Page 68 of Lost Hours
Mina swallowed a tomato dripping with ranch dressing. “I can’t see the mayor letting her meet some stranger alone. He would take care of that himself.”
“Not if his health got in the way.” Abby looked around the room. “He might’ve had chemo or radiation that day and was too sick to deliver the sold item.”
As if trying to recall something, Hayden cocked his head. “There’s no indication that he was selling on any sites where he would deliver the items. But I guess eBay does allow local deliveries.”
“In any event,” Mina closed her salad container, “the only thing that really makes sense is the mayor was being blackmailed. Otherwise, where would the cash be going?”
Nolan leaned back and grabbed another slice of pizza. “Maybe to Wade.”
“I suppose he could be giving him money,” Mina said. “At least both Daisy and Paisley said he gave him money, but why do it in cash? He could just write checks.”
Reece held a bite of salad midair. “Could it be payments for his cancer treatments? Paying with cash not to leave a trail that Becca might somehow find?”
Mina doubted it. “The city has good health insurance policies for their workers, so I would think most of that would be covered by his insurance.”
“Look into that further, Reece,” Nolan said. “See if it leads anywhere.”
“You got it, boss.”
Nolan grimaced, but Mina had no idea the reason for his dislike of being called boss.
“Keep both teams updated on that,” El said. “On another note, our alerts on Becca and her vehicle haven’t turned anything up, so we’re putting out an appeal to the public. Gabe and I didn’t find anything when we canvassed the neighborhood, either.”
“What she said.” Gabe chuckled, but for some reason he looked uncomfortable. “We reviewed a few security footage videos from nearby neighbors. Unfortunately, their cameras didn’t record any cars or people on foot in the timeframe of the mayor’s death.”
Nolan shot to his feet. “We have to be missing something. We’ve never had so few leads after someone’s been missing for more than twenty-four hours. We need to check and recheck everything we’ve done. Keep after it, and don’t let even the smallest detail escape you.”
He was feeling the pressure of finding this missing woman. No doubt about it. The same pressure that was eating away at Mina. Might he want to leave the mayor’s investigation to head up his team’s search for Becca?
It was becoming clear that Becca hadn’t simply gone away for the weekend. Sure, they didn’t have proof, but what they did have suggested foul play.
Should she release Nolan from the mayor’s investigation and allow him to return to his team and the search for Becca? Something she couldn’t decide right now. She would spend the evening pondering it and praying that she’d do the right thing to bring Becca home alive.
19
Promptly at eight a.m. the next day, Nolan held the door for Mina to gain access to the posh attorney’s office located in an equally posh neighborhood. The five named partners’ names—Janice James one of them—were engraved on the wall above the tall reception desk. The young receptionist, dressed in a formal suit of navy blue paired with a white collared blouse, looked up at them and smiled a smile she clearly didn’t mean. Terse, if such a thing could be said of a smile.
He and Mina had agreed on the drive over that she would take lead, so he waited for her to approach the desk, then stopped behind her, ready to take any action needed.
She dug out her badge and displayed it for the receptionist, whose name tag read Angela. “I’m Sheriff Park here to see Janice James.”
“Do you have an appointment?”
“No, but this is regarding one of her clients. If you give her a call, I’m sure she’ll be glad to see me.”
“I’m sorry, but she only sees people with appointments.”
“I’m sure she’ll make an exception in this case.”
Angela crossed her arms. “I know she won’t.”
Nolan was surprised at how polite Mina had been, but it was getting her nowhere.
Still, with her taking charge like this, he got a chance to see her in action. Her easygoing approach was confusing him. Surprised him even. When he first met her, she was more aggressive, a take-charge woman. Something he found very appealing and something he had expected more of as she’d become sheriff.
“Look,” she stated firmly, “I’ve asked you nicely. You haven’t cooperated. I’m a law-enforcement officer, and I am here to see one of your attorneys. I know if you call her and tell her that I’m here to talk to her about her client, Mayor Ernest Sutton, she’ll want to see me. Appointment or not.”
Angela simply blinked up at her.
