Chapter 6
“I don’t know if this food is just that good or that I’m starving.” Now that it was finally daylight, Clover and Micah were at a dive of a diner on the outskirts of Sanctuary Falls and the omelet was incredible.
“The food is that good,” he murmured, glancing out the window into the parking lot. He frowned.
Which made her look. Two cop cars pulled in, but when they stepped out, they didn’t look like they were chasing someone down. Considering the time, it was close to shift change so they were probably getting off shift and heading home soon.
“I picked this place because your friend Ilena ate here a few times,” he said.
“Really?”
“Yep. Was in her financials. One of the few places she used her debit card.” He chin-nodded to the sign by the cash register that said No Cash.
That was unusual. So many small places wanted only cash. “I’m surprised.”
Micah shrugged. “Automated recordkeeping.”
“I didn’t even think about that.”
“Yep. And people are more likely to tip if they’re paying by card. It’s like a reflex now to just click one of the buttons.”
“I actually love the idea of automated recordkeeping,” she muttered. Her recent projects with her brother involved renovating historic homes, and while she loved the jobs themselves, she hated all paperwork in general.
“Right.” Pausing, he looked down at his phone when it buzzed. Then he slid his cell over to her so she could look.
Troy Mosker. After Nyla had texted a picture of the guy who’d scared Ilena, Micah had figured out his name pretty quickly.
“You’re going to run his information, right?” The man was skilled in a way she was jealous of. Seriously, why did such a handsome guy also have to be so damn smart and kind? It was maddening. She was simply spending too much time with him, that was all.
She would eventually get over this crush. Even as she had the thought, she knew it was a lie.
“Already on it,” he murmured as he did something on his phone.
“You can do all that from your phone?”
“Technically yes, but I prefer my laptop. I just plugged his information into a couple programs I have. We’ll know soon enough what kind of record he has.”
“You think he has one?”
“Based on experience, yes.” His tone was dry. “He scared Ilena to the point that Nyla took a picture of him. A guy like that…he’ll have domestic stuff. Maybe assault for starting fights in public. These guys are all the same.”
She pulled out her own cell phone and did a search for the man on social media. She didn’t find anything on him that was recent, but she found his sister and mom. And they’d both posted recent pictures that were public.
When she started scrolling back, she paused at eight months ago. “Look at this.” She held out her phone for him, paused as their server stopped and refilled their coffees.
The woman kept looking at Micah with a wide smile, but he didn’t bother to make eye contact. Just murmured a thank-you until she left.
Which made Clover smother a laugh. Only because the woman was gorgeous, and fine, she was feeling weirdly territorial over a man she had no reason to.
But whatever, feelings weren’t always logical.
They certainly weren’t when it came to Micah—a man whose family her brother would soon be marrying into.
“It always amazes me what people post online,” he said as he handed her phone back to her. “We should be able to build a timeline for when they were together.”
The “they” referred to Ilena and Troy Mosker, who were clearly a couple at one point as seen by the pictures on his mother’s social media page. Then the images stopped suddenly eight months ago and it was all photos of the woman’s grandchildren. Nothing else at all with Troy or Ilena.
“So is this how you handle your investigations? Just build a picture of your…victims feels like the wrong word.” She grinned at his expression.
He snort-laughed as he picked up his coffee.
“Yeah, I’d prefer something else. Target, maybe.
Or person of interest in most cases. When I’m helping someone, I build out a huge picture of the people in their lives and how they might be involved in whatever is going on.
Normally it’s nothing.” His phone buzzed again.
“For instance, I just got some information on Mosker’s finances.
Online they’re scant, which means he probably deals mostly in cash.
Three months ago, before your friend disappeared, he was in Florida. ”
“Which could mean nothing for us.”
“Exactly. But you just never know. So I build files on anyone who seems important.”
“This guy is important.”
“Maybe.”
“He was intimidating her at her place of work and then she disappeared.”
He nodded once. “Still, he also might not be involved. We just don’t know yet. And I try not to form an idea or conclusion too soon.”
“Ugh, that makes sense.”
“You sound disappointed by that.”
She half smiled. “No. I just want to find her, like yesterday. I hate all of this. I wish we could just, like, kick in doors or punch people in the face and make them tell us where she is.”
“I didn’t realize you were so violent.”
She shrugged again. “I’ve got a lot of buried rage.
I think a lot of women do.” Her mother had been abused for years, then she’d ended up dating a liar in sheep’s clothing.
Cheating bastard. It wasn’t just her past though; she lived in a system created by men, to protect men. It was enraging on a good day.
“Who could blame you.” His tone said he was serious.
And that made her smile for real. “Truth.” She frowned when she realized her plate was empty, but then shook it off. She’d definitely be back. “So, do you think we can trust Nyla not to say anything to Louis?”
“We’ll find out one way or another.” His tone was dry.
Maybe it was stupid but she was going to believe that Nyla wouldn’t say anything. Either way, it seemed like they finally had a real clue.