Sight Unseen(82)
Lynch leaned forward. “A coordinated ping?”
Griffin nodded. “Tomorrow morning. 10:30 A.M.”
“Good idea.”
Kendra frowned as she looked first at Lynch, then at Griffin. “What the hell are you talking about?”
Lynch turned toward her. “A coordinated ping. One way or another, we’re going to force those phones to ping their local towers. Sometimes, the wireless carrier can do it with a remote command, but these burner phones are often so simple that we may have to do it the old-fashioned way: picking up the phone and calling them. If the phones have power, we can narrow them down to a limited area.”
“I’ll have response teams standing by,” Griffin said. “Once we get a fix on the signal, they’ll swarm over the area and put up roadblocks, go door-to-door and do whatever we need to try and find whoever’s using that phone.”
“Can you really narrow down the area that much?” Kendra asked.
“It depends,” Griffin said. “But if it’s hitting two or even three towers, we can get very close. If Myatt is using one of those phones to stay in touch with Colby, we’ll find him. If he’s discarded it, we may still have a place of contact to start searching.”
“Don’t say that.” Kendra got to her feet. “I’m going to believe that we’ll find him. We’re coming so near to getting him.” She could feel a flush heat her cheeks as she stared fiercely at the agents at the table. “Your coordinated ping is going to pay dividends. I know it.” She turned toward the door. “Come on, Lynch. Let’s get out of here. We can’t do anything until tomorrow, and Griffin is beginning to depress me.”
“Heaven forbid,” he murmured as he followed her from the room. “And this case is so bright and cheery.”
* * *
“WE’RE CLOSE,” KENDRA SAID as she preceded Lynch into the living room. “For the first time, I feel as if I’m not up against a blank wall. We’re getting close to that bastard, Lynch. I feel it.”
“There’s hope, at least.” Lynch shut the door. “But I’m surprised you’re so optimistic. You’re usually so pragmatic.”
“Pragmatic is boring. I want to be giddy. I want to believe that everything will come up roses. I want to catch Myatt and put him away for the rest of his life. I want Olivia and Mom to be able to come home.” She came forward to stare up at the giant photo of Ashley. “I bet you understand, Ashley. You look like a woman who looks on the bright side. Of course, it could be that bikini you’re wearing. But you need to talk to Lynch about his attitude.”
“I usually keep her too busy to discuss my character flaws. Of course, I don’t have that many.” He went to the mahogany bar against the wall. “Would you like a drink?”
She nodded. “Red wine.”
“Right.” A few minutes later, he crossed the room and handed her the glass. “Enjoy.”
“I will.” She sipped the wine. “It’s excellent. I believe I’m beginning to appreciate your good taste.”
“Don’t. I’m only a peasant who likes his beer and hard liquor. So I have an expert keep an eye out for good vintages and send them to me.” He glanced down at his glass of beer. “For the pleasure of my guests.”
“Ashley?”
“She likes vodka on the rocks.” He looked up at the photo. “Why do you keep talking about her?”
“She’s hard to ignore.” She lifted her glass in a toast to the woman in the poster. “To Ashley.”
His gaze never left Kendra’s face. “To Kendra. I like you giddy. I just wish it was for some reason other than Myatt.”
“Take what you get.” She took another sip of wine. “And you probably only want me giddy because you think I’ll be easier to manipulate. You have that—”
Her cell phone rang. She pulled it out of her pocket.
She stiffened. “Griffin.”
“So much for giddy,” he murmured. “Crashing down to earth.”
“Maybe he’s found out something more about—” She punched the access button and turned up volume. “Griffin? What’s happening?”
“I’m sorry to disturb you,” he said hesitantly. “Believe me, I’m not insensitive to what you went through at the prison. You may think that I’ve been—”
“Stop stuttering.” She tensed. She didn’t like this. “Just tell me why you’re calling.”
“I just received a call from Warden Salazar at San Quentin. He had a request and decided to go through me.” He paused. “Colby wants to talk to you one more time before the execution.”