Page 25 of Jina

“How about you go out and do some real detective work?” Cole stared the woman down. “You might want to start by going back to that gas station to review the video.”

That caught Irving and Klem off guard, giving him a spurt of satisfaction.

“Yes, you’ll find the black Honda SUV without plates was there about seven o’clock last evening,” Jina said, rising to her feet. “The pump blocked the perp, though, so there’s no clear image of his face. But you should probably take a look at it for yourself.”

“You already got the video?” Irving demanded, as if someone had stolen all her candy.

Cole glanced at Klem who appeared embarrassed. “You need to be out there doing your own legwork. Sitting around and waiting for a victim to return a call isn’t how cases get solved.” He stepped toward the door with Jina at his side. “We’ll keep you in the loop if we find anything pertinent to the case.”

“You can’t work this case,” Irving sputtered. “We have jurisdiction here.”

Cole ignored her. He opened the door for Jina and followed her out of the interview without another word. Neither of them said anything until they were back outside in the SUV.

“That was fun,” Jina drawled sarcastically. “Irving seems to think I’m being targeted on purpose just to ruin her day.”

“She’s something,” he agreed. He wasn’t impressed with Irving at all, but Klem seemed reasonable. “Hopefully, Klem will keep her on track. I have a feeling we’ll be hearing from them again very soon.”

“Oh goody.” She gestured to the big box store up ahead. “That reminds me, I need a replacement phone. Let’s stop now since we’re here. I want to be sure Shelly can reach me in an emergency.”

“Fine with me.” He was glad for the reprieve since he did not want to head over to Mike’s as planned. Sure, they could approach the place with caution, but there were several locations where their perp could be hiding.

While Jina spoke to the store rep about her phone, he used his to call Mike.

“What’s up, Cole?” Mike asked.

“I know we’ve already discussed the guys at the gym not being the shooter, but things have changed. We need to know if any of those guys are involved in law enforcement or the military.”

There was a long silence as Mike considered that. “I can put together a list of names of those I know, but that won’t cover them all.”

“I understand. Are you at the gym now?” He was surprised to see that Jina had already picked out a phone and was heading over to the checkout line. Apparently, she was a no-nonsense shopper. “Jina wants to head over, but I’m worried our guy is hanging out nearby.”

“Why would he?” Mike asked.

Cole filled him in on the gas station shooting.

Mike whistled. “Not good. I can see why you’re thinking cop or military. I’ll go through my files and my memory. I’ll come up with a few names for you.”

“Thanks, that would be great.” He headed over to join Jina. “We don’t want to think the worst of your gym members either, but someone is gunning for her, and I want to cover all bases.”

“Understood. I’ll let you know if I hear anything suspicious.”

“Thanks. Later.” He ended the call as Jina eyed him warily. “That was Mike. He’s going to make a list of the guys with law enforcement or military background.” He gestured to her phone. “We should head to my place so you can power it up and get your contacts uploaded.”

She looked as if she might argue but then nodded. “Fine. Once that’s done, we’ll talk about next steps.”

He followed her to the SUV, feeling certain he wouldn’t like her idea of what they should work on next. Once they were back at his place, Jina went to work on her phone, while he opened his laptop to find the video he’d sent to his email address.

Reviewing the grainy video again, he slowed it to look frame by frame, attempting to get a better look at their perp. He froze the screen at one point, trying to decide if the guy had dark hair or had a dark ball cap on his head.

“Do you mind if I use your phone to call Gabe?” Jina came over to sit beside him. “I sent him the video but haven’t had time to follow up.”

“Sure.” He unlocked his screen and handed her the phone. “Put the call on speaker.”

“Okay.” She made the call, setting the phone on the table. “Hi, Gabe, it’s Jina and Detective Cole Roberts from the Peabody PD.”

“Hey, Jina, I got this video you sent,” Gabe said. “I’m afraid there isn’t much I can do with it, though. I cleaned it up, but the guy is standing behind the pump, almost as if he knew where the cameras were located.”

“Yeah, that’s our theory too,” Jina admitted.

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