Page 79 of Broken Wheels
“Since we had two deaths there, my guys do a daily check, just so nothing takes us by surprise.”
No fucking way. “Let me guess. They found a surprise.”
“They did indeed. Thirty-two-year-old Robert Vreeland, former Army staff sergeant, dishonorable discharge. Fell off the grid about four years ago.”
Dix regretted engaging, but Chalmers was the one in charge right now. “Was his body burned too?” That seemed to be the pattern.
“Nope, just dumped. ME says some sort of toxin was the cause of death, but they haven’t identified it yet.” There was a pause. “Now, does any of this mean anything to you?”
Toxin? Holy fuck. Dix’s skin crawled. He forced himself to sound calm. “Nope, not a thing. Sorry, but I have to go now.”
Chalmers chuckled. “Yeah, that doesn’t sound at all suspicious.” His voice softened. “Look, Dixon, I know you’ve had a really shitty time dealing with the government, and I can’t blame you for being wary. But just so you know? You can trust me.”
Right then, Dix didn’t trust anyone who wasn’t part of CrossBow.
“I’ve been watching Dr. Malone for years,” Chalmers continued. “I’ve steered him away from trouble on more than one occasion. I like him. Hell, I like you, prickly bitch that you are. I don’t want to see anyone else get hurt. Please, give me a chance to prove myself.”
While Dix might distrust anyone who worked for the government, there was always the possibility Chalmers was telling the truth.
Besides, having another pair of eyes out there has to be a good thing, right?
“Just think about it, okay?” Chalmers sighed. “I’ll let you get back to work. One last thing. Tell the good doctor we’ll be seeing him soon.”
Then he was gone. Dix stared at his phone a moment, then slipped it into his pocket again. Though he had no proof, he was pretty sure this was a warning to Doc.
Dix stood several feet away from Doc, unable to miss his growing frustration.
I love how his brain works.
It was fascinating to see how he bounced around from one thing to another. This time however, he needed to focus and complete one task before moving on to the next.
Dix cleared his throat. “Doc, we need to get one thing done, then move on.”
Doc turned to him, his eyes narrowed. “If this annoys you, how do you think it makes me feel? While you were in your office, I missed, like, two or three alarms. I never miss alarms.”
He walked over to Doc. “Then why don’t you tell me what you’re doing, so I can try to help you?” He kept his voice soothing. “You’re not alone in this, remember?”
Doc wrung his hands. “That’s the problem. I don’t know what I’m trying to find. I have too many dangling threads. I keep trying to pull them together, but it’s as if I’m missing the one key thread that will allow me to do that.” He stared at Dix. “You want to see what’s going on inside my head right now?” He got up and stormed over to a bulletin board and tore away the sheet that covered it.
Dix gawped at the chaotic mess. There were pictures of people with pins in them, and attached to the pins were strings of various colors that connected them to others. Dix had seen things like this on television, but never thought anyone did them in real life.
Doc swept a hand toward the board. “There you have it. The workings of my brain, with nothing cohesive to bind any of this together.”
He sounded so dejected that Dix couldn’t stand it a moment longer. He pulled Doc into a hug, unable to miss the tremors that shook him.
Tremors that didn’t subside, despite Dix’s arms around him.
Dix didn’t like that one bit.
“One thing,” he murmured into Doc’s ear. “Just one. Tell me what’s first and foremost in your mind.”
Doc sighed and let Dix take his weight. “I’ve been trying to pull up the security tapes from the prison where Porter was killed. I also downloaded the visitor logs, looking to see if we can find anyone there who might fit into our theory of someone being responsible. I think if we can find one person, then we’ll be able to link that one to others.”
“Okay. Now, what’s second most important?”
Josh rankled under the questioning. He was supposed to be so smart, yet here he was being schooled by Dixon.
Then he took a deep breath. He’s right to question me. Josh hated not having answers, or even worse, being uncertain where to look for them. And this wasn’t a very scientific exercise anyway.