Second Chances: A PAVAD Duet (31 page)

Who from the Indianapolis
forensics lab would have that kind of knowledge?

***

He took the files Len had
provided home. He and Marianna—as well as Hellbrook and Georgia,
who were meeting them at the house—would pour over the twenty-two
suspects, and narrow it down.

It might take them all
night to do it, but by morning he’d know who to send his agents
looking for.

Marianna was silent in the
car beside him. He’d had agents secure Brynlock Academy where her
boys, Matthew, and Dan’s daughter Gracie all attended. The children
were then ferried to the appropriate homes under guarded escort.
Her sigh was long, and he echoed it silently.

“
What are we supposed to
tell the boys?”

Ed thought a moment. “I
don’t know. That there were some injuries at the lab
today?”

“
They’ll suspect. I know
they will.”

“
Probably. Maybe you should
tell them the truth. Watered down, of course. But…I’m keeping a lid
on the exact details for as long as possible.” No use stirring up a
media-induced panic; that wouldn’t serve anyone well.

“
Of course. But the kids
were escorted home by armed federal agents; they are going to have
questions.”

“
And I’ll help you answer
them; if you want me to.”

She nodded. “I called the
hospital again.”

“
And?”

“
Everyone is stable now.
Kelly has some serious burns on her back; Ally a concussion and
smoke inhalation. Payton has a pretty nasty concussion,
lacerations, and a broken arm; and Sam has had complications with
her asthma from the smoke. Other than that, it’s smoke inhalation
for most everyone else. Susie Jones had a heart attack, as
well.”

“
We were really lucky
today. We could have lost so many more.”

Marianna told the four
older boys that there had been an incident at the lab, and Ed had
them brought home by agents just as a precaution, and because he
knew she’d be unable to pick the boys up at their usual time.
They’d seemed satisfied with that, though Nate definitely had
questions.

And both she and Ed had
reeked of smoke.

Ed’s housekeeper had dinner
ready when everyone arrived, and the younger children were kept
occupied playing with Matthew. The older boys had homework, and
Marianna set them on it.

Then she, the Hellbrooks,
and Ed settled around the now-cleared dining room table. Marianna
stared at the stack of files Ed held. In those papers were the
people she’d left three months ago. Friends, colleagues, people
she’d laughed and even cried with. And now he was asking her to
help him dissect that information to find the
one
person who might possibly hate
her, Cody, Kelly, Ally, Sam, and Payton.

It made Rosa’s pot roast
feel like a brick in her stomach.

But what other choice did
they have?

Ed’s daughter took a
section of the files. “What we’re looking for is someone with a
grudge—legitimate or not—turned stalker. Either resentful or
rejected in some way.”

“
But the
question is
why
Payton, Allison, Kelly, Marianna, Cody, and Sam?” Ed asked.
“There has to be an
additional
connection between them all, wouldn’t
there?”

Hellbrook looked at
Marianna. “Most likely. And this happened in Indianapolis. We’re
going to need details and a timeline of what happened in the month
or so preceding your relocation. Not just what happened to you, but
everyone else. Can you think of anything?”

Marianna thought for a
moment. “A lot of things happened that month.”

Georgia patted her
shoulder. “Start on the day the relocation request was made. Who
all was told?”

“
We had a meeting. All lab
personnel were included. I knew what was going on; I’d been briefed
that morning.”

“
Did anyone else
know?”

“
We’d heard inklings that
something big was going on in St. Louis, involving forensics. We
also heard that the deputy director was presiding over the meeting.
You know how rumor mills work; nothing really helpful, more
sensational as they grow.”

“
I’m not too familiar with
the details—where you all chosen specifically, or was the
relocation volunteer?” Hellbrook asked.

Ed answered that one. “A
mix of both. I heard good things about Marianna through the
grapevine. I did some browsing of personnel jackets, and realized
she was friends with both Fin and Lorcan. I spoke with them
both—heard great things—and also started looking at personnel
jackets of those she worked with. Once I realized she had some of
the best technicians and specialists in the area, I looked closer.
After several weeks of discussions with the Indianapolis field
office—as well as others—we made the decision that we wouldn’t mess
with a good thing, and try to keep the specialists who worked well
together, on the same teams. That’s why we offered relocation
packages to nine people. Two were declined due to family in the
area and being close to retirement age.”

“
Before you offered those
packages, Dad, were the nine people on the exact same
team?”

“
Yes. For the most part, we
were on the same shift, or had several hours’ overlap. We worked
good together, and the lab was a comfortable place to work. Nearly
all of those I worked closely with decided to relocate. Only three
were from other shifts, and I didn’t know them that well. One of
those was Eric; I worked with him on a few cases, mostly on
differing shifts, but I worked closely with his ex-wife. The other
two were those who didn’t relocate.”

“
What about the other
shifts? How did they take the request?”

“
There
was some grumbling—working for this new division brought with it a
pay raise and some prestige. And those who were offered the
transfers weren’t necessarily the most experienced on lab staff.
The Indianapolis lab isn’t a
large
one at all. About a third the size of this one.
That made a difference to some, too.”

“
Can you think of anyone
who was capable of composing something like this?” Ed placed a
composite drawing on the table in front of her. She studied it
closely.

