“First a cocktail bar, now a swimming pool,” Marcus murmured. “I'm starting to feel like I'm on vacation.”
Dakota glanced over, across the sunchairs, raising an eyebrow. She felt a note of wry humor. “You look like you're going to a comic book convention.”
Marcus blinked at her from behind his spectacles. He'd taken his suit jacket off, resting it neatly on the chair at his side.
Though they were sitting in sun-chairs at the hotel they'd rented, the pool itself was indoors. Which suited Dakota just fine. She could feel the persuasion of the air conditioned room. The private, hotel pool room smelled vaguely of chlorine. She spotted a couple of wet pool noodles floating on the water, along with an innertube. A couple of green, oversized lily pads ornamented the shallow end of the pool.
But currently, as evening was approaching, most of the hotel residents were at dinner, and the pool was temporarily empty.
Dakota exhaled as she glanced once again at her laptop screen, studying the information she'd entered into the database. She clicked her tongue and cycled to a new page of search results. “Got anything?” she said.
Marcus was also on his laptop, though he had laid a towel across his long legs to prevent any moisture from creeping into his battery. She'd been pretty sure this wasn't a thing that could happen, but Marcus had sounded adamant.
Now, the two of them settled in their sunchairs, brows furrowed.
“Not too many zoos in the immediate area,” Dakota said quietly. “Killer targeted two women in a twenty mile radius. I went to fifty, and there are only six spots—a couple of park ranger stations an animal control operation and three zoos.”
“Are you looking by company name for the tranquilizer?” Marcus said, glancing over.
“Yeah—see the coroner report? Bottom left. There's a list of companies that sell the compound in the chemicals he's using.”
Marcus frowned, his fingers flying over the keys briefly. Then he muttered darkly beneath his breath. He never swore, but he said, “Crap,” which was his version of an expletive. “Didn't see that. I thought we were looking for zoos in general.”
Dakota just shook her head, returning her attention to the screen. “It's all this heat,” she muttered. “It's getting to you.”
“I... I'm still not seeing any specific results,” Marcus said. “If you widen the parameters, it inundates the list. Plus, we don't actually know which chemical supplier he's getting his base components from. There's three on that list.”
Dakota nodded, sighing. “Yeah... I guess I figured we'd take them one at a time.”
Marcus hesitated. “Is there any way to find out which company sells which component?”
Dakota shook her head, looking over the top of her laptop. “Thought of that, but no. That information is kept tight. Could try calling, but you know how chemical labs are.”
“Right... Hmm. Warrant?”
“Yeah... yeah I guess, we could go that route...” Dakota trailed off, but then clicked her fingers. “Actually, I might have an idea.”
She fished her phone from her pocket, feeling a sudden bad taste in her mouth as she remembered the phone call with her father. But she pushed this thought aside and hastily entered a new number.
She shifted in the sun chair, feeling the thin plastic straps between the white poles press against her back. She tapped her fingers against the edge of her keyboard, the cold metal smooth against her skin as she waited for her phone to connect.
After the third ring, a voice.
“Hey, Dakota!” an energetic, excited voice.
She pictured smiling eyes, curling Cupid-hair and sweet dimples above a strong, masculine jaw. She shifted uncomfortably again, turning away from where Marcus was watching, amused. “Umm, hey, Mark,” she said hesitantly. “I mean,” she coughed, “Agent Bonet.”
Mark chuckled. “Is Clement there?”
“Yes, yes, that sounds right,” Dakota said, since her partner couldn't hear.
“What shirt is he wearing today?” Bonet asked, excited.
“Oh... Well, I guess I couldn't exactly say.”
“Try me!” Bonet said.
She shot a look towards Marcus who was watching her with a quirked eyebrow. She turned back and said. “Umm, hmm... The suspect was a man wearing a red suit. He had dark glasses on.”
“The suspect? I see. Don't think I know that one. Well, say high from me.”
Dakota did not. She didn't want Marcus to think she was too familiar or friendly with Bonet. Though... she was. But she still wasn't sure what was going to come of it. So instead, clearing her throat, she said, hastily, “I—I actually was wondering if you could do me a favor.”
“Oh,” he said. “Nice. Work call?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I was wondering if you could look something up for me.”
“Sure. Shoot.”
She felt a flicker of relief that they'd managed to make it past the polite preamble without causing Marcus to pay too close of attention.
