Page 26

Chapter 26

Tobias

Stepping out of Law's office, I take out my phone and shoot Clark a message telling him what an ass he is. I don't get an answer. Chicken.

I've barely made it back to my pickup when my radio crackles to life.

"All units break in at Peterson's Jewelry on Oak Street. Suspects have left the scene." FUCK!

"One Alpha - Charlie, Charlie - enroute. Is an ambulance needed?"

"Negative on the ambulance, One Alpha, Ten - four enroute."

I jog back to Law's door, throwing it open, I call in. "Law, there's another break-in. Peterson's Jewelry on Oak." Law and Ferris step into the outer office, both wearing a serious expression. "Why don't you come along and see if you see anything we're missing."

"Mouse, Keyboard, Sebastian," Law calls, "Ferris and I are going to the break-in. We'll check in when we get back."

Within minutes we're all loaded with Law and Ferris behind me in their Escalade. I'm grateful for extra help. Maybe they can see something. My mind is already churning through possibilities, patterns, connections.

Arriving, I step out and wait for them. Deputy Sang pulls up at the same time.

Peterson's Jewelry, a small family-owned shop that's been in Whispering Pines for three generations. The glass front is intact, but even from outside, I can see the devastation within.

"Sheriff," Brooklyn nods as we approach. "Law, Ferris, nice to see you two again."

"I brought them along, fresh eyes might see something," I say, all business.

"Good idea," she says. "Mr. Peterson said he arrived at approximately eight forty-five to open the shop. As he was unlocking the front door, three men in black with ski masks rushed him from behind. He didn't recall hearing the van pull up. The men forced him inside, tied him to a chair with zip ties, then proceeded to smash all the display cases."

"The safe?" I ask.

Brooklyn shakes her head. "They never asked for it. Never demanded money or the high-value pieces in the back. Just systematically destroyed the front of the store, then left."

"How long were they here?"

"In and out in three minutes on the dot, according to the security footage."

Law raises an eyebrow. "You've seen the footage already?"

Brooklyn nods. "Peterson installed a new system after the last three break-ins. We've got them entering, moving through the shop, and leaving. Not that it helps much, the same standard ski masks, all in black, generic build. But the timestamp shows just slightly over three minutes total."

"That's... efficient," Law comments.

"Too efficient," I mutter. "They didn't harm Mr. Peterson?"

"No, which is out of the norm for these guys." Brooklyn shifts her head, pointing inside.

Law and I enter the shop, where an older man sits on a chair, wrists wearing the red stripes from the zip ties, a deputy finishing up his statement.

"Mr. Peterson," I step forward, "I'm sorry this happened to you."

James Peterson looks up, his weathered face pale. "Sheriff. I don't understand. They didn't take anything. Not the diamonds, not the Rolexes. Nothing. Not even anything from the safe. They just... destroyed the place. And why aren't I on my way to the hospital? By all the others, I should be. How come they spared me?"

I surveyed the damage. Shattered glass everywhere, display cases splintered, inventory scattered across the floor. It's destruction, pure destruction.

"Can you think of anyone who might want to harm your business? Any threats, disputes?"

Peterson shakes his head. "None. We've been here forty-two years. I know most people in this town by name."

"Did the men say anything? Make any demands?"

"Not a word," Peterson's hands shake slightly. "They worked in complete silence. It was both compelling and unnerving. I could tell they had a mission to destroy as much as they could in the time they had. One of the men must have had an alarm set. Because, as soon as it went off they immediately stopped what they were doing and they all ran to the door." He shakes his head, "the guy there," he points to the corner. "He was holding a diamond necklace when the alarm went off, he just dropped it. Damndest thing I've ever seen."

Law circles the shop slowly, his experienced eyes scanning for details others might miss. He pauses at one of the shattered cases, crouching down to examine something.

"Mind if I look at that security footage?" he asks Brooklyn.

She leads us to a small office in the back where a laptop displays a grainy black-and-white feed. She queues up the morning's recording.

The footage shows exactly what I expected: three men in black, faces obscured by masks, moving with military precision through the shop. Two secure Peterson then join the other destroying everything in sight. There's something almost ritualistic about it, each man focusing on their assigned area, working systematically.

Ferris appears in the doorway. "Found something interesting. Come take a look."

Back in the main shop, he points to a section of the floor behind one of the shattered cases. "Notice anything?"

I crouch down, examining the area. There, almost hidden among the glass shards, sits a single brass shell casing.

"Nine millimeter," I observe. "But there were no shots fired."

"Exactly," Ferris says. "So, why is there a casing?"

We all look from the casing to each other. I bend and bag the evidence carefully. "Could have fallen from a pocket. Or..."

"Or it was deliberately left," Law finishes my thought.

The implications settle heavily. A calling card? A message? A warning? But for whom?

