Dufur, Oregon
3:05 p.m.
On a hill above Keeler’s rental cabin, Cal walked the length of the lot, making a final assessment before he and Rick breached the door. The one-room log cabin with a red metal roof and stone chimney sat at the base of a hill, cowering in a thick stand of tall pines much the way Cal thought Keeler would cower when they barged through the door.
The FBI SWAT team had arrived from Portland, and they, along with Cal and Rick, were on hold while their sniper crept into position. Then it would take the rest of their team a few minutes to set their outer perimeter and take a secondary stance at the back door.
Cal stopped next to Rick, who lay behind a log, his binoculars trained on the house. “Any movement?”
“None.” Rick swatted at a mosquito buzzing around his head, but he didn’t take his eyes from the cabin.
“Then either Keeler’s not home or he’s hunkered down. We’ll follow standard protocol in case he’s there. You sure you don’t want to take the long shot?”
“Where’s the challenge? The range is so short any trained sniper can make that shot.” Rick offered a rare grin and came to his feet. “I’d rather bust down the door with you.”
“Nothing like the rush of not knowing what’s waiting on the other side.” Cal strode to their SUV, Rick following.
Before picking up his weapon, Cal dialed Shane. “Everything good back there?”
“Quiet as can be. That is if you don’t count Kaci’s bad jokes.” Shane laughed. His easygoing attitude was legendary for a man in such a high-pressure job.
“We’re about to breach the door, and I’m going silent,” Cal said. “Text me with any issues, and I’ll look at them on the other side.”
“Roger that,” Shane replied. “And, hey man, relax. We’ve got this.”
“See that you do.” Cal clicked off, and after silencing and stowing his phone, he glanced at Rick. “Ready to do this?”
Rick stood silently appraising Cal with a focus so pointed that it cut to Cal’s soul. “You know I was born ready. It’s you I’m worried about.”
“Me? I’m good.”
“You sure about that?” Rick strapped on his helmet. “You seem distracted.”
Cal couldn’t lie and say the disappointment on Tara’s face before he left for this raid didn’t keep playing in his mind. He’d promised to put her safety first, but then something came up requiring his attention, and he reneged.
Right. Required.
The well-trained SWAT team could handle this raid without his or Rick’s help, but Cal wanted to be there to see the look on Keeler’s face when they slapped handcuffs on his wrists. To be there to put away another bad guy so he could chip away at his guilt.
You’ve put away a lot of bad guys this past year. The thought popped into his mind. And has that honestly made your life better?
“I’m talking about looks like that one.” Rick picked up a Heckler and Koch MP5, the standard-issue submachine gun for their team. “You’re a million miles away.”
As a former sniper, Rick had to understand and deal with guilt that the loss of life caused.
“You ever lose someone on a mission or on the job, and you can’t let it go?” Cal asked.
Rick nodded. “We’ve all got our incidents that we can’t shake. Most everyone in the military and law enforcement does.”
“And does it ever get in your way?”
“In the way like here on a mission?” He tapped his rifle. “Nah, I’m good to go on the job.”
“But it might affect your personal life?”
Rick went motionless, his fierce sniper gaze homing in on Cal. “Sounds like that’s what’s going on with you, but maybe it’s spilling over into the job, too.”
“It’s Tara,” Cal said before thinking it over. “Keeler’s killed women right under our noses, and man, that’s hitting me hard, you know? But him going after Tara? That’s different. We didn’t know the other women, but we know Tara, and we’re getting to know her better every day. If Keeler gets past us…gets to her…I…” He shook his head.
Rick arched a brow but said nothing. Cal had never seen Rick open up, and Cal should have thought of that before beginning the conversation. It was patently clear now that he’d chosen the wrong guy to talk to. He should have spoken to Shane instead. Better yet, he should keep his big mouth shut and his thoughts on the job.
“Never mind, man.” Cal picked up his gun. “I’ve got my head in the game, and you don’t need to worry about your back.”
“Team in position.” The SWAT commander’s voice came over Cal’s earbud.
“Roger that, we’re a go in five,” Cal replied, and looked at Rick, who gave his nod of readiness.
Cal shouldered a backpack of entry tools and lifted his weapon. They crept forward and reached the clearing where they bolted across the grass and flattened their backs against the wall on the porch. Cal dropped to his knees and slid a snake camera under the door to check for explosive devices or triggers Keeler might have rigged on the door.
“We’re clear,” Cal whispered, and tucked the camera into his vest. He fractured the door with a battering ram, sending the door swinging inward.
“FBI,” Rick called out as he entered.
Cal followed and surveyed the small room, noting a door to the bathroom. A small kitchen was located on one end of the room, an unmade bed on the other. A plump sofa and chair in the middle. No one in sight.
Rick signaled his plan to search the bathroom, and Cal covered him by standing at attention for an attack from any direction. Rick disappeared into the room, and soon the rings of a shower curtain grated along a rod.
“Clear,” Rick called out.
Cal approached the edge of the bed. Hoping to find Keeler hiding underneath, he dropped to the floor and lifted the dust ruffle. Empty, but on the far side between the bed and the wall, a bright ray of sun filtered through the white fabric ruffle, and his gut said someone was lying on the floor.
He came to his feet and signaled to Rick to cover him. Silently, Cal inched toward the foot of the bed. His heart racing with the thrill of the chase, he swung around the end and trained his weapon on the floor.
He exhaled, coming up short.
“What is it?” Rick asked.
Shaking his head, Cal eased closer and dropped to the ground next to a Caucasian woman who looked like she was in her early fifties.
