Page 68 of Save Her Life

“Makes two of us.”

She got up with her coffee and walked over to a clear markerboard and wroteDarrell Patton denied parole. Then she tapped the capped end of the marker to her chin. “Let’s work backwards. What was the original inciting incident?”

“If we knew that…”

“I know. Then what does Patton have that Jennings and Eaton want? Is this an item or information?”

“Either way, it would seem that Patton isn’t handing it over as long as he’s in prison.”

“That we can agree on. It seems equally plausible then that whatever this is might be something Patton came into possession of not long before going away.”

She addedOriginal inciting incident: before Darrell Patton went to prison/has something others wantto the board. “And for Eaton to also be involved, it stands to reason that the three of them have a stake in whatever this is.”

“There does seem to be some sense of entitlement there.”

She stepped back and stared at the board, as if it would magically offer up some solution. But her mind was a whirling dervish. The last twenty-four hours were a blur for their intensity and fullness. Chaos. Though even thoughts of the standoff at the grocery store earlier in the week worked their way in there. That hostage taker’s claim about being a failure in life and that his family would be better off without him. There was a familiar ring to those words. She was quite sure the transcripts from Patton’s standoff included something similar. The exact words skirted around her brain. Instead of caving to frustration, she’d again focus on what she had. “Patton, Jennings, and Eaton grew up in the same neighborhood.”

“Okay, so they go way back. And Brentwood has always been a predominantly Black neighborhood. Now you’ve got three white guys. They would have stuck together. Times were different forty years or so ago.”

“You really think it was that different? Sadly, I don’t think enough has changed. There’s still racism, bigotry, and hate crimes.”

“I was just schooled and given a reality check by Vos.”

Sandra laughed, clearly desperate to relieve some tension. Though the topic itself wasn’t a laughing matter.

Brice stood next to her, holding his coffee, and taking a sip. “I’m just saying they would have bonded over that alone, but it would have made them strong. They might have even thought they could accomplish anything together.” He was clearly talking out his thoughts, and she understood the reasoning and had no plans to interrupt the process. “If Patton took something that by all rights belonged to all of them, I’d guess it has to do with something illegal they did together. We could be talking coming into product, information, or cash.”

Cash…That one word pinballed in her head. “The thing is Darrell Patton had nothing of value. He had a rough upbringing, poor. Dead-end jobs all his life, some alcohol and drug use. He had moved out of home when he got his girlfriend pregnant at eighteen. They were together for a few years, then separated for a year or two, but the girl’s mother finally pushed to get full custody when he arrived late to pick her up for her birthday, ‘hungover and stinking of cigarettes and a cheap whore’s perfume,’ as per her statement. And, before you ask, I’m quite familiar with the investigation files. And all this was only a few weeks before he took his daughter.”And killed Sam…

“Huh, because I would have pinned this down to money. It makes people crazy more than anything. Well, love does too, but…”

Love…People had different views on what that looked like. She could feel an epiphany creeping on the edge of her brain, but for now, it teased her, just out of reach, hazy without definition. It had something to do with another piece of the transcript for the incident involving Patton… Her phone rang, and it evaporated. She answered on speaker after seeing a colleague’s name on the screen. Brice moved closer to her. “Agents Vos and Sutton.”

“Agent Radcliffe. So Agent Shaffer and I just finished up at Boats N More, and had an interesting chat with Eaton’s boss and coworkers,” Gabe said. “To start, Eaton never showed up to work yesterday, but I guess Eaton has always done a lot of smack-talking about how he wasn’t going to be sticking around forever, that his ship was coming in soon.”

“Did any of them know what he meant by that?” she asked.

“I pressed them on it, but nope.”

“Were you able to get a phone number for Eaton?”

“Sure, but there’s no answer. I’ll get Digital Forensics on it to see if they can get anywhere with it.”

“But it’s in service?” She latched on to the rainbow in his comment.

“Far as I know. It just rang to voicemail like it was turned off. For what it’s worth, Sandra, I should have told you this before, but I hope we find your girl safe and sound.”

His genuine sentiment unnerved her. “Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. If you see Rowe, tell him we’re on the way back.”

“Will do.”

Gabe ended the call, and she looked at Brice.

“His ship was coming in?” he said, beating her to it.

“Uh-huh. Eaton spent time for assault, but what were the surrounding circumstances?”

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