What the hell, may as well. “Sure.”
“Amanda Kozak.”
The name pinged. “Do you have any contact information for her?”
“I don’t know how good it is now, but I’ve got cell phone numbers for her and her mom.” He gave them to me.
“Do you have any idea where she transferred to?”
“Yeah, says here she moved to Boulder, Colorado.”
And that’s when it hit me. Amanda. The name of the girl in Logan’s writings. The one he was in love with. In Boulder, Colorado. It couldn’t be a coincidence. I got her address. Then I called Stanley, the PO. He wasn’t in, so I left a message. I found Bailey and filled her in.
“Well, what do you know,” she said. “An actual, bona fide lead. So that’s how it feels.” Bailey sat down at her desk. “I’ll follow up on Amanda. We should see her in person. Hell, Evan might even be with her.”
“Yeah, but let’s wait to hear back from the PO first. He might have something for us, and I think he’ll call back soon.”
“Okay, but if he doesn’t pan out, go pack your Skivvies. We’re heading for Boulder.”
69
I was right. Five minutes later, I got a call back from Stanley, the PO. I asked him about the other two suspects in the car burglary. “Were they juveniles too?”
“Yeah. Coupla goofball stoners. High as kites when they did it.”
“And Evan? Was he high?”
“Didn’t test dirty, but I’m not sure what they tested for, so I wouldn’t swear he was clean. Probably wasn’t. The whole thing seemed like a stoner kid prank to tell you the truth. But Evan Cutter got the message. He was the only one who completed his community service on time. Matter of fact, he was a model probationer. Even wrote a letter of apology to the victim all on his own. Don’t see that very often.” Stanley sighed. “You gonna find him, you think?”
“We’re trying. Where are the other kids who did the car burg with him?”
“Hold on, lemme check.” A few moments later, he came back on the line. “One of ’em’s in juvenile hall for drug possession. Been there for the past three months. Other one…let me see. Mark Unger. Looks like he moved. Yep, got a forwarding address out in San Diego. Want it?”
I sure as hell did. “Do you know whether that address is still good?”
“Nope. He’s San Diego’s problem now.”
Or maybe the San Fernando Valley’s. “You have a description of him?”
“Hang on…five ten, one sixty, brown and brown.”
It fit. “Thanks for your time, Stanley.”
“Not a problem. Anything else I can do, you just let me know. Damn shame if something happened to Evan. Seems like it’s always the good ones.”
In the immortal words of Billy Joel. When I hung up, Bailey was typing on her computer. I told her about Mark Unger. “It may not pan out but-”
“But it just might,” Bailey said. “I think we need to divide and conquer. Harrellson’s got connects in San Diego-”
“Harrellson’s got connects on the moon-”
“How’d you find out? Anyway, he’ll get faster answers down there than we will. We should head out to Boulder. This girl might be a link to our shooter. And if Evan’s with her, I don’t want to give him the chance to move on.”
“But what if-”
“The shooter strikes again? What more can we do here?”
I shook my head. Nothing. And we hadn’t had a letter. Maybe now that he’d lost his partner in crime, the killer had to fall back and regroup. It was our only hope.
“I assume this means you found Amanda?” I asked.
“Yep. She’s been in school every day.” Bailey resumed typing. “I’m banging out our request for travel authorization.”
Five minutes later, we headed to Graden’s office, paperwork in hand. He had a new secretary, Cherie, who was a little too young and flirty for my taste. She was staring at her computer screen and barely glanced up when we said we needed to see Graden. “I don’t think he’s available right now.” She went back to her monitor as she said, “Have a seat. I’ll let him know you want to see him.”
Bailey raised an eyebrow. “You do know we’re working the Fairmont case, right?”
With an irritated sigh, Cherie looked up from her computer screen. “Yeah, I know. And I also know he’s busy right now. So if you can’t wait, I suggest you come back in half an hour.”
Sure, why don’t we, honey? Another fifty people might be dead by then, but, whatever. Bailey’s expression should have warned Cherie that she’d taken the wrong tack, but it didn’t. Cherie blithely went back to her computer.
“Uh, Cherie? We can’t wait half an hour. Matter of fact, we can’t wait five minutes. Now you can either call and tell him we’re here, or you can call the hospital and book yourself a bed. Right friggin’ now.”
Cherie’s eyes narrowed. “You don’t want to threaten me, Detective.”
“No? That’s funny, I thought I just did.”
“We’ll see what Lieutenant Hales has to say about this.” Cherie glared at Bailey, but her hand trembled as she picked up her phone and pressed the buzzer. “Sir, I need to see you for just a moment.” She got up and went into Graden’s office.
I pulled out the ten-spot Jay had given me. “Ten bucks says she’s canned by tomorrow.”
“Two to one she’s canned in three minutes.”
I looked at Bailey. “Getting a little cocky, aren’t we?”
“You know how we’ve been feeling?”
“Yeah.” Pissed off, freaked-out, and frustrated beyond speech.
“And Graden’s stuck behind a desk.” Bailey looked at her watch. “In three-two-one-”
Cherie burst out of Graden’s office, beet red, eyes shooting sparks. She refused to even glance our way as she yanked open her desk drawer, pulled out her purse and her thermos, and snatched her coat off the back of her chair.
Bailey gave her a fake smile. “Have a nice day.”
Graden appeared at the door and motioned for us to come in. The glint in his eyes showed just how right Bailey had been. This was no time to whine about a detective who was running down the biggest case in the city.
Bailey filled Graden in on all the latest developments in one long breath.
Graden didn’t hesitate when she’d finished. “You’re good to go on the travel request. You want local backup, just in case?”
“Not yet. We can’t afford a leak right now. The fewer people who know where we’re headed, the better. If Evan’s with her, he might run. And there’s no reason to think she poses a threat at this point.”
“Not even if she’s knowingly helping our shooter?”
Bailey set her jaw. “It’s a chance we’ll have to take. We can’t afford to have either one of them slip through our fingers.”
Graden looked at me. “Is your carry up-to-date?”
Meaning, my license to carry a concealed weapon. I’d resisted getting one for years until Bailey finally put her foot down. “Yep. I’m locked and loaded.”
Graden came around the desk. “Now listen, any trouble at all, you call for backup immediately. No cowboy antics.” We nodded. “I’ll have them put you on the first available flight.”
We headed for the door, and then I remembered what I’d been meaning to ask him. “Any progress on finding out who planted the bug in my office?”
“Nothing yet, but we’re moving pretty fast. Your investigators are helping out.”
“Okay, thanks.”
“And text me when you land. There and here. Please.” I had a habit of forgetting to do that. I nodded and gave him a reassuring smile. Graden did not look reassured. “Be safe.”