Page 35 of Lost Hours
“Nah,” Abby said. “You know better than that. You’d have a mutiny if you did.”
They all joined her in a good-natured laugh, but the subject wasn’t over as far as Nolan was concerned. He didn’t want to tell them about the connection between the word and his dad, but maybe that’s what it would take.
A loud knock sounded on the outside door and rang down the hallway.
“That’ll be Mina and her detective.” Nolan left the room and wound down the long hallway that led to the front door. The old mahogany door had a beautiful finish on the inside, but when he opened it, he saw the work they would have to do to restore the weatherworn exterior—one of a hundred, maybe thousands of tasks to be done to bring this property back to its original glory.
Another topic for another day.
He turned his attention to the detective and gave her a thorough once-over. She stood at five-eight or so but didn’t wear any makeup and had her hair severely pulled back, leaving a few strands dangling on each side. Severe look or not, she was an attractive woman. She wore a nondescript brown suit and collared blouse. It was as if she was trying not to be noticed as a woman. Maybe she needed to be taken seriously in what was still a man’s world in a lot of ways.
“Nolan Orr,” Mina said. “Meet Detective Elaina Lyons.”
She shoved out a hand.
“Detective.” Nolan took her firm grip for a moment, then stepped back. “Follow me to the conference room. The team is waiting.”
The door rubbed against the frame as it latched, but he didn’t bother to see if the women were following him. In the conference room, he paused at the head of the table.
“This is Detective Elaina Lyons,” Nolan said and stopped there, purposely not sharing the team members’ names to save time.
“Elaina is my great grandmother, so please call me El,” Elaina said as an unpleasant look crossed her face before she gave a tight smile he was sure she offered to suspects before interviewing them.
“Go ahead and have a seat,” Nolan said. “Instead of long intros, everyone can identify themselves when they speak. We’re having coffee with leftover cake from our grand opening. Fair warning before you grab a slice. It’s been in the freezer for over a year.”
“No worries for me.” El reached for a plate with the biggest slice of cake. “Sugar in any form goes well with coffee, and I need something after a long shift that doesn’t look like it’s going to end anytime soon.”
“No sugar for me, but the coffee is much appreciated.” Mina poured a cup.
It steamed from one of the old mugs stamped with a Portside Inn logo Nolan had inherited when he’d bought the place. She sat in a chair near the head of the table. El took a seat between Gabe and Hayden. Gabe cleared his throat and ran his finger around the neckband of his T-shirt. One of his tells for showing his discomfort.
Was there something about El he didn’t like? Or was it just the opposite? He liked what he saw too much to be comfortable sitting so close to her. Only time would tell, but Nolan would keep an eye on it.
He remained standing at the head of the table and grabbed a blue dry-erase marker. “We might all be getting our sugar high, but we have serious business ahead of us. I think we can agree that it’s looking like Becca isn’t simply a woman who doesn’t want to be found, but this is a case of foul play, and we need to locate her ASAP.”
He received nods and murmurs of agreement from the group.
“However,” Mina said. “She could just be away from home, and we have to keep that on the table until we rule it out.”
“Agreed,” Nolan said. “With that in mind, let’s start by listing our tasks on the whiteboard. You can weigh in on your preferred job as we go along or choose one at the end.”
“We start where we always start,” Hayden said. “We do a deep dive on Becca and the mayor too. Like you said, she could just be gone, but it’s more likely the mayor’s murder is linked to her disappearance. We include finances and see if she has used a credit or debit card after the mayor was killed.”
“This would be Hayden Kraus who didn’t identify himself,” Nolan said for El as he jotted the note on the board.
“Oh, right, yeah. Like he said.” Hayden laughed. “Former Customs and Border Protection, and I handle most IT related items for the team. All we’ll need are Becca’s date of birth and social security number, and we’re on our way.”
“I’ll go ahead and put your name down as we all know that’s what you would’ve volunteered for, and in fact, what we want you to volunteer for.” Nolan grinned at his teammate and added his name next to the item. “Since we didn’t locate either Becca’s or the mayor’s phones, we’ll also want cell phone records from the providers.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” Hayden said.
“Let’s make this a top priority,” Mina said. “And if you need a warrant for these, I’m sure we have enough probable cause to get one. At least for the mayor. So check in with Detective Lyons for that.”
Hayden nodded.
Gabe shifted away from El. “Gabe Irving. Former state trooper. You got a theory and need a hole shot in it, I’m your guy.”
“I remember that about you,” Mina said.
