Billie's Bounce

By Claudia Hall Christian

Ava and her lab have received a grant to solve ten cold cases in rural Colorado using modern forensics techniques. The director of the CBI was irritated by the irregularities of their last case (see "Little Girl Blue"). He assigns Ava and her team the coldest of cold cases -- an unpopular Senator was killed by RPG shot under his limousine after he left Aspen, Colorado. The perpetrator shot the RPG and slipped into the forest never to be seen again. The fire burned for more than an hour, destroying all forensic material. To make matters worse, the case is thirty years old.

While Seth is in the hospital, Ava and her team work their way through a bounty of useless forensics until they begin to work their way through the crime to find the killers. Seth and Ava solve mysteries in Denver, Colorado.

Claudia Hall Christian writes great stories about good people caught in difficult times. She specializes in complicated mysteries, page-turning thrillers, and the longest running serial fiction.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cook Street Publishing
• Release date: Mar 15, 2020
• ISBN: 9781938057748

Claudia Hall Christian

Claudia Hall Christian writes stories about good people caught in difficult situations. Her stories are addictive, heart pounding, and intense. She is the author of the Alex the Fey thriller series, the Queen of Cool, the Seth and Ava Mysteries, Suffer a Witch, Abee Normal Paranormal Investigations, and the longest consecutive serial fiction ever written, Denver Cereal. She lives in Denver where she keeps bees, gardens, hangs out with her Plott Hounds, and husband

Book preview

Billie’s Bounce

A Seth and Ava Mystery

Claudia Hall Christian

Cook Street Publishing

Denver, CO

by

Claudia Hall Christian

StoriesbyClaudia.com

Abee Normal, Paranormal Investigations

The Case Book of Abee Normal, Paranormal Investigations, Volume 01

The Case Book of Abee Normal, Paranormal Investigations, Volume 02

Alex the Fey Thrillers

The Fey

Learning to Stand

Who I Am

Lean on Me

In the Grey

Finding North

About Face

In Deep

The Denver Cereal

The Denver Cereal Fort Lupton

Celia’s Puppies Fort Morgan

Cascade Fort Collins

Cimarron Olney Springs

Black Forest Manitou Springs

Fairplay Idaho Springs

Gold Hill Poncha Springs

Silt Hot Sulfur Springs

Larkspur Glenwood Springs

Firestone Pagosa Springs (2020)

Grand Junction (Denver Cereal V1-10)

Fort Garland (Denver Cereal V11-13)

The Queen of Cool

The Queen of Cool

Seth and Ava Mysteries

Tax Assassin

Carving Knife

Friendly Fire

Cigarette Killer

Little Girl Blue

Billie’s Bounce

Footprints (2020)

Suffer a Witch

Suffer a Witch

Copyright © Claudia Hall Christian

ISNI: 0000 0003 6726 170X

Licensed under the Creative Commons License:

Attribution – NonCommercial – Share Alike 3.0

ISBN-13 : 978-1-938057-74-8 (print)

978-1-938057-75-5 (digital)

Library of Congress: 2020933684

Cover credit: Amanda Walker, PA

PUBLISHER’S NOTE:

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

First edition © March 2020

Cook Street Publishing

ISNI: 0000 0004 1443 6403

PO Box 7247

Denver, CO 80207

For Amber

Thank you for years of support and kindness.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten

Eleven

Twelve

Thirteen

Fourteen

Fifteen

Sixteen

Seventeen

Eighteen

Nineteen

TheTax Assassin – Chapter One

One

She’s not here, yet, Fran DeKay said as she walked into their lab office. She must be . . .

Sitting in the dark, Dr. Nelson Weeks said, coming in behind Fran. He pointed to the light switch. Should I. . .?

Ava O’Malley nodded to Nelson, and he flicked on the light. She blinked and covered her eyes. Glancing at the clock, she saw that it was nearly eight. Her forensic team always met at eight in the morning to plan the day. She set the thin gold band that she’d been playing with into a glass cup sitting on her desk.

Coffee? Dr. Leslie McClintock asked.

Ava nodded to Leslie. Nelson followed Leslie out of Ava’s office. Ava watched through the glass as Leslie and Nelson left the lab in search of coffee. As a forensic lab, they weren’t allowed to make food or drinks in their lab. They were able to have them only in offices, like Ava’s.

Ava looked up when Fran closed the door to her office. The self-identified mother of the lab, Fran DeKay wanted to check on Ava.

You okay? Fran asked.

I’m okay, Ava said.

And, you’re sitting in the dark because. . . Fran asked.

Seth’s in the hospital, Ava said. We took him last night. Late. I didn’t really know where to go so I. . .

Ava shrugged.

You’ve been there since then? Fran asked.

Ava nodded.

What’s going on with Seth? Fran asked.

Infection — they think, Ava said. He’s resting comfortably, so say the nurses. Out to the world. He needs rest. That’s what the doctors say. Rest.

Ava gave a sad shake of her head.

Seems like all he does is rest, Ava said. I just. . .

Feel helpless? Fran asked.

Sure, Ava said. I want him to be better. My mother keeps telling me that he’s an old man and ‘What did I expect? You gave away your youth to be with some old geezer.’

