Page 14 of Outlaw Ridge: Reed (Hard Justice: Outlaw Ridge #6)
Hallie hesitated, then nodded. “You’re right. It didn’t.” She adjusted her shirt and slipped on her jacket, all without too much wincing. “We need to get to the storage unit.”
Reed was all for that. Or rather he would have been if Hallie hadn’t been injured. She was.
“Don’t you need some kind of clearance or release from the doctor to leave?” he asked.
“No. I just wanted to make sure nothing was broken, and it’s not. It’s just a deep bruise.” She must have seen the concern on his face because she added, “I’ll take some over-the-counter pain meds on the drive.”
She gathered the rest of her things, including a bottle of water that one of the CSIs had given her at the crime scene, and they started out of radiology, making their way down a back hall toward the exit to the parking lot.
“Are we any closer to catching the person who tried to kill us?” she asked as they walked.
Reed really hated to admit it, but he wasn’t going to sugarcoat something this important. “No. But a lot of people are working hard so someone will come up with something. Oh, and Owen called and said to let you know he’s behind you a hundred percent.”
She glanced at him, the doubt right there for him to see.
“It’s the truth,” Reed assured her, but he might as well have been talking to the air because he knew that it didn’t sink in with Hallie.
And that was even more reason for him to want to catch the bastard killer.
Keeping watch around them, they stepped aside and went to the cruiser that he’d parked as close to the door as possible.
He hadn’t wanted Hallie out in the open any longer than necessary when he’d taken her in for those x-rays, and that was still the case now.
With the gunman at large, there could be another attack.
Definitely not something to ease the knots in his gut.
But Reed knew the possibility of an attack couldn’t stop them from doing their jobs. As long as the killer was out there, innocent people were in danger.
Reed put the address of the storage unit into the GPS.
It was only nine miles away, and it was in a relatively busy area squeezed in between other businesses.
That was both good and bad. Good because the killer might be less likely to strike when there was the risk of him being seen.
Bad though because of the potential for a lot of bystanders to perhaps end up in the middle of a gunfight.
He drove out the parking lot, stealing glances at Hallie to make sure she was managing. As promised, she did take some meds that she got from the glove compartment of the cruiser, washing them down with the rest of the bottled water.
Their phones sounded together with a text, and Reed saw the number for the crime lab pop up on the dash screen.
“The two photos don’t appear to have been altered in any way,” Reed read aloud, and that sent his mind spinning with a repeat of the questions he’d already asked himself.
Why hadn’t Corman mentioned that he’d known Hallie’s parents? And did that picture mean anything like some kind of collaboration or insider knowledge of what Tami and Kip had been doing?
“I’m having Jesse contact Corman to demand he come in this afternoon for another interview,” Hallie insisted, firing off a text to the deputy. “Now that we know the pictures are real, Corman needs to tell us about them.”
Reed agreed. And he had another idea about this.
“My suggestion is we forward the pictures to Griff Abrams. He’s the guy who unraveled the info about your mother’s secret offshore account.
Griff can maybe identify when and where the photos were taken, and he can use facial recognition to try to ID anyone else at that party. ”
“I’ll do that,” she was quick to say, and she sent another text.
Maybe they’d have more info about those pictures before Corman’s interview. Too bad they couldn’t question Elenore, too, but with her dead, that meant either verifying the identities of the others in the background of the photos and speaking with them.
Or talking to Tami and Kip.
No way would Reed suggest that right now though. For one thing, they probably wouldn’t get the truth from the pair. And for another, it would put Hallie through another level of hell just to have to see them.
Reed took the turn into the Easy Store which looked pretty much like any other self-storage facility.
Row after row of units with garage-style doors fitted with keypads.
There was a small office in front with a Closed sign in the window and an emergency contact number.
So, the place wasn’t manned, and considering the layout of the units, it would be an easy place for an attacker to hide.
He drove around, looking for the number of the unit so he could park as close to it as possible. When he found it, Reed groaned when he saw the other vehicle. And the man.
Luther.
He was standing right outside the unit door, and he appeared to be waiting for them.
Reed lowered his window, his gaze firing over the man, looking for any signs of a weapon. He didn’t see any, but that didn’t mean Luther wasn’t armed.
“I didn’t go back in,” Luther was quick to say. “I didn’t think you’d want me back in there.”
“You’re right. So, why are you here?” Reed demanded.
