Page 55 of Justice for JoElla

“I’d expect her to!” Quint said, still laughing.

“I ain’t kickin’ no ass. I’ll let Mick do that,” JoElla said with a pretend scowl.

“What are you committing me to?” Mick yelled from the break room.

“This place is like a Baptist church. Don’t show up for a meeting and you’ll find out they assigned you a job. Remember that, Hovekamp!” a laughing sheriff called out as he retreated to his office. “And you two, try to stay out of trouble.”

“That’s SheriffRoy Billings. Always passing out impossible tasks,” JoElla grumbled with a grin.

“So what’s first?” Quint asked.

JoElla looked at the notes she’d made. “I think the first thing I want to do is try to track down any of this Warmuth guy’s relatives.”

“We tried to do that, but we ran into a brick wall. He was a foster child, and all the records are sealed. Tried cross-referencing his birthdate, but we’re not sure what we were given was correct, so we never got far with that.”

“Hmmm. Wonder what we’d have to do to get those records unsealed?”

Quint leaned back in the chair beside JoElla’s desk and threaded his fingers together behind his head. “Get a special dispensation from the Pope? If Kentucky’s like Texas, the chances of that are highly unlikely.”

“I think maybe we need to do some old-fashioned detective work. Need to find some of his known associates and see if any of them can tell us anything.”

“That’s a start.”

“Mick?”

Her partner looked up as he stepped back into the room. “Um-hmmm?”

“Ideas? Because I’m fresh out. I think I’m going to canvas his known associates, see if they know any family.”

“Sounds good. I think I’m going to follow the trail on his SUV, see if I can find out where he bought it, when, who loaned him the money, all that stuff. That might give us some ideas on his movements or connections.”

“That’s good. Quint, going with me or him?”

“I’ll go with you. Mick’s information is more concrete. What you’re going to be doing might start branching out, and that could take more boots on the ground.”

“That’s true. Okay. Give me a few minutes and I’ll be ready to go.” JoElla grabbed her bag and headed to the restroom.

After she’d brushed her teeth?she’d discovered a long time previous that she got more information from people if she didn’t have coffee breath?she brushed her hair, checked her makeup, and put on fresh deodorant. She was about to leave the restroom when she took a chance and sent out a text.Are you up?

Instead of a text, her phone rang. As soon as she answered, that voice said, “I’m always up for you.” That made JoElla snicker. “Fuck. Why is it that every time I say something to you, trying to be all suave and shit, I come off sounding like a horny teenage boy?”

JoElla snorted out a laugh. “Maybe because you’re a horny teenage boy?”

“Oh, yeah. This EMT gig is just my cover to get me out of algebra class. What are you up to?”

“Getting ready to go do some questioning here and there. What does your day look like?”

“Today is an afternoon shift, so I’ve got to be there by three thirty. Did you guys come up with anything last night?”

“No. I’m going out today to see if I can scare up some people who know Warmuth. I’m pretty sure he’s got himself a home base somewhere, and a funding source. He’s paying for everything in cash, but he’s not working, so where is it coming from?”

“So you’re looking for people who know him?”

“Yeah. Or knew him.”

“What about his family?”

“That’s just it. He was a foster child. Quint ran into that wall in Texas. I don’t know of any way to get those records unsealed. None. So unless we find some way to get some information from somebody else, we have nothing to work with.”

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