“He’s our man,” Chief Cummings said the moment Earl left the small conference room. “I feel it in my gut, and my gut is never wrong. He’s definitely guilty. Why didn’t you arrest him?”
“Because we don’t have the evidence to arrest him right now,” Evan replied curtly. “Put a couple of tails on him. If he is our man, maybe he’ll lead us to where Jacob and Gretchen are holed up.”
“Consider it done. But I’ve got to tell you, I definitely feel like we got our inside man.” Chief Cummings appeared positively jubilant. Evan wasn’t so sure.
He’d have Hendrick work with the cell phone company to get Earl’s texts and a log of incoming and outgoing calls. Of course it was always possible that if Earl really was involved, he might be smart enough to own a burner phone that would be less easy to trace.
“Earl has always been a strange duck. He’s never married and is a loner. He lives in a little house his parents owned before they died, but I heard he owes some back taxes on it and is about to lose it. I’m telling you, he’s our man, Agent Duran.”
Evan got up from the table. “Put the tails on him and let me know if anything breaks. I’ll touch base with you sometime tomorrow.”
Minutes later Evan stepped outside the police station, surprised that night was approaching and with it a deep exhaustion he couldn’t deny. It had been a wild day, from Phil accosting them with a gun, the move to Annalise’s home and finally a potential piece of the puzzle.
But, he was functioning on two hours of sleep, and at the moment he was so exhausted his thoughts were muddled. As he drove back to Annalise’s place, he thought about the interview with Earl. While the fact that the man had met Jacob a month before was suspicious, it was also possible it was one of those odd coincidences that life sometimes sets up. The last thing he wanted was a rush to justice that might see an innocent man behind bars and the guilty still free.
He let himself in with the spare key Annalise had given him. He walked into the living room to find her talking about code on a video chat with Hendrick. For a moment he merely stood there and listened.
She was brilliant. That was part of what had drawn him to her in the first place. The fact that she could hold her own with one of the FBI’s top techs was remarkable.
She must have sensed his presence for she looked over her shoulder and smiled, then turned back to the computer. “Evan just walked in,” she said to the tech agent.
“Evan. Anything new come out of the interviews?” Hendrick asked.
Evan stepped into camera view and caught Hendrick up with what he’d learned from Susan and Earl. “Chief Cummings is convinced Earl is our man, and he was ready to make an arrest immediately.”
“And what did you think?” Hendrick asked.
“I think we need a lot more information than what I have,” Evan replied. The two men talked for another few minutes, and when they finished Hendrick said goodbye to Annalise and then he disconnected.
“Are you okay?” Annalise asked.
Evan sank down on the edge of the sofa. “To be honest, I’m completely exhausted. I assume you still haven’t heard from Sadie?”
“You assume right, and you probably need to crash for the night. I have to confess I napped almost the whole time you were gone. So I’m good to man the computers while you get some sleep.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “Maybe I’ll just stretch out right here on the sofa for an hour.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to go back to a bed?” she asked.
“Nah, I’ll be fine right here.”
“I’ll go get you a pillow to make you more comfortable,” she replied.
As she left the room, Evan’s thoughts went wild. The whole plot had been for Jacob to grab Sadie to break into the banking system. Sooner or later if their plan was still the same, Sadie would be put in front of a computer. Whether or not she would get an opportunity to type on Annalise’s page was another thing altogether. If the little girl was as smart as Annalise said she was, then one way or another she’d figure out a way to make contact.
He seriously doubted that Sadie would make any contact tonight. If they’d spent the day still on the run, then Jacob and Gretchen had to be exhausted, as well.
They would need to crash someplace and sleep. Or, it was possible they’d already landed somewhere and had spent the day catching up on sleep. And then there was Earl Winslow. Was he the insider who had told them which girl to grab and had provided the keys to the van and garage so they could drive in a Sandhurst vehicle? If the van was found, would it only lead the authorities around in circles?
God, his thoughts were going around and around in his head and making him half-crazy. Had he overlooked anything? Was everything possible being done to find the fugitives?
He wished he didn’t need sleep. There were times he hated that he was only human and required rest. But he knew by the way his mind was working he definitely needed a little sleep.
Annalise returned with a pillow. “Are you sure you don’t want to go back in the bedroom?” she asked one more time.
“I’ll be fine here...unless I’ll bother you.” He took the pillow from her.
“You won’t bother me. I’ll just sit tight here at my desk and
