Riggs cursed. “Come on, Kate, we have to get out of here!” He pulled her through the front door onto the porch then down the steps to the lawn.
They ran to a large tree far away from the porch and Riggs shoved his phone into Kate’s hands. “Call 9-1-1. I’m going to see if the bomber is still around.”
Kate stabbed at the numbers while he scanned the street and front of the property. No one lurking nearby. No stray cars.
He raced around the side of the house toward the back. Whoever’d tossed the pipe bomb had to have been close by. Had to have climbed the steps to get the bomb through those sliders.
Glancing up at the deck, he saw it was empty. Smoke seeped through the broken glass, filling the deck and swirling upward in the wind.
Pivoting, he surveyed the back property. The area beneath the deck. Then the woods. Dammit, nothing.
Leaves rustled and trees swayed in the wind. The scent of burned wood from the forest fire still clung to the air. He walked along the trees lining Kate’s property, searching the shadows.
A slight movement to the right. He stood frozen, listening, watching. A minute later, a deer scampered through the brush.
The sound of a car engine rumbled then tires squealed. Whoever had tossed that pipe bomb could have woven through the woods to the street farther down.
Riggs jogged up the incline and crossed the yard. Just as he made it to the road, the tail end of a car disappeared around the corner. He broke into a sprint, straining to get a read on the license plate, but the dark clouds shaded the remaining daylight, and the car was too fast.
The sound of a siren wailed from the opposite direction, then another. Riggs rushed back to check on Kate. A fire engine roared to a stop in the drive, followed by Stone’s squad car.
Riggs darted toward the tree and found Kate looking shell-shocked.
“Are you okay?” he asked as he stopped in front of her.
“First the car fire, then the woods and now this.” Her eyes glittered with anger and shock. “I want to know who’s doing this.”
“We’ll find out.” Riggs squeezed her arm. “Let me talk to Stone and the fire crew.” He joined Stone and Brian where Brian was issuing orders as the crew began to tackle the blaze inside.
“What happened?” Stone asked.
“Someone threw a pipe bomb through the sliding-glass doors.” Riggs raked a hand through his hair. “Kate and I ran out. I looked around back. Didn’t see anyone, but I heard a car down the way, tires squealing. By the time I made it to the road, the car flew around the corner and disappeared.”
“We’ll contain the fire,” Brian assured him as he and another firefighter geared-up, then rushed into the house.
“Did you see what kind of car it was?” Stone asked. “Get a license plate?”
“No.” Riggs clenched his hands in frustration. “Dammit, Stone, Kate could have been seriously injured tonight.”
“I know. The perp is escalating, getting bolder,” Stone commented. “He’ll make a mistake and we’ll catch him.”
Riggs gritted his teeth. But would they catch him before Kate got hurt?
KATE HAD BEEN in shock over her car exploding and irritated at the graffiti, but she was furious someone had had the audacity to attack her at home.
Everything Kate had worked for the last few years had been to honor the town and her mother and the ones who’d died in the shooting. She’d dreamed of nothing more than bringing Briar Ridge back to glory with happy kids, adults, families and tourists, and to diminish the distrust riddling the town.
But someone so opposed to those things was willing to kill her.
“Kate,” Stone said in a quiet tone. “Did anyone approach you at the picnic? Someone you perceived as a threat?”
“Just Billy.” The scene between Macy and Trey flashed behind her eyes. Then Brynn with Gretta. Altercations that had nothing to do with her. Had they?
The scene between Macy and Trey especially bothered Kate. It hinted at domestic violence. Although, Macy was helping to investigate the shooting. Perhaps she’d uncovered something and had confronted Trey about it.
At one time, Kate would have known. Macy would have shared her fears and details about her relationship. Although she had been withdrawn at times. Hadn’t talked about her mother’s illness.
Maybe something had happened that Kate didn’t know about. What if Macy had trouble in her marriage and needed Kate? Perhaps she was the one who’d let down her friend. She should have reached out.
“I’m going to issue an APB for Billy Hodgkins. It’s time he answered some questions.” Stone stepped aside to make the call, and Riggs rubbed Kate’s shoulder.
“Did you see Don Gaines hanging around anywhere?” Riggs asked.
Kate searched her memory banks. “No. I noticed Gretta arguing with Brynn at the picnic. I don’t know what they were talking about, though, but Gretta wouldn’t leave Brynn alone.”
