Page 23 of Trap ’N’ Trace

He shut off the water. He’d pulled that hairbrained idea out of his ass without knowing if his SAC would even approve it.

After drying off, he tied the towel around his waist then poked his head into the bedroom. Remy’s tail thumped when she caught sight of him. Angus still snuggled against her belly, fast asleep.

He padded to the laundry room and transferred his clothes to the dryer. After pushing the quick dry button, he returned to the bedroom and lay back on the bed while he made some calls.

The first call was to his ASAC, updating her on the situation and pitching his protection idea. Miraculously, ASAC Barstow agreed, adding that agents were combing through Becca’s old FBI case files for anyone with enough of a grudge to want her dead.

His next call was to Paulson, who answered on the fourth ring. “Paulson,” the man said on a yawn.

“It’s Dayne Andrews.” He waited for a wisecrack about how early it was and was surprised when it didn’t come. “Just checking in. Anything new?”

“Yes and no.” Sheets rustled. “We’re waiting on fingerprint analysis in AFIS. Although, if he really wore gloves, the prints we find should belong to Katrina Vandenburg and her employees, since they’re the only ones allowed past the reception desk.”

“What else?”

“We interviewed everyone on the same block as Rebecca Garman’s office. No one saw a thing, except for one person who thinks they saw the puppy alone in the front yard Tuesday afternoon around four p.m. We took all the case files from the office, and we’ll start reviewing them for anyone who stands out as a suspect. The husband confirmed that his wife had a digital camera and a laptop, and that she only did PI casework on the laptop.”

“Did he know where the camera and laptop are?”

“No. Said they were with his wife. We didn’t find them in the office or in her vehicle.”

Dayne frowned. “So the killer stole them.”

“Looks like. But we’ll do a search of her emails, see if that gets us anywhere.”

“And her cell phone?”

“County tech guys are doing a dump on it. We’ll interview everyone she spoke with during the days preceding her death. Today, I’ll serve a subpoena on the carrier for toll and text records for the last twelve months. If we have to, we’ll interview everyone in her list of contacts.”

“What about a mapping app on the phone?” It wouldn’t tell them every location where Becca had been, but it might give them something else to go on. Right now, the only possible lead lay in Kat’s ability to give them a decent sketch.

“I’ll add that to the list,” the detective grumbled. “But we don’t have unlimited resources.”

Through the cracked door, Dayne heard Kat calling for Angus. He’d expected her to sleep later.

“I know that. Which is why I’ll be taking over your department’s protection duties.”

A pause, then, “She said she was hiring her own security company.”

“She is, but they’ll be supplemental. They can’t protect her as well as I can.”

“On that we agree,” Paulson said.

“We’ll be at the station by eleven to meet with the sketch artist.”

“Later.”

When the dryer buzzed, he grabbed his clothes and returned to the bedroom. He stepped into his pants then turned to find Kat standing in the open doorway. Her eyes widened as she took in his bare abs. A blush crept to her cheeks. Pink looks good on her.

“I’m sorry, I—” The blush deepened, and he quickly zipped up his pants and fastened the button. “I-I didn’t mean to wake you.”

Smooth recovery. For a woman in her thirties, Kat had more poise and grace than most people twice her age.

“You didn’t,” he reassured her with a slight smile, amused and stupidly pleased at how his semi nakedness affected her. “I’ve been up for a couple hours.”

“Well, I, uh…” She put her hand to her throat, reminding him of a prim and proper schoolteacher and calling his attention to the marks on her neck. Even the gray sweater and slacks she wore were conservative, but he’d bet a bucket of bullets the outfit was expensive. “I was looking for Angus to take him outside before he has an accident. Nine-week-old puppies can’t hold it for very long.”

“He’s good.” Dayne opened the door wider so Kat could see Angus happily snoring away. Remy’s tail thumped again, this time for Kat’s benefit. “I already took the dogs out and fed them.”