Perfect Night (Mason Creek #4) - Terri E. Laine Page 0,30
I spoke to the office manager to see if they had external security cameras. It was a long shot considering the type of business. But their location on Highland Place made a good vantage point to see anyone in town heading to the bar. I hadn’t spotted any cameras as I walked in, but I asked anyway. They didn’t. I lucked out that I wasn’t asked any probing questions about why I was looking for cameras. So I left.
My next stop was the jewelry store. When I entered, I recognized Ryder. He was a few years older than me.
“Ryder,” I said in greeting.
“Aiden Faulkner. I didn’t think you’d be back,” he said, as we traded hand slaps.
“Any more than I expected to see you. I thought I would be talking to your parents.”
“They retired.”
I nodded. “I noticed you have external security.”
“We do.”
“You wouldn’t happen to have access to footage going back over a week ago?”
“We might. Why?”
Though I knew Ryder, my investigation was secret. But I didn’t have to completely lie to him. “There is a county BOLO on a missing girl. I thought I would check footage to see if I spotted any unusual activity in town.”
“Is it someone from town?”
I shook my head. “But a family is in desperate need of leads. I’m just checking around.”
“Well, I’m sure I can get you a copy. Can I email it to you?”
“Sure.” I pulled out my official card and handed it to him. “It was good to see you. We should grab a beer sometime.”
“Yeah. I need it.”
I left and didn’t bother driving to my next stop. I crossed Highland Place to the bar and crossed Mueller Lane to the entrance of Bumps and Dents Body Shop. I didn’t recognize the man in the lobby wearing coveralls. He was polishing something in his hand with an oily towel.
“Hey,” I said, and startled him. He’d been deep in thought.
“Can I help you?” His eyes took in my uniform shirt. “Deputy.” He had one of those distinctive voices you wouldn’t forgot.
“Are you the owner?” Last I knew, Jessie’s dad owned the place. However, I didn’t want to insult the guy if he owned it now.
He shook his head. “That would be Henry Phillips.”
“Is he around?”
“He should be in back. I’ll get him.”
“Thanks. I’m Aiden by the way.” I held out a hand.
He held up his to show they were grimy with the work he’d been doing. “I’m Tucker.”
“Oh, you sing at the pub?”
“I do,” he said, nodding.
“My mom heard you at the festival and couldn’t say enough good things.”
“Tell her thanks.”
“I will.”
He ducked down a hall and shortly after Henry Phillips appeared.
“Aiden Faulkner,” he said, with an outstretched hand. “I heard you were back in town.”
“I am.”
“What brings you by?”
“You have external surveillance cameras around your property, right?”
“We do.”
“I’m hoping you might still have footage for the last week or so,” I said.
“Actually, you are in luck. It’s a cloud-based system, so it could go back further than that. Can I ask you what it’s for?”
I gave him the same line I’d given Ryder. “It would be a help to her family if I could rule out that she’d been in the area.”
“Her parents must be a wreck.”
“No doubt they are. Any help you can offer would be great.”
He promised to get me a link to the files if he couldn’t email them. I thanked him and left.
I was walking out when Emma’s dark blue MINI Cooper came around the corner. She slowed to a stop and rolled down her window.
“Hey stranger,” she said.
It had turned into a running joke between us. “Yeah, do I know you? Only a stranger would sneak out of the house in the morning without a goodbye.”
“Sorry about that. I went for a run and ran into the ice cream and gossip sisters.”
“I heard.”
She sighed. “I’m sorry. If I had any clue I’d be seen, I wouldn’t have gone out in your shirt.”
“Don’t worry about it.” I didn’t tell her about what the sheriff said because it was my problem not hers.
“I hope you haven’t caught grief over it.”
I laughed. “It worked in my favor when I ran into Janet.” I paused. “You know Janet, right?”
“Redhead and single?”
“Yeah. She asked me out. Jessie saved me by the way. But on the way out, she apologized thinking that we were together.”
Her brow shot up. “Did you correct her?”
“Didn’t have a chance. She did all the talking, so I didn’t have to turn her down.”
Emma’s grin was filled with