Page 66 of Edge of Steele
“He ransacked the townhouse?” Finn asked. “You see that on the video?”
“I did. Let me fast forward to show you.” Nick sped up the video to later in the day at four p.m. The unique boots appeared, but then moved out of view and items hit the floor in the kitchen. Dishes. Pans. Canned and boxed foods. Spices. Silverware.
“That’s it for now.” Nick stopped the video. “He moves out of camera range, and the next time we see the boots, the guy is walking out the front door a couple of hours later.”
“I imagine Gates came home from work to find his place trashed,” Finn said. “Maybe he knew this guy did it. Maybe not. Either way, he didn’t report it to the police.”
“The big question is why,” Finn said. “We need to get more information on these boots.”
“Way ahead of you.” Nick grinned. “They’re made by New Rock, a company out of Spain.”
“Spain,” she said. “That could limit the number of people who would own them.”
“You’d think so, but look at this.” Nick clicked an internet link. “The boots are sold online.”
“Well, drat.” Ryleigh stared at the Amazon page Nick had brought up.
“Still, the description says it’s a vintage style.” Finn lifted his hands from the chair and moved back. “And the boots look worn so maybe someone knows who has a pair around here.”
Ryleigh nodded. “We can ask around. Local gossips are bound to know if anyone owns boots like these.”
“Give me a minute to isolate and enhance a still shot.” Nick’s fingers slid over the computer trackpad. “And I’ll text it to you.”
“Perfect.” Eager to move forward on this lead, Ryleigh got up. She came face-to-face with Finn.
Something flared in his eyes, but it quickly evaporated, and he stepped back. “You have a plan?”
“Seems like a boot for someone who cares about their appearance,” she said, her thoughts still perking. “Someone like Keenan who thinks he’s a ladies’ man. We can show the picture to Pauline. She might know if he wears New Rock boots.”
“Sounds like a good start.”
“And if it’s not him, then we can ask locals if they recognize the style.” She was already thinking about the shop owners in town who would likely know.
Finn smiled. “We might finally have something, and the bomber’s ID could be within reach.”
She returned his smile and got lost in the warmth flowing her way. The urge to touch him was strong. Very strong. But the wind kicked up, whipping the stench of burnt materials in the air and snapping her back to task.
“Ryleigh,” Grady called out from down the hill where he and Trent were trudging toward them. “Ready to check out that explosives’ depot?”
“We good to go?” she asked Nick.
“Have at it. I can text the still shot so off you go.” He flicked his hands as if they were bugs he was swatting away.
“Ready,” she told Grady, but wished she was going to see Pauline instead to ask if these fancy silver-heeled boots belonged to Dean Keenan.
Finn had parked on the road just shy of the deputy standing at the top of Shadow Lake Logging’s driveway. He forbid them from driving down the hill. In fact, he’d insisted on calling Russ to ask if they had permission to access the place at all.
Not that Finn could go into the explosives’ depot anyway, but he could head down the hill with the men and Ryleigh to answer any questions they might have about the inventory or procedures.
The deputy gave them a thumbs up, and Finn pushed open his truck door. He met Ryleigh by the hood. Trent and Grady had gotten a phone call before leaving that they’d had to take, so they hadn’t arrived yet.
“I can at least get the door open for the guys.” Ryleigh led the way around the deputy, who eyed them both.
On the other side of the barrier, something set Finn’s protective instincts into overdrive, and he caught up to her while scanning the property. He searched the valley and the area around the building. Watched for movement. A flash of a weapon. But saw nothing except grass and weeds swaying in the breeze and a bright beam of sunlight shining down on the building and making it look less institutional.
Was he missing something and someone was hiding on site? Someone the deputy hadn’t seen?
Not likely. But Finn got a hinky feeling when approaching situations that could possibly go wrong and the feeling was creeping over him. He eased closer to Ryleigh. She didn’t seem to notice and kept moving.
