Marine's Mission - Rebecca Deel Page 0,15
her on the asphalt.
“I could have gotten down on my own,” she muttered. “I’m not an invalid.”
“I’m giving you another reason to keep me around besides my stellar grilling skills.”
Gigi blinked. “What’s that?”
He winked at her. “My muscles.” When she laughed, Owen relaxed. Exactly the response he wanted. Owen guided her toward his brothers.
“Sit rep,” David said to Elliot.
“The truck was reported stolen last night. Three surveillance cameras around the restaurant should give us a look at the driver and passengers. I called the restaurant’s owner. He’ll be here soon and agreed to give us a copy of the security footage without a warrant.”
“How did you convince him to do that?” Owen asked. “You’re not known for your people skills, bro.”
Elliot snorted. “Why bother? It’s a waste of time. Lucky for us that Toni’s a frequent customer at Hawthorne’s, and Ivan Donaldson likes her.”
“Let’s take a look.” David tugged on a pair of gloves as he approached the driver’s side of the truck. “Elliot, take the backseat. Owen, check the front passenger seat.”
“What if the truck’s locked?” Gigi asked.
“We’ll get in,” Owen said. He and his brothers had the skills to deal with the lock if necessary.
David tugged on the handle. The door opened easily. “Lucky for us the thief didn’t lock the door.”
Owen led Gigi to the passenger side and opened the door. He noted the worn and faded upholstery, and the dirt and pieces of hay in the carpet. Definitely a work truck. No receipts or other bits of paper in his search area.
He opened the glove box. Lots of paper in there. He found the registration and pulled it out. Jace Moran. Hopefully, Jace had enough insurance on the truck to have it repaired.
Gigi laid her hand on Owen’s arm. “What’s that?” she asked, pointing toward the floor between the frame of the truck and the seat.
He crouched. Something metal lay in the tight space. Grabbing a pen from his pocket, Owen used the writing instrument to slide the metal to where he could pick it up. He spread the delicate chain on his palm and stood. “Recognize this?” He’d seen Toni wear the bracelet with the heart-shaped charm several times over the past few months.
Color drained from Gigi’s face. “I gave that bracelet to Toni for Christmas last year.”
“Are you sure this is the one you gave her?”
“Turn the heart over. I had the words sisters of the heart engraved on the back of it.”
Owen flipped the heart over. There were the words, plain as day.
David circled the truck. “Well?”
“The bracelet is Toni’s.” Now, they needed to find her.
CHAPTER SEVEN
A car turned into the lot and parked nearby. A burly man with red hair strode toward Owen and his brothers. “You’re Donaldson?” Owen asked.
“Yeah.” He held out a hand to Owen. “Ivan Donaldson.”
“Owen Montgomery.”
“Sheriff David Montgomery.” David shook the restaurant owner’s hand. “Elliot and Owen are two of my deputies. This is Gigi, a friend of Toni’s.”
Donaldson frowned. “Have you found Toni?”
“Not yet. We appreciate your cooperation, Mr. Donaldson.”
“Anything I can do to help, I’ll be happy to do it. Toni is one of our favorite customers.”
“We need a copy of the security footage.” David glanced at Owen. “Go with him. See what you get from the footage. Elliot and I will process the truck.”
Owen handed Toni’s bracelet to David. “This belongs to Toni. Gigi gave it to her for Christmas.” He glanced at Gigi. “Come with me.” Although he preferred viewing the footage before Gigi saw it, every minute counted. “Lead the way, Mr. Donaldson.” He laid his hand against Gigi’s lower back as they followed the restaurant owner to the back door and inside the building to an office.
Donaldson sat behind the desk and tapped a few keys on the computer. After a moment, he handed Owen a flash drive. “I copied the footage from all the security cameras and saved them on here.”
“I’d like to view the footage on your system first.”
“Sure. I’ll queue it up for you.” After a few more keystrokes, Donaldson pushed back from the desk and stood, motioning for Owen to take his place. “I need to setup for the lunch crowd. Holler if you need help with the system.”
“Thanks.” After the owner left the office, Owen set up a chair for Gigi and ran the footage from the first camera at high speed. He and Gigi watched cars and restaurant patrons coming in and out of the restaurant’s parking lot.
About 7:00 according to the time stamp, Gigi parked