Page 71 of Nowhere to Hide
“A copy of his NDA might be in the home library with the rest. If so, that at least gives me something to work with.” Neal took out his phone. “We have the eyewitness statement, the description of the driver… It’s a reach, but a start anyway. I’ll contact a judge buddy of mine, lay everything out and see if I can’t get that search warrant lined up for Timothy’s estate. Then I’ll have Officer Moore head over there after she drops Kramer off at the hospital.”
If Neal couldn’t work his magic with his “judge buddy,” Sandra was ready to call in a favor from an old friend of hers who sat on the bench.
THIRTY-SEVEN
4:30 PM
If Eric could find the hit-and-run driver, he’d be one step closer to wrapping this thing up. Step one would be tracking down that cargo van.
He walked through the door at Travel Safe, setting off a chime throughout the store.
A thirty-something woman with blond hair at the front desk offered a kind smile. “Welcome to Travel Safe. How can I make your adventure a reality?”
The way she rattled off the greeting, Eric felt for her. Not just because she was made to greet people that way but for how perverts might respond. She probably dealt with a slew of them every week. He pulled back his jacket to disclose the badge on his waist. “Detective Birch.” He leaned in to read her nametag. “Jodi, do you keep records on file from thirty-three years ago?”
“I can check. What are you looking for?”
“It was a rental for a white Chevy cargo van. To start, I’d like to know whose name it was under.” He provided her with the month and year of the crash.
“On second thought, I’m not sure my boss would be too happy with me just handing that over.”
“Is your boss here?”
“No. Fine. I’ll do it.” Jodi typed on her keyboard.
Eric couldn’t even be stabbed by guilt. Susan Crawford was delayed justice for long enough. And besides it hadn’t taken any effort to get Jodi to cave.
“Okay, I see one here.” She told him the date it was picked up and returned, which came down to one day before the accident and three days afterward.
“Who rented it?”
Jodi clicked her mouse. “Hanson Property Development Inc.”
Eric’s chest tightened. “Any person’s name associated with it?”
“Well, the rental agreement would have needed to be signed. Then it would be scanned and added to the file.” One mouse click. “Ah, there’s no attachment.”
Had Timothy Hanson paid someone here to make the rental disappear? “No attachment? What about hard copies? Would they still be kicking around?”
“Knowing Carly, it’s possible. She’s my boss. She keeps a lot in the file storage room, but thirty-three years ago might be pushing it.”
“I’ll need you to look to see if there’s a signed agreement in there.”
“I can’t do that. You’ll need to wait until tomorrow when Carly gets back. She’s the only one with a key to the room.”
“Is there any way I can reach her today? It’s rather urgent.”
“Nah, sorry. She’s traveling home today from a European vacation and offline.”
Eric’s mind tried to solve the problem, but he had to admit defeat. “I’ll come back tomorrow. What time will she be here?”
“Nine AM.”
“Could you leave a note for her about which agreement I’m interested in? Maybe she can pull it out when she gets in.”
“Sure.” Jodi snatched a piece of paper off a message pad and scribbled away.
“Carly’s last name?”
