Dead Even - Mariah Stewart [27]
“Oh?”
“We’ve been following a case for several months,” she explained. “It has, ultimately, led us to Fleming. We thought you should know.”
“Go on.” Chief Carson removed her glasses and laid them on her desk. Without breaking eye contact with Miranda, she buzzed the receptionist and asked that coffee for two be brought into her office.
Miranda explained the connection between Fleming and Archer Lowell, Vince Giordano, and Curtis Channing.
“I followed those cases.” Chief Carson nodded. “I know Sean Mercer down in Broeder quite well. He’s a great cop. And I’ve known Evan Crosby for years. He’s at the National Academy right now, I heard, for some special training.”
“He is. It was my good fortune to work with him on the Lyndon case. I worked with Chief Mercer on the Broeder case, as well. They’re both top-notch.” Miranda turned as the door opened and the woman she’d met minutes earlier at the front desk brought in two mugs of steaming coffee.
“Did you make this, or did Sergeant Foley make it?” the chief asked.
“I made it,” the woman told her.
“Thanks. Foley’s coffee could peel the paint off a cruiser.” Veronica Carson smiled for the first time since Miranda had entered the room. She passed a mug to Miranda, who moved closer to the desk to take it from her hands.
“So, Agent Cahill,” she continued. “I have to think this visit is more than merely giving me a heads-up.”
“Yes, to be truthful, I was hoping to enlist your assistance in this case.”
Chief Carson sipped at her coffee, burned her tongue, and set the mug back down. “Hot. How can we help you?”
“If you could keep an eye on Lowell . . . let us know if he does anything out of the ordinary. Call me if he leaves town . . .”
“You want the Fleming police to do your surveillance so that you can go do something more important, is that it?”
“No, that’s not it.” Miranda’s back arched just slightly. “We’re trying to identify and track down Lowell’s potential victims.”
“If in fact there are any potential victims.”
“Yes. Ohio—where Channing grew up and made his early kills—appears to be the logical starting place. It’s tough to be in two places at the same time.”
“So we keep an eye on Lowell while you see what you can dredge up in Ohio.”
“Yes. If you’re willing.”
“Agent Cahill, I have a very small force here. There’s no way I can spare an officer to watch one person all the time. It just isn’t possible.” The chief leaned forward in her chair. “Especially since it really isn’t clear if Lowell is going to do a damned thing. You said yourself it’s unlikely he’ll go through with whatever deal you think he made with these two killers.”
“Believe me, I understand the situation you’re in. Unfortunately, the Bureau is shorthanded now, too. We have more agents overseas than we’ve ever had, and it’s hindered us in investigating cases like this.”
“Okay, I will do this, because I’d hate like hell to have something happen to someone if I could have prevented it. I’ll instruct the officers to watch for him at night at the Well. That’s the bar you spoke of. I can’t think of a better way to monitor his comings and goings. If he fails to show up on any given night, chances are he’s either ill or he’s left town. There’s really no place else to go around here, if you’re that age. I can have someone stop in there at night. Several of our officers do, anyway.”
“Thank you. We appreciate that.” Miranda slid a business card across the desk. “The quickest way to reach me is on my cell. Call any time, day or night.”
“I’ll give this number out to the entire department, if that’s all right with you.” The chief stood to indicate that the meeting had concluded. “If anyone sees anything you should know about, we’ll let you know.”
“We can’t ask for more than that. Thank you.” Miranda took her cue, shook the chief’s hand, and found her way out to the parking lot, relieved that someone would be keeping an eye on Lowell while she and Will searched Channing’s past for likely victims. While Chief Carson had not agreed to surveillance, at least someone would be watching to see if he