“
This is what the explosive
looked like? Eric is the one who handles our explosives evidence.
This looks like something we’ve logged in the past.” Marianna
turned the document over so that she could show the Hellbrooks what
she’d noticed. “This section here holds the charge, and the
detonator. This part here, if you compare it to the chemical
analysis the St. Louis Field Office lab found, it’s basically a
colored smoke bomb.”

“
Every arsonist or bomber
has a unique signature,” Hellbrook said.

“
And this
looks a bit familiar to me. But I’ll admit it, explosives
are
not
my
specialty.
Eric
can tell you more. I’m sorry. But this…the green smoke bomb? I
remember working on something like this last year with Eric and
Hugh Schild.”

Ed recognized the name.
That was one of the names in the files in front of him. “Schild?
What do you know about him?”

Marianna’s face told him,
before she said anything. “I wasn’t fond of him. He worked with
Eric. He wanted Eric’s position after we left. But I don’t know if
they gave it to him. He had some…issues…with others. Don’t get me
wrong, he was very good at his job, but…he knew it,
too.”

“
Who was his direct
supervisor?”

“
Eric was his team
leader.”

“
How did they get along?”
Georgia asked.

“
Volatile. Hugh was—
is—
convinced he’s the best at his
position, but he isn’t. Eric had to naturally keep him in check.
Hugh didn’t take to that very well, I don’t think. I heard they’d
had a few arguments. But that was nothing knew—everyone had had an
argument or two with Hugh.”

Marianna hesitated, as if
she wanted to say something more.

“
Go on, sweetheart.” He
wasn’t even aware the endearment slipped out until Georgia’s eyes
narrowed. It didn’t matter; he was more than ready to tell his
daughter how his feelings for Marianna were developing. He wasn’t
going to hide it from anyone.

“
Hugh
Schild is narcissistic, a bully, and thinks he’s wonderful. And…and
the
only
people
who had access to the files of the case where the arsonist used a
colored smoke bomb of this type were Eric,
me
and Hugh.”

“
So he’s
our most likely candidate.” Ed flipped through the man’s file,
noting the stack of complaints against him. But had those
complaints led to
this
? “What else can you tell us about his relationship with
everyone? Have you personally had dealings with him? Has Agent
Cody? Dr. Asher? Kelly or Allison?”

“
I have. He wasn’t happy
that he was working with me on that case. He wasn’t happy my team
in particular was chosen, and that I’d had him blocked when he
attempted to transfer to my team. He and Kelly disagreed
constantly. She worked a later shift, and it often overlapped with
Hugh’s. Allison was her team leader. She’d had dealings with him as
well.”

“
Sam and Cody? Dr. Asher?”
Georgia asked.

“
Cody, mainly because of
Kelly. They are pretty tight, and she was more likely to confront
Hugh about his mistakes. She’s had some background in explosives as
well, and Hugh resented anyone who could potentially upstage him.
From what I heard, they put him on third shift so that he could
antagonize as few people as possible.”

“
And Sam Gareth and Dr.
Asher?” Hellbrook asked.

“
General
disagreements. Hugh didn’t say much to Sam; not with Eric being her
ex-husband. He didn’t like to confront Eric, and that’s what would
happen if he got into it with Sam. Payton…I don’t
think
he had ever had a
disagreement with Payton. Most people don’t. She’s quiet, and
sweet, and everyone likes her. Even those who don’t really fit in
with the rest of the people around them love
Payton.”

“
We’ll
have to ask her directly, once she’s awake and able to tell us
exactly what happened in her lab.” Ed wrapped a hand over
Marianna’s shoulder, rubbing lightly, sensing she was starting to
get upset. Her calm had been shaken considerably today; it was
admirable she’d held up as well as she had for this long. “In the
meantime, can you think of
why
Hugh Schild would snap, and do this? Anything, no
matter how small.”

“
I don’t
know.
He
wasn’t
offered a transfer package. He may have resented it. He may have
resented Kelly or Cody, or anyone who did. I just don’t
know!”

Ed pulled her against him
and held her while she broke down.

After Marianna regained
control of herself, she watched in almost amazement as Ed and his
son-in-law mobilized Fin’s team in the search for Hugh.

Was it Hugh? Could she
possibly have been wrong? Of everyone she’d worked with at
Indianapolis,
he
was the one she could see doing this. He was the only one in
the Indy lab who ever caused any major problems. But did that mean
he’d done this?

How else was she possibly
to explain the unique explosive composition that only she and Eric
and Hugh knew about? The case in question had been an extremely
hush-hush investigation; one that wasn’t even for their field
office, but for the Chicago lab. She’d even gone in after-shift to
help the two men with the paperwork that had required a
supervisor’s signature. She’d boxed up the paperwork and signed off
on the evidence herself.
No one
else knew about it. No one.

It had to be
Hugh.

It sickened her to think
that the man she’d worked with had had it in him to hurt so many
people. Over nothing. A job. That was all. Minor workplace
disagreements that happened in nearly every office in the country.
Were such things
ever
worth it?

The only answer was
no.

“
So what’s the next
step?”

“
I’ll get
Carrie finding out everything she can on Hugh Schild. His
background, his latest movements. Anything that may have happened
in Indy in the last few months.
You
get some rest,” Hellbrook looked her straight in
the eye, his manner reassuring. “And worry about yourself and the
kids.
We’ll
handle
things from here. And I promise you, we’ll not lose him. In a few
hours, we’ll have more to go on. In the meantime, I suggest we all
get some sleep. Tomorrow might just be equally as
long.”