* * *
After breakfast, almost everyone decided to brave the winds and get out of the main house for a while. Greg was the only exception here, grumbling to himself that he'd rather sit comfortably inside rather than take the risk of being blown off of the island.
Taking the opportunity, I made my way over to see Deb in the stables.
"You back again, Merrifield?" she teased.
"Actually, I thought that I'd take one of these guys out for a little ride today."
"Why don't you take Sonja? I think she'd like the time today. She's a little spirited, our Sonja, but she's got a sweet heart and will go all day."
"Sounds like just the horse I'm looking for," I answered following Deb into the barn.
"Okay, girl, we're going to walk around the island as much as we can handle today," I cooed into the mare's ear as we trotted along the path.
It took less than five minutes before I saw the first group of people. Mike, Michelle, Jim and Theresa were all trying their hand at horseshoes. "They look more like tennis people to me," I said to Sonja. "Must be the wind's too strong. Let's go find the next group."
We'd ended up covering the complete western shore of the island and were making the turn near the still turbine when my phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Merrifield? O'Brien. The boys put in a little overtime yesterday with all of the fun we've been having thanks to Anna. Anyhow, they got the information that you requested, so I'm letting you know that it's on its way."
"Thanks chief. Anything stand out on any of the background searches?" I asked.
I could hear pages flipping. "Got a few hits. Your pal Nelson seems like a real sweetheart. He's got nearly a dozen assault charges in his file. Most of the charges were dropped. It also appears that he spent some time in the army right after college.
"Let's see, who's next? Ah yes, Beth Campbell has a history of passing bad checks. Her latest brush with the law was just over a year ago. And since we're on the Campbell's, her husbands no superstar either. He managed two years in the military before being dishonorably discharged. Seems he got drunk and destroyed some government property. Did a few years in a military prison. He's got a series of D.U.I.'s that date back nearly twenty years, almost exactly the time he got out of the military. It's absolutely amazing that this guy hasn't killed somebody and landed in a different prison."
"Chief?" I interrupted him. "Are the dates of the bad checks in the data?"
"Um, yeah. Why?"
"Just wondering if there is any correlation between her bad checks and his drinking."
There was silence for a few seconds. "Not sure I'd call it a correlation, but the dates are pretty close. You're thinking that she got in trouble bailing him out?"
"That or paying for the attorney to keep him out."
"It plays. Now, let's see. Your suspicion about Michelle Carter and Theresa Parker was spot on. They are sisters, with Michelle being the older by two years. Both they and their husbands come out clean at this level. The other couple, the Adams? Nothing in their file either.
"Now when we get to the Moreno's we've got a few hits here as well. Kimberly Moreno has a sealed juvie. We'd need a court order to open that. But since she became an adult, nothing illegal. She has been named as a co-defendant in a case that was brought by a Sandra Moreno, against Anthony and Kimberly Moreno. Guessing here, but Sandra is-"
"Sandy's Tony's ex-wife," I broke in. "I remember Kim telling me that yesterday. Sorry about stepping on your toes there," I apologized.
"No, that's all right. I was going to guess that, but you were able to confirm it. Now moving on to Anthony Moreno. He's got a few dings here and there, mostly for getting into a few bar room brawls when he was in his twenties. He's been sued nearly a dozen times and investigated for insider trading twice. Every time, he's come out clean. At the time of his death, there appeared to be three suits pending. One by the aforementioned Sandra, one by a Gregory Nelson and finally one by Scott and Elizabeth Campbell."
"Thanks for the help, Chief," I said cheerfully.
"I guess I've got to say, you're welcome. You seem to have put together a pretty good investigation, Merrifield. Anything else while we're on the phone?"
Looking up, the big blades of the turbine caught my attention. "Actually, yes. Did you have any luck getting me the information about investigating a suspected bombing?"
"I did. It's in the email. I didn't look over it before it headed your way, so I can't give you a synopsis."
"Fair enough. Thanks again," I said just before I hung up.
"What'd ya think, Sonja? Should we go over and take a look while we're here?"
She just whinnied, so I took that as an agreement.
-11-
I dismounted, tied the reins to a tree branch and made my way to the small building that sat at the base of the turbine. Before entering, I turned my phone's video recorder on and secured it to the waistband of my jeans. Using the most confident voice I could muster I said, "Laura Merrifield. Entering the turbine control room at ten-twenty-eight, on the morning of July twelfth, two-thousand-fifteen."
When I finished, I turned on the small flashlight I'd borrowed from Luke, pushed the door open and stepped in.
The interior of the first room was unchanged. There were no lights, or sounds, just the dull beige walls. It was the second door, the one that went into the main control room, which caught my attention. It was slightly ajar.
"Hello?" I called out, inching my way closer to the door.
Nothing.
I kicked the door open and spun the light around the room.
It looked the same, but the back of my neck was prickly. Something wasn't right. Before I could do anything, something struck the back of my neck and the last thing I saw was a shadow moving along the wall as my vision began to gray out.