“You should know that things could become more dangerous when the killer or his contacts hear that Jones and Segal are leaving and taking the package.”
She propped herself up on her elbow, saw that his expression was serious. “You think the killer might try to stop them?”
“The person who brought that satellite down loses any chance to profit by that action the moment the plane leaves. Yes, I think they’ll try to stop us—or try to get the package from us. And then there are the Russians—or whoever is paying this guy. The people who wanted those components might become a threat, too. Be extra careful, okay? I’ll get you another radio in the morning.”
At the mention of her radio, it came back to her.
“Oh! I remembered what I wanted to tell you earlier.” She sat up. “I realized this afternoon that the killer probably believed he could get away with murder. He—or she—thought that Patty’s body would stay here on station until November. If you Cobra guys hadn’t been sent down here, she would still be lying in a body bag in the LO arch. The autopsy wouldn’t have happened until everyone who’s here now had gone home. That would make it almost impossible to investigate, wouldn’t it?”
Thor sat up, his brow furrowed. “Say that again.”
“The killer probably thought they could get away with it because Patty’s body wouldn’t have gone back to the US for an autopsy until November. They counted on being gone before the autopsy results came back. Whoever loaded her body onto your plane and sent it home unknowingly ruined those plans.”
Thor seemed to consider what she’d said. “I need to pass this along to Shields.”
“I doubt that helps with anything, but…”
“It might. Thanks. You’re right. If we Cobra guys hadn’t come down here and those men in the service arch hadn’t taken it upon themselves to load her body onto that outgoing plane, she would still be here, and we would have no idea that she’d been murdered. We’d be focused on the satellite hack and nothing else.”
She ran a hand up his chest. “I want to thank you for listening to Kazem and Bai today. I told them they could trust you.”
Thor lay back, drew Samantha with him. “I’m waiting to get confirmation on elements of their story, so I can’t write them off as suspects just yet. But, yeah, I don’t want anyone getting hanged for being gay. I shouldn’t be discussing this with you.”
“Am I still a suspect?”
He kissed her hair. “No—but I shouldn’t tell you that, either.”
“What was it like reading Patty’s journal? You don’t have to tell me what she wrote or anything related to the investigation. I just … I miss her so much.”
For a moment, Thor was quiet. When he spoke, there was a note of sadness in his voice. “I feel like I got to know her a little. She seems like a fun person and a good friend. When I finished, I felt grief, like I’d lost a friend, too. She loved you.”
Samantha’s throat went tight. “Did she write that?”
“Yeah, she did.” Thor kissed her forehead.
Samantha blinked back tears. “Thanks for telling me.”
“I promised her I’d find the bastard who killed her. They won’t get away with it.”
Samantha hoped that was true. “Just don’t get killed yourself, okay?”
He kissed her again. “You got it.”
* * *
Thor invitedRyan McClain into the small conference room. “Have a seat. We just have a few extra questions for you.”
“Sure.” McClain sat across from the computer. “Are you filming?”
“Yes.” Segal explained. “It’s hard to take in everything that’s said while we’re talking, so we film it in case we need to check back later.”
Thor sat across from Ryan. “I spent the morning down in the LO arch talking with the guys about Patty’s body and how it ended up on the airplane. Dean, Bob, and Walt said you were the guy who made that happen.”
“Oh. Yeah. Well, I helped carry her down there. We all felt awful about losing her. Patty was a friend to all of us. When I heard a plane was coming in, I talked with Hardin about sending her body back, but he wouldn’t approve it. He said there wasn’t enough time because the pilot had to get airborne right away. I told him we could be standing there when the plane landed, but he cut me off.”
This was all news to Thor. “So, Hardin refused to let her body go on the plane?”
“Yes. I got to talking with some of the guys down in the LO arch, and we figured we could handle it ourselves. During the summer, the guys down there are responsible for all of the outgoing shipping. They filled out the shipping form and emailed it to the authorities in Christchurch. Her ID and passport were already in the body bag with her, so we just carried her out and waited for you to land.”