Page 68 of Unraveled

CHAPTER

THIRTY-FIVE

They were back to square one. Kellerman had been found in his vehicle the previous evening after leaving the precinct, dead from a single gunshot wound to the temple.

“Foul play?”

“Looks that way. There was only a small amount of gunshot residue on his hands—not enough to indicate that he pulled the trigger.”

Son of a bitch. Someone had killed him at point-blank range—probably someone he’d trusted, if he’d allowed the person to get in the car with him. “Have they questioned Raines yet?”

“They brought him in this morning. Apparently, he owns a Smith & Wesson 9mm—the same caliber bullet they found in Kellerman. It was also,” Mason continued, “the same slug they dug out of the brick after Audrey was shot at.”

Finally. “So they brought him in?”

“Yep. Apparently, he has no alibi for the time of the murder.” Mason leaned back in his chair and propped his feet on the desk. “According to my guy at the PD, he’s denying everything except his arguments with Kellerman. Police got a warrant to search the house but haven’t found the gun yet.”

Mason scowled. “Has to be there somewhere. And, seriously? Nobody heard a gunshot in the middle of the evening?”

Seriously? In a world where everyone had a cell phone, no one had seen a thing, hadn’t captured anything on camera or on video?

Mason spread his hands wide. “What do you expect?”

Not a single thing, honestly. As much as Carter wanted to make it easy and blame Raines for Audrey’s incident, he had to look at it objectively. Raines didn’t have an alibi, but they also hadn’t found the gun to positively match ballistics. “We can’t go off half-cocked and accuse Raines of anything. It won’t fly in court. If Edward’s responsible for shooting at Audrey, I’m gonna make sure he doesn’t get off on a technicality.”

Knox smirked at Carter from where he rested one hip against the desk. “Sure you don’t want to come work for me?”

“I’m seriously considering it,” Carter murmured. If Edward was found guilty of murder—attempted or otherwise—or God knew what else, the firm would likely collapse. They’d lose all credibility. “Is that offer open-ended?”

“Always.”

Carter nodded. “I appreciate it. So, where do we stand with Raines?”

Mason shrugged one shoulder. “They can hold him for twenty-four hours. After that…”

Yeah, Carter knew the drill. And, if what Mason said was true, that there was no evidence of Raines’s involvement, they’d release him just like they had with Kellerman.

“This guy might not be involved at all,” Mason offered, echoing Carter’s thoughts.

“I know,” Carter responded. “It just seems like too much of a coincidence to ignore.” Something just didn’t shake out with that.

“When was the first time?” Knox asked.

“First time that I know of was at the VA,” Carter said. “Supposedly he was arguing with Kellerman. Second was at my law office a week later.”

Mason’s phone vibrated an alert, and he made a face as he read the message.

Carter studied him. “That your guy at the PD?”

“Yep. They found a couple sets of prints inside Kellerman’s car, but none of them belonged to Raines.”

“He could’ve worn gloves or something.” Some people even used superglue to minimize their fingerprints and eliminate the oils from the skin.

“Possible, but they also found a hair that doesn’t seem to match Raines, either. Raines is mostly gray. This is short, likely a man’s, but dark blond or brown.”

Jesus Christ. Couldn’t they catch a break? Carter pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes. He knew the police were doing everything they could, but in the meantime, whoever had killed Kellerman was still running loose. He wouldn’t let him get to Audrey next. “Okay. So Raines didn’t kill Kellerman. What do we know about an organ-smuggling ring?”

“Bad news on that.” Knox grimaced. “PD thinks whoever is harvesting the organs is working with Escobar Valdez.”