Say Goodbye (Romantic Suspense #25) by Karen Rose

            The CSU tech gestured to the monitor he was watching. “My boss just texted that you’d probably be by.” One brow lifted. “Even though he promised to share everything with you.”

            Tom’s lips curved. “Busted.” He sobered, crossing the room to stand behind the tech’s chair. “You are?”

            “I’m James Gray, head of security for the building.” The man in the suit rose from his chair, offering it to Croft. “Ma’am?”

            Croft’s smile was tight. “Thank you, Mr. Gray.” Sitting, she peered at the image on the monitor, then looked over her shoulder at Tom.

            The footage was paused, freezing on a man wearing jeans and a gray hoodie on the staircase. They’d found an angle that showed his face clearly. Tall and rangy with shaggy blond hair, the man looked like he could be a cowboy, despite wearing a baseball cap without a logo. He matched the descriptions of DJ Belmont given by Gideon, Mercy, and Amos.

            Tom nodded curtly, unwilling to say Belmont’s name aloud. “Can you zoom in on his hands?” he asked.

            Gray leaned over Croft to manipulate a mouse, bringing the man’s hands into prominence. “Gloves,” he said, anticipating what he was looking for.

            “He had them on when he entered the building,” the CSU tech added.

            “Dammit,” Croft cursed softly. “We still want Latent to process prints from the roof on the off chance that he took them off when he was setting up his shot.”

            “I’ll let the sergeant know,” the tech said dryly, clearly unimpressed with taking orders from Croft. Tom wasn’t sure if it was a Fed thing or a woman thing, but neither was acceptable.

            He directed his next question to the head of security. “Do you have a camera outside to show how he got away?”

            Once again Gray leaned in to tap his keyboard, then stepped back, letting the video play. “He wasn’t trying too hard to hide his face,” the man observed as Belmont ran out the back door, then kicked the brick away.

            Tom had noticed that. Of course, Belmont had operated under the radar for years. He probably thought it didn’t matter even if they did see his face. He probably figured that once he got rid of Mercy Callahan he’d disappear back under the Eden rock from where he’d crawled.

            Squaring his shoulders, Belmont slowed his pace. In one hand, he carried a guitar case, which he slid across the floorboards of a box truck with a sign proclaiming him to be a plumber.

            Tom’s throat thickened as he recognized the truck despite the bogus plumbing sign. It had belonged to the man Belmont had murdered a month ago as he’d fled the scene at Dunsmuir. Where he’d murdered five FBI agents, executed Ephraim Burton, and shot Amos.

            The surveillance camera caught the license plates as the truck peeled out of the parking lot, kicking up gravel and dust. “Pause it, please,” Tom requested. He then took a photo of the monitor with his phone, capturing the license plate number. “Thank you,” he said. “I’ll still need a copy of the footage. Sergeant Howell has my contact info.”

            The CSU tech gave him a little salute. “Of course.”

            Croft relinquished Gray’s chair. “Thank you, gentlemen.”

            “Should we be watching for this man to return?” Gray asked. “My clients in the building are understandably shaken at hearing that a gunman was on the roof.”

            “Probably not,” Croft said. “He was aiming at a specific target. It’s unlikely that the person he wanted to shoot will return.”

            Gray nodded grimly. “Thanks. I’ll let my clients know.”

            “Tell them that we said your surveillance system is excellent,” Tom said. “So many cameras get a grainy feed that’s all but useless. Yours is crystal clear.”

            Gray dipped his head, his expression appreciative. “Now if I can only get the employees to stop propping that door open to take a smoke, my life would be peachy.”

            Tom frowned. “Was the door alarmed?”

            “It was supposed to have been,” Gray said with a scowl. “That door is entry by key card only. The alarm should have alerted everyone when it remained unsecured. Someone deactivated it, and I’m going to find out who.”