"As soon as we're done here, get this right to forensics," I tell Brooklyn. "Priority fingerprinting and ballistics."

As we continue examining the scene, something keeps nagging at me. A pattern I can't quite pinpoint. I pull out my phone, calling up the map Law showed me earlier with the break-in locations marked.

"Law," I beckon him over. "Look at this. Peterson's makes the sixth business hit. If we connect the dots..."

Law studies the screen, as I connect the dots in order of the break-ins, he looks up with a grim realization. "The first four make a diamond, well not really, more a circle. These two more closer in ones, seem to be following the same path. Like they are getting smaller to point to something. But what?" He steps backward and crosses his arms. "Circles." Law takes a few steps then turns and paces back. "All of this has a pattern to it. We just have to figure out the pattern."

"What would be in the middle of the circle? Has anyone mapped Michael's known associates in the area?" I ask Law.

"Mouse and Keyboard are working on it," he confirms, turning and heading the opposite direction. "After the airport incident, the FBI closed his business and cleared it out when we took him down."

"Well, if this pattern continues, we'll have an idea of the two areas that will be hit next." Taking my phone I call Holly. "I sent you a map. Yes. See where there are two areas in the inner that don't have a dot or line through them? Can you please make a list of all the businesses in that area. The dots are where break-ins have happened. Exactly, we have an area to focus on. What? Let me look. Oh Holly, interesting, I've often said you would have made a great detective. Thanks, I have to go."

"Law, look," I held the map out. "Holly said it looks like the makings of a bullseye. And it's heading to a two block radius with your business on the far right and the Sheriff's office on the far left side."

"Damn," Law blows out a breath. "Michael targeting us?"

"I don't think we can rule it out." A chill runs down my spine. That sounds precisely like Michael's style—feeding off others' terror and helplessness. "We know he likes to play games."

Mr. Peterson's wife shows up and I help get Mr. Peterson into her car, urging them to go to the doctor's office as a precaution. I return to find Law deep in conversation with Brooklyn, examining the security footage on her tablet.

"Something's not adding up," Law says as I approach. "These guys are pros. Military training, clockwork timing, efficient destruction. But all of a sudden after all the break-ins they all of a sudden leave evidence? A shell casing found laying on top of the mess? A casing where there hasn't been a shooting? That's amateur hour."

"Unless it's deliberate," I point out. "Maybe a bullet for the bullseye?"

Law's eyes narrow. "Fuck."

"What bullseye?" Brooklyn asks.

I show her the map and explain that we believe we're the target.

She shakes her head, "Is it too late to put in for a long vacation leave?"

"Only if you take us with you," Ferris chuckles. "And we go somewhere far away from here."

My phone rings with a call from Holly.

"Tobias here. Really? Alright, I'll send a team over when we're done here. Can you see if forensics is en route?"

I hear a female voice from the front of the shop. Stepping over and looking, I see it's Erin and two of her team.

"Never mind Holly, they just got here." Hanging up, I walk over. Law, Ferris and Brooklyn follow.

"Damn, they know how to make a mess." Erin Maithis scans the room.

"Erin, this is Law Summers and his associate Ferris. Gentlemen, this is Erin Maithis, head of the tri-county forensics department." I watch Erin's eyes scan Ferris. Catching me looking, she quickly shifts her eyes to the floor.

Hurriedly she introduces her coworkers and everyone exchanges pleasantries.

"Great, now that we're all buddies, we need to get to work," she says with a dismissive tone.

"First, we have some evidence." I walk back to where the bullet casing lies.

"Evidence, that's a sexy word." Erin snaps on a pair of rubber gloves, lifting the casing with a pair of long tweezers. "I wasn't notified there was gun fire."

"There wasn't."

"Is it the owner's? Maybe from target practice or something, meaning did he drop it?"

"No, I asked if there were guns on premise," Brooklyn speaks up, "he said he didn't own one."

Erin slides the casing into a bag and labels it. Handing it to one of her team. "Put it in the locked portion of the evidence bag." Turning back to me, "We'll put a rush on processing."

I nod as Deputy Sang and Rogers join us.

"Are you alright to handle things here?" I ask Deputy Brooklyn Rogers. She nods her answer. "Great, you two, the hospital's ready to release our prisoner. Go together to get him, stay together at all times and bring him to the jail. I'll be vehicle support, just in case."

"This the guy from the break-in team?" Law asks me.

"Yeah, the one you wanted to talk to."

"We can help with support," he says as Ferris steps up behind him.

"Normally I would say we got it but in this case, I'll just say thanks." I look at my team and can see the concern on their faces. We're a small town sheriff's office handling large city crimes. My team isn't totally equipped to handle FBI wanted psychopaths.

"It's just a precaution. Makes Holly feel better when we work as a team." I smile and wink. Sang gives a half-hearted laugh.

"Alright, let's go."