He opened his mouth, closed it, and seemed to rethink what he’d been about to say. “If you find something that’ll help your mother, I’d like to see it.”
“No,” Hallie replied. “And you’re leaving now.”
Luther shook his head. “But I haven’t had a chance to go through everything, and your mother wants me to look through it.”
Reed glared at the man, and he was sure Hallie was doing the same. “No,” she repeated.
Luther’s jaw tightened, and his eyes flashed with frustration. “You can’t just throw me out. I have a right to be here,” he snapped. “Your mother entrusted me with this, and I’m not leaving until I’ve done what she asked.”
“Oh, you’ll leave,” Hallie assured him. “Either voluntarily, or I’ll arrest you for obstruction of justice.”
The rest of Luther’s usual mild-mannered demeanor vanished. His eyes narrowed to slits, and his jaw muscles went to war with each other. But the man didn’t say another word. He turned on his heels and left.
Reed kept his eye on Luther as he stalked away, and Hallie pressed in the code to the storage unit.
He lifted the door and was greeted by the sight of dozens of cardboard boxes stacked haphazardly against the walls.
There was only a sliver of walking space between them, and none of the boxes appeared to be labeled.
“Hell,” he grumbled. Reed’s stomach tightened at the sheer volume of stuff that could be in here. How in the name of God were they supposed to find anything useful in this mess?
“Was your mother a packrat?” he asked, slipping on some plastic gloves that he took from his pocket.
Hallie sighed, and like him she was looking at the towers of boxes while she, too, gloved up. “I didn’t think so. In fact, I don’t recall her having a lot of photos or such around the house. Maybe she stashed them all in storage.”
That was possible, but if so, it wouldn’t have been here. This unit had only been around for the past fourteen years, and that would have been six years after Hallie had left home.
“She could have had another storage place before this one. I’ll have Griff dig for more offshore accounts,” Reed said, sending another text to Griff. Though he suspected that Griff was already digging into that.
Reed took a deep breath, squared his shoulders, and he took down two of the boxes close to them, setting them on the floor.
“We’ll have a cursory look and then get the CSI team in here,” Hallie said, ripping off the tape from the box. “And I want a search warrant for Luther’s residence. It’s possible he’s already removed something useful.”
He couldn’t agree with that more, and Reed texted Jesse to get him started on the warrant before he opened the second box.
Not photos but clothes and some wigs. The now squished up wigs were in just about every natural hair color possible, and the few items of clothes weren’t of any one particular style.
He spotted a caftan-type, flower print dress, a slim short black skirt, a tank top, and a sweater with a Christmas motif.
“Disguises?” he asked Hallie.
“Probably.” She sighed. “There’s more of the same in this box.”
He leaned over and had a look for himself. Two more wigs, both brown, and conservative clothes that wouldn’t have looked out of a place at church.
It sickened him to think these had perhaps been used to set up the deadly con game that Tami and Kip had played. With the couple convicted, the items likely wouldn’t be needed to bring more charges against them, but it was possible there was proof of other murders in here.
Yeah, definitely sickening.
Reed hauled down two more boxes and frowned when he heard Hallie make a soft sound of pain when she stooped to examine the contents.
“I’m okay,” she insisted, no doubt because she had noticed that frown. And the long look he was giving her.
He didn’t push her on that obvious lie but continued the search. This box was filled with books that he was betting had been used for research. There were medical texts, a true crime book on brainwashed victims, and another on geriatric psychology. He was a looking at a blueprint for murder.
“Some pictures in here,” Hallie said, getting his attention, and he saw her lifting out a thick photo album. She thumbed through it. “Of their wedding.”
She quickly went through that one, set it aside and took out a second one. “These pictures of when they were growing up.”
That seemed odd to him that a serial killer would keep this sort of sentimental stuff, but then Hallie tapped one of the photos of an elderly stern looking woman.
“My father’s grandmother,” she said. “She died before I was born, but I heard gossip that her relatives were eager for her to die so they could inherit her estate. When she did die though, they learned she’d given away all of her money to charity. ”
That could have been the reason Kip had decided to start the robberies and murders.
Reed reached for another set of boxes, but he stopped when Hallie’s phone rang. “It’s Jesse,” she relayed to him, and she took the call on speaker.
“Boss, we got a problem,” Jesse was quick to say. “Corman Pierce just called the station and said he’s being held at gunpoint.”
───── ? ────