Page 70 of In the Arms of a Hero

Colt shook his head. “Right now, it’s still an open case that I want you working on. My suggestion would be to contact the CBBT. They have security cameras all along the Bay Bridge Tunnel. See if we can find out when he left our area and crossed into Virginia Beach. I know that something that their police can do, but since his body was found on our side of the bay, I’d rather we do it.”

“That makes sense, Colt. If he did make it to Virginia Beach and was killed over there, and then his body was dumped, it would take more than two days to wash up on our shore. The timeline just doesn’t add up,” Aaron added.

Colt dipped his head. “Agreed. Check with the CBBT, and let’s see what we have. Here’s the Virginia Beach detective handling the case for them.” With that, Colt stood and handed them the information before returning to his office.

Aaron looked over at Sam. “I’ll call Ivy and find out what we need to do.”

Sam chuckled. “Convenient that your sister-in-law works there.”

“I think so, but she may not agree by the time I get through asking her what I need.”

He dialed Ivy’s number, glad when she picked up immediately. After greeting her warmly, he told her what they were looking for and why.

“This won’t be nearly as hard as you think,” she said. “Because every car that goes through here has to have either an EZ Pass or they pay a toll, and we can find out exactly when he entered the CBBT and left it on the Virginia Beach side. If you give me his full name, I can run his EZ Pass and get back to you.”

“Damn, that was easier than I thought it was going to be. His full name is William Lionel Gaston. The last known address where he was living was in Richmond, Virginia.” He rattled off the address.

“Okay. This shouldn’t take me long, and I’ll get back to you.”

“Ivy, you’re the best sister-in-law a detective could ever have.”

She laughed. “I’m your only sister-in-law.”

Disconnecting, he looked over at Sam and nodded. While waiting, he walked to the coffee machine to get a weak-ass cup of coffee. Dumping creamer and sweetener into it to make it more palatable, he took a sip and winced. Walking past Hunter and Brad, he asked, “Any luck?”

“My eyes are crossed right now,” Brad complained.

“We’ve gone back to the ones where you’re in a couple of them,” Hunter said, one side of his lips curving up in a smirk. “Looks like you two were at Kiptopeke. That must have been when you first got together again.”

He nodded, thinking of the conversation he had with Belinda last night. “Don’t make fun of those pictures, man. It was at that meeting that she and I got back together. She forgave me forbeing such a dumbass, and we started moving forward again. Slowly, but surely.”

“Hell, I won’t make fun of that,” Hunter said. “Belle and I had the same kind of situation. She got caught up in a case I was working on, and even though she wasn’t part of it, it blew up in my face. I’m lucky as fuck that she gave me a second chance.”

“You guys are so whipped, it’s not even funny.” Brad shook his head.

“Yeah, and thinking like that is why you’re still single,” Aaron quipped.

Within the hour, his phone rang, and he looked down to see Ivy’s name. Grabbing it up, he asked, “What have you got for me?”

“William Gaston’s vehicle entered the CBBT on the shore side at 10:43 p.m., four days ago. It left the CBBT on the Virginia Beach side at 11:09 p.m.”

“Ivy, you’re the best!”

Disconnecting, he looked over at Sam and said, “We have confirmation that William Gaston’s vehicle left the shore at 10:43. So it doesn’t look like his murder occurred in our jurisdiction.”

Two hours later, a deputy walked over to their desks. “Detective Bergstrom? I just came back from a callout to a small gas station that was on Breeton Road, south of Baytown.”

Aaron nodded for him to continue.

“I noticed he had a security camera and thought to ask about the murder victim you were checking into. He grumbled a lot but admitted that he didn’t really have the camera hooked up. He said it was to keep some punk from trying to rob him. I had the photo to show him, and he said he remembered the guy. Said he didn’t get many people coming in who were dressed in a suit and tie unless it was on a Sunday when people stopped in after church. And even then, he knew the locals.”

“Fuckin’ good work,” Sam said. “Did he happen to remember anything else?”

“He said the man stopped by about noon. Mr. Critcher remembered that because the man bought a bag of chips and a candy bar. He asked if that was going to be his lunch because Mr. Critcher was trying to sell him one of the sandwiches his wife makes to sell to customers. He said the man thanked him but just kept the chips and candy bar. But he did add a soda for later.” The deputy shook his head and chuckled. “I think that old man can probably remember every customer he’s ever had in the past forty years!”

“Thanks. Good work.” Aaron smiled at the deputy, but his mind was already racing.

The deputy smiled and left his information with him. Aaron picked up the phone and called the Virginia Beach detective. After introducing himself and explaining why he was calling, he asked, “Can you tell me if a candy bar and a bag of chips were in the car? Either uneaten or just the wrappers.”

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