Page 55 of Edge of Steele
“Oh, interesting.” She blinked long lashes in rapid succession. “What about them?”
“You’re a member.”
“Was a member way back in the day. Before Virg. Before becoming a mom.”
“And you’ve cut ties with them?” Russ asked.
“I mean not officially cut like resigning or anything, but I just sort of drifted away.”
“Why’s that?” Ryleigh asked.
“I inherited this place from my uncle, and when I got here, I tried to kick Virg’s logging crew off the property.” Pauline looked up at Eckles. “But he explained logging to me. Told me how companies are now logging responsibly. I could see the issue from both sides, and when the group turned more radical, I just couldn’t get behind the cause anymore.”
She smiled at her husband. “And maybe it was a little bit about meeting this guy and falling out with the guy I was dating. He was the group leader, and I ended it when I got serious about Virg.”
“Did things end amiably?” Ryleigh asked.
“Mostly.” She arched an eyebrow. “Does that matter?”
Ryleigh ignored her question. “Have you communicated with group members lately?”
“No.”
“So if I look at your phone I won’t see any calls or texts to members?” Russ asked.
Pauline twisted her hands and chewed on her lip.
Eckles placed a hand on his wife’s shoulder. “You’d need a warrant to do that.”
Russ took the warrant from a cargo pocket. “Just so happens I have one. For electronic devices and the entire property.”
“This is ridiculous.” Eckles breathed deeply, flaring his nostrils. “You have no basis to get a warrant. What do you expect to find anyway?”
“Maybe you should sit down and tell me what Iamgoing to find,” Russ said.
Eckles crossed his arms. “Nothing to do with bombs if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“You were at the site at the time of the explosion,” Russ stated.
“Just a coincidence.”
“I don’t believe in coincidences,” Russ said firmly.
“Well, I do.” Eckles waved his hand over the room. “Go ahead and search. We have nothing to hide.”
“But Virg.” Pauline shot him a pointed look.
“Doesn’t matter. We did nothing wrong.”
Russ honed his gaze on Pauline. “What don’t you want us to find?”
“My phone. I—”
Eckles came around the chair and squatted by his wife. “Don’t say another word, Pauline. Make them work for everything they find.”
“I don’t know you well, Mr. Eckles,” Ryleigh said. “But you seem to be a decent man. Your coworker was murdered. Don’t you want to help find the killer?”
“Find the killer, yes, but that’s not either one of us. You’re wasting your time here.”
