* * *
An hour later,they got a call from Jack letting them know that Shoals was on his way to the ranch—this time by car. Once again, Jack gave them the use of his office, where Joaquin and Mia listened to Shoals’ version of thestory.
“Powell resisted, and we had no choice but to escalate ourresponse.”
Joaquin wanted the gory details. Had Hunter punched him in his fucking face? Had he struck him upside the head with his nightstick? Had he kicked him in theballs?
Joaquin hoped it was allthree.
But Shoals had already moved on. “We found a large amount of heroin in his possession, along with other illegal drugs and an arsenal that includes several nine-millimeter firearms. One of those was found in hisvehicle.”
This was good, but was itenough?
Joaquin wanted rock-solid proof. He wanted tohearthat prison door clang shut and the key turn. “Did you find anything concrete that ties him to the murders—the black hoodie, Frank’s wallet, Garcia’s creditcards?”
“We found a black hoodie in the wash. Powell is too smart to keep the other stuff in his house. We figure he took what he needed and threw the rest in some dumpster in an alley. We will keep looking, of course. Just because we’ve affected an arrest doesn’t mean we stop investigating. Our case against him doesn’t hinge on those items. We have surveillance footage showing a man of his height and weight. More than that, we have DNA from the scene. We put a rush on the DNA we took from the two of you, as well as the DNA left at the crime scene by the shooter. Testing revealed three distinctly different sources. We’ll take a sample from Powelltomorrow.”
“What if he refuses?” Miaasked.
Shoals shook his head. “He is now under arrest, so he doesn’t have a choice. The police can compel him to giveevidence.”
“Good.” Joaquin was happy to hearit.
“Also—I can let you in on this—a known drug dealer was murdered in Denver last night, shot in an alley at point-blank range. Witnesses saw a man in a black hoodie running away. Preliminary testing on the casings we picked up at the scene tied that shooting to Powell,too.”
“So much killing.” Mia rubbed her temples. “What are the charges againsthim?”
“He’s looking at three counts of capital homicide, one count of attempted homicide and assault with deadly intent for his attack on you, along with a bunch of drug charges. We can’t charge him with anything where Mr. Meyer is concerned because we haven’t found a body yet. I hope he’ll realize the situation is hopeless and do what many of these psychopaths do—start bragging about who he killed and how and where. He must have wanted us to catch him because he never picked up his brass. Someone who doesn’t want to get caught removes all ballistic evidence from thescene.”
“Maybe he’s an idiot,” Joaquinsaid.
Shoals grinned. “That’s a possibility,too.”
“He’s not,” Mia said. “What happensnow?”
“He has lawyered up—a big criminal attorney. We’ll do our best to question him. He’s got an arraignment tomorrow morning. We’ll put our case together and, depending on how much he cooperates, the DA will either make a plea deal or take the case totrial.”
“Will I have totestify?”
“Try not to worry about that.” That was easy for Shoals to say. “If there is a trial, it won’t happen formonths.”
“Can I gohome?”
The expression on Shoals’ face told Joaquin he thought this was a silly question. “The killer is in custody, so,yes.”
Joaquin asked another. “Is there any chance he could getout?”
“Escape? Iseriously—”
“That’s not what I meant. Could the judge let him out on bail or someshit?”
“The man is accused of killing three people, including a brigadier general. I doubt any judge would grant bail.” Shoals got to his feet, handed Mia a business card. “If you have any other questions, feel free to call my office. We’re grateful to you for helping us bring this together, Ms.Starr.”
Joaquin knew those last words were Shoals’ way of acknowledging the risk Mia took in sharing classified information with hisagency.
Mia stood, shook Shoals’ hand. “Thanks foreverything.”
After Shoals left the room, Joaquin pulled Mia into his arms. “Are youokay?”