Page 63 of Storm

“Yes, Captain?”

Standing up, I take the file from Vincent as he murmurs he’ll email all the photos to me. Following him to leave my office, I say, “Call the DA and tell him I’m heading over to speak with him right now.”

She scrambles to her desk to make the call, and I hurry out of the office. I don’t want her tagging along, so tasking her with the call keeps her planted at her desk.

As soon as I’m in the elevator, I check my phone. I like to send a daily text to Miriam to find out how she’s doing and so far, I’ve managed to do it despite my hectic schedule. The only free moment I’ve taken to myself was to go to her last appointment where her blood pressure has creeped up even more. Her doctor decided she needs to come in every two weeks for monitoring and upped her meds.

We had a scheduled appointment for testing our DNA, but I had to cancel last minute because of this fucking kayaker. Miriam understood and told all of us she’d coordinate a new date.

After meeting with the DA, he decides to wait on formally filing charges against Patrick Lane until we can get in contact with him to find out what the hell is going on. Then, back in my office, I reach out to the sheriff’s department and coordinate a statement that I’ll present in an hour at a press conference.

This time, I can’t shake my shadow, but I decide to put her to good use. Just as I’m straightening my uniform, my phone starts ringing and vibrating in my pocket. It’s loud enough that it’ll be picked up by the mics, so I hand it to her with strict instructions. I never like to turn it off, especially now that Miriam is being moved to a higher risk level for her pregnancy.

“Only answer it if it’s an emergency text or call. Otherwise, just silence the ringer.”

She nods, hugging my phone to her chest and moves to stand out of the way of all the people milling around. I walk up to the front of the room, the DA already waiting along with Mercer. He’s there in case questions are asked that I don’t have an answer to, and he’s been a big part of searching for this guy.

The room quiets down when I hold up a hand.

“Good afternoon. Thank you to everyone for being here. I want to jump right into things. Seventeen days ago, we received a call that Patrick Lane went missing…” I run through details of the case and our search efforts until now. I make sure to thank every department who’s pitched in bodies to assist in the search, as well as local and state volunteers and private companies donating their time.

“Earlier this afternoon, at 12:13, our office received a call from the Canadian Border Services Agency. They flagged Mr. Lane’s passport twenty-seven hours after our initial call to report him missing, while we went directly into rescue or recovery mode in an effort to find him.”

Looking around the room, I grow more solemn. “Mr. Patrick Lane has been confirmed alive and well, which was something we did not expect, given the circumstances surrounding his kayak found overturned on the lake. We were able to track Mr. Lane’s location through airport securities not just in Canada, but in the UK as well as Poland.”

Murmuring fills the room rapidly, but I hold my hand out to quiet them. “I’m sure you’ll all have questions, but please let me finish. We also found out that he moved funds to a foreign bank and took out a $500,000 life insurance policy seven months ago. As of now, this looks like a planned attempt to fake his death and flee the country. The reasons for his actions have not been confirmed as of now, but his wife and children have been informed. We request that you give them privacy at this time to process the new information.”

“Captain Cooper!” Multiple people shout my name, but I point to an older woman right in front of me. She nods and loudly asks, “You said you haven’t confirmed Mr. Lane’s reasons for leaving, but do you have any extra information you’re investigating surrounding possible motives?”

I glance at the DA, who leans in and whispers, “You can share about talking with a woman, but nothing about her or where she lives for now.”

Nodding that I understand, I say, “I can’t go into too much detail, but what we have confirmed is that Mr. Lane had been in contact with a woman prior to him leaving.”

Pointing at another reporter, they jump in with a new question.

“Are any charges going to be filed against Mr. Lane?”

“I’m going to let the DA answer that in a minute. Next?”

Questions fly through the room and I make every effort to answer them, occasionally checking in with the DA and verifying with Mercer before answering over the next twenty minutes. About halfway through, I hear a short ring, and glance to see Sandra holding my phone in front of her, tapping on the screen.

I wait a second to see if I need to step away, but when she looks up and sees me watching her, she just flashes a thumbs up sign that it’s not urgent. Focusing back on the questions, I eventually thank everyone for their time and step back to all the DA to take over and handle the legality concerns.

Leaving the room with Sandra next to me, I hold out my hand. “What was the call?”

“Just our office number. They knew I was here with you, so if it was urgent, they’d have called me or come over here.” Placing my phone in my palm, she smiles sweetly. “Can you believe that what that guy did? I feel so bad for his children, to think their dad was dead this whole time, only to learn they’ve been left behind.”

Humming in agreement, I don’t engage. Because of the mess Lane left us all in, I need to start pulling together cost sheets and expenses so we can figure out how much we spent searching for a body that was halfway around the world.

I receive a text just as I sit down and quickly open it. It’s from Richard in our group thread with Miriam.

Richard: Got it. I’ll write it down.

He’s just responding to the previous texts sent yesterday from Miriam where she answered me.

Me: Checking in to see how you’re feeling today. Energy levels good? Any headaches?

Miriam: A-okay, capitán

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