“I called the FBI,” he said, clearly annoyed. “I talked to one of my contacts. He refused to consult here because the murder has already been solved and the incidents weren’t under their jurisdiction.”
“But…”
“But…”
“No, no more about that. I tried to tell you contacting him wasn’t going to go anywhere. For what it’s worth, he called me an idiot for even checking with him. And he’s right. Everything will be investigated by my department. That’s the last I want to hear about federal help.”
Oliver said, “I’m sorry we put you in that position.”
He scanned all of them. “I assure you, we’ll find the perpetrators with our normal investigative team.”
Daisy said, “We understand. Thanks for checking.”
When Captain Marshall left, still perturbed, Oliver addressed all of them. “Let’s talk about how we’ll be safe going to work. I, for one, am not giving in to this kind of fear.”
“Let’s talk about what we have to do better,” Heath suggested.
“How do we do better when there’s been a murder?” Juliet was obviously skeptical.
Finn answered, “Jules, they caught the killer.”
“But Finn being beaten up, the explosion and now Oliver hurt so badly, we have to do more,” Heath put in.
Finn added, “We can’t have the collective swept by bomb specialists every day.”
“No.” Scarlet’s eyes sparkled. “But we could hire someone to do it. Seriously, wecould. And while they’re at it, they’ll be checking each practice, so they’d see things like the barbell trap.”
Heath’s phone buzzed. “I have to take this.” He stepped away.
Finn said, “We have to dismiss the snake, Juliet.”
“I understand.”
Heath came back. “They found the person who set the explosion at my work. Will Kirkland’s guys were at the helm.”
Daisy sighed. “Could he possibly be the same one after us? We’re both medical professionals.”
“Who knows? He’s being questioned now.”
“Meanwhile,” Finn continued, “If we don’t rise above this, we’ll have to close the collective.”
Daisy sighed heavily. “It’ll bankrupt me. I poured all of my money into this place.”
“We’re not closing,” Oliver said.
“Okay.” Finn again. “Let’s talk about what kind of person we could hire for sweeping the collective every day.”
“I think Kirkland Security can help with that.” Heath again. “I’ll call him today. We’ll try to get someone by tomorrow so we only have to cancel one day’s sessions. I know we’ll each still lose hundreds of dollars but what choice do we have?”
Chapter 8
“I don’t understand how somebody got in,” Heath remarked as they all sat in the Kirland Security conference room with Will and the guy he chose for sweeping. “We already changed the locks. Right after the explosion.”
Will said, “Didn’t do any good, though. Which doesn’t make any sense, unless there’s a way in and the police didn’t find it when they searched the place.” He turned to his cohort, Adam Ransom. “Put it on the list to scour for another way in.”
Juliet clapped her hand over her mouth. “Oh, no.”
“What?