Chapter Nineteen #3
Again she nodded, her lips firming. “Ronan, I want those women gone. I know you vouched for them, but I…I just can’t. I’m sorry.”
“I know. And they understand. I’ll be taking them with me when I leave, but they need to stay here until I’m finished with the scene.
There’s gonna be a lot of cops here. CSU and the coroner, too.
Your guests will want to know what’s happening.
I can prepare a statement for you to give them.
Maybe print it out and slide it under their doors? ”
“Sure. Okay.” She swallowed hard, her eyes beginning to fill. “Ronan, what’s happening in our town?”
“That’s what I’m going to find out. Let me see your camera footage from the employee entrance starting at five when the camera was fixed.”
Fort Bragg, California
Tuesday, February 3, 9:30 p.m.
Alexis took her laptop from her satchel, started it up, and handed it to Elle. “Get busy with the body cam footage,” she said in a whisper.
Elle frowned as she settled the computer on her lap. “This isn’t secure Wi-Fi. I was going to use the sat phone to search.”
“The data usage will cost you a mint and the screen is too small. Use my computer. I have a portable, secure Wi-Fi hookup.”
“Since when?”
“Since forever. I don’t want to use just anyone’s Wi-Fi. I have confidential documents I need to send. Sign in to your cloud account. It’s secure and fast. I promise.”
“Okay.” Elle signed in and studied the list of body cam files she’d accumulated in the nearly three years she’d worked for Sara.
“I’m not sure where to start. It would be easier if I had the guy’s photo.
” But Howard Bennet had refused to give it to her.
Probably because he worried that she’d give it to Sara.
Which she was totally going to do.
“Why?” Alexis asked.
“Because Felicia isn’t the only one who can use facial recognition software. Hers is just better than the one I downloaded to my laptop. Can I install it to your laptop? Once I find him in one file, I can start a search in the other files.”
“Go for it.”
She went to the software’s website, requested the download, then looked up the serial number and product license key in the password vault on her phone.
“You keep your license codes in your phone?” Alexis asked, shamelessly watching over her shoulder as Elle typed in the code.
“Of course. In my password vault, so they’re secure. Don’t you?”
“No, but I’m going to start.”
“I’m just glad that I still have my phone. I shouldn’t have left my laptop in the safe. I didn’t want to carry it with me because I was afraid he’d break into the Tahoe and steal it.”
“Hindsight’s 20/20. Where are you going to start looking for his face?”
“On the trip to Spokane. I didn’t spend much time in Portland and most of the time I was there was in a dark bar. I’m hoping to get clearer video from Spokane.”
“Okay. I’ll help you look. Or, you know, we could just ask your detective for a copy of the photo.”
“I don’t want him to get into trouble on my account, Alexis.”
Alexis gave her an incredulous look. “Eleven people are dead, Ellie. The last person was found in our room. Where we sleep. I think Detective Clarke can risk a little bit of trouble. And, oh look. He’s coming our way.”
He was indeed, looking amazing in his black suit, the overhead lights glinting off his golden hair.
He really was a handsome man.
He was also curious as to what they were up to, from the expression on his face. “You okay over here?” he asked when he’d reached them.
“Yes,” Elle said.
“We need the guy’s photo,” Alexis said abruptly. “Now.”
Elle sighed. “Alexis.”
“I’m not playing here, Ellie. Your life is in danger. My life might be in danger.”
“What are you going to do with the photo?” Ronan asked.
Elle studied him for a moment. Then she smiled. “You know about my body cam, right?”
He blinked. “Your what now?”
“You should be a better liar,” she said lightly. “I could have used coded words when I was talking to Sara earlier. I said ‘body cam’ out loud because I wanted you to hear it.”
His cheeks darkened and he winced guiltily. “Yeah, I heard you. But I also heard you say that if you found him, you’d give me the clip.”
“And I will. And before you ask, I didn’t mention the body cam because I didn’t realize he’d approached me even once.
Had I considered he might have been close by at any time, I would have.
He still might not be on any of this footage.
He may have relied solely on my conversations that he heard through the bug.
But if he is on the footage, we can find him and hopefully ID him.
He had to have stayed in a hotel somewhere while following me.
Or eaten at a restaurant or filled his car with gas.
His face will be somewhere. You might find it with your facial recognition software, but if I can pinpoint where he was and when, that will help you. ”
He sat on the sofa beside her. “That’s what I figured, too.” He pulled his phone from his pocket, found the photo, and a moment later, her own phone pinged with an incoming email.
A second later, a notification appeared on Alexis’s laptop screen saying that she also had a new email from Ronan.
“Thank you,” Elle said. “This is helpful.” She glanced over at the front desk, where the inn’s manager was glaring at them coldly. “I take it that she wants us to leave.”
“She does. I told her you’d be going with me when I’m finished.”
“Where?” Elle asked, wondering where in town they’d be welcomed.
“I’m still figuring that out. My boss wants to put you in a safe house.”
“No,” Alexis said flatly. “Not happening for me. But for Ellie, yes.”
Elle slowly turned to stare at her. “Not for me, either.”
Ronan held up a hand, staying their argument. “I knew neither of you would agree. That’s what I told him. He said he can’t offer you protection otherwise, so I will figure something out. Don’t worry.”
Elle laughed harshly. “Little late for that.”
He sighed. “That’s fair. Don’t worry about where you’re going to sleep tonight. How’s that?”
“I’ll try.” The facial recognition software had already installed itself on Alexis’s computer. Her connection really was fast. Elle entered the photo and the first video file into the software and set it in motion. “I’ll stay busy over here and out of the innkeeper’s way.”
Ronan’s smile was rueful. “That would be best. Are you two starving? I can get you something to eat from the restaurant.”
Alexis looked at the glaring innkeeper dubiously. “I don’t know. I thought Elle was silly to worry about food tampering before, but now I’m not so sure. I have granola bars in my satchel. That’ll hold us until you’re finished here.”
“Okay. Let me know if you change your minds.” Ronan brushed his fingertips over Elle’s hand surreptitiously. “It will be okay in the end.”
For a moment all she could focus on was the feel of his fingers on her skin. He was warm, his fingertips a little calloused. She wanted to grab his hand and hold on, but the touch was fleeting.
“Thank you.”
She watched him go, hoping he was right. Then she settled in to view footage while the software did its thing.