The Enforcer - Kelli Callahan Page 0,50

database goes, there’s not a whole lot of movement simply because it takes so much time.” He sighs, shaking his head and I can tell that he feels defeated at the moment. Part of me feels bad for him. Despite his arrogance and his determination to keep me in the slammer, he’s actually a decent man, and I understand how Charlie turned out as well as she did. “I’ve got some flyers printed out that I’ll hand out around town, but there’s one thing that I want to discuss with the two of you. Something that feels, well, I don’t have any evidence,” he says, leaning forward and resting his hands on the desk. “We rarely do, we just act on instinct and it works out.”

“Usually,” Noah says, giving me a side glance.

“Follow your gut, Chief, what do you got for us?” I encourage.

“I was thinking about this kid and it strikes me that his face is familiar, and I couldn’t quite place it, but I was wondering if you could get me the guest list or attendance list of the last couple of events that Diana went to.”

“Why? Do you think that she and he went to the same places together?”

“I think he’s been stalking her, and I’m wondering if I can find other employers to talk with, people who might know something about his connection to her.”

“Sounds like solid police work,” I say with a nod.

Kenton narrows his eyes at me. “I’m not sure if it was a putdown or not,” he says.

“It’s not. You’re doing your job,” I nod, “which makes everything easier. If we all do our part like Lucy says, things will get moving a lot faster.”

“Alright, so I’ll look at the guest list and try to figure out how close he was to her.”

“Sounds fun.”

Noah grunts with a nod. “Well, I’ve got something for you too.”

“What?”

“I asked Tony to find him. I went out last night in the woods driving from cabin to cabin. There’s one that looks like it’s uninhabited recently: McMahon’s place.”

“Oh?” Kenton asks, his brow furrowing. “And you decided to share this tidbit of information in the last possible second because…?” he says trailing off.

“Because I wanted to make sure that you would share first. And I wasn’t sure if mine would be completely relevant until I heard what Jake said,” he shrugs. “I think we should check out McMahon’s place and see if he’s there squatting.”

“Okay, let’s go,” I say, rising.

“Well, I can’t just go out and check out someone’s place without a warrant,” Kenton says. “I don’t have probable cause.”

“Gotcha, you stay here,” I say, straightening my jacket and heading towards the door.

“Just wait a god damn minute. This isn’t how this works, and I can’t let you do that.”

“Fine,” Noah says. “We’ll go check it out and you can run down the guest list until you find probable cause or until we call you and tell you what we see, and you get out there. Call it an anonymous tip.”

Noah grins, walking away.

“You know,” I say, as we exit the police department, “I kind of get why he hates you.”

“Oh, yeah I know. I’d hate me to.” Noah grins. “So, a girl says he’s at a place in the woods. I noticed that the McMahon place is busy. What do you suppose this connection is to Diana?”

“No idea, but I guess that’s the sheriff’s department right now,” I say, sliding into my car, closing the door, and following closely behind Noah on his motorcycle.

Pulling up and parking the car on the side of the road, I get out as Noah dismounts. “Maybe we should hide them,” I say, gesturing back to the vehicles.

“Nah, I think we’ll be okay.” Noah shrugs. “May not even be this place.”

“Maybe not, but I got a feeling,” I whisper, taking a step toward the gravelly road that leads up to the McMahon cabin.

Walking in pace, we creep toward the building, moving back into the tree line and off the little driveway.

“See anything?” Noah whispers.

I squint through the brush. “Definitely looks like someone’s been out here, but I don’t know who,” I whisper, moving closer to the cabin and snapping twigs under my heavy boots. I try to walk quieter, though it seems pointless. Noah, however, is virtually silent behind me, following my lead as we edge closer to the clearing.

“I don’t see a vehicle, so maybe no one’s here.”

“Alright, let’s make a dash for it. What do you say?” Noah asks.

“Alright. Ready, set,