And what does Maresol say? Fran asked.

Maresol had been Seth O’Malley’s housekeeper and friend since Seth was ten years old. They were family.

"She says that my mother is a vaca estúpida," Ava said.

Your mother is a stupid cow, Fran said.

Ava gave an acquiescing nod and continued, Maresol says that, ‘If Seth was dumb enough to be up for three days working on a new piece, he deserves to spend some time in a hospital.’

And was he? Fran asked.

He was actually up for four days, Ava said, with a grin.

Ah, Fran said. How many days since he was shot?

Eleven thousand? Ava asked.

Eighty-two, Fran said. It’s been eighty-two days since he nearly died.

I’m afraid he’s never going to get better, Ava said.

Of course you are, Fran said.

Leslie knocked on the door and held up two paper cups. Fran shook her head and held up one finger to indicate that she needed another minute.

Do you think it’s likely that he won’t get better? Fran asked.

Ava didn’t respond.

Isn’t it likely that he just overdid it? Fran asked.

Yes, but. . . Ava sighed.

Should you be there? Fran asked. At the hospital?

They kicked me out, Ava said.

What did you do? Fran asked.

Well, I. . . Ava said, looking embarrassed.

What did you do? Fran asked.

I went through his file, Ava said.

So? Fran asked.

On the computer, Ava said. She winced. Ordered a few tests.

Fran laughed and waved Nelson and Leslie into Ava’s office. Leslie set down the paper cups filled with vending machine coffee on the round meeting table and sat in a chair.

So what is it? Nelson asked as he set two paper cups down on the table.

She got kicked out of the hospital for ordering tests for Seth, Fran said.

Leslie and Nelson laughed out loud. Grinning, Ava came around her desk in time for Nelson to pat her on her back. They sat down around the table. They had received a grant to use their modern forensic skills on ten cold cases in rural counties throughout Colorado. Their first case turned out to center around Ava’s family. It was messy for Ava and her family, but the team was able to solve it. The DA received a conviction, which made everyone happy.

Our next case was chosen by the Director at the CBI, Ava said, mildly.

Nelson and Leslie groaned.

How bad can it be? Fran asked.

Ava shot her a glance.

That bad? Fran asked.

He said, and I quote, ‘Let’s see how good you really are,’ Ava said. When I told Seth, he called him. The Director told him that after ‘the last debacle,’ we needed to prove ourselves. This was a good case to do that on.’

To prove ourselves? Nelson asked. "We haven’t proven ourselves yet?"

He’s annoyed by the last case, Ava said. You know, my father and all of that?

Ava sighed.

If you want to change teams, I would totally. . . Ava started.

Shut up, Nelson said. Just tell us about the case.

Ava looked from face to face before nodding to herself.

Where’s Dr. Quincy? Leslie asked.

She doesn’t think we’ll need her for this, Ava said. She’s going home to help pack. Her husband has taken a job to head the FBI here.

Isn’t that a step down? Fran asked.

It’s a big step down, Ava said. But it also has less responsibility. It will allow him to help with her colon cancer treatments as well as, in his words, ‘start living a life.’ They’ve bought a place near Seth’s. It’s being remodeled right now.

Ava looked around the table to see if anyone else had any questions.

Bob’s at. . .? Leslie asked.

Grandparents day, Fran said. He should be here tomorrow.

Anything else? Ava asked.

No one said anything. Ava nodded.

Most of you know this case, Ava said. It’s on the list of unsolvable cases.

No, Fran said. He didn’t.

He didn’t what? Nelson asked.

Aspen? Pitkin County? Fran asked.

Yes, as a matter of fact, Ava said with a smile. This case did happen outside of Aspen in Pitkin County.

Fran groaned.

Just lay it out for us, Leslie said.

Just because someone hasn’t solved it doesn’t mean that we won’t be able to, Nelson said.

I love your confidence, Fran said. This case is. . .

Fran shook her head.

Just lay it out, Leslie demanded.

Okay, Ava said. Here’s the basics: A very unpopular senator from Maine named William Michaud was in the back of a limousine driving from Aspen to the NRA retreat center in Raton, New Mexico, when someone stepped out of the forest in front of the limo somewhere in Pitkin County. He or she or it shot a rocket-propelled grenade, also known as an ‘RPG,’ at the vehicle. The grenade landed under the engine compartment of the limousine, bounced, and exploded. Needless to say, everyone inside the vehicle was incinerated.

The perp stepped back into the forest, Fran said. Vanished.

The fire burned for more than an hour before anyone noticed it, Ava said. By the time firefighters got there, the fire had spread to the nearby forest.

Destroying any and all forensic evidence, Fran said.

Ava nodded.

They had to get the fire contained before anyone could actually look at the vehicle, Ava said. When the fire was finally out, the forensic evidence was either contaminated or completely obscured.

Did Seth and Mitch work on this one? Leslie asked.

No, Ava said. Mitch was just starting to get sick, and Seth was in the middle of a messy divorce from his first wife. They were asked to look at it later, but. . .

Ava shook her head.

They were smart, Nelson said.

What do we have? Leslie asked.

Since I was here a little early, Ava