Page 98 of Edge of Steele
“And then what happened?” Russ asked.
“Then when I tried to pin him down on what his plans were, he took a swipe at me to stop picking at him. So I shoved the plans in my bag and took off. Not sure where I thought I was going. I knew if I left and took the plans with me, I’d better end up somewhere he wouldn’t find me.”
Finn perched on the edge of the credenza. “And you thought that was the Eckles’s house?”
“Yeah, I mean, Dean pitted me against Pauline all the time. Of course that meant we never got along real well. At least not around him, but we were once friends and could both relate to living with the creep.” She shifted in the chair, her cuffs rasping against the wood. “But either he figured it out or he was coming to Oregon to set the bomb, because he showed up at Uri’s place out of the blue.”
“Uri Gates?” Finn leaned forward. “You know him?”
She nodded. “We dated back in the day. So I’d looked him up while I was staying with Virg and Pauline. He knew I was trying to avoid Dean and called to give me a heads-up.”
“When was that?” Russ asked.
“The morning before I took off.”
Ryleigh felt like they were getting a lot of answers, but they didn’t really help them discover if Keenan planted the bomb or not. “Did Uri say why Keenan was at his place?”
“Kind of.” Carla rolled her neck. “He was asking a lot of questions about Shadow Lake Logging. Dean went out of the house the morning Uri called me, and Uri said he’d found components for a bomb in Dean’s bag. Uri was afraid Dean planned on blowing the place up. Last I talked to Uri, he was going to keep a close eye on the company explosive inventory. Dean too, for as long as he was in town. So Uri could stop Dean if he needed to.”
Okay, now they had some answers that might help, but… “Why didn’t you report it to the police?”
“Dean didn’t have any experience with bombs, and I still had the schematics so I didn’t think he could build one.” She twisted her fingers together. “Besides, Uri assured me he had things under control.”
“Looks like you were wrong.” Russ told her about the explosion at the mill and the victim.
Her mouth dropped open. “Someone died? But who?”
“We’re waiting on confirmation,” Ryleigh said, not wanting to give her Gates’s name without an official identification. But now it was looking more like Gates got caught trying tostopthe bomb rather than set it.
“I’ll bet Dean did it.” Carla’s eyes filled with tears. “I hope you find him.” She sat forward. “And if he did it and killed this person, then he goes away for a long time, right?”
“If he goes away, he quits bothering you.” Russ eyed her. “You could help us with that.”
“Me?” Carla flashed her gaze up to him. “But how?”
“Simple,” Russ said. “Get word to him that you’re staying here, and we’ll be waiting for him to show up and collar him.”
Carla shook her head hard. “If I called him, he’d know it was some sort of a trap.”
“You have a point.” Russ stepped back, running a hand through his hair. “We’ll have Virgil Eckles call Keenan, and tell him he doesn’t want any trouble, so he’s ratting you out to protect his family.”
“Yeah. Yeah.” Carla gave a vigorous nod. “That should work.”
“We were never able to find a phone number for Keenan,” Finn said.
“He uses prepaids.” Carla fixed her rapt attention on Russ. “I have his latest number. I can give it to you, but I’m not sure if it’s still in service.”
Russ got out a notepad and pen. “Go ahead.”
She rattled off the number.
Russ jotted it down and then looked up, his jaw set as he looked at Ryleigh. “Give me a minute to arrange for backup. Then we set the trap and finally get our hands on Dean Keenan and bring this investigation to a close.”
22
Finn paced his living room, waiting for Russ to call from the motel and say Keenan had picked up his phone. Eckles had tried to call, but got Keenan’s voicemail and had to leave a message. They couldn’t even be sure Keenan would get the message. He could very well have dumped that phone and gotten a new one.
“You’re making me nervous with all the pacing.” Ryleigh patted the couch cushion next to her. “Come sit by me instead.”
