Page 72 of Lost Hours
She shared the information with Nolan and then looked at her screen. “I missed a text from Dylan. Says to call him ASAP.”
“Then call him,” Nolan said, looking like he wanted to grab the phone from her hand and make the call himself. He was probably antsy after sitting nearly mute through that entire interview with Janice.
Mina appreciated his cooperation. She tapped Dylan’s phone number and sat back to wait for his answer. “Dylan, it’s Sheriff Park.”
“I wondered if you were going to call.” His frustration flowed through his tone. “I got a name and address for Patriotic Puzzle.”
Mina’s heart kicked hard. “Who is he?”
“Guy’s name is Ty Rowe.” Dylan rattled off a Lost Lake address.
“We’re in Medford right now, but on our way back to Lost Lake, and I can head right over to his house.”
“You should find him at home. He’s in IT and works from home.”
“If that’s his line of work, I’m surprised you could trace his Instagram post and get his ID,” Nolan said.
“He might be in the business, but he’s obviously not very good at it.” Dylan laughed. “Actually, if he’s in IT it’s surprising he’s on social media at all. We know all the pitfalls and avoid it like the plague.”
“True of most law enforcement officers too,” Mina said.
“I’m sending you his picture right now,” Dylan said. “Take a look and let me know what you think.”
Mina waited for the photo to come through, then tapped on it. She held it out to Nolan. “It’s the guy Paisley saw with the mayor on Monday.”
Nolan nodded, a blaze of excitement in his eyes. “Now that we know Ty Rowe and Patriotic Puzzle are one in the same, it cuts two of our many suspects down to one. Feels good to eliminate another one.”
“Yeah,” Dylan said. “Figured you’d like that. That’s it for now, but I’ll get back to you as soon as I have anything to report.” He ended the call before Mina could thank him for his help.
She shoved the key in the ignition and gunned the engine a bit too forcefully. But, come on. It felt good. They had a solid lead to pursue for once.
“Hold on,” she said to Nolan and whipped the vehicle out of the parking lot, the tires squealing as she rounded a corner.
“Don’t sheriffs have to obey traffic laws too?” Nolan grinned at her.
She laughed but didn’t slow down. She wasn’t going to waste time. In the mountains between Medford and home, she had to be more careful, but not leaving the city. “By the way, I went by the mayor’s house last night, and his office bookshelves were empty.”
“So he’s most likely selling the sports memorabilia. Maybe the auction house will know why he was selling it.”
“If it was because of the cancer, I doubt he would’ve told them.”
“Yeah.” He gritted his teeth. “Doesn’t seem likely.”
“I also checked his files for a will and his insurance but didn’t find anything. I would think he’d have kept the will at home, but maybe he has a safe deposit box. And he might have the insurance online only.”
“I’ll text Dylan to have him look for both things on the mayor’s computers.” Nolan got out his phone.
She pointed her vehicle into the Coastal Mountain Range and watched the wooded trees whizz by on the narrow country road heading toward the ocean. Normally she loved the peace of this drive. The time to reflect on God’s beauty. To realize what a small cog she was in the wheel of life. All her problems would drift away. But not today. Today she had a larger-than-life purpose—a missing woman who might be alive, likely needing Mina to rescue her.
The pressure was immense. Greater than Mina had ever experienced. Nolan was sitting beside her, and she had three teams of professionals helping, and yet, she felt alone.
Oh, please let her be alive.
Nolan put away his phone and turned to look at her. “What about the other thing you were going to do last night?”
He would go there when she wasn’t ready to discuss it with him, but she couldn’t ignore his question. “You mean talk to my parents?”
“Yeah.”
