Kit kissed the tears on her cheek but eased her away from him, even though it was the last thing he wanted to do. “I’m glad we went, too. Come on. Let’s go in the living room and talk. I take it Amy is down for the night.”
She nodded and led the way.
He waited until she sank onto a chair before settling in at one end of the couch. “When is her service?”
“Monday. At the nursing home. I told the director I couldn’t be there, but I’d send flowers.” She wiped her eyes with the backs of her hands. “How did your prison visit go?”
“Salter was uncooperative, but I spoke to several other inmates. One of them told me he knew the forger who’d made fake IDs for Salter and some of the other prisoners. The name was Barni Esger. It could turn out to be a promising lead if I can find a connection between this person and Rod’s forged documents.”
“Where is this forger?”
“He’s serving time in federal prison at Leavenworth in Kansas.”
She groaned. “All those men in prison... That means you’ll be taking another trip.”
“Yes.”
She lowered her head. “Did you tell Salter that Rod had been killed?”
“I did. He showed no emotion, which isn’t surprising.” He eyed her for a moment. “I saw that the Sentra is gone.”
“I took care of it today and donated it to the veterans.”
“That would have been my choice, too. How’s Amy?”
“She said your name at breakfast. She was looking for you.”
He’d missed both of them. Kit wasn’t supposed to develop attachments, but there were a lot of things that weren’t supposed to have happened since he’d met her. Such as putting his arms around her to comfort her. It had felt so right.
“If you’re hungry, there’s plenty of food in the fridge.”
“I ate on the plane, thanks. Any more hang-up calls?”
“No. It’s been quiet. I’m glad you’re back safely. I know you have work to do, so I’ll say good-night.”
Keep your mind on the case, Saunders. “See you in the morning.”
After she disappeared, he went to the den and opened his laptop. Another response from the criminal database. Neither of the two guns had been fired recently, and any prints had been wiped clean. The thumbprint on Park’s laptop had turned up a mug shot of a female. She’d been arrested for possession of drugs and petit larceny eight years ago in Denver, Colorado.
The same time as Harold Park.
The woman had been charged with a misdemeanor and was jailed for eighteen months.
He scrolled down.
Juanita Morales, alias Myra King, Mara Fletcher, Myrna Foyle. Female, 24, 120 pounds, 5’3”. Blond hair, blue eyes.
Kit’s head reared in reaction. He’d hit the jackpot! Juanita had to be the sister or wife of Alonzo Morales, the convict who’d escaped with Harold. Assuming she’d dyed her hair and worn colored lenses eight years ago, this could very well be the woman Colette had seen at the airport with Natalie’s husband.
He scanned a copy of the rap sheet and emailed it to Colette. He’d like to hear what she had to say about the mug shot. He also wanted to know the precise location where she’d seen them in the airport parking area. Tomorrow he’d get one of the guys at headquarters to go through the airport security tapes for footage of Harold and his companion.
After he’d sent the message to Colett
e, he read through his other emails. The rest of the prints from the house and car matched those of Harold Park and Natalie Harris. Nothing surprising there.
He’d suspected all along there was a third party involved in this case. Linking Juanita to Alonzo made the most sense. Juanita was probably the one who’d provided the transportation to drive the two fugitives out of state during their escape. Everything had been planned. Which one of them had ransacked Natalie’s home?
Together they’d picked LifeSpan to defraud, but they would have needed all kinds of fake ID and forged documents to make it happen.