placed.
“So how was Scott killed?” Dixon asked.
While Aaron continued his task, he said, “His trachea wasn’t crushed, if that’s what you’re thinking. Looks like he took three forty-caliber rounds to the chest. One is up around the dicrotic notch; looks like stippling on the neck, indicating that shot was very close range, maybe around two feet. Another one looks to be from a little further away than the others. Most likely that was the shooter’s first shot. But I’ll know more once I get him to the lab and I can do a full workup.”
“What about—”
“No. Toenails are intact.”
“Okay,” Vail said. “Figured as much. Thanks.”
“Yeah, whatever.” He pointed at her fanny pack. “You carry a forty-caliber pistol, correct?”
“A Glock 23.”
Aaron pulled an evidence bag from his pocket and extended a hand. “Your weapon.”
Vail shook her head. “Actually, it’s going to the FBI lab.”
“No,” Aaron said, drawing it out as if it was a musical note, “it’s going into
Vail thought about that a moment, then said, “I’m a federal agent and I have to abide by federal rules and regulations. If you’ve got a problem with that, my ASAC is Thomas Gifford. I’m sure he can quote the appropriate section from the Manual of Administrative Operations Procedures. So my sidearm is going to the FBI lab. I’d imagine you can have it once they’re done with it.”
Aaron groaned—it sounded more like a growl—and walked off, back toward the lighted crime scene.
Vail stared off at the ground for a moment, lost in thought. “This isn’t his typical kill,” she finally said. “No ritual behaviors. He didn’t choke Fuller and he didn’t yank off a toenail. He used a handgun to kill him.”
“So what are you saying?” Robby asked. “That this isn’t our offender?”
Vail shook her head. “I’m not saying that.”
“He could’ve been trying to make it look like you killed Fuller,” Dixon said.
“Why would he do that?”
“I’m not saying he did.” Dixon turned to Vail. “But how else would you explain what he did?”
Vail picked up the sterile urine specimen container Marcus had set aside. “If the UNSUB’s motive was merely to fuck with our heads, show us he’s in charge, then it doesn’t matter how he kills Fuller. He was taking a big risk by following us, by entering this vineyard. Even though it was pitch black out, either of us could’ve heard him. But the way a narcissist thinks, he figures he can do this stuff and there’s nothing we can do to stop him. Killing one of us is a big deal. The more shit he does like this, the more it starts to add up and it becomes more difficult for us to contain the fallout. I mean, he killed a cop—the sheriff’s stepson. If he knew the relationships, then his choice was purposeful.”
“He couldn’t lose,” Robby said. “The sheriff’s stepson, a sergeant, or an FBI agent. Either way, that’s big shit.”
Vail was about to respond when Stan Owens appeared behind them. Brix was trailing a few paces back. “Stan,” Brix called out. “Stan, think about this.”
Owens stopped a few feet from Vail—a bit further than normal conversation typically occurs. But Robby was at Vail’s left elbow, and Owens no doubt remembered his recent encounter with the large Vienna detective.
“I’m sorry for your loss, Sheriff.”
“That right?” Owens said. “I don’t know what happened here, but I will find out. I don’t care what it takes, but I’ll make sure you go down for this—”
“Stan,” Brix said. “Stan, you’re not seeing things objectively.”
Owens spun on him. “I’m not? Well, you tell me what happened here. Vail’s here, my son is here, she’s already shown contempt for him, with plenty of witnesses—”
“I show contempt for a lot of people,” Vail said. “When they deserve it. Doesn’t mean I meet them in a deserted vineyard at night and shoot them.”
Owens turned fully back to Vail and set his jaw. “If you did this, I will personally come after you and do to you what you did to Scott. Count on it.”
“Threatening a federal agent isn’t smart,” Vail said. “And it sure as hell isn’t productive. Whoever did this— and it’s likely our offender—is still out there.”
“Convenient, isn’t it? Some guy knocked me out and killed the other guy, then disappeared. They made a movie about that once.”
“
“They caught him and we’ll catch you, too.”
“Here’s the thing, Sheriff. Shepard was innocent. Someone really did knock him out and kill his wife.”
Owens frowned and was about to reply when Brix clapped him on the shoulder. “C’mon. We’ve got work to do.”
As he led Owens away, Vail turned to Robby and Dixon. “If this is our offender, we’ve gotta catch him. He’s getting bolder. And if we don’t do something to stop him, we may not have a choice.”
“Go public,” Dixon said.
Vail nodded. “Give him what he wants.”
Afterwards, in the ladies’ restroom, Vail and Dixon splashed their faces with cold water. Dixon pulled a paper towel from the dispenser and wiped her face.
“You feel well enough to go in there?” Dixon asked.
“I’m not going to let you or anyone else try to defend me. I’ll stand up to anything anyone wants to throw at me.”
“That’s what I thought you’d say.”
Vail leaned over the vanity, close to the mirror, and looked at her swollen temple. She gently blotted it with the wet towel. It was extremely tender to touch. “We need to look into Fuller’s background, who he knew, who his friends were. We need a search warrant for his place and any known places he might’ve stored things. If we can establish a link between him and the arson, we can close that case without bias.”
“Better if I ask for those things. I don’t know if your opinion—or requests—would carry much weight with the task force right now.”
“I agree.”
Dixon balled up her fist and crumpled the paper towel, then tossed it in the waste bin. “Let’s do it.”
Mann, Gordon, Dixon, Brix, Lugo, Nance, and Vail were seated around the conference table. Brix had scared up a sheriff’s department shirt and a pair of uniform pants for Vail to wear so her blood-smeared clothing—rather, Dixon’s blouse and pants—could be forensically tested. Given the late hour and circumstances, Robby was permitted to sit in on the meeting—which Brix promised would be brief and productive.
“You okay?” Lugo asked Vail, as he took his seat.
“I’m fine. Thanks for asking, Ray. I have a feeling my friends in this town are dwindling in numbers.”
“I didn’t realize you had friends,” he said.
Vail wasn’t sure how to take that. Lugo was probably joking, but she was tired and hungry and still wasn’t completely back to herself—no doubt the drug she’d been given wasn’t entirely out of her system.
“All right,” Brix said. “I, for one, am going to miss Scott. Out of respect for him, the sheriff, and his family, we’re going to put everything we’ve got behind this. If Karen and Roxxann are right, this is the work of our UNSUB. I’m not so sure of that, but I don’t have a better explanation just yet.”
“I think,” Dixon said, “we should make every attempt to clear Scott’s name. Let’s look into his background,
