Page 14 of Lost Hours
She snorted. “No way we can afford a world-class team like theirs.”
“I get that, but I have a buddy who owes me, and he has a connection to the team members. It’s possible he could get them to process the scene pro bono.”
Interesting but…“Say that’s possible. They’ve got to be booked up. How long would it even take before they could work this scene?”
“If you’ll authorize me to ask, I can find out the answer while also finding out if they’ll do it pro bono.” He leaned closer to her. “What do you have to lose by asking?”
“What? I’ll tell you what. Number one, it keeps you involved in the investigation. Maybe they’ll be obliged to give you results. That won’t work. If I agree, and it’s still abigif, I would insist on every bit of the forensic reports and updates coming directly to me. Not to you.”
“No worries,” he said as if it were no big deal when it was a huge deal to her. “They’ll sign a contract with you stating who the results are to be delivered to. Trust me. They don’t share information unless authorized to do so.”
“Fine,” she said, giving in to the lure of having a top-notch team at her disposal in this investigation. At the same time, she was certain she was making a mistake. “As you said, what do I have to lose by asking? So go ahead and ask.” She feigned indifference, but her gut clamped down tight.
“Roger that.” He wasted no time but stepped into the hallway.
She half expected him to gloat about her giving in to his wishes, but he didn’t. He was simply straightforward and acting like he wanted to solve the murder. She could honestly use his help in the investigation. The help of his team too. Certainly one or more of them had participated in a murder investigation and had better skills than most of her deputies possessed.
Maybe even better than hers.
And Nolan had been on the president’s team when there was an attempt on his life. She suspected he’d been involved in finding the shooter. She couldn’t say that for certain, but he was on the detail the day of the shooting, and he wouldn’t let something like that rest.
If she contrasted their skills to her deputies’ skills, there was no question. The LLL team had more experience in large investigations. There hadn’t been a murder in her county for twenty years, and the only murder-investigation skills her team possessed were what they’d learned at police academy. Same thing went for her too.
She was a newbie. A greenhorn. Had only been the sheriff for two years. But she’d been around long enough to know that when the news got out about the mayor, she was going to receive a parade of phone calls from the citizens demanding she find his murderer. He was beloved by all, and if she didn’t solve his murder quickly, they would definitely call for her to resign or find a way to remove her from office.
So the question was, did she want to stay in office more than she wanted to avoid working with Nolan and his team? She loved her job and didn’t want anything to take it away from her. She especially didn’t want to be removed and disgraced for not handling a murder investigation as quickly as the citizens wanted her to.
But an even bigger question she needed answered before she could work with the team was, did they have airtight alibies for the time of the mayor’s death or was one or more of them guilty of this murder?
Nolan dialed his friend Colin Graham. A former FBI agent, Colin was now a member of the Shadow Lake Survival team, a group who taught survival skills to people who wanted to change to off-grid living. His boss, Reid Maddox, knew the experts at the Veritas Center and could hopefully be Nolan’s way in.
“Yo, Nolan,” Colin said. “How’s the new business going?”
“You know.” Nolan tried not to let the murder color his tone. “The usual start-up issues, but otherwise it’s good.”
“Doesn’tsoundlike things are good.”
Nolan laughed. “You asked about the business, not if things are going good.”
“Right. So what’s up?”
“I need your help.” He explained their situation.
“Whoa. That must’ve been a shocker.”
“It was. Still is, really.” He took a deep breath. “And that’s why I called. I was hoping you would talk Reid into seeing if Veritas would get on board with doing the forensics. Not only handle them, but do it pro bono.”
“You don’t want much, do you?”
“I know it’s a big ask.”
“Not too big, man. We owe you and your team for helping out my brother when he needed it, so I’m glad to ask Reid. I’m sure he’ll make the call, but I don’t know if Veritas will go for it.”
“All we can do at this point is ask, right?”
“Yeah, will do as soon as we hang up.” Colin let a long breath of air through the phone. “Anything else I can do for you? Like maybe you need manpower?”
“We’re good for now, but I’ll let you know if something comes up. And thanks, man. I appreciate the help.” Nolan ended the call and stowed his phone.
