tonight? We’ll grab some steaks and grill out.”
“Yeah?” Hank perked up. “Well, you probably have to pack and all that. I don’t want to intrude on you and Callie.”
“Whatever. Just come over after work. You’re never going to intrude.”
He smiled.
I left Hank’s desk and headed back to my office. I took a seat at my desk and dialed Callie.
She picked up. “Hey.”
“Hey, babe. What’s up?” I asked.
“Nothing. Just doing laundry and getting some stuff packed. Do you want me to put a bag together for you?”
“Don’t worry about it. I can take care of it when I get home. Hey, I invited Hank over to grill out later.”
“Okay. Yeah, that will work. I was going to go out in a bit to do some girl stuff anyway. Do you want me to go grab a couple things from the store?”
“It’s up to you. Otherwise, I can do it on my way home.”
“I’ll get it—I’ll be out anyway. What do you guys want?”
“A couple of T-bones. Some potato salad.”
“Got it, babe. When do you think you’ll be done?”
“Seven at the latest.”
“See you then. Love you.”
“Love you guys too.”
“Aww. Bye, baby.”
I smiled. “See you later.”
I put the phone back on its base. No sooner did my hand come off of the receiver than it rang.
I lifted it back up. “Lieutenant Kane.”
“Kane, it’s Ed. I have a little something here for you guys. I actually just got off the phone with Rick. He’s going to stop back down and take a look at what I found.”
“Well, what did you find?”
“Flesh under her nail.”
“Our guys didn’t spot anything at the scene,” I said.
“I found it under her right large toenail when I was washing her down. The piece is pretty small. I had to look at it under magnification to confirm it as flesh. Rick is on his way over to get a scraping.”
“It didn’t come from her?”
“She has no scratches anywhere.”
“Good. It’s about the first real lead we have. Thanks, Ed.”
“Yup. We’ll see you.”
I hung up and fired off a text to Rick. I wanted to know as soon as he got anything from the flesh sample—he confirmed.
I looked over the notes of what I wanted to get taken care of. All that remained was calling the industrial supply company Riaola worked for and getting in contact with the guys at the Atlanta Police Department. I still had about twenty minutes before American Industrial Materials opened. I looked up the Airport Precinct’s number and found the name of my contact, Major Lance Rogan. I dialed the number.
“APD Airport,” a man answered.
“Hello, this is Lieutenant Carl Kane from the Tampa homicide division. I’m looking to speak with Major Rogan.”
“Sure. One minute, Lieutenant.”
Hold music played in my ear for a number of minutes. It broke only for announcements about the annual APD fundraiser. The music clicked off as someone picked up.
“This is Major Rogan.”
“Hello, Major. Lieutenant Kane from Tampa homicide.”
“Yeah, sorry about the wait. We were just wrapping up our morning meeting. What can I help you with?”
“Well, I have a possible suspect in a homicide that returned a rental car at your airport there this morning.”
“Are you thinking it was involved?”
“That, I’m not sure of. The mileage when the vehicle was returned doesn’t fit. I just wanted to see if you could send out someone to give it a quick look.”
“Sure. What’s the company it was rented from?”
“United Auto Rental.”
“And what should I have my guys looking for?”
I bounced my pen on my desk. “Anything that could suggest the guy was in Tampa. Also, see if there are any signs that the odometer has been tampered with.”
“Sure. What was the name of the man who rented the car?”
“Charles Riaola.”
“I’ll send someone over.”
“Thanks.”
The major and I exchanged contact numbers and hung up. With any luck, I’d be able to check the rental car off the list one way or another within the hour.
The
Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson