“Nope. Morgan said it was a money cache, that’s all.”
He scrutinized the map then switched to his phone. “Not much around there. Farmland, a junkyard, a few buildings at the crossroad. Not even a proper town. Could be anything. A bag of cash buried under a rock. Or hidden down an old well or mine shaft.”
“Maybe he buried it under a pigsty.” She liked the thought of watching Oshiro and his fellow deputy marshals shovel shit.
“Maybe. But I doubt Caine likes to get his hands dirty—at least not that way. Other than the actual killings, in most of his crimes, he used proxies.”
“His children, you mean.” It was Caine’s twisted idea of family: he’d raised his children to steal for him so he wouldn’t have to worry about making a living, taught them to lure innocent women into his hands, even groomed one of them—Morgan—into joining in on his killing sprees. “Why haven’t you come after Morgan before?”
“Not my job. She was never arrested or charged with anything so wasn’t on my radar until Caine escaped and we learned she was a person of interest.”
He shifted in his seat. “You were still a federal agent when you and Lucy Guardino caught Caine. But there’s not a whole lot in your report about Morgan. Only her name and a vague description. There’s no official records on her, no prints, no clear photos. Just a blurry video—we think she was there when that sheriff’s deputy, William Bob, was killed. Whether she was a victim, witness, or suspect, why didn’t you and Guardino go after her?”
Deputy Bob. Jenna had liked him. Not pursuing Morgan for his death was one of the reasons why she’d stopped working with Lucy Guardino. She’d never forgive Lucy for letting Morgan get away with that murder—and who knew how many others. Lucy had had more important things on her mind at the time, like saving Jenna and several children, and they had no actual evidence against Morgan, but still… “I wish I knew. It was Lucy’s call. Not mine.”
Oshiro made a small noise between a grunt and a sigh. Acknowledging Jenna’s shirking of her responsibility? Or agitation at Lucy’s betrayal of everything a law enforcement officer was sworn to uphold and protect? She wished she knew—it would help her decide how much she could trust him.
But Oshiro did not enlighten her. Instead, he swiveled his head to check their mirrors for any signs of pursuit. Then he glanced back at the map again. “What are these numbers to the side of the GPS coordinates? Some kind of address? Rural route maybe?”
“Morgan wrote those. Not sure what they mean. Guess we’ll find out when we get there.” This time of day, traffic was light. Until they turned onto Route 22 and began to hit all the red lights through Murrysville.
“Tell me about Morgan,” Oshiro continued. “Why did you decide to work with her? I mean, if you believe she really is the daughter of a serial killer.”
As if it had actually been Jenna’s choice. “Like you said, she’s not currently wanted for any crime.” Not even Deputy Bob’s murder, which was still on the books as an open case. The video had shown Morgan in the building but not the actual crime… In fact, if all you saw was the recording, she appeared to be a hostage or possible victim. Anything but the killer Jenna knew her to be.
“But you know what she’s capable of.” He must have done his homework, seen the video, judged Morgan for himself. Or was it Jenna he was judging?
Jenna knew better than anyone what Morgan was capable of. But Morgan also knew Jenna’s secrets—had evidence of Jenna killing two gangbangers who’d set up an ambush, ready to kill her or any other law enforcement officer who came their way. Jenna had been alone, without backup, on her way to save Lucy and several civilians from more violent gangbangers during the Homewood riots last Christmas, and she hadn’t had time to follow procedure.
Instead, she’d killed the men in cold blood without ever giving them a chance to surrender or even raise their weapons. Technically, that made her just as guilty as Morgan—a fact Morgan hadn’t hesitated to capitalize on when she came to Jenna looking for a job.
“I know Morgan is a stone-cold killer at heart. I also know that she’s risked her own life to save mine and Andre’s and dozens of civilians. More than once.”
“Those school kids she helped save from the fire.” He really had done his homework.
“And more lives saved during the Homewood riots. Lucy can verify that for you.” A good chunk of the city had burned down during that night of violence, and Morgan had no reason to be there. She could have waited safely on the sidelines, not gotten involved. But she’d gone to save Lucy—who, as usual, didn’t need saving—and had instead almost died saving Jenna. More leverage she held over Jenna. Somehow the scales were always tipped in Morgan’s favor.
Maybe now was Jenna’s chance to find a way to deal with both Morgan and her father once and for all. Gain some leverage of her own.