Riggs shrugged. “I know. Jay ran to her rescue. He always despised Gretta.”
He wasn’t the only one.
“Gretta stopped by the school the day you found that graffiti. Maybe she was fishing for the reason Don was there.”
Kate shifted. “Or maybe Gretta knows something about all this that we don’t.”
“That could be true,” Riggs said. “She sure as hell seems to be in everyone’s business just like she was back in the day.”
Kate shuddered.
“I want to look at that pipe bomb,” Riggs said. “Meanwhile, think, Kate. Did you see anything else that seemed suspicious at the picnic?”
“Nothing about the school, but Trey and Macy were arguing. He got rough with her and grabbed her arm. I told him to back off.”
“How did he react?” Riggs asked.
Kate shivered. “He got mad and told me to mind my own business.”
Riggs cleared his throat. “Did you hear what they were arguing about?”
“No, and Macy told me she could handle it,” Kate said. “But the look in his eyes...it bordered on abusive.”
“Macy is FBI,” Riggs pointed out. “She seems tough, not the type to be victimized.”
Yet Kate knew Macy’s secrets. “Even strong women get caught off guard by the men they love,” Kate said softly. Especially a seasoned manipulator.
Pain wrenched Riggs’s face and Kate realized she’d hit a nerve. She’d forgotten about the gossip that Riggs’s father had been abusive to his mother. “I’m sorry, Riggs, I didn’t mean to be insensitive.”
A muscle ticked in his jaw. “No problem. If Trey deserves it, I’m sure Macy will kick him to the curb, too.”
She hoped so. Although, deep down, Macy had insecurities caused by her mother’s mental health issues. A vulnerable spot that an abuser might prey on.
Surely her FBI training would have taught her how to overcome being a victim.
Riggs’s brow creased. “Trey’s father was a hunter, wasn’t he? And Trey used to go with him.”
“I did hear that,” Kate admitted. “His father owned a gun shop outside town.”
“Right,” Riggs said thoughtfully. “Trey liked to brag about his father’s gun collection.” Riggs heaved a breath. “Dammit. What if Trey sold Ned that gun he used to commit the shooting?”
Kate paled. “If he did, maybe Macy figured it out and that’s why they were arguing.”
RIGGS LOWERED HIS VOICE. “We can’t jump to conclusions, but it’s worth asking Stone about. Macy could have seen something in the old files that aroused her suspicions.”
Kate rubbed her fingers together in that nervous gesture he’d come to recognize. “Now I’m really worried about her.”
“Don’t, Kate. Macy can take care of herself.”
She didn’t look convinced. “I’m going to talk to Stone,” Riggs said.
While he hurried up to the house, Riggs struggled to remember if he’d ever seen Trey talking to Ned in high school. Trey had been cocky and had always had a chip on his shoulder. He’d driven a motorcycle, was on the wrestling team, and possessed a dark, bad boy side that attracted girls.
Trey would never have been friendly with Ned. But Trey’s family had guns and Trey was a loose cannon.
A possible scenario played through his mind. Trey could have met up with Ned some place where no one would have seen them. Some place he could have given, or sold, him a gun.
And after the shooting, Trey had kept quiet because he’d realized he was complicit in multiple murders.
The smoke was clearing slightly inside the house, although debris from the pipe bomb littered the wood floor and a charred odor permeated the space.
Brian gestured across the room. “We managed to keep it from spreading to the bedrooms.”
That was good, although there would be water and smoke damage.
“I want to look at the bomb,” Riggs said.
“Just don’t touch anything,” Stone said. “There may be prints somewhere in there.”
“It’s not my first crime scene,” Riggs said, annoyed at the reminder.
“Sorry,” Stone said. “Habit.”
Riggs gave a nod then relayed his conversation with Kate.
“Did Kate hear what Trey and Macy were arguing about?” Stone asked.
Riggs shook his head no. “But Kate said it looked like Trey was getting physical with Macy.”
A dark look crossed Stone’s face. “I’ll talk to her. Maybe she has insight into Trey and the gun.”
Riggs thanked him and crossed the room. Shattered glass crunched beneath his boots as he snapped pictures of the debris on the floor and the damage the pipe bomb had caused. Once he had his pictures, Riggs tugged on latex gloves and squatted to examine the bomb materials.
“You say it was thrown through the sliders?” Brian asked.
“Yeah.” Riggs pointed to the floor. “It landed here.”
