Page 186 of Capturing You

Putnam cleared her throat. “According to Owen, Lois Stratton and Leo Taggart were in charge. Leo pulled Bryce over a few months back and found drugs in his car. Bryce was on probation and looking at jail time. Leo offered him a deal—he’d let him go if Bryce would come work for him. Bryce didn’t think he could refuse. Not sure how Ned Salcito got involved.”

Forbes looked from the detective to Brooklynn. “Ned?”

“Niles.”

“Ah. Okay.”

“There were more men last night, most of whom claim they were recruited for this one job. They didn’t know what they were doing at the house. They’re just local thugs who were looking to make some extra money.”

“Do we know how they knew Brooklynn was at the house? Or did they plan to hit the house anyway, and it was just dumb luck?”

“Good question.” Putnam smiled as if at a star student. “The only things left in the truck were Brooklynn’s backpack and a sack of clothes.”

That explained how she’d changed, at least.

“We found a tracker in the backpack.”

“What?” Brooklynn’s eyes popped wide. “How did that happen?”

“Owen admitted he put it there when he saw you in the historical society. He was very chatty. And, honestly”—her lips slipped into a smirk—“filled with regret. He didn’t ask for a lawyer or claim innocence, just told us everything. He swears he had no idea they were trying to kill you.”

“He’s the one who shot Forbes.” Brooklynn bit her lip. “He could’ve shot me, though, and he didn’t. He just ran.”

Putnam made a note. “That’s good to know. He claims he thought they just wanted to get your camera. He said he took the job Bryce offered so he could save money to buy his girlfriend an engagement ring.”

Brooklynn cringed at that last bit. Thank heavens he’d been found out before he’d proposed to Delaney.

“He just happened to have a tracker on him?” Forbes asked.

“He said that Lois had given him one in case he ran into you.”

“That’s probably why he kept offering to help me,” Brooklynn said.

“So you’ve figured out who was involved now, but all the evidence from back then…” Forbes already knew the answer but asked anyway. He needed to prove to Grandmother and Rosie—to himself once again—that Dad hadn’t been a criminal. He’d been a confidential informant. “Any chance it was still in the back of my pickup?”

“Nope.” Putnam didn’t seem at all upset. “We assume it burned with the house.”

So his house was destroyed. He’d known that, of course, but it still hurt to hear it.

Even worse, the evidence was gone.

“He doesn’t know.” Brooklynn spoke to the detective before turning to him. “First, the whole house didn’t burn, just the main part. They were able to save most of the new wing and the garage.”

That was something, at least. So many of the family’s treasures had been moved to the garage, so at least those weren’t lost. But the house his ancestor had built, where his parents had lived, was ruined.

Forbes allowed himself to taste that thought, to examine it. That house had been home to wonderful memories, but all of them were tainted by that last terrible day.

The evidence was all that mattered now.

Brooklynn smiled. “Before we left last night, while you were getting my things, I took photographs of all your dad’s papers and all our notes. I emailed them to Putnam.”

What was she saying? “The evidence was saved?”

Putnam was nodding. “The pictures of it. And we also got the ones Brooklynn took of the men at the inlet last week—which had been sent to the state police lab but were too corrupted to do anything with.”

“Does that mean Nathan?—?”

“He’s in custody. He hasn’t said a word, but he’ll be charged.” Lori stifled a yawn. “Sorry. It’s been a long night. From what I saw, you two took good notes about what was on the cassette tapes.”