Playing Dead_ A Novel of Suspense - Allison Brennan [105]
“Maddox picked them up in person on Friday, January 18,” she answered.
“We didn’t find anything like that in his town house,” said Mitch.
“And they aren’t on the flash drive, either,” said Meg.
Mitch turned the pages. There was a series of articles related to the Delta Conservancy, Elk Grove, the Waterstone Development Corporation, and probably a half-dozen more. They were all LexisNexis files that had been saved to the drive.
“Did you contact LexisNexis to retrieve any other searches Maddox might have done?” Mitch asked.
Meg frowned. “The U.S. Attorney’s office is working on it, but there are huge privacy issues. We won’t have anything today.”
“These are all old stories. Twenty, twenty-five years.” He turned pages and found an obituary. “Rose Van Alden. Died at ninety-one, in her sleep.” Mitch read the article. She was a lifelong resident of Elk Grove and left her money to the Delta Conservancy. “Is there anything important here?”
“I don’t know. They’re old articles, and normally I wouldn’t waste my time, but Maddox swallowed the flash drive for a reason, so I’m thinking there’s a connection we don’t see. I’ve sent everything to analysts at Quantico and asked for a rush. But one thing seems pretty obvious: Keep going,” she said.
Mitch flipped through the articles, then started to see another pattern—a series of stories about Judge Hamilton Drake.
Steve looked over Mitch’s shoulder. “A judge? Why’s that important?”
“If you read the articles, you’d learn that Drake is one of the original partners in Waterstone Development,” said Meg. “Maddox was digging into something. The analysts are doing a complete background check on Drake and seeing if there is any crossover to Maddox’s other articles. Even if there is something here, that doesn’t mean it’s related to O’Brien. In fact, I don’t see how any of this relates to the O’Brien case. Maybe Maddox was killed for a completely different reason.”
Mitch didn’t yet see the connection either, but he sensed it was there. “Did Matt call?” he asked Meg as he handed back the file.
“Yes. He met with O’Brien’s attorney. She happens to be the ex-wife of the district attorney in San Diego, so there’s apparently some clout there. Matt didn’t get into all the details, but O’Brien will surrender here, at headquarters, at six p.m. today. There’s one major concession that Matt agreed to. We’re transporting O’Brien directly to Sutter Memorial Hospital.”
“Why?”
“In your report from Montana, you said that O’Brien had been shot, but was presumed alive because of his call to the Beaverhead County sheriff several hours later.”
Mitch nodded.
“He never got medical attention,” said Meg. “It’s probably a miracle he survived. The bullet is still in him, and according to his attorney there is a serious medical problem that has come up in the last few weeks. I’m not a doctor, I have no idea what’s wrong, but he’ll be given a complete exam and surgery if necessary. We’ll be responsible for a guard on his room at all times.”
“I’m glad this is nearly over,” Steve said, his hand on the door. “Now we just need to find Maddox’s killer.”
“One more thing,” Meg said. “Lexie called right before you walked in. You were right, Mitch. Claire is good. She slipped out sometime this morning. Took a taxi, which we tracked down to Elk Grove and the residence of a retired sheriff deputy, Bill Kamanski.”
“Her former guardian. Was she there?”
“No. Kamanski loaned her a vehicle. She said her Jeep wouldn’t start.”
“Shit! Where is she?”
“We have a BOLO on her,” said Meg, “but I’m not going to put her under arrest. We want her to cooperate with us, and it’s in her best interest to do so, but the truth is O’Brien is coming in. She wasn’t involved in Maddox’s homicide. For all we know, she convinced her father to surrender. Hard to arrest her for that.”
“She’s working the Maddox case on her own. She’s in danger.”
“So I should arrest her? Mitch, she’s a professional, a licensed private investigator. Researching a missing, now dead, person. She hasn’t interfered with or stymied your investigation.