Chapter 30
THIRTY
It turned out to be a good thing that Coleman had Cindy stick around Hanson Property Development.
The lieutenant called her back and filled her in on the tight relationship between the late Timothy Hanson and Dale Kramer.
She was certain she wasn’t alone in thinking that such a yes-man would have done anything his boss asked of him.
Even murder. But maybe her imagination was running off on her.
She walked up to the clerk at the reception desk in the lobby.
“If you could please have Dale Kramer notified that I need to speak with him.”
“Dale Kramer is the head of security here, ma’am. He’s a busy man.” Her tone delivered a cold front. Whatever had this woman’s back up, it was clear she wasn’t a fan of cops.
“It’s Officer, not ma’am.” Cindy had worked hard to earn the title and would correct people a thousand times a day if need be. “I doubt he’s too busy for this. It involves the Hanson family.”
She blanched. “Let me try to reach him.”
“Thank you.”
“Uh-huh.”
Cindy listened as the woman made the call.
Soon after, she hung up. “He will be out to speak with you.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Officer.” The woman adjusted a pile of folders in front of her and opened the top one.
Cindy stepped away to give her privacy and looked around the lobby. Several metal sculptures hung suspended overhead from cables. So many people were fans of abstract artwork, but she never understood what people saw in the style. She preferred order and symmetry, something logical to nonsensical.
“Officer?” a man said, causing Cindy to turn around.
“Dale Kramer?” Though it wasn’t so much a question as Coleman had forwarded her his license photo. At sixty-three, he’d aged pretty well aside from the deep crow’s feet around his eyes and the lines around his mouth. He was lean and towered over her. He had to be at least six-foot-two or -three.
“Yes. What’s this about the Hansons?”
“Is there somewhere more private we could speak?”
“We should be fine right here.” Dale took them to the side of the lobby a fair distance from the main doors. She supposed it was private enough as it didn’t seem walk-in traffic was high.
After Dale sat on a stiff-looking couch, she dropped onto an equally uncomfortable-looking chair. Both pieces of furniture were black leather and chrome and lacked cushions. The chair consisted of two slings—one to support the back and the other the rear end.
Cindy shifted until she found a bearable position.
“Officer, please appreciate my time is valuable and there have been a lot of changes recently.”
“Yes, Timothy Hanson’s passing. I’m sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you.”
Cindy would have expected some sign that Dale was grieving his late employer. Wet eyes, a glazed look, a gravelly voice. There was nothing. “You’ve been a dedicated employee of the Hansons for many years.”
Dale twisted his arm to look at his watch.
“Yes, I get it. Time is money,” she pushed out, annoyed. “But, honestly, the clock is ticking on another situation. The Hanson family are being held hostage in their home, as we speak.” She’d leave out mentioning that Edward was shot. Let someone with higher clearance be the one who did that.
Dale shifted on the couch. “What do you mean? That’s not…”
“Possible? One wouldn’t think that with all the safety precautions in place. The gate, the guards, but I assure you it’s underway.”
“What does this person want?”
She noticed he didn’t dwell on the breach in security, which she found strange considering his line of work. But the guards at the house were cleared, and it was evident that Ryan was working alone. “We’ll get to that.”
“I’d like to get over there right now. Will you take me? Or can I meet you there?”
Cindy resisted the urge to smile. He’d played right into her wishes. Her instructions included bringing him to the scene. It was even better that he felt this was his idea. “I’ll need to take you as the area is blocked off to civilians.”
“Who is behind this?”
“Does the name Ryan Crawford sound familiar to you?”
“Ryan…” He repeated the name as if he were trying to conjure it up from his subconscious. “No, it doesn’t sound familiar.”
A lie. His irises dilated at the mention of Ryan’s name. He knew exactly who he was. So why was he trying to hide that knowledge?
“What does this Ryan want with the Hansons?” Dale asked before she spoke.
“His mother, Susan Crawford, was killed in a fatal car crash thirty-three years ago. Ryan was in the car, but he survived. Barely. The thing is, he doesn’t believe it was an accident.
He thinks that someone in the Hanson family was behind it.
” Cindy left it there without naming names.
If she pulled out Timothy Hanson’s name, she feared Dale Kramer would shut down and lawyer up.
That’s if Dale had something to hide, as they suspected.
If he gave her statement any thought, though, doing basic math he’d arrive at Timothy on his own.
“Well, that’s crazy. But it’s never easy to lose a parent.”
First a lie. Now a throw-away comment. This conversation made Dale uncomfortable, so she continued. “His only parent at that. His father was what you’d say not in the picture.”
“All sad, but what can be done about that now? Thirty-three years have passed, you said. That’s a long time ago.”
“From one perspective, it is. Not when it marks a time you buried a loved one.” Thankfully, she hadn’t faced much loss, though both happened when she was a teenager.
First, her maternal grandmother, a sweet woman with a kind heart, to cancer.
Second, the murder of her high school friend, Morgan Nelson, had changed the trajectory of Cindy’s life.
Morgan’s killer hadn’t been found to this day, but it was the dogged detective working the case that had Cindy deciding to become a cop.
Her intention was to bring Morgan’s family closure one day, no matter how long that might take.
“I’ll be happy to do whatever I can to help clear this up if it gets the family out safe. Like I said, whatever I can do.”
“Sounds good. I’m sure those on scene will appreciate your help.” Not that Cindy expected the negotiation team would let Dale get anywhere close to Ryan.
“I owe it to Timothy’s memory. Can we go?” He gestured toward the door, and Cindy got up and headed out with him.
As she walked, she replayed Dale’s last words.
I owe it to Timothy’s memory… Dale had put it together.
Cindy didn’t think it would take much effort though.
Call it a hunch, but she had a feeling he knew all along that Susan Crawford wasn’t the victim of an unfortunate accident.
And she had a strong suspicion she knew why.