Page 17 of Whispers of Redemption

“Wait!” Olivia said, “We have a camera on the side of our building, too.”

“Really?” Cassie was excited. “Can I see that footage?”

“No problem.”

Olivia made a few more taps on her screen, and in seconds, they were looking at video from the adjacent street. The camera primarily covered the exterior of the coffee shop, but you could also see part of the road. They could see the bottom half of the truck as it rolled slowly into view, coming to a stop at an angle on the road. Cassie now realized he was probably planning ahead for his quick getaway. Because of the angled stop, however, the lower back end of the truck was clearly visible.

“Let’s see if we can get the license plate once he takes off,” Cassie said.

As the truck peeled away, Olivia stopped the video and zoomed in. There was a lot of mud on the back of the truck and some of it covered the plate. But “GW3” was clearly visible on the right side of the plate.

Cassie pulled out her own phone and made a note of it. She thanked Olivia and stepped back from the counter. Suddenly, Angel bounced into the air to peek over the countertop.

“Oh!” Olivia said in surprise, then leaned over the counter for a closer look. “I didn’t know you had a dog, Cassie.”

“I don’t,” Cassie said, and explained how she’d come to be Angel’s caretaker.

“Oh, wow, well, I hope you find the owner. I bet someone is missing you plenty, you sweet, little thing.”

Cassie pulled out one of the missing dog flyers from her backpack and Olivia agreed to hang it on the shop’s community message board. Then she came from behind the counter to pet Angel’s head. The dog sniffed in appreciation at all the delicious smells on Olivia’s fingers.

“Oh, hang on just a sec!” Olivia moved back behind the counter and disappeared for a moment, returning with a tiny dog biscuit. “I get these from the organic dog treat shop in town,” she said. “Only the best for you, princess.” She held the biscuit flat in her palm and offered it to Angel.

Angel took it carefully between her sharp, white teeth and dropped it to the floor. She sniffed at it, deemed it worthy to eat, then gobbled it up.

“What are you going to do now?” Olivia asked, returning her attention to Cassie.

Cassie grinned. “First, I’m going to order a treat for myself—one of your delicious frozen caramel macchiatos, please. Then I’m going to go help the police do their job.”

CHAPTER 6

Cassie strolled into the Whispering Pines Police Headquarters just before three o’clock, sipping her macchiato and looking around.

The Whispering Pines police force was small, with less than two dozen regular patrol officers. It was clearly shift change, and the room buzzed with activity. The smell of burnt coffee wafted from the small coffee stand at the back of the room, and a few officers chatted together in low voices, while others moved about with an air of urgency from one task to the next. Beyond the lobby area, where Cassie stood, several pairs of desks faced each other, running along opposing walls of the large main room. On the wall beside each pair of desks were corkboards filled with papers and photographs held in place by pushpins. There was a glass-walled office at the back of the room with horizontal blinds hanging on each of its window walls.

Cassie approached the small, half-circle reception desk where a uniformed officer with cropped blond hair sat, typing away at his computer. He looked up. “May I help you?”

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