“At least the suspect didn’t get his hands on one of the guns,” Lamond said. “But Leah Roberts thinks he has her laptop.”

Riley shot Cooper a look. “How’d he get that?”

“We don’t know. When we executed the search on her apartment at lunchtime, it wasn’t there. But she said she left it on her desk last night before she broke into the Owen house. We questioned her parents, her brother, her roommate, and none of them knew where it was.”

“Did her boyfriend have a key to her apartment?”

“She says no. And there were no signs of forced entry. So…” Cooper took a sip of the coffee Lamond brought him an hour ago. He noticed Riley eyeing it. “We need to find out from Ms. Roberts who has a key to her apartment. One of her family members might be trying to protect her and took the laptop. Or someone close to Leah who has a key might be connected to the boyfriend and let him in.” He looked at Riley. “Was there anything else you found missing at the Owen house?”

She shook her head. “There wasn’t any theft.”

“Which makes a cyber security crime not only the most obvious motive, but also the most likely one.” They needed that laptop. “We’re getting a warrant drafted for Harry Owen’s laptop, but it has top-security information on it, and the government doesn’t want to release it at this point.”

“Jesus.” Riley grimaced. “They’re shooting themselves in the foot.”

Cooper refused to let his first GIS case get mired in dead ends. “Let’s find out who had keys to Leah’s apartment and take it from there.”

Chapter 35

Chapter 35

7:08 p.m.

“I’m going to get some fresh air,” Joey said to his parents. “Can you text me if…anything changes?”

The fear in the pit of his stomach had morphed—as he knew it would—into anxiety. It filled him—his mind, his chest, his stomach, his limbs. Every part of his body was on high alert, ready to combat all the things in his world that were out of his control.

He longed for the comfort of Spook.

“Are you going home?” his mother asked.

He shook his head. “No, I’ll probably go to the Oval and rollerblade.” The Oval had been built at the Halifax Commons for the Canada Games speed skating events a few years ago, but had become a popular destination for winter ice skating and summer rollerblading.

“Good idea,” his mother gave an encouraging smile. “Are you meeting any friends?”

“Yeah. I’m meeting Kev.” Kevin was his closest friend in high school. He’d been texting Joey all day, but Joey hadn’t answered beyond telling him that he was tied up for a bit.