Page 80 of Justice for Samara

And then the world exploded.

At a little after eight, the phone rang at the office and Anand answered it. A second later, he called out, “Chief deputy, there’s a call on line two for you. Someone named Fletcher.”

“Thank you.” Michael picked up the receiver, hit the button, and answered, “Hey, good morning.”

“Good morning to you. How’s it going down there?”

Michael rubbed his left eye. “Not good. Not good at all.”

“What happened?”

Even though he was the one detailing what had happened, talking about the events of that early morning frightened him just hearing the words. Things were escalating quickly. “So I’ve got to find a safe place for her, and I think I’m going to take her to my mom’s.”

“Are Samara and Carter there?”

“Yeah. Let me put you on hold. I’ll get them, and we’ll pick up in the conference room.”

Less than a minute later, he’d shaken Samara awake from her sleeping spot on the sofa in his office, and he’d retrieved Carter from across the hallway. They all sat down at the conference room table, and Michael hit the button. “Okay, Amos. You’re on speaker.”

“Michael filled me in on what’s happened.”

Carter rubbed his eyes too. “Yeah. It’s a clusterfuck of enormous proportion.”

Amos quietly said, “Yeah. Sounds like it.”

“Not gonna say it couldn’t be worse. Nothing good ever happens from me asking how it could possibly be worse,” Carter grumbled.

Michael nodded. “Yeah. We usually find out immediately.”

It took Carter two breaths to ask, “So what’s our next move?”

“I’ve asked Bud to contact Post1 and tell them what’s going on, ask for their cooperation. He’ll get farther with them than I would. Then we wait to see what happens. I told him that if he can get a sit-down with Stadler and his post commander, I’d like to be there too, and he agreed that would be best. If the post commander sees a KDCI agent sitting there, he’s less likely to try to cover for someone and more likely to tell the truth, because we have the ability to place him under arrest and deem his entire post under suspicion. No KSP post commander wants that on his record. Do you have any idea where Stadler’s staying?”

Carter let out a deep sigh. “No. Not a clue.”

“We need that piece of information. We now have probable cause, so if we could find him, we’d be a step ahead. Can you guys work on that?”

“Sure. And let us know what the next move should be. Until then, we’ll be doing what we can do to keep everyone involved safe.” Carter had started jotting things down as they’d talked, and Michael wondered what was on his notepad.

“Do that and I’ll be back with you as soon as possible. You guys take care. Samara?”

“Yes, sir?”

“It’s just Amos. And you be careful out there. This guy is as dangerous as they come.”

It hurt Michael’s heart to see her looking so defeated. “Will do. Thanks.”

“Later, guys.”

Michael listened as Amos hung up and sat there, tired and stressed. “So now what?”

“We’ve got to get people on every house where Samara has done an interview. I’ve got your list and we’ll get them covered in the next hour. I’m calling people in. Something’s gotta give, and the three people in this room are exhausted. You know what happens when exhausted people are working a case.”

Michael nodded. “They miss things.”

“Exactly. Futrell?”

“Yes, sir?”