Page 57 of Nowhere to Hide
“Dale Kramer?” Though it wasn’t so much a question as Coleman had forwarded her his license photo. At sixty-three, he’d aged pretty well aside from the deep crow’s feet around his eyes and the lines around his mouth. He was lean and towered over her. He had to be at least six-foot-two or -three.
“Yes. What’s this about the Hansons?”
“Is there somewhere more private we could speak?”
“We should be fine right here.” Dale took them to the side of the lobby a fair distance from the main doors. She supposed it was private enough as it didn’t seem walk-in traffic was high.
After Dale sat on a stiff-looking couch, she dropped onto an equally uncomfortable-looking chair. Both pieces of furniture were black leather and chrome and lacked cushions. The chair consisted of two slings—one to support the back and the other the rear end.
Cindy shifted until she found a bearable position.
“Officer, please appreciate my time is valuable and there have been a lot of changes recently.”
“Yes, Timothy Hanson’s passing. I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you.”
Cindy would have expected some sign that Dale was grieving his late employer. Wet eyes, a glazed look, a gravelly voice. There was nothing. “You’ve been a dedicated employee of the Hansons for many years.”
Dale twisted his arm to look at his watch.
“Yes, I get it. Time is money,” she pushed out, annoyed. “But, honestly, the clock is ticking on another situation. The Hanson family are being held hostage in their home, as we speak.” She’d leave out mentioning that Edward was shot. Let someone with higher clearance be the one who did that.
Dale shifted on the couch. “What do you mean? That’s not…”
“Possible? One wouldn’t think that with all the safety precautions in place. The gate, the guards, but I assure you it’s underway.”
“What does this person want?”
She noticed he didn’t dwell on the breach in security, which she found strange considering his line of work. But the guards at the house were cleared, and it was evident that Ryan was working alone. “We’ll get to that.”
“I’d like to get over there right now. Will you take me? Or can I meet you there?”
Cindy resisted the urge to smile. He’d played right into her wishes. Her instructions included bringing him to the scene. It was even better that he felt this was his idea. “I’ll need to take you as the area is blocked off to civilians.”
“Who is behind this?”
“Does the name Ryan Crawford sound familiar to you?”
“Ryan…” He repeated the name as if he were trying to conjure it up from his subconscious. “No, it doesn’t sound familiar.”
A lie. His irises dilated at the mention of Ryan’s name. He knew exactly who he was. So why was he trying to hide that knowledge?
“What does this Ryan want with the Hansons?” Dale asked before she spoke.
“His mother, Susan Crawford, was killed in a fatal car crash thirty-three years ago. Ryan was in the car, but he survived. Barely. The thing is, he doesn’t believe it was an accident. Hethinks that someone in the Hanson family was behind it.” Cindy left it there without naming names. If she pulled out Timothy Hanson’s name, she feared Dale Kramer would shut down and lawyer up. That’s if Dale had something to hide, as they suspected. If he gave her statement any thought, though, doing basic math he’d arrive at Timothy on his own.
“Well, that’s crazy. But it’s never easy to lose a parent.”
First a lie. Now a throw-away comment. This conversation made Dale uncomfortable, so she continued. “His only parent at that. His father was what you’d say not in the picture.”
“All sad, but what can be done about that now? Thirty-three years have passed, you said. That’s a long time ago.”
“From one perspective, it is. Not when it marks a time you buried a loved one.” Thankfully, she hadn’t faced much loss, though both happened when she was a teenager. First, her maternal grandmother, a sweet woman with a kind heart, to cancer. Second, the murder of her high school friend, Morgan Nelson, had changed the trajectory of Cindy’s life. Morgan’s killer hadn’t been found to this day, but it was the dogged detective working the case that had Cindy deciding to become a cop. Her intention was to bring Morgan’s family closure one day, no matter how long that might take.
“I’ll be happy to do whatever I can to help clear this up if it gets the family out safe. Like I said, whatever I can do.”
“Sounds good. I’m sure those on scene will appreciate your help.” Not that Cindy expected the negotiation team would let Dale get anywhere close to Ryan.
