Page 12 of Edge of Steele
She flashed up a hand. “Hold up there. You might have interrogated people while serving as a SEAL, but in the civilian world, we just question.”
Hopefully, he would keep her warning in mind, but would he?
Any hint that Ryan was holding back on them, and Finn would likely revert to his SEAL training and find a way to make Ryan talk. Something she would have to stop if they had any hope of succeeding in this investigation.
3
Ryleigh tore her gaze from the fire that smoldered and smoked in the charred tree line where firefighters seemed to be winning the war right now. She focused on Tobias Hogan, stepping their way. He wore jeans and a plaid shirt and resembled a skinny Santa Claus. Or at least Ryleigh had always thought of him that way.
He usually had the jolly personality too, but today the wrinkles around his eyes were even deeper, and his mouth was pursed behind his flowing white beard. He stopped short of her and Finn, where they’d been waiting on a truck tailgate for Ryan.
Tobias plunged his hand into his silvery hair. “Any news on Uri?”
Finn stood and shook his head. “I called him, and it went to voicemail. Then I sent one of the men over to check on him, and he didn’t answer his door. And we didn’t find his vehicle either.”
“Sheriff Maddox will do a welfare check,” Ryleigh added. “This gives him probable cause for a forced entry, so he can go inside Gates’s house.”
Tobias frowned.
“Any idea why he might’ve been here at this time of day?” Finn asked.
Tobias fired a heated look at Finn. “Not setting off a bomb, if that’s what you’re getting at. He’s an upstanding guy as far as I know.”
“I meant no offense, sir.” Finn’s apprehension surprised Ryleigh. “It’s just that he hasn’t been working with us all that long. There might be something he’s hiding, and we’ve yet to find out.”
“Find out what? You know I ran background checks on all my employees after we got the first threat. None of the guys have a criminal record or hint of radicalism.”
Ryleigh stood too. “I mean no offense either, but that only tells us that he was never apprehended, not that he didn’t commit crimes. He could easily be affiliated with an extremist group, and the check you did wouldn’t have that information.”
Tobias pressed his full lips together. “You know a lot about all that cyber gibberish. Can’t you check into him that way?”
She wished that the earlier work she’d done had paid off, and she had a lead to share right now. Maybe then Tobias would be more apt to keep her family’s company on. But she didn’t, so she worked extra hard not to let the disappointment in her failure show. “I can look into him, and we’ll also ask a former FBI agent and the IT expert at the Veritas Center to research him too. A three-pronged attack could result in finding the key piece of information we need.”
He gave a sharp nod, and his beard whispered over his chest. “What about working with the sheriff?”
“Ryleigh offered her services to Maddox,” Finn said. “He refused and was closemouthed about his findings before he took off.”
Tobias’s eyes pinched tight. “That won’t help any of us. Let me give him a call. Our families go way back, and he owes me a few favors.”
“Family friends or not, Russ does have to follow proper procedures,” she said, though she really didn’t want to defend him right now.
Tobias frowned. “Still, I’ll work on him.”
She appreciated Tobias’s help, but it was better for her to work on Russ directly. He wasn’t easily influenced, and he would do what he would do despite Tobias’s pressure. “I know we’ve been through all of this before when the threats started coming in, but have you thought of anyone other than ecoterrorists who might want to do something like this?”
Tobias shook his head. “And I’ve been thinking about it. A lot. But no one else comes to mind. Gotta be those Sovereign Earth people. That’s the only thing that makes any sense.”
She agreed but… “Problem is, there aren’t any local members of the group, so someone from out of the area has to be doing it. I can check local motels and hotels for possible suspects but a warrant will likely be required to get any info.”
“Russ can get one.” Tobias nodded at a vintage red pickup parking down the road and two men stepped out. “There’s Reid. Maybe I can ask him to put some pressure on Russ too.”
She should’ve recognized the driver as Reid Maddox, but she hadn’t caught a good look at his face. The two men quickly marched toward the back of their truck.
“Perfect timing. I wanted to talk to him anyway.” She faced Tobias. “The former FBI agent I mentioned is Colin Graham, and he’s a part of Reid’s team.”
She didn’t wait for Tobias to ask any questions, but headed down the road, skirting the large log trucks still hugging the side. Finn had said drivers would be coming back to return the vehicles to the office location.
She got closer to Reid’s pickup and two sets of footfalls trailed behind her. Finn and Tobias of course. Thankfully the awkward silence between her and Finn had ended. They’d earlier given their official statements to Russ, and as predicted, he didn’t share a bit of information. Then she and Finn had made phone calls, checked email, and otherwise sat staring as water trucks came and went while the firefighters battled on and the flames diminished.
