Page 42 of Smoldering Nights
“Ninety-two percent probability,” Jayson said.“It’s Travis Fielder.”
Mitch let out a long breath through his nose, pressure building at his temples.“Son of a bitch.”
“I’m still cross-referencing it with DMV photos and old school yearbooks.But here’s something else, I blew up the footage and noticed something tucked in his back pocket.”
Mitch dropped into his chair at the dining room table and opened the new file.The still frame showed the man walking away from the shop in the green vest.A smudge of white paper peeked from the back pocket.Jayson had zoomed in and circled it in red.
“That’s a folded delivery slip,” Mitch said under his breath.
“Right,” Jayson replied.“Which begs the question, why carry the forged invoiceoutof the shop?Or did he steal one to make it look like Izzy was incompetent?”
“Because it was always a prop,” Mitch said slowly.“A piece of misdirection.He wanted someone to see it.On camera.He wanted tolooklike a real delivery driver.So if we traced it later, it would throw us off.”
“Ballsy,” Jayson said.“And dumb.But Izzy found a delivery slip on her desk.”
"Yeah.So then I'm wondering if he stole one."
Mitch stared at the frozen frame, anger burning low in his gut.“He’s overconfident.Arrogant.He thinks he's untouchable.”
“He also knew there were cameras, Mitch,” Jayson added.“I’d bet Sadie told him.Or he saw us installing them.”
Mitch leaned back, piecing it together.“So, he walks in with a fake delivery, hoping that if someone checks the tapes, they see a ‘random supplier.’Meanwhile, he’s probably planting something.Bugging the shop.Or just scoping out how far he can push.”
“He’s getting bold,” Jayson agreed.“And we’ve got enough now to start putting pressure on him.”
Mitch nodded, his jaw tightening.“Don’t tip our hand yet.Let me dig into his background a little more.See if there’s something we missed.”
“You got it,” Jayson said.“Call me when you’re ready.”
Mitch ended the call and stared at the paused image on his screen.Travis had made a critical mistake, not just forging a slip, and not just walking into the shop pretending to belong.
He’d underestimated Mitch.
He stood and looked toward the hall as the bathroom door opened.Izzy sauntered around the corner looking fresh as a daisy.Her long blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail at the crown of her head.Her face was soft, and her eyes were clear.She said she'd slept well last night, it showed.
She trusted him so much that she was able to put aside all this turmoil and get some sleep.
Now it was time to prove that trust was well-placed and finish this.
Mitch pushed back from the table, his thoughts racing faster than his pulse.Every time he peeled back a layer, Travis looked guiltier.And now that the footage lined up, the Trailblazer sightings, the forged slip, it was becoming undeniable.
But he still didn’t have enough to take to the sheriff.Not yet.This needed to be airtight.No room for reasonable doubt.Because if Travis caught wind that they were onto him, he’d vanish.Or worse, he’d escalate.
He grabbed a notepad and started listing what they had:
• SUV sighting at Delilah’s
• Hoodie footage match: 92% confidence
• Forged delivery slip, possibly a stolen delivery slip
• Key access likely traced to Izzy’s spare
• Video of back entrance entry, no forced access
• Pattern of sabotage escalating over weeks
Then he started a second column:
