Page 21 of Whispers of Redemption

He led them through the building and out a door leading to the back. Wood pallets lay stacked up all along the back exterior wall, and beyond the lot, an unkempt open field stretched out before them. Off to one side was a small parking lot with a few cars in it, including a mud-spattered, black pickup truck.

Wade and Hugo walked slowly around the exterior of the truck, examining it closely.

“The license plate is right,” Hugo said, standing at the back end. “And mud is covering the last three characters, just like Cassie described.”

“That window wasn’t like that before,” Jeff commented.

Wade looked at the driver’s side window. The glass was slightly lowered and sat at an angle, indicating it had somehow been rocked off its track. “Do you have a key?”

Jeff fumbled in his pocket and pulled out a ring of multiple keys. He flipped through them until he found the one he wanted, then handed it to Wade, who pulled a pair of rubber gloves from his duty belt and put them on, using the key to unlock the driver’s side door.

“Does anyone else have a key?” Wade asked, handing it back to him.

Jeff shook his head. “I keep both keys with me on this key ring,” he said, jangling it. “Unless I give one to someone who’s going to drive it. But like I said, nobody’s driven it for weeks.”

Hugo also put on gloves and opened the passenger side. Then he and Wade carefully examined the floor and interior of the truck.

“We’ll arrange for our evidence tech to come dust for prints,” Wade said, pulling his head out from inside the truck to address Jeff. Just then, a movement and brief flash of color at the side of the manufacturing building caught his eye.

“Hang on,” he said quietly to Hugo. Wade strode swiftly to the back of the building, then edged along the brick wall before suddenly stepping around the corner and surprising Cassie.

She gave a startled cry and put a hand over her heart. “You scared me!” she said in an accusatory tone. She stood there with Angel beside her on her pink leash. The dog immediately trotted over and began sniffing Wade’s shoes. He took a step back.

“What are you doing here?” he said.

Cassie’s heart-shaped face blushed a deep red.

“Wait a minute. Are you following us?” he asked, incredulous.

“Maybe,” she said, quickly regaining her composure. “Why, is that a problem?”

“Yes, it’s a problem!” Wade said.

“Why? It’s not illegal,” Cassie said quickly.

For a moment, Wade was at a loss for words. She was right. It wasn’t illegal. But somehow, it still felt wrong.

“Besides,” she added, lifting her chin, “I just wanted to make sure you followed up on the clues I gave you guys.” She stepped away from the building to look into the parking lot where Hugo and Jeff Greenway stood. “It looks like you found the truck. You’re welcome,” she added.

He was annoyed at how smug she sounded, and he could feel himself beginning to lose it again. Her attitude toward him, combined with her complete disregard for following any kind of rules, was making him crazy.

Wade took a deep breath, fighting to master his emotions. “Look, Cassie, you need to stop this. Just let us do our job.”

She smiled.

“What are you smiling about?”

“You finally called me Cassie.”

He just stared at her for a long moment, then without another word, he turned on his heel and walked back toward the truck. But he could hear her footsteps crunching on the gravel behind him.

“Yup, that’s definitely the truck I saw in the robbery,” Cassie said, coming up to stand beside him. Angel sat down next to her.

Jeff Greenway looked worried. “I don’t understand!”

“Was the key ever out of your possession yesterday?” asked Wade.

“No, the keys are always with me. But I have an alibi,” he said in a rush. “I was here at work until about three-thirty yesterday, then I left to go watch my oldest son’s baseball game.”

---