Page 20 of Lost Hours
“Thank you for your cooperation, Sheriff Park,” Sierra said.
“Please call me Mina,” Mina smiled though this wasn’t a video call. “Does this mean you’re considering processing the forensics for us?”
“We’re not considering it,” Sierra said. “We’ve decided to do it, and before you ask, we have plenty of money left in our budget to handle the investigation pro bono.”
“Thank you very much.” Mina’s tone was flooded with relief.
“Yes,” Nolan said. “This is really good news.”
“Our team will be departing Portland at eight a.m. At this point, I’ll be arriving along with two of my assistants. Unless there are other needs beyond forensics.”
“Our victim was shot, so we will need a firearms expert too.” Mina tapped her finger on the table. “The ME confirmed the slug was a through-and-through, but the victim wasn’t shot where we discovered him. We haven’t looked for the murder scene yet, so we don’t have anything to evaluate right now.”
“Once you locate the actual scene where the victim was killed and the slug, we’ll talk about that again.” Sierra cleared her throat. “What other resources might you need?”
“I would foresee the need for a digital expert. Both to evaluate our victim’s phone if we find it, and the computer at his office and home.”
“That sounds to me like it could be handled at our facility if you can provide me with the devices. Nick may want to travel there to take the device and computers into inventory. He’s a real stickler about making sure nothing is altered. If so, I’ll let you know if you should expect him.”
“It’s wonderful to have such a professional team to work with.” Mina sounded equally professional, and Nolan was oddly proud of her.
“It will take us at least a day to process your scene,” Sierra said. “Then we’ll have travel time. Means we’ll need lodging for a minimum of one night. Is this something you can arrange and provide for us?”
“Yes,” Mina answered right away. “I’ll book you at the local hotel, and my department will pick up the cost.”
“Excellent,” Sierra said. “Nolan, I know you arranged for our services, but I’m assuming that all reporting will go to the county.”
Nolan really didn’t want that to happen. “Can’t you report to both of us?”
Mina glared at him.
“Maybe,” Sierra said. “If you want me to be able to access government databases, I’ll need an official case number from you, Mina. Which means this investigation will be in your county’s name. It will be up to you whether you allow Nolan access to those reports too.”
Mina lifted her chin and pointed it at Nolan. “Let’s just keep them directed to me at this time, and I can decide what I want to share with Nolan.”
“Is that all right with you, Nolan?” Sierra asked.
No. Not at all.But did he have much choice? Not if they wanted Sierra to access fingerprint and DNA databases, and what good would either prints or DNA do them if they couldn’t perform the searches? None.
“Yes,” he answered reluctantly. He would have to find a way to persuade Mina to include him in the reporting and pray that she didn’t withhold information from him. He sure didn’t want to badger her. That would only serve to make their terrible relationship even worse.
6
Mina waited at the table as Nolan went to fetch the next teammate for interviewing. She couldn’t help but think about him. Every spare moment. Her brain should be working on the murder, but it was full of Nolan instead. Now that he had an alibi, which she assumed would check out, she could involve him in the investigation. Question was, would it be more distracting to have him around all the time or be thinking about him?
If only she could prove Tommy had the note from Nolan and didn’t give it to her, she might be able to put her past to rest and stop thinking about Nolan. But how would she do that? The bigger question was, why would Tommy have withheld the note from her?
Was there some reason he might not want her to get together with Nolan? Maybe he feared if she did, she would leave town and their friendship would be over. She knew he’d counted on her. He’d gone off to college and earned a degree in information technology, then landed a wonderful job in that field in Portland. But unfortunately, he started gambling online and got into serious debt. His parents had to bail him out to the tune of fifty grand.
Their conditions for providing the money were that he was no longer to use a computer, had to join a gambler’s anonymous support group, and had to move back home with them to save money and pay off the debt. He took the first job he could get, assistant manager at the hotel. He hated every minute of it, but it gave him some spending money and money to start paying his parents back.
He’d gotten a bit depressed and often talked to her to find the light of day. Now that she thought about it, he’d become somewhat dependent on her. So maybe hehadfeared she was going to move to D.C. with Nolan, and he would have no one in town to help make his life better. But was that motive enough for him to ruin her life?
“I’m your next victim.” Abby laughed as she stepped into the room and took a seat. “Seriously, I’ve been in your shoes, and I’m more than willing to cooperate in any way I can.”
Mina appreciated her good mood and cooperation. “How about starting with telling me what happened tonight?”
“I’m sure you’ve heard the story from Nolan, but here goes.” Abby leaned back in her chair and started from the time she arrived at the location.
