She’d checked her email every time she’d woken up the night before, hoping to see a report on the weapon. The plan had been to process the gun overnight. The forensic technicians hadn’t complained about the extra hours. In fact, they had been eager to work on the weapon.
Everyone wanted to find the shooter.
Zander appeared and dropped into the chair next to her.
“You’re late.”
“I know. And yes, I saw all your texts. I was outside on the phone.”
His tone caught her attention. “With who?”
“The manager of a small motel down in Merlin.”
“Where is Merlin?” She’d never heard of it.
“A little north of Grants Pass. Off I-5 just a bit.” He raised a brow at her. “Looks like your sister spent the night there.”
“Jayne? When?” Ava glanced around, realizing her voice had been too loud.
“Seven days ago. She used the Camila Guerrero ID, which is how I tracked her. Two days before that she used it in Maxwell. It’s a small town south of Red Bluff in California.”
“She was working her way north.” Ava closed her eyes for a moment, wondering where Jayne had ended up. “I assume she paid cash at these places?”
“She did.”
“Must have been convenient to have some of Brady Shurr’s money. I wonder where her final destination is.”
“Maybe she’s coming for the wedding.” Zander didn’t sound pleased.
“She knows the date,” Ava admitted. “I mentioned the wedding twice in an email. She never asked any questions. I assumed she didn’t want to hear about it.”
Why did Jayne try to cancel my wedding?
Jealousy.
Ava couldn’t think of any other reason. Even though Jayne had snared herself a rich boyfriend who was clearly wild about her, she had still gone out of her way to attempt to ruin Ava’s wedding.
“There is video of her at the motel’s front desk in Merlin. The manager found it while I was talking to him. He’s forwarding it to my email.”
“Did you get it yet?” Ava leaned close, peering at Zander’s phone.
“Not yet.”
“Dammit.” She sat back in her seat and crossed her arms, itching to get out of the room and hunt down her sister.
That’s not my priority right now.
Fine. Ava would get to work on the courthouse shooting. “They didn’t need a task force meeting this morning. We’ve got work to do.”
“Everyone has work to do, but the other teams need to be caught up.”
“Couldn’t they just send an email?” she grumbled. “I want to go check for cameras near the church. See if someone caught a clear image of his face.”
“There’s the weapon report,” said Zander, touching his phone’s screen.
Ava whipped out her phone, her heart racing as she opened the email, noting it had also been sent to the Clackamas County sheriff. She rapidly scanned the report.
“Oh, shit,” she said.
“I agree,” said Zander.
She took a deep breath and continued to read.
“The good news is the rounds match the weapon,” Zander said softly.
“But the serial number is a dead end.” Ava kept reading, her heart sinking. The report said the weapon was part of a stockpile of weapons that had been stolen from the ATF while in transit outside of Nevada. The theft had resulted in a big shoot-out, and two ATF agents had died. The weapons had disappeared.
“I remember when this happened a couple of months ago,” she said.
“We all do,” Zander said solemnly.
“How did our shooter get this gun?”
“Probably bought it off the street somewhere. Which is where the ATF got most of them in the first place.”
“Okay, folks. Let’s get started.” The sheriff strode to the front of the room, a stack of papers in his hands and two men following. The room quieted down, and everyone shifted in their seats, focused expectantly on the sheriff. He set the papers down, and the detective went to the open laptop on a table. The video from the church appeared on the big screen at the front of the room.
The sight made her breath catch. The video hadn’t started, but she knew it by heart. It was their biggest lead on the shooter.
The sheriff immediately launched into an explanation of what they were about to see. “And according to the lab report I just received, the weapon found in this church’s dumpster is a match to the rounds at the scene. This is our guy—or at least someone working with him.” He nodded at a detective, who started the video, and someone lowered the lights.
Even though the group had been told the weapon had been found in the dumpster, an audible gasp went up as the figure on-screen threw his backpack inside. The video ended, and enhanced stills of the man appeared on-screen. Ava automatically leaned forward, trying to get a better look. The images were still fuzzy, but much clearer than what she’d seen yesterday. There were no good views of his face.
Dammit.
“There’s a good chance this is Shawn Braswell,” the sheriff said. “His height matches what’s listed on his driver’s license, and the weight appears to be about the same. The hair is the wrong color, but we all know that can be changed.”
“Priors?” asked someone.
“No record,” said the sheriff. “Neither he or Reuben have ever been in trouble with the law.”
The fact bothered Ava. How did someone go from a law-abiding life to murdering his brother and others?
The sheriff went on. “It’s believed his vehicle was seen at the home of his brother, Reuben Braswell, where we discovered the plans for the courthouse bombing.”
“Which were just to get us in place to be murdered,” mumbled a voice behind Ava. Murmurs of agreement trickled through the room.
“The relationship between the brothers was volatile,” continued the sheriff. “But it looks like they had hatred of law enforcement in common.”
“Assuming that’s him,” Ava stated.
The sheriff nodded at her. “Correct. This is only a theory. Either way, I want this guy found. We’ll be pulling some of the teams and moving them to the area around the church. We want more video. He walked down the street. Surely a home security system or doorbell camera caught a better image. We’ll be checking traffic cameras in the area too.”
“What about the car?” asked a woman from the back.
“Plates are stolen,” the sheriff said. “We’re still trying to figure out where the car came from. You’ve all got the information on the missing vehicles belonging to Shawn and Reuben Braswell. Keep an eye out for them as you search. New assignments are at the back of the room.”
Everyone started to stand, speaking quietly to the people around them.
“Two more things,” the sheriff said loudly. Everyone quieted, their attention back to the sheriff. “The weapon used at the courthouse has been traced to a shipment of weapons stolen from the ATF not long ago.”
An angry buzz of voices immediately filled the room.
The sheriff held up his hands in a calming motion. “I know, I know. Two ATF agents were murdered during that Nevada robbery. We don’t know whether or not this guy is tied to the theft or their deaths. But either way, those weapons might be back on the street again. We’ll find out when we catch him.”