Page 67 of Nowhere to Hide
It was a little clumsy. Usually she’d take earbuds with her to talk outside the vehicle, but if she was with Kramer, she didn’t want Ryan patched through. “Got it.”
“I’m good to go then?” Gibson jacked a thumb over his shoulder.
“Yeah, get outta here.”
Gibson took off, and Neal and Sandra went back into the vehicle.
They entered to find Officer Moore standing next to the table while Kramer was seated with a coffee in front of him. It appeared untouched, and the man’s shoulders weresquare and tense. His eyes jabbed around, busily scanning his surroundings. It testified to a man whose life had conditioned him to size up threats. Also to one who was prepared to defend himself.
“Mr. Kramer,” she said. “I just need to ask that you step outside with Officer Moore. She’ll stay with you until I can get there.” Sandra caught Donny and Monica looking at her but didn’t react. They’d find out the reason soon enough.
“Sure, whatever you need. I told Officer Moore that I want to help however I can. What’s wrong with Edward? Was he shot?”
“Paramedics are working on him now,” Neal assured him. “But, yes, he was shot. I suspect they’ll soon be taking him to the hospital.”
“I want to go with him.” Kramer made a move to get up.
“Unfortunately, we need you to stick around here for a bit longer. We have some questions for you,” Neal told him.
Kramer narrowed his eyes at the lieutenant. “I came here under the impression that I was going to help the Hansons, not be interrogated.”
“Mr. Kramer, if you’d please come with me and Officer Moore.” Neal’s tone had the man getting to his feet. “You can bring your coffee if you like.”
Kramer shook his head. “It’s fine.”
After the three of them left the vehicle, Sandra got seated at her workstation. She filled Donny and Monica in on Eric’s texts.
“It’s one thing when we suspected Susan was targeted,” Monica said. “Another now we have eyewitness testimony. It seals things.”
“And Susan Crawford’s killer probably just stepped outside of this vehicle,” Donny put in.
His comment didn’t necessitate a reply. After all, they’d tracked Dale Kramer down because they had suspicions about him in the first place. Now they had solid reason to questionhis character. Her phone beeped with a text from Neal that he and Moore had Kramer out of sight behind the vehicle. “Okay, I’m going to call Ryan.” She put her headset on, and the others followed her lead.
But the line rang before she punched in the number. She answered, “Ryan?”
“I need something else from you.”
“We’re already doing something for you, Ryan. The reporter and her cameraman are here and ready to go.”
“You’re still going to do this one other thing for me. There are NDAs in Timothy Hanson’s home office. I need you to see if there’s one there for my mother.”
Sandra glanced at Donny. She sure hoped that Ryan wasn’t moving the finish line. “Why would there be one for your mother?” They had considered this earlier, but she was curious what had Ryan making this request.
“Timothy strong-armed her into keeping silent. He must have made her sign one just before he pushed her out the door.”
“Why is that?” Sandra played coy.
“I know why.” A few beats of silence. “I suspect you do too?”
“We might. Did Timothy Hanson rape your mother, Ryan?”
A long span of nothing, followed by, “You get the NDA, see for yourself what a monster Timothy Hanson was.”
She wasn’t entirely sure why he didn’t just admit to knowledge of the rape. Was it too painful to think of himself as the product of such an assault? “I’ll see what I can do, Ryan. Do you still want to speak to the reporter?” While he was trying to alter the deal, to test if he could trust her, she wanted to confirm his faith in her was warranted. She hadn’t forgotten about his previous request.
“Of course I do.”
“And you’re fine with doing it outside?” She wanted confirmation again just to ensure the terms for moving forward were clear.