Brian squatted beside him, and Riggs noticed a photo of Kate and her mother that had been shattered in the explosion. Her father wasn’t present in any of the pictures, reminding him that she’d never mentioned him. He wondered what the story was there.
In the photograph, Kate looked to be about ten and was wearing a pair of small wire-rimmed glasses. She was young and innocent, and held a book in her hand.
He smiled at the image. The bookshelf by her fireplace overflowed with paperbacks—romance, mystery, family stories.
But his smile faded as he turned back to examine the crime scene.
“Looks amateurish,” Riggs said. “Whoever did this used match heads and gun powder.”
“I agree. Anyone, even a kid, could make one of these,” Brian noted. “All you need is the internet.”
“And some basic materials you could pick up anywhere,” Riggs mumbled.
Stone joined them, his hands on his hips. “My deputy found Billy and is bringing him in. Once the crime team arrives, I’ll question him. What are your thoughts on the bomb, Riggs?”
Riggs gestured toward the pipe. “Not sophisticated at all. I know Billy is a suspect, but the amateurish aspects of the bomb and graffiti suggest we might be looking at a teenager.” He pointed to the pipe. “This is an exhaust pipe from a car.”
“Or someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing. The bomber could have gotten the pipe at a car repair shop,” Stone said.
“Or a junkyard,” Riggs added with a shrug.
“Maybe Billy was just desperate,” Brian suggested “and he didn’t have time to put together something more sophisticated.”
Stone scratched his head. “Don Gaines was in the science lab that day someone painted the threat on the wall.”
Riggs sucked in a breath. “Yeah, but I still don’t understand his motive.”
Stone shrugged. “Maybe he just has anger issues. I’ll follow up on the fingerprints. If his match the ones on the matchbook we found in his locker, I’ll bring him in.”
“Have the team see if they can lift prints from the piping material,” Riggs said.
If they did, and the prints matched Billy’s or Don’s, they’d nail the culprit before he hurt anyone.
THE HOUSE WAS going to be damaged. Kate made a mental list to call her insurance company and her general contractor to get an estimate for repairs.
Finally the firemen emerged and began to pack up to leave. Riggs came out a minute later with Stone, his face grim.
“How bad is it?” she asked.
“Not too bad,” Riggs said. “Some smoke and water damage, but it was contained to the living room area.” He gave her a sympathetic smile. “I’m sorry, Kate.”
Kate shrugged. “It’s only things,” she said. After losing her mother, she could survive anything except losing someone else she loved.
“You can’t stay here tonight, Kate,” Riggs said. “Go pack an overnight bag and you can arrange for a clean-up crew in the morning.”
She wanted to argue, be brave. Insist that she wouldn’t let anyone scare her away from her own home.
But as she climbed the porch steps and reached the door, the acrid odor of the explosive hit her. And was a reminder that someone was stalking her.
She’d survived tonight. What if he succeeded the next time?
Stepping into the foyer, Kate’s stomach clenched at the mess in her house. Water soaked the wood floor and furniture, and smoke stained the walls and flooring. The kitchen had survived, but the walls would probably need a fresh coat of paint, as well.
Her briefcase holding the plans for the memorial sat on the table by the door, thankfully undamaged. The pictures of her and her mother on the mantel were safe. And so was she. That was all that mattered.
“Careful where you walk,” Riggs said. “And don’t touch anything in the living room. The crime team needs to process the room for evidence.”
“Understood.”
She carefully picked her way along the wall to the bedroom. Inside the closet, she retrieved her overnight bag, tossed her toiletries, pajamas and a dress for the dedication ceremony inside, then slipped back through the living room.
Riggs was waiting by the door, a scowl deepening his face. Outside, voices indicated the crime investigators had arrived. She snagged her briefcase and purse, and Riggs took her overnight bag as they stepped through the door.
Stone directed the crime team toward the porch just as she and Riggs reached her rental SUV.
“I’ll have them lock up when they’re finished,” Stone said.
Kate thanked him. “I’ll call my contractor and insurance company in the morning.”
Riggs opened the rear door and set her bag inside. “Follow me to my house, Kate.”
She shrugged. “Thanks, but I’ll stay at the inn.”
Rigg’s jaw hardened. “You’ll be safer at my place.”
Not when she wanted to crawl into his arms. “I’ll be fine at the inn. Most of the alumni are staying there.”
Her stomach knotted. There might not be room though, but she had to try. Although one of the guests could be her enemy.