“So what do we have?” Olivia asked briskly, taking the seat next to Noah. “Has Austin Dent been transported down here yet?”
Noah hesitated. “No. He’s gone.”
Olivia slowly turned to stare at Noah’s profile. “He’s what?”
“Gone,” Abbott said. “State police got to his house last night and found he’d left through a back window. We’ve had an all-out hunt for this kid for the last four hours.”
A spurt of fury geysered inside her. “And you didn’t tell me?”
“My decision,” Noah said. “You needed to sleep. Gut me later, but I’d do it again.”
“I backed him,” Abbott said quietly. “There wasn’t anything you could have done. We’re sweeping fields, doing road stops. Every agency is searching.”
“Who is Austin Dent,” Donahue asked, “and why did he run?”
Abbott quickly brought the doctor up to speed while Olivia’s mind raced.
“The shooter has Kenny’s phone,” she said. “He used Val’s phone to text me so I’d think she was okay. He could have lured Austin away. He could have him right now.” She looked over at Abbott. “He takes their cell phones. Tomlinson, Val, and Kenny.”
Barlow looked up then. “And Dorian Blunt’s. We haven’t found his phone yet.”
She looked around the table, saw this wasn’t a new name to the rest of them and tried to stow her annoyance. “Who?”
“He was found in the house that was the arson target last night,” Barlow said. “At least we’re pretty sure it’s him. Ian’s going to get dental records this morning.”
“Why do you think it’s him?” Olivia asked. “And who is he?”
“Because we found his wallet in his pants,” Barlow said. “His license was buried in a stack of credit cards. The edges were all melted together, but when the lab separated them out, we could make out his name.”
“He’s an accountant,” Noah said. “His wife said he went out to meet with a client last night and never came back. She didn’t know where the meeting was or who the client was. She said that he seemed desperate when he left, that their savings are drying up and they’ve got a lot of debt. She hadn’t heard of Tomlinson, had no idea why her husband would have been in that house. So far we don’t have a connection to Tomlinson or Rankin and Sons.”
“Lots of debt, just like Tomlinson,” Olivia said. “Did they use gasoline?”
Barlow nodded. “Outside, but not on him, just like Tomlinson. He was found sitting at a desk in a home office. He was facedown.”
“Back of the head with a hollow-point?” Olivia asked, trying not to think of Kane.
“Yes,” Micki said. “Slug is in ballistics.”
But it would be a match. Olivia had no doubt. “He’s been a busy bastard,” she said coldly. “Three in one day, assuming he got to Val. Kenny would have made it four. What have we done to communicate with Austin?”
“His mother has sent him texts, telling him that he’s not in trouble,” Noah said. “We had Kenny send one, too, from a new account. We canceled Kenny’s old account so that the ‘busy bastard’ can’t use it. I woke up the construction manager at Rankin and asked him to get me the names of all the carpenters who’d worked on the condo. We called until we found the one who’d employed Austin last summer. We had that guy send a text, too. We’ve tried to get everyone he might trust to tell him to contact the police, that he’s in danger and not in trouble.”
“So, everything anyone could do,” she said quietly. “Everything I would have done.”
“We even had Bruce record a personal message, and we sat a sign language interpreter next to him,” Noah said. “Hopefully Austin’s still alive to see it.”
“And Kenny?” she asked.
“His parents are here,” Abbott said. “They’ve agreed to stay in a safe house until we can arrange for more long-term protection or until we catch the busy bastard.”
“Has anyone talked to him again? He was in the guy’s van. Maybe just a minute, but maybe he saw something that could help us.”
“Not yet,” Noah said. “We can do that today, you and I.”
“Okay.” She looked down at the table, tried to organize her thoughts. “The hat you found at the scene last night. The one the shooter left behind. Anything?”
“Yes,” Micki said. “A few hairs and face putty around the hat’s brim.”
“He changed his face,” Olivia said. “So even if we got a sketch artist with the dorm staffer or Kenny, it wouldn’t be accurate. Joel Fischer was at the condo fire, but he was dead before the Tomlinson fire. Let’s find out who he hung with. What did you find in his bedroom?”
“The glue on the shoes is definitely the carpet- padding adhesive used to start the condo fire,” Micki said. “He was there, in the condo.”
“And he was hit on the head,” Olivia said. “Just like Weems. I think they carried him away from the condo because he was unconscious.”
“Which would explain only one set of tracks at the fence,” Micki murmured.
“Different agendas,” Donahue said thoughtfully. “Joel changed his mind.”
“Kane and I thought so,” Olivia said and the room went silent. She dropped her eyes for a moment, waited until her chest eased, then lifted her eyes and forged on. “Kane found a note stuck in one of Joel’s textbooks. It was from a girl and it was signed ‘M.’ He also had a friend named Eric Marsh. Maybe either this girl or Eric know who Joel might have fallen in with. What did you find on his cell phone and his laptop?”
Micki frowned. “We didn’t find a laptop in his room. Or a cell phone.”
“He would have had the cell phone with him when he died,” Noah said. “The morgue didn’t send one over with his clothes?”
Micki shook her head. “No, I’m certain they didn’t. No cell phone.”
“Let’s go to Joel’s classes,” Olivia said, “see who he knew. He should be buried today. Maybe his friends will come to the service.”
“I had the cadaver dog at the fire scene last night,” Barlow said. “The dog’s handler is the daughter of the vet who took the guard dog from Tomlinson’s. Brie said the dog’s going to pull through.”
“One bonus,” Olivia said, her smile wan.
“Oh.” Micki searched through her folder. “I got the lab results on the dog. He was given oxycodone. A lot of it.”
Olivia frowned. “Really? That’s what Ian found in Joel. Joel OD’d on oxy.”
“We didn’t find any evidence of drugs in Joel’s room,” Micki said. “We vacuumed every surface and haven’t gone through the dust yet, but there were no visible signs. There were no pill bottles in his car either.”
“Somebody else had the pills,” Olivia said, “because they gave them to the dog Monday night. What if Joel didn’t take them voluntarily either?”
“Sounds like we need to start with Ian,” Noah said. “Find out if it’s possible to know how he ingested the oxy that killed him.”
Olivia winced. “The Fischers won’t be happy if we further delay Joel’s service, but if we can show he was drugged, it might ease their minds.”
“You two focus on Joel. I’ll talk to Kenny,” Abbott said.
“What about Val?” Olivia asked. “We need to find her. Her family deserves that.”
“I’ll send Jack Phelps and Sam Wyatt,” Abbott said. “Where should they start?”
“She said she always went to a sub shop, three blocks from the school. It makes sense that the man who… who shot Kane, also took Val. He was focused on finding out what we knew about Austin Dent.”
“We’ll trace her last movements, but we may not find her till we find him,” Abbott said. “So go find him.” He put up his hand when they all moved to go. “Everybody wears vests. Everywhere you go. No arguments. Be careful.”
Outside Abbott’s office, Noah placed his hat on his head and after a moment’s hesitation Olivia did the same. “Don’t tell me it’s very Ingrid Bergman,” she warned.