Page 11 of Edge of Steele
“No worries.” He looked away as if he was trying not to remember that day on the slopes when the avalanche had spared him and Hadley, but took both of their parents. “Anyway, it helps me understand Avery when she lashes out or even when she cries inconsolably. So there’s that.”
How was he even dealing with this? Coping? His life had been upended in so many ways, and he was obviously struggling big time.
She had to cut him some slack. A lot of slack, actually. “Was Felicia sick or was her death unexpected?”
“Unexpected. Sudden.” He rested his arm on the truck bed as if trying to keep that rigid SEAL persona in place. “She had an undiagnosed brain aneurism and collapsed during one of her shifts at the ER. You’d think if a rupture happened in a hospital, they could save her. But no way.”
“Oh, man. How rough for everyone. I’ll keep you and Avery in my prayers,” Ryleigh said sincerely. They both needed prayer right now like they needed to breathe. “And we can work together on this.”
His eyes flashed wide open and he stared at her.
She would be staring too, if she were him. Did this mean she forgave him for choosing his career over her? Not hardly. Or was she letting his loss color her decisions, and she felt sorry for him so she agreed to join him in this investigation? She honestly didn’t know how she felt and sure shouldn’t make hasty decisions. Especially one she was already regretting.
Maybe it could work. Hedidhave strong investigative skills from his SEAL days. Carefully scrutinizing situations that arose on a mission was a must-have ability for a SEAL. That, combined with her law enforcement experience, could make them a power couple in the investigation.
They’d been a real power couple in life too, but that ended far too soon.
He bent forward, grabbing her attention. “Are you planning on calling your friends at the FBI?”
She shook her head. “Russ should be able to handle the investigation his way. Besides, friends or not, my former associates are even less likely than Russ to share findings with us.”
“Then what do you propose?”
“No agency will provide us with official forensics results. That’s a given. But if I get Veritas onboard, maybe Russ will let them share the info with us.”
“You think he will?”
Did she? “He’s by the book and our odds aren’t good. Not unless it serves his purpose.”
“Not having access to forensics results would be a real blow. The bomber will likely be identified by the forensics.”
“Or it could just confirm any suspect we discover.”
His eyebrow went up. “And how do you propose we go about finding legit suspects?”
Yeah, how? She glanced around until an idea came to mind. “While we wait to give our statements, we move as close to the action as we can to listen in. Maybe we’ll overhear something of value. Then if Ryan is still battling the fire, we wait until we can talk to him.”
“And if he has nothing to offer?”
“We call in our own expert. I’ve investigated the recent bomb threats Tobias has received. I believe this is the work of Sovereign Earth, a nationwide ecoterrorist group. Problem is, I’ve struck out on actually pinning the threats to them.” She planted her hands on her hips, a habit she picked up in the FBI to try to make herself seem more forceful. “So instead of wasting time on going through my research again, we get help.”
“I take it you have someone in mind.”
“Yeah, someone who can run circles around me on the computer.”
“Whoa!” Finn pushed off the truck. “Ryleigh Steele modest about her IT skills? Never thought I’d see the day. This person must be something else.”
She laughed. He was right. She did tout her skills—not an unusual thing in the IT world. “I have two people in mind, actually. Nick Thorn at Veritas is the top IT expert in the area. He doesn’t have a background in terrorism, but he has top-of-the-line equipment and mad skills to run deep searches. Then there’s Colin Graham, who I worked with at the FBI. He ran the IT aspect for their domestic terrorism team but recently left the agency too.”
“Where is he now?”
“Oddly enough, he works at Shadow Lake Survival. The Maddox family business.”
“You think he’ll help us?”
“I hope he will, but he left the FBI because he was burned out on all the bad out there. Especially the terrorism aspect. He might run the other way, but it might help convince him to join in the search if I ask in person.”
“Then that sounds like our first stop.” He held her gaze. “Afterwe interrogate Ryan.”
