Page 31 of Tough as Steele

Sierra slid under the tape in front of Nate, and he locked gazes with Whitman. “Is the car the way you found it?”

The officer nodded. “Keys are in the ignition. I’m surprised no one drove off in it in this neighborhood. Seems like whoever ditched the vehicle hoped someone would take it.”

“Thanks again,” Londyn said.

“Glad to help. I worked with your uncle. Great guy and decent cop.”

“Thanks,” she said and hurried to join Sierra.

Nate trailed behind her.

Londyn turned. “Sierra, this is Detective Nate Ryder with Washington County.”

“Nice to meet you.” Sierra held up a gloved hand. “I’d shake, but…”

“No worries. Is there anything I can do to help?”

“I’ll need you both to step back so I can take wide shots of the vehicle.” She lifted the camera from where it dangled from the strap and promptly ignored them.

Nate stepped away from the tape, and Londyn followed. Sierra snapped shot after shot of the exterior of the vehicle and the surrounding location, the click of her shutter the only sound.

She squatted and snapped a quick succession of photos of the pavement. “A vehicle tore out of here and left tire tracks. Big tires. I’m guessing a pickup with oversized tires.” She stood and gave them a penetrating look. “You find the vehicle, and I can match the tires to my pictures for you.”

When Sierra moved along, Nate leaned closer to Londyn and lowered his voice. “She seems kind of intense.”

“All the partners at Veritas are intense on the job, but they’re really great people.”

She sounded enamored of the team, and he had to wonder if she could have an unbiased opinion of the partners. “How do you know them?”

Londyn continued to watch Sierra. “Sierra was a Byrd before she got married. Her parents and mine are friends. She’s also helped on a few investigations that I was a part of.”

Ah, a personal connection. “Is she actually as good at her job as we hear?”

“She is, and the lab has state-of-the-art equipment. Plus, she uses the latest technologies that government labs just don’t have the budget to fund.”

“Too bad these specialists charge so much.”

“They do a lot of pro bono work like tonight.”

“If you’re friends, maybe.”

“No.” She narrowed her eyes. “They do it for others too. They’re very generous.”

Her phone dinged, and she dug it out of her pocket to look at the screen. “Video files from Ryleigh. She edited them down to just the locations that caught Mimi’s SUV. She also tried enhancing them to get clear images for facial recognition but wasn’t able to clean them up enough. She’s having someone else look at them.”

“Play the first one.” Nate stepped behind Londyn, feeling the warmth from her body as she started up the first of three videos. He was close enough to see hints of auburn in her hair highlighted by the streetlights and inhale that tantalizing peach smell, the scent pleasant and a bright spot on this dismal street.

“There!” She paused the video and enlarged it. “Two men in the car with Mimi.”

One guy sat behind the wheel. One in the backseat, pistol to her head. Nate’s gut clenched, and he shoved his hands into his pockets to keep from punching something. “Feed’s not good enough to ID the guys. Go to the next.”

Londyn clicked on the second video. The street camera had caught the car head-on. She enlarged the video again. “Still not clear enough.”

Londyn moved on, but the third video was just as disappointing. “At least the time stamp says Wendy was telling the truth about the time Mimi was taken.”

“Okay, you can have a quick look,” Sierra called out. “But don’t get in my way.”

Nate raced across the open space. Londyn caught up and told Sierra about the passenger arrangement in the videos as she poked her head inside the driver’s door.

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