“You’re not still blaming that on the firefighters?”
“No.”
“Good.”
“I checked into the warehouse across the street, the one where you thought the shot came from. It’s for a lightbulb manufacturer. I looked around on the roof and had some uniforms search around the building, but we didn’t find anything.”
Collier nodded.
“We’re running the names of the victims who died during the rescue calls alongside the names of employees of the warehouse to see if we can find any connection.” She paused. “Changing the subject, I heard from some of the firefighters that Lazano used to be involved with our third victim, Lisa Embry.”
“Yeah. That was a while back.”
“The man sure got around. How long ago were they together?”
Collier thought for a minute. “Probably close to five years ago. She was married for four years, and her affair with Lazano ended before she even met her husband. Ex-husband,” he amended. “Lisa and Alan divorced at the end of last summer.”
“I just heard from more than one source that Alan Embry is a possessive, jealous man and harassed Lisa mercilessly until some of you guys paid him a visit.”
“That’s true.” Collier folded his arms over his chest. “Our whole shift threatened to hurt him if he didn’t back off. I wasn’t in on it, but I would’ve been if I hadn’t been at the training center. Embry was really scaring Lisa, actually stalking her. He thought she had hooked up again with Lazano and he made her life miserable. Phone hang ups at all hours of the night, pictures of her undressing slid under her door or stuck in her mailbox. Threats. One time he flattened all her tires, and she couldn’t get to school to pick up her sick kid.”
“So it’s not a stretch to imagine this guy could’ve killed her in her garage and killed Lazano tonight.”
“No, and he was plenty hot about the guys paying him a visit. That could be motive for Miller’s and Huffman’s murders.”
Kiley nodded. “In our interviews with him right after Lisa’s murder, Alan said he had never owned a gun and didn’t know how to shoot.”
“No one’s disputed that so far.” Collier shoved a hand through his hair. “So I’d say we still consider that he hired the murderer.”
“I agree. Since he works for the city as an electrician, he’d certainly have the know-how to screw with a security system. He could get into the building, start a fire and let the sniper do the rest.”
“Yeah, talking to him is definitely on our to-do list.”
“I tried to see him yesterday, but he wasn’t at home or work.” Kiley’s next step was talking to McClain’s ex-fiancée, but she didn’t want him around for that, since his name would likely come up.
She was too aware of the fresh-showered scent of him, the underlying tension between them that went back to that dance at the Christmas party. “I’m anxious to see what you found on the video. Maybe we can watch it now, then again when Terra gets here?”
“All right.” His quick agreement was the first sign she’d had that he might be just as antsy as she was. “You’ve seen the videos of the other fire murder scenes, right?”
“Yes.” Kiley took a seat on the end of the sofa. Across from her, a burning log crackled in the fireplace, and warmth from the flames reached across the floor. The television sat on the adjacent wall, facing the end of the room where Collier stood. “I know y’all video most of your fires.”
He nodded. “We use them to train others in investigation and also to keep the chain of evidence in our control. That way it can’t be tampered with.”
He eased down into the chair closest to her, then picked up the remote and turned on the television and VCR.
The picture flickered to life, and they watched grayish-brown smoke plume out of the side windows of the coffee warehouse. The camera picked up the occasional orange flame shooting through the smoky wall. A firefighter, unrecognizable because of his hood and helmet, rushed forward with the nozzle.
“That’s Lazano,” Collier said quietly.
A second firefighter appeared behind him in the frame. “You?”
“Yeah.” Maybe a second later the sharp crack of a gunshot rang out. Lazano went down.
Collier hit the ground and vanished out of the frame. The shouted “Mayday! Firefighter down!” was muffled but audible. A pair of firefighters—the Rapid Intervention Team—rushed into the picture, bending low then straightening to drag Lazano away from the flames. Another two-man team rushed toward the building with a hose gushing water. There were no more pictures of Collier and the victim.
For several minutes the camera stayed focused on the fire, catching the sounds of thundering water, yelling voices, sirens in the distance. Flames crackled and hissed in the background. The firefighters moved in smooth synchronization. After the blaze was out, the camera panned the perimeter of the building, down the west side of the driveway to the street and across three fire engines.
Kiley wondered what Collier was thinking. Despite what had happened between the two men, watching a brother firefighter die in front of him had to be hard.
He paused the tape. “Right there.”
She leaned forward, studying the frame. “Ladder truck, hoses, hydrant, fireman.”
“Since he isn’t wearing a hood or a helmet, I can see his face. That guy isn’t a firefighter. At least not from here.”
“What?” Kiley dragged her hair over her shoulder with one hand as she scrutinized the screen.
“I know almost every firefighter in Presley, and I’ve never seen this guy.”
“Really?” She got that little head rush she always did when she got a good lead.
“I went back over the tapes from the three previous fire scenes and I didn’t see him in any of them. There’s an unidentified male in the first tape, but Terra already tried to have that enhanced. The tech couldn’t get a clear shot of the person.”
“But we have a clear shot of this guy.” Kiley rose, excited. “This is the first lead we’ve had on this murder, McClain. Good job.”
“All I did was look at the video,” he said wryly, stopping the tape.
“But you picked up on the man. I wouldn’t have. That’s why it’s such a good idea to have guns and hoses working these cases together.”
“Guns and hoses? You’re a piece of work, Russell.” He chuckled at her slang for cops and firefighters as he stood and started into the kitchen. “I’m going to call Terra again. You want something to drink?”
“Sure.” She followed him. “We need to get a photograph made from the video. The police lab can do it if you don’t have the equipment.”
“That’s where I’d take it, too.” Grabbing a cordless phone from its spot on the wall, he punched in a number and waited for several seconds, then hung up. “Still no answer on her cell. I’ll try her house.”
There was no answer there, either.
“Maybe she and Jack are out to dinner.” Kiley traced his steps to the refrigerator, leaning a hip against the counter that butted up to it. “We can show the picture to the other firefighters and anyone else at the scene.”
He nodded, opened the fridge, bent down to grab a cola and handed it to her.
She leaned forward, taking the chilled can. “We’ll need to check mug shots, too. And maybe the enlarged picture will show if the guy has a tattoo or any other distinguishing marks. If he does, we can have Crime Analysis