“Thank you.” Sharp took the cup. “Rough morning?” Sharp opened a protein bar and sat in his chair. Opening his laptop, he waited for it to boot up.

Stella eased into one of the chairs that faced his desk. “I hate autopsies.”

The image of Olivia’s naked and gray body on a stainless-steel table punched through Sharp’s mental barrier again. He set the bar on his desk and forced down a mouthful of coffee. Bitterness coated his throat and unsettled his stomach. He set down the cup and stood. “I’m getting some water. Do you want anything?”

Stella shook her head.

When he returned with the water, he sat back down and braced himself. “How did Olander’s autopsy go?”

“The ME officially declared his death a murder. In addition to the ligature marks and torn nails, blood and tissue were found embedded in the noose. Olander had defensive bruises on his arms. He’d also suffered from repeated blows to the abdomen and several broken ribs.”

“They beat him.”

“Yes.” Stella rose and paced, coffee in hand. “But why? Was it punishment? Or did they want information from him?”

“I don’t know.”

Sharp’s phone buzzed. He read the screen. “It’s Ryan Abrams at the ATF.” He answered the call. “Thanks for the call back, Ryan. Detective Stella Dane from the SFPD is with me. She’s working a murder case related to the guns. Can I put you on speaker?”

“Yes,” Ryan said.

Sharp switched the call. “Did you find anything for us?”

“Yes, I did.” Ryan exhaled. “I didn’t find anything on Kennett Olander in New York State, but I found old records from Iowa that associate Kennett’s father with the LMS, a national anti-government militia group.”

“What does LMS stand for?” Sharp asked.

“Last Men Standing,” Ryan said.

Sharp took out a pen and paper for notes. “Where do they operate?”

“They’re a large group, with several thousand members,” Ryan answered. “They prefer rural areas, specifically farms and big patches of wilderness.” Papers rustled on Ryan’s end of the connection. “We’ve uncovered members in fifteen states. It’s a quiet organization. For the most part, they go about their business.”

“Which is?” Stella asked.

“Mostly, they stockpile food, fuel, guns, and medicine to get them through an end-of-days scenario. They run survival retreats and military-style training camps. Members blog and use social media accounts to compare survival tips and techniques. They pop onto the scene every few years when a member gets caught buying or carrying guns illegally. We’ve arrested a handful of members for possession of illegal weapons. The LMS doesn’t believe in registering guns with the government, so their offenses vary according to local laws.”

Every state had different gun laws. In most of New York State, long guns did not need to be registered, and no permit was required to purchase one. But handguns were highly regulated.

Sharp said, “Olander had a stash of illegally equipped AR-15s, ammunition, and some body armor.”

“Sounds like his farm is being used as a storage facility,” Ryan said. “Did you take pictures of the guns?”

“No.” Sharp gave himself a mental kick in the ass.

“Are the LMS involved in money laundering?” Sharp wondered if the Olanders’ association with the militia group explained the cash purchase of the dairy farm.

“We think so,” Ryan said. “They keep their operations small and spread them out, so they don’t draw attention to their activities.”

“Kennett Olander was found hanging from his barn rafters yesterday,” Stella said.

Ryan whistled. “Suicide?”

“No,” Stella answered. “Murder. And the guns have disappeared.”

“He pissed off somebody,” Ryan said.

Sharp tapped his fingers on his desk. “You said the LMS works hard to stay off your radar? What did you mean by that?”

“Rather than living in large easy-to-find compounds, they spread their resources and people out,” Ryan explained. “Even if we uncover one site, we only find a small portion of their armaments, and they utilize the Dark web for activities they want to keep secret.”

There were three levels of the internet: the Surface web, the Deep web, and the Dark web. The Surface web was the normal searchable internet most people accessed every day. The Deep web was a layer of the internet that couldn’t be accessed through search engines. Most of these sites were legitimate, such as online bank accounts that required registrations, logins, and passwords to protect customer information. But users of the Dark web purposely hid their identities and spoofed their locations with encryption tools. The anonymous nature of the Dark web made it the ideal tool for criminal activity.

Sharp had encountered a local militia group in a previous case. “How many militias can operate in one area?” he asked.

“The number of anti-government militia groups has doubled over the past decade. A few individuals in the LMS have been convicted of weapons offenses, and several members have gone missing or turned up dead. But we haven’t been able to prove the organization orchestrated any of these crimes. LMS discourages members from drawing too much attention to themselves or to the group. On the surface, they’re all about education and survival training.”

“Can’t you follow the money?” asked Sharp.

“They used to run their money through the Caymans and Swiss banks, but international banking laws have changed. It’s harder to hide funds these days. We now believe they buy and use legitimate businesses to cover their activities. As I said before, they make a serious effort to stay off the radar of law enforcement.”

“Would having your son convicted of murdering his wife annoy the group leadership?” Sharp asked.

“That’s exactly the kind of attention they don’t want,” Ryan agreed.

Sharp gave Ryan the basic details of Erik’s murder conviction. “Is that enough to earn a death sentence from the group leadership?”

Ryan paused. “I don’t think so. I feel like there should be more. Guns, money, serious betrayal.”

“We don’t know how all of this might be connected to our missing reporter,” Stella said. “I’d like to send you a list of the people involved in this case and see if you recognize any of their names.”

“Sure,” Ryan said.

“Thank you.” Stella’s phone rang. She excused herself and left Sharp’s office to answer the call.

Ryan continued, “As I said, we’ve had suspected members turn up dead, but we’ve never been able to trace the killings back to anyone in the group.”

“What if a member wants out of the organization?” Sharp asked.

Ryan sighed. “With some of these organizations, there’s only one way out.”

“And Olander found it,” Sharp said. “Thanks for your help, Ry.”

“Anytime. I’m going to do some more digging and see what I can come up with,” Ryan said. “I’d love a solid lead on this group if they’re dealing in illegal weapons.”

“You’ll call me or Stella if you find anything?” Sharp asked.