Rick joined him. “Oh, man.”
“Man is right.” Cal laid his fingers aside her neck to check for a pulse, then sat back on his heels and looked up at Rick. “I was hoping to find someone here, but not a woman, and definitely not one who isn’t alive.”
“You think we were meant to find her?” Rick asked.
“Maybe.” Cal stood. “Or this place could be set to blow, maybe set to take us out, and we got here before the device detonated.”
“Your thoughts seem more on target.”
“Then let’s sweep this place and clear the exterior,” Cal replied.
They moved forward in silence and searched the small cabin, quickly determining that no threat existed inside.
“As much as I want to check for ID on the woman,” Cal said. “The exterior could be hot.”
Rick nodded and backed to the door.
Cal informed the SWAT commander of their movements, and they backtracked outside. A narrow crawl space ran under the cabin, protected from animals by wooden lattice, a perfect place to hide an explosive device.
Cal circled the building, checking drain spouts and looking for sections where the lattice had been disturbed or the vegetation mashed down. Rick stepped along with Cal, his gun at the ready.
“No obvious disturbance,” Cal said. “I’ll check underneath to be sure.”
He ripped off the front lattice. With a flashlight in hand, he shimmied into the dank space. Spiderwebs caught at his helmet, sending creepy crawlies running, but he tuned them out and shone his flashlight at the underside of the house and the supports. At the far side, he noticed something affixed to a support beam beneath the area where the woman lay.
Cal pressed his mic. “Possible device spotted on northeast corner of cabin. Everyone evacuate to a safe distance.”
Rick peered into the space. “What can I do?”
Already crawling ahead on his elbows, Cal called over his shoulder, “Let me get a good look at the device, and I’ll let you know.”
At the corner, he flipped onto his back and shined his flashlight up at a simple bomb made with a rudimentary timer strapped to four sticks of dynamite. The timer counted down, hitting five minutes as he watched.
“Basic device,” Cal shouted, but didn’t take his eyes from the bomb.
Simple or not, devices malfunctioned all the time. The men could make it out of range before the timer hit zero and no one would be hurt, but Cal wouldn’t let the device destroy forensic evidence in the cabin. Not to mention tearing apart the woman above.
Cal dug his tool kit from his pack as he saw Rick scooting toward him.
“You should take off,” Cal said.
Rick came to a stop by Cal and stared up at the device. “You can see the entire bomb and there’s no antiremoval device. If you can’t render that one safe without taking us both out, you shouldn’t be on our team.”
Rick’s teasing gave Cal a chuckle and helped diffuse the tension.
Cal tuned Rick out and set to work, removing the power source from the device and halting the timer at two minutes forty-nine seconds.
Cal sighed out a breath and dropped his arms to the ground. “Max is going to let us have it for not properly suiting up before tackling this bomb.”
“We’ll need to redirect him to the fact that we preserved evidence that could bring in Keeler.”
“Good luck with that.” Cal huffed a laugh. “Do you think this bomb was meant for us or to cover up the woman’s murder?”
“Hard to tell without tracking back the person who reported this place.”
“Are you up for running it down?” Cal asked.
“I’m up for anything that gets me out of this sweaty Kevlar.” Rick grimaced. “And I have to admit, I’d like to figure out the woman’s ID and how she’s connected to Keeler.”
“I didn’t notice a purse or luggage inside that could provide an ID, did you?”
“No. Nothing.”
“Then we need to get the medical examiner out here ASAP to search and fingerprint her.” Cal dug out his phone. “I’ll take a few pictures of the device and call Sheriff Gorton to rush the ME.”
“I’ll be at the truck.” Rick scrambled out from under the house while Cal shot photos with his phone and then scooted out, too. He ripped off his helmet before getting to his feet and joining Rick at the SUV. The breeze, though hot and sticky, cooled his perspiration-soaked head.
Cal removed his Kevlar vest and set it next to Rick’s in the cargo area, where they would let them dry out before placing them back in their bags. He dug out his phone and sat on the tailgate to dial Sheriff Gorton.
“Man, oh, man,” Gorton said after Cal explained the situation. “This hasn’t been my day.”
“I hate this as much as you do,” Cal replied. “But if you get the ME out here we’ll be able to move forward.”
Gorton sighed. “I don’t know, man. I mean, we’re a small office. I haven’t had a single murder in my ten years in this job. I honestly don’t know if our examiner is up to handling this situation to your satisfaction. Maybe we should take our time here. You know, get someone in from the state medical examiner’s office instead.”
“Time is not a luxury I have,” Cal said forcefully. “Get your examiner out here ASAP, and if they’re not up to speed on proper forensic protocol, I’ll walk them through procedures.”
“But I—”
“Now, Sheriff! Get them out here now.” Frustrated, Cal hung up before the guy voiced additional objections.
“Not cooperating?” Rick asked.
“No, he’s cooperating, but he’s freaked out by the whole thing.” Cal shook his head. “Remind me never to work a crime in a rural county.”
“I’m guessing you won’t want such a reminder if Keeler strikes in the boonies again.”
“You’re right. I won’t.” Cal shoved his phone into his pocket. “Go ahead and take the SUV back to the team and send Brynn over here with her equipment.”
“You sure you got this?” Rick appraised him.
Cal was getting perturbed at everyone questioning his emotional stability. He gave a sour laugh. “Nothing to do here except wait for the ME to show up and for SWAT to finish their search. Which is unlikely to produce Keeler as he runs from his bombs. So yeah, I think I can handle things on my own.”