He doesn’t think he hired him to take out the family.”

  “The subversion is coagulating,” Kurt said, tapping his fingers on the hood.

  “Think it was easier when the plot was thickening,” I said with a grin.

  Kurt smiled. “Probably was.”

  “There is something fucked up about this whole thing.” It was just the extent of the fucking and the upping that I wasn’t sure of. “I am wondering if Campbell was after Brown/Maguire the whole time.”

  “You think we crossed inadvertently into a CIA operation?”

  “It feels like that.”

  “Hotel?”

  “Yeah, we need coffee while we wait for everyone to congregate here.”

  We got into the car, Maria between Sam and me, and my thoughts wandered as Kurt drove us back to the hotel.

  A funny feeling writhed around and suggested that Maria’s call to tip us off jeopardized Campbell’s operation, and I didn’t know if that was intentional. There were still things about Maria that bothered me.

  I wanted to smack my head into the passenger window as a new and unexpected song pulsated through my head. Nuns singing ‘Maria.’ The Sound of Music came to life right there inside my head. I had no idea how to solve a problem like Maria.

  Twenty-Six

  Hot Stuff

  I saw the black sedans pulling into the parking lot from our window and knew the dive team had arrived. I nudged Lee.

  “Divers.”

  He ran his fingers through his hair. “How do I look?”

  “Not like you were crawling through the woods two hours ago, if that’s what you’re asking.”

  “That’ll do.”

  “You still look like a rock star,” Kurt said then ducked the open hand that flew at his head.

  “Smart ass. You’ve been around Chicky too long,” Lee muttered. He tucked in his shirt and attempted to rub dirt off his shoes.

  “She’s not going to be looking at your shoes,” I commented.

  Sam laughed from the other side of the room.

  Maria looked on, confusion clouding her face. Not surprising.

  “Want to meet the USERT team?” I said to Kurt. We both faced Lee and watched his mouth flap open and shut. “Oh, did you want to brief the team?” I asked Lee with utmost innocence.

  His hand was already on the doorknob. “I’ll take this.”

  Kurt grinned. “I’ll go with you.”

  They left Sam and me chuckling.

  “He seems nervous …” Maria said.

  “His girlfriend just arrived, she’s a USERT diver,” I replied.

  “What’s USERT?”

  “Underwater search and evidence response team.”

  “Oh, I see.” She must’ve given the diver comment some thought because a few minutes later she asked, “What are the divers for?”

  “We’re looking for Campbell.”

  “In the river?”

  “Yes.”

  “But John said he’d gone for supplies―”

  “Maria, John is not who you thought he was.” Or was he? “And Iain didn’t go for supplies.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Did either of them have a package with them?”

  She shook her head.

  “You’re sure? You didn’t see any diamonds?”

  “Diamonds? No.” Her head shook, then stopped. She looked at me. “You wanted to talk to me about the autism fundraiser, why?”

  “The guest list. You made a late addition, a Mrs. Sutherland.” No relation to the USERT diver that Lee fancied.

  She nodded.

  “Why?”

  “I was asked to by Mr. Bleich.”

  “Bleich senior?”

  “Yes.”

  Well, that changed things again. Sigmund Bleich must’ve known the Sutherland woman. We were still missing a huge piece of the puzzle. Damn.

  I left Maria to drink her coffee and took my phone outside the room. I called Sandra.

  “This might sound like it’s coming from left field … but look into the Sutherlands, in particular Mrs. Sutherland. Insurance policies she may have on her husband and links to Bleich, compare her phone records with Sigmund Bleich’s and it wouldn’t hurt to compare them to Marika’s as well.”

  “I’m on it. Everything okay out there?”

  “It’s one twisted nest of lies so far. Par for the course.”

  I couldn’t expect anything less from something that involved the CIA, an Irish hit man, and diamonds that may or may not be missing. I’d thought this was maybe about diamonds but we didn’t know if they were missing or not, yet. That was a situation I could remedy.

  “When are you planning on returning to DC?”

  “As soon as possible. USERT are on scene now, I’ll wait a few hours and see if they find a body.” I paused for a moment. “Did anyone open the safe in the twin’s apartment?”

  “I believe so. You want the report forwarded?”

  “Yes, please. Find out if the Heathcote diamonds are missing.”

  “Do you know where they were stored?”

  “I think they were split between the twins, Zachary, Marika, and Sigmund. So I imagine in safes corresponding to the owners.”

  Sandra said goodbye.

  I flopped down on my back on the bed and closed my eyes. I could sense Maria watching me. I knew Sam was sitting in an armchair by the window, also watching me.

&
nbsp; I needed to create white noise in my head, to cancel out everything I thought I knew about this case and view the facts all over again.

  As I concentrated on creating a thinking space, I could hear Sam and Maria.

  “Is she all right?” Maria said.

  “Yeah,” Sam replied. “She’s thinking.”

  “Does she always think like that?”

  “Nope.” Sam then directed a question to me. “Okay, Chicky Babe?”

  I lifted my right hand and made the okay sign with my fingers. From then on in, it was just me and my thoughts.

  They wound through the woods and circled the cabin. A trail of words that when I put them all together said, “Catching Maguire was too easy.” I could see him on the cabin floor, a pool of sticky blood spilling all around his head. Splatter across the wall behind him. His rifle on the ground. Why didn’t Maria go back into the cabin? Where was the computer that Maguire used to monitor the cameras?

  That’s what I’d missed. No computer. Surveillance cameras were feeding to something, but whatever it was, it wasn’t in the cabin. I started to doubt that Maguire did know we were coming. Perhaps they weren’t his cameras. So who did he think was out there? Maria? Campbell?

  We walked into something that wasn’t meant for us. So why shoot when we identified ourselves? An internal laugh bubbled up. People do dumb shit when confronted by us.

  Never seems to occur to anyone to just do what we ask and live.

  I opened my eyes and blinked at the ceiling. Someone monitored those cameras and somewhere there was a laptop or something that received the signal.

  “Sam,” I said without moving.

  “Chicky?”

  “The cameras, there was no laptop in the cabin.”

  I rolled over. He was already on his feet in front of Maria.

  “Who set up the cameras?”

  She frowned. “What cameras?”

  “The ones that told you we were coming?” I said. “Where’s your phone?”

  “Iain took it from me when we left DC,” she said.

  “Did he give it back?”

  Her eyes darted to the window and back as she lied to my face.

  “No.”

  “Where did you leave it?”

  “I don’t have it.”

  That was truthful. She had nothing on her. But she did have it before we arrived. That’s how she knew we were coming. That’s why she was outside at that moment.

  “Where did you hide it?” I said again with growing impatience.