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“I’d like that, but I’m stuck with our department shrink.”
It seemed Marcy wanted more chitchat, but Kara was done. She headed up the steep path toward the road, Marcy following behind her. Maybe the deputy was lonely here—leaving her friends and family behind in Seattle. But Kara just never did well in the buddy role.
One thing Marcy was right about: this was a terrific run. Just long enough to get a good workout, but not too difficult. Kara felt invigorated, and she might just have to venture out here alone tomorrow.
Kara picked up the pace when they reached the dirt road and Marcy ran alongside her. By the time they reached the town, they ran in the bike lane because there was no one else out. Still early, and the morning commute hadn’t really started. Someone in a small Jeep honked and waved; Marcy waved back. Kara ignored them.
As they approached their meeting spot next to the harbor, Kara heard a horrific sound at the same time as the ground shook. She almost thoughtearthquake, then she looked south, beyond the harbor, and saw a ball of fire shoot into the air, followed by a plume of black smoke.
Another bomb, and it had exploded at West End Charter.
Before Kara could formulate a sentence, a second explosion roared louder than the first. She stumbled; Marcy caught her so she didn’t fall on her ass.
As they watched, the fire quickly burned out, and the smoke seemed to fade. What the hell happened?
Simultaneously, Marcy and Kara sprinted toward the explosion.
17
Matt let the sheriff’s department secure the scene. They had the necessary manpower and knew what they were doing both on land and water. ATF was on their way and would take over the forensics end of the investigation, and Matt’s agent Michael Harris was with them.
But Matt was in charge of the overall operation, and the sheriff went out of his way to tell his deputies that if Matt gave an order, consider it coming from him.
Fifteen minutes after the explosion, the sheriff had secured the perimeter and a fireboat had extinguished the boathouse fire.
Kara was working crowd control. She had her badge out and around her neck but was still in her jogging clothes. Matt knew she was okay—she had called him right after the explosion to tell him the location and that she was already on scene. But seeing her in person was a relief. She’d been close to the blast. Three minutes later and she would have been running past the boathouse when it detonated.
At first glance, the damage didn’t look extensive. From his vantage point, the side of the boathouse had been taken out by the bomb but the fire had been short-lived. Based on Kara’s description, Matt surmised that the first explosion had been C-4, and the second explosion a fuel tank. Other boats moored nearby had only minor damage.
He needed Michael here ASAP to tell him what the hell had happened. That the second target was the West End Charter boathouse pretty much confirmed that West End had been the target of both attacks.
That put someone in Island Protectors at the top of their suspect list.
Matt wasn’t going to play nice again with Donna Bell when they spoke, and he planned on talking to her as soon as possible. After he talked to the two vandals on probation.
The fire chief approached Matt along with one of his men. “Agent Costa? There’s one victim. We found him when we were clearing the dock.”
“ID?”
“Adult Black male approximately six foot based on our visual. The sheriff says you’re in charge here. I can walk you through the safe zone. We’re keeping people off the pier until we can ensure that the supports haven’t been damaged, but the walkway along the dock is safe.”
Matt motioned for Jim, who jogged over to him carrying a large backpack.
“We have a body.”
Jim’s face fell. “I need the ME from Snohomish here ASAP, but I’ll take the sheriff’s team and start processing.”
“What you know, I know,” Matt said. “Michael is on his way with the lead investigator with ATF. ETA, forty minutes. I want to know if the dead guy is the bomber as soon as possible.” It wouldn’t be the first time a bomber was killed by his own device.
Kara called him on his cell.
“What?”
“Turn around.”
He did and saw Kara at the opposite end of the dock, stopping Ted Colfax from breaking the police line.
“I’m coming. Don’t let him cross.” Matt couldn’t risk having a civilian screwing up the evidence. He ended the call, turned to Jim. “Go.”
