Page 65 of Forged in Steele

“Hopefully he’ll show his full face,” Bristol said.

The guy looked around for some time, his face directed away from the camera, then opened the passenger door. He scooped up an adult body and kicked the door closed. He turned, head still down.

“It’s Reya,” Bristol said. “He’s carrying Reya, and she’s alive.”

The suspect marched toward the house and out of view of the camera, never revealing his face, while Reya struggled weakly to get free.

Colin stopped the video. “She also has a doorbell alarm, and he triggered that too. That feed is coming up next.”

Colin clicked another file and started the video. The suspect stood in front of the door camera, his face down and angled away as he fumbled to turn the key in the lock while holding Reya.

“Look up,” Jared said. “Look up. Look up.”

The suspect remained head down as he got the door open and entered the house.

Jared slammed a hand into the back of the chair. “He knows the cameras are there.”

“Might suggest he’s been at Reya’s house before,” Colin said, thankfully ignoring Jared’s pummeling of his chair.

“Could be Reya’s former husband,” Bristol said.

“I’ll send the older files to the team,” Colin said. “To see if they can find this guy in an earlier video.”

“Good thinking,” Bristol said.

“Go back, Colin,” Jared demanded. “Play it again.”

If Jared’s tone troubled Colin, he didn’t show it and started the feed again.

“There, stop.” Bristol stabbed her finger on Reya’s face. “Reya looks right at the camera and says something that the audio doesn’t pick up.”

“You think she’s leaving us a message?” Colin asked.

“I hope so,” Bristol said.

“Run it again.” Jared leaned closer, but with Reya laying on her back and just barely looking at the camera, he couldn’t make out her words. “Can either of you tell what she’s saying?”

“Not me,” Bristol said. “But ideally she’s telling us the guy’s name.”

“That would be good,” Colin said. “But it’s not clear to me. I’ll work on enhancing the audio, but these doorbell cameras don’t have the highest of resolutions and recording.”

“Do that,” Jared said. “And let’s get this file to a forensic lip reader. See if they can make out the words.”

“We should be the ones to do the death notification call on Reya’s husband,” Bristol said. “See how he reacts and what he might know.”

Jared looked at Colin. “Before you do anything else, I want you to find the ex’s address.”

“His first name is Harri with an I,” Bristol said. “I remember it from the news because it was an odd spelling.”

“It’s the Welsh spelling for Harry and should make locating him much easier.” Colin opened a law enforcement search database on his laptop, and his fingers flew over the keyboard.

Jared counted to fifty when Colin pointed at the screen. “Bingo. His home address and his employer. A collision repair shop in Tigard.”

Jared dialed the shop. “Can I speak to Harri?”

“On a break,” the frazzled woman’s tone was interrupted by the sound of a rivet gun.

“When will he be back?”

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