Page 52 of Shadow of Doubt
He lifted the phone to his mouth. “Can I help you?”
“Sheriff Day,” she said. “I’d like a quick word with Dev.”
“Sure thing,” Reid said. “I’ll open the gate for you. You’ll find us all meeting at the last cabin on the left.”
“Roger that.”
Reid tapped his screen and stared at it. “Okay, she’s in the compound and on her way to us.”
“I’ll meet her on the porch.” Dev got up. “Hopefully, she has information for us.” He strode for the door.
Brooklyn waited for someone to speak, but no one said anything. “I wonder if she’ll update all of us or just Dev.”
Colin’s eyebrows knitted together. “Either way, we’ll get the information.”
“But wouldn’t it be good to hear it right from the sheriff?” Brooklyn asked. “That way we can ask any questions we might have.”
“True.” Colin stood. “Let me tell Dev to try to get her to come inside.”
He left the room, and Brooklyn immediately felt the loss of his presence. Like the force watching over her was gone, and she was vulnerable. That wasn’t true, but she’d been so vulnerable for years and to finally have been able to let go a bit and have someone take care of her the past few days had been such a relief. Now, the way she felt before Nick came to rescue her had returned, and she didn’t like it. Didn’t like to think about a lonely life again.
Oh, please let us find Kane so I don’t have to go back to a solitary life. Living in isolation.
The group fell silent, each of the guys taking a moment to look at their phones.
“Text from one of our guests.” Reid looked at Micha. “Your group is waiting outside the conference room and getting antsy.”
Micha frowned and got up. “Tell them I’ll be right there before they start rebelling.”
“They’d do that?” Brooklyn asked.
“Our participants are known for bucking the system,” Ryan said. “So yeah. They’d rebel, and who knows what form that might take.”
“Don’t worry,” Micha said, already heading for the door. “I’ll jog down there so they don’t get into any trouble.”
He strode quickly out, passing Dev, Colin, and Sheriff Day as they entered the dining room. The petite sheriff had dark hair held back in a French braid and was dressed in khaki pants and a logo shirt. She had a gun at her hip and a badge on her belt, and she carried herself with an intensity that matched the men in the room.
She stopped at the end of the table to look at everyone. “Dev wanted me to include you all in the update.”
“Thanks for agreeing to it.” Colin took a seat.
She gave him a side-eye look but said nothing to him. Obviously, she still didn’t like feds or former feds. She must have a reason, and Brooklyn would love to know what it might be.
“We haven’t had a chance to meet.” Brooklyn extended her hand. “Brooklyn Hurst.”
“Ms. Hurst.” Abby grabbed it and gave Brooklyn a bruising shake. “Sheriff Abby Day, but call me Abby.”
“And I’m Brooklyn.” She smiled. “I’m eager to hear your update.”
“First.” Abby planted her feet wide and placed a hand on her sidearm. “An alert was issued for Kane Tarver as a person of interest in this investigation. Driver’s license has a bogus address for a vacant field as his address of record, and DMV only has one vehicle registered in his name. A pricey Hummer.”
Brooklyn had known both of those details as Nick had located that information when he hacked the DMV some time ago, but since his actions weren’t legal they hadn’t been able to mention it to the sheriff. She could comment though. “Kane liked to show off, and the pricier the item the better.”
Abby shifted on her feet. “He may not have liked it so much. I just learned that it was found abandoned in McMinnville a few months back, and they have it in their impound lot.”
“What?” Brooklyn shot up in her seat. “Abandoned?”
Sheriff Day nodded. “It was discovered by a neighbor when he was plowing a field. The photos in the file show the grass that had grown up around it. It had been there for some time.”
