“Did she hire someone?” Evan asked.
“I’d say that’s more feasible, sure. But who?”
“Question of the day,” Evan stated.
“No, the question of the day is where the hell is Cedric Hawkins?” He glanced over at Evan. “Because if you’re right, if they’ve taken out each other’s husbands, we need to find Nancy Wright.”
Evan nodded. “You’re right because if Annie took out Seth Jacobs, then Mallory took out Brian Wright.”
“And that leaves Nancy to take out Hawkins,” Reese completed for him.
Shit.
Was there even a small chance the man was still alive?
*
“This has netted us nothing,” Allison bitched as Baz pulled his truck into the parking lot where Cedric Hawkins’s Mercedes had been abandoned.
Baz shot a glance her way. “Tell me, how many times have you worked an easy case?”
“All of them,” she countered.
Pulling the truck to a stop, he stared at her. “You’re serious?”
“Yeah. I am. Every case I’ve worked involved luring someone in. There was rarely a lull because there’s always someone to reach out to, to watch, to talk to.”
Baz sighed. He honestly didn’t know how to respond to that. He’d been a cop for far too long to know that there was rarely anything that came easily on the job. He had no idea how Allison had been sheltered, but she clearly had.
“Go in and talk to the clerk,” he instructed her. “See if they’ve got surveillance cameras.”
“Surely they do,” she muttered as she climbed out.
Baz got out of the truck, pulled on a pair of latex gloves as he scanned the parking lot. He noticed a couple of cameras installed on the side of the building, but who knew if they worked or if they were merely there as a deterrent.
The sound of tires behind him had Baz turning in time to see Brantley pulling his big black Chevy into the parking lot. He was surprised to see Slade was with him and not Reese, but he figured now wasn’t the time to mention it.
“Anything?” Brantley asked as he approached.
“Just got here. Allison’s inside talkin’ to the clerk.”
Brantley nodded, walking around the fancy Mercedes, peering into the windows but not touching the doors.
“Looks clean. And unlocked,” Brantley stated, dragging a pair of latex gloves out of his pocket. “You get the passenger side.”
After donning his own gloves, Baz opened the front passenger door, peering down into the door, the seat, the floorboard.
The car was immaculate, not a crumb or empty cup. The leather seats looked as though they’d been maintained well, the floor mats the same. No doubt Cedric Hawkins was meticulous about his car.
Squatting down by the door, Baz gently felt beneath the seat, careful to move slowly. Brantley was mirroring his actions on the other side, lifting the floor mat, checking in the door.
The back door opened and Baz heard Slade doing the same search back there.
“I’ll check the trunk,” Brantley said before he stepped back out of view.
Baz leaned over, looked in the crevice between the seat and the center console. He carefully reached down, ran his fingers along the edge. When he felt something, he grabbed it.
“Hey, boss, we’ve got a phone here,” he called out as he eased out of the car, standing tall.
“I thought we traced his phone,” Brantley said when he walked around.
“We did. Secondary, maybe?”
“Why the hell’s this guy got a second phone?”
“Girlfriend? Maybe this is how she reaches out to him?”
“Wife said they have an open marriage. If that’s the case, why does he need to sneak around?”
Good questions. Ones Baz didn’t have an answer to.
“Please tell me you found something.”
Baz and Brantley looked over at the same time, watching as Allison walked toward them. She looked like a woman on a mission. A failed mission.
She glanced between them, her frustration evident. “The clerk knows nothing. Said their exterior cameras are just for show. Only one that works is inside, aimed at the register, and he doesn’t have access to the feed. Said we’d have to wait for the manager, but she doesn’t like to be interrupted during the day.”
Baz glanced at Brantley, curious to see whether the man would blow a gasket, insisting the manager get her ass to the store ASAP.
His face hardened, his lips pursed. Yep, he was gearing up to—
Brantley’s cell phone rang.
“Walker,” he barked, his eyes narrowed on Allison before turning away quickly as he listened to the caller.
Baz didn’t interrupt, just listened to the one-sided conversation.
“That’s an interesting theory.” Pause. “Have you talked to Charlie?” Pause. “Yeah, you do that.”
When Brantley disconnected, Baz waited patiently for whatever had the man’s temper cooling.
“That was Reese,” Brantley said, looking from Baz to Slade and then to Allison. “Evan and Reese are now workin’ on the theory that the wives conspired to kill their husbands, which means it’s imperative that we find Nancy Wright.”
“Holy shit,” Baz muttered. “How’d they jump to that conclusion?”
“A lot of variables,” Brantley said quickly as he was dialing his cell phone. “Hey, Charlie. You talk to Mrs. Wright yet?”
More silence on Baz’s end, but he could tell by Brantley’s expression that he didn’t get the answer he wanted to that question.
“Yeah, all right. Sit tight for a few more minutes. Maybe she got hung up somewhere. If she doesn’t show, y’all can head on back.”
Baz could see the wheels turning in Brantley’s head when he disconnected the call. His gaze shifted to the burner phone Baz held in the evidence bag.
“Why was he here?” Brantley mused, taking the phone.
“To meet someone,” Baz figured. “Girlfriend said she thought she was dreaming that he got a phone call in the middle of the night. Maybe it wasn’t a dream.”
“You didn’t tell me that,” Allison said, far too much accusation in her tone.
Brantley spoke as though she hadn’t said a word. “He gets a call, comes here to meet whoever it was. But if that’s the case, they didn’t call this phone. No incomings for the past week.”
“JJ attempted to trace his main phone,” Baz explained, “but it’s either turned off or destroyed.”
“Same with Nancy’s,” Brantley rumbled. “She didn’t show up at the police station and we need to find her.” Brantley passed the phone back to him. “Take this back to HQ. See if JJ can work her magic. I want to know what he uses that for.”
“We need a lead,” Allison ground out.
“We’ll get one,” Brantley stated, sounding far more certain than Baz felt.
“So you say,” she countered. “This is a wild goose chase.”
Baz wasn’t sure how Brantley was being so cool about her attitude. The woman clearly had an issue with something, but for the life of him, he didn’t know what it was. However, he had to wonder whether or not working for this task force was something she was actually interested in doing.