Lenora Worth - Double Exposure

* * *

In the gallery’s refreshment area, Ethan slid onto a chair across the table from Jennie. She opened her camera and pulled out her memory card. He glanced back at his computer, watching it run through the start-up screens, and tried to concentrate on the job at hand.

Focus on the threat. Keep things professional.

Yeah, right. Easier said than done.

Especially when she held out the memory card and searched his face. He’d have to be blind not to see the hope these pictures brought. She believed they would lead straight to her attacker and end the case so she wouldn’t have to spend time with him.

He wasn’t as optimistic.

A good lead? Maybe. If it panned out. But finding the man’s picture in the database was a long shot.

He took the card, and when his computer chimed, signaling the end of boot up, he entered his password. He inserted the card into the slot. “You want me to sort through the pictures or do you want to do it?”

“I have a ton of pics on there, so it’ll be faster if I do it.”

He slid the computer across the table, and she went straight to work.

Her knee bounced as if she couldn’t wait to get out of here. He took the time to study her face. The sweet, soft face he’d once thought would grow old alongside his.

Not that it mattered. Not one bit. They’d never get together again.

Even if she wanted to, which she clearly didn’t, she’d left him once. She’d do the same thing again. After his ex-fiancée, Carla, had bailed on him, he’d sworn off dating. Let other men be taken in by promises women made. He was done with that. So done.

She ejected her card then pushed the computer back to him. “I saved all the pictures of him in a folder on your desktop.”

As she put the card back in her camera, he opened the first picture and sought out details he’d not caught when watching the guy.

Hard eyes. Experienced eyes. A criminal’s eyes. His attack on Jennie wasn’t his first such act. Wouldn’t be his last. Ethan clicked through the others. In an early one before he’d put up his hood, she’d caught something unusual on the back of his neck.

Ethan enlarged the picture. A tattoo with a scrolling S in bright red ended with a vivid green snake’s head, mouth open and tongue extended at the base of the guy’s neck.

“Did you see this tattoo?” Ethan asked.

She shook her head, and he swiveled the computer so she could see.

Her knee calmed, and she stared at the screen. “I’ve seen a tattoo like that before.”

“You remember where?”

“Yeah. A worker at Photos of Hope’s distribution center had one in the exact same place.”

“I didn’t know your charity was large enough to have distribution centers.”

“Just one. In Brownsville, Texas. When Photos of Hope started, we gave all the money we raised to other charities, and that still works well in the United States. But with all the corruption in Mexico, if we want to be sure the right people receive help, we have to purchase and distribute the items ourselves. So a few years ago, we obtained the necessary permits to distribute food, household items and medical supplies. We still have problems with corruption and supplies not getting where they’re intended, but it’s on a much smaller scale.”

“So this guy works in Brownsville, then.”

“Yes.”

“And you’re sure his tattoo matches the one in this picture?” Ethan pointed at the screen.

“Positive. I even talked to the warehouse manager about it. This isn’t the kind of image I want to portray for the charity.”

Ethan was starting to get excited. “Firing him could be motive enough for revenge.”

“We didn’t fire him. The manager said he was one of her best workers. Since he’s not in the public eye, she didn’t think he’d have an impact on our image. I trust her judgment, so as far as I know, he still works there.”

“While I finish up here, I’d like you to find out everything you can about him from the manager.”

“You think this worker has something to do with the break-in?”

“It isn’t a common tattoo, and I doubt it’s a coincidence that he has the same one as your attacker.” He didn’t add that he also felt confident the tattoo marked him as a gang member. No need to share that thought until they proved this was gang related.

Jennie took out her phone, and he set to work on his emails. He heard her chatting with the manager but he focused on his task. He not only emailed Cole, but copied the message to his sister Kat, as well. As a former Portland police officer, she had contacts in the department who could tell them if this particular tattoo linked Jennie’s assailant to a gang. He attached the pictures and hit Send, watching as the message disappeared from his screen.

“His name is Javier Caldera,” Jennie said, clapping her phone closed. “He still works at the warehouse. My manager says he’s an exemplary employee, and she highly doubts he could have anything to do with this.”

“We still need to investigate him, Jen. People do things you’d never expect.” He flinched as he realized, too late, his statement’s double meaning.

If she caught his reference to the way she’d bailed on him, he couldn’t see it in the clear brown eyes peering back at him. “I asked her to email all of his details to me.”

“Good.” He wanted to pursue their past, but he’d have plenty of time to broach the subject later. He shut down the computer and put it in the case.

“Can we go now?” Jennie rose and headed for the door. “I really need to get started on those reprints.”

He caught up to her. “Any chance I can convince you to lie low?”

She turned and looked at him. “What exactly do you mean by ‘lie low’?”

“Once we get to your house, you stay there until we can do a complete threat assessment?”

“Sorry, I can’t do that,” she said, sounding earnestly apologetic. “I’ll barely finish printing pictures on time as it is.”

Her answer didn’t surprise him. The agency provided security details for a number of people and most of them couldn’t just hide out. They had lives to live. Of course, most of them didn’t have such an overt threat directed at them. Still, he didn’t need to make drastic changes in her schedule. At least, not yet.

“Let me be clear about one thing before we leave, Jen.” He stepped in front of her, blocking her exit onto the street. “I’m okay with picking up your negatives and going to the darkroom today, but things will have to change when word gets out that the show is still on.”

“And then what?”

“Then whoever trashed this place will try to stop you by whatever means necessary,” he answered bluntly. “So we’ll need to further restrict your activities.”

At his grim tone, some of the color drained from her face, and he saw her clench then release her hands. He hated to be the one renewing her fear, but he couldn’t downplay the situation or she might not listen to him when needed.

He escorted her out of the gallery, and once safely in his truck, he focused on making sure no one tailed them. They rode for thirty minutes, the air filled with tension and unease. No matter what he said, it wouldn’t change the atmosphere, so he kept quiet and left Jennie alone to peer out the window.

Nearing Beaverton, his phone chimed from the holder on his dash, and she jumped.

“Relax,” he said and checked caller ID.

Cole. Good.

Ethan didn’t want to share this conversation with Jennie until he knew what Cole had to say, but Oregon’s hands-free driving law prohibited any other option, so he clicked his speaker button.

“I’m in the truck with Jennie, and I’m putting you on speaker.” He hoped the warning would encourage Cole to filter his words.