“So, we got some information from the coroner,” Dakota said quickly, “that the tranquilizer the killer is using is the sort often used by big-game hunters, park rangers, and zoo employees. We're trying to locate where this particular compound was taken from. But the companies don't list exactly what type of chemicals they sell. If you could narrow down the list—that'd be very helpful.”
“Sure,” he said. “Can you send me the info?”
“Umm, right now?”
“Yeah—won't take a long time.”
“Really?”
“Sure,” he said, clearly trying to sound casual.
Part of Dakota wondered if he was trying to impress her. And another part of her wondered if she ought to tell him it was working.
She texted the information the coroner had sent them. “Those three chemical names. See them?”
“Yup. Got it. So you want to know what companies sell which ones?”
“Yes... If there are certain companies that don't supply any of the chemicals on that list, we can remove them from our search parameters.”
“Perfect. Huh... well, right off,” he said, “This middle one. Obsolete.”
“How so?”
“Hasn't been sold in nearly twenty years. Outdated.”
“Oh,” Dakota said, pleasantly surprised. “That's good. So what about the other two?”
She didn't receive a reply at first, but she did hear the sound of fingers speeding over the keys on a keyboard. Marcus was still watching her. His eyebrow was still raised.
She shifted uncomfortably again. Even at the side of a swimming pool, she wore her long-sleeved turtleneck.
“Ah, okay,” Bonet said after a moment. “So... there's a private sales list where they track inventory. Three of these companies stock the first chemical compound... Ah, but one of them does not sell locally. It's an export business.”
“Alright... So are there any locations that do sell locally?”
More clacking keys. A long pause. Some murmuring. She half imagined what Bonet might look like. The athletic physique, his handsome silhouette, hunched over a keyboard, fingers flying. She smirked at the image, but then coughed delicately, trying to shift her thought patterns.
“Ah,” he said suddenly. “Got it! Yeah, I've got three companies that sell one of those two drugs. All of them local. In about a hundred mile radius.”
“Okay, and if we make it fifty?”
“Then... two companies.”
Dakota was nodding now, feeling her excitement mounting. “And at those two companies... are there any employees with criminal records?”
“Umm... yes... but only one involved in distribution.”
“One of the company’s employees that would have access to the tranquilizer?”
“Well, one with a criminal record yeah... The guy is violent, but... huh, interesting.”
“What's that?” she said, perking up.
“Looks like this guy's route actually took him through the supermarket where your second victim was killed. He... he wasn't dropping off tranquilizer. Looks like the company does beauty products too. But he stopped by the supermarket every couple of weeks.”
Dakota felt a slow prickle of excitement. “Impressive,” she said, trying to keep her voice in check. “Way to go!”
“Thanks—so... we on for this weekend?”
“Yes—yeah. I'm... looking forward to it.”
She bid farewell then hung up, lowering her phone, and glancing towards where Agent Clement was casually examining his fingernails. “Looking forward to what?” he said in a playful tone.
“Finding our killer,” she retorted, glaring.
“The suspect has a red suit and wearing sunglasses,” Marcus replied. He glanced down at his shirt, then up at her. He pointed a large finger at her. “You're not half as subtle as you think.”
Dakota's laptop lid closed with a click. She was already pushing to her feet. “Oh, don't worry. Mark, er, Agent Bonet likes your shirts. It's a compliment.”
“I'm sure it is,” Marcus said without a note of sarcasm.
He was also rising. “I take it by your reaction we have a lead.”
“Yes,” Dakota said. “One of the company distributors has a violent criminal record. And also,” she said emphatically, “his route took him to Ms. Childs's workplace. She was killed in a supply closet on our suspect's route.”
“What's the suspect's name?” Marcus said.
Dakota went still. She glanced down, frowned, then up again.
Marcus watched her now, eyes glinting. “You... you did get a name from Mark didn't you? You weren't too distracted by looking forward to anything to remember to get the name of the suspect who—”
“Shut up.” Dakota pulled her phone out again, sheepishly.
It was testament to Agent Clement's trust in her that he was grinning. But as she marched out of the swimming pool area, laptop bag back in hand, she felt her frown creasing her brow.
“Get it together, Steele,” she muttered beneath her breath. She'd forgotten to get the name of the damn suspect. She sighed. Maybe she wasn't being honest about exactly how much she liked Agent Bonet.
No... no that couldn't be it.
It was the heat.
The damn, Arizona heat.