Page 71 of Made of Steele
“She convinced him to meet her in a nearby park.” Drew shook his head even if Harris couldn’t see him. “I can’t believe the guy’s going to bring out a stolen antiquity in public.”
Harris snorted. “How many times have we seen a guy do something stupid for love?”
“Plenty.” He’d never really understood it and hadn’t counted himself as one of them in the past. But what would he do for Teagan if he wanted to pursue a relationship with her?
He would stop at almost nothing.
“Let me know if she gets something solid to move on, and if you need anything else.” The line went silent, and he looked to see if the call had ended, but they remained connected. “Watch your back, Collier. This has seriously taken a turn for the bizarre and dangerous.”
Harris’s warning lingered in Drew’s brain as he wound in and out of heavy traffic to the west side of town. She’d warned him only on rare occasions and that put him on edge. He took an even more circuitous route than normal, but so far no sign of being followed. He arrived at Teagan’s house and parked behind her car. Her vehicle was empty so he jogged to the wide porch and rang the bell.
She opened the door, marker in hand. “Got the preliminary reports from Nick, and I’m putting the names and stats on the board. I started them printing too so we can make notes.”
“Have you heard back from Harris yet?” He entered the foyer.
“Nothing yet. I have my phone set to alert for emails so we won’t miss it.”
He followed Teagan to the dining room, where she’d written three of the four victims’ names on the board in cherry red marker.
She tapped the empty slot for the second victim. “I called Kelsey on the way over. She’s just now getting the bones for victim two on the table to examine them and will call as soon as she has anything to share.” She dropped the marker in the tray. “The reports from Nick should be finished printing. Let me grab them.”
She marched out of the room, and her footfalls sounded on the hallway floor gradually disappearing.
He went to the board and studied the information they’d uncovered.
Grave 1 - Smiley/Lenny Spence killed by sword and died 2016.
Grave 2 - Unknown
Grave 3 - Kris Forte killed with rifle and died April of 2022.
Grave 4 - Carlo Romo killed with arrow and died November of 2022.
Drew ran his finger over each name written in precise strokes. “Who are you guys, and what do you have in common?”
“Hopefully these reports can help with that.” Teagan handed a stack of papers to Drew and went to the board with her own set. “I also got an email from Harris. She’s working on getting the files for the missing person investigations, but she wanted us to know that none of the victims has a record. Not even a speeding ticket.”
He let that bit of news sink in as she wrote Forte’s profession next to his name.Hotel executive. Next to Romo she wrotealternative energy executive.
“Might as well write enforcer next to Smiley’s name,” he said.
She jotted it on the board. “No obvious connection between the three of them. He might’ve been an enforcer, but he died before the others did and couldn’t have killed them.”
“Maybe the connection is career related. What could a hotel executive have to do with alternative energy?”
“A hotel chain could be using renewable energy at their hotels.”
“Could be, I suppose. Or maybe they have something in their private lives that connect them.” Drew grabbed the reports from Nick and sat to read through the basic facts. “Both Romo and Forte were both married. Forte had two kids. Lived in Portland suburbs. Forte in Clackamas and Romo in Sherwood.”
Teagan turned the page on her report and ran her finger down the paper. “This is an article on Romo going missing. Disappeared while hiking near Mount Hood. Presumed dead.”
Drew scanned the next report. “Next one is about Forte. He was last seen leaving his gym late at night. Didn’t arrive home. Car was never found. Obviously neither was he.”
Teagan sat next to Drew and met his gaze. “Death notification calls will have to be done. Can you do them with your UC status?”
“The op is winding down, and the information I could glean in participating will outweigh any risk of these women connecting me to my undercover personality.”
“Yeah, odds are good they don’t know anything about this.”
