Cold & Deadly (Cold Justice: Crossfire #1)(42)

“Seems like a hell of a coincidence,” Parker commented.

Sheridan went into the kitchen and brought back a coffee pot and five mugs. Parker fetched a jug of milk. The smell of beef stew floated through the air, making Ava slightly nauseous.

Frazer got up and stared at the view of the pool, huge lawn and nearby woods. “We’re going to need to re-examine the details of those agents’ deaths.”

Rooney broke in. “Do you think your accident last night was related?”

“The GHB in my system suggests it wasn’t an accident,” Sheridan said easily.

“But was it related to these other deaths or was it related to the drug smuggling operation being run out of that bar?” Ava asked in frustration. Too many questions and possibilities.

“I can see the guys in the bar trying to get rid of a couple of Feds who got too close,” Parker put in.

“Organized crime knows that messing with Feds is the surest way to bring a whole load of attention to your illegal activities,” Frazer objected.

“Sometimes the Mob gets bold,” Parker stated quietly. He looked at Ava as he said it. Did he know about her past? It was secret, but maybe if you were a really good cybersecurity expert nothing was secret. She feigned nonchalance.

“Why was Van Stamos in that bar last week? Was it a place he regularly visited? Could he have been investigating the drug runners?” Rooney turned her head to one side as she asked the same questions that had been swirling in Ava’s mind for hours.

“He never mentioned going there to me.” Ava shrugged. “Maybe someone contacted him with information…I don’t know.”

“Where’s Van’s cell phone?” Parker asked.

Sheridan looked at him. “I can get it for you.”

“Alex is a wizard with cell phone data.” Rooney’s eyes sparkled as she took a sip of coffee her husband poured for her.

“I don’t need the phone but I need to know his carrier,” said Parker.

“I’ll find out,” Sheridan wrote a note for himself on his cell.

“Anything back on the shoe prints?” Ava asked Sheridan.

“Shoe prints?” Frazer queried.

“When Van’s body was found the window in his office was open,” Dominic explained. “When I checked outside the window last night, there were distinct impressions in the soil. I asked Ray Aldrich to get the evidence response team back in to make plaster-casts and to check the surface of the window for contact DNA or fingerprints.”

“Why use the window? If someone was there why not use the door?” queried Rooney.

“You can avoid tripping the security lights by going out that side window and heading straight to the fence,” Dominic answered.

Ava’s eyes widened. He hadn’t mentioned that snippet of information last night, but it explained why he’d been snooping around in the dark.

“How would the dealers from the bar know that?” Parker handed her a coffee and offered her milk which she accepted gratefully.

“They wouldn’t,” said Ava. “Only someone who’d staked out the house would know that.”

“Then someone might have been stalking him beforehand,” said Frazer contemplatively. “Watching him and waiting for the perfect opportunity, which doesn’t scream drug dealers to me.”

“But the coincidence with what was going on at the bar…” Ava hated coincidences. “And there is still no proof Van was murdered.”

“Except your conviction and Dominic’s,” said Frazer.

“There’s something else weird.” Dominic glanced at Ava, and she pressed her lips together. If they were wrong and this got out, Van’s legacy would be blighted. No one would remember the arrests or his work with victims. It would be all about the fact he’d died with his johnson hanging out.

Dominic knew it too. “We spoke to the neighbor who found Van’s body. He said when he arrived Van’s pants were undone. The neighbor adjusted the clothing before calling the cops, because he didn’t want his friend to be found that way.”

Frazer stared at Dominic and then at Ava. The iciness in his gaze was like frost on a windshield. Ava suspected it was something he cultivated to keep people at a distance.

“Neighbor’s theory was Van had a sexual encounter and was so overcome with guilt for cheating on his dead wife that he shot himself,” Dominic continued.

Frazer’s lip curled. “I find it hard to believe a retired agent would leave himself exposed in that fashion even if he’d felt guilty enough to kill himself. He knew how law enforcement talked.” He narrowed his eyes. “It is the sort of thing an UNSUB might do if they wanted to humiliate a victim.”

“We need the surveillance footage from the bar the night Van was there. See who he spoke to.” Dominic adjusted his sling, lips twisting into a grimace.

Frazer eyed Ava. “That’s not going to be easy.”

“Once the higher ups see the list of dead agents surely the DEA will cooperate?” she said defensively. “And the DEA saw us enter and leave that bar. We weren’t exactly low profile. I’m assuming they had someone inside the place. Why the hell hasn’t one of them contacted us about Van being there the night he died? Don’t they read the damn news?”