‘Possibly. But why me? There are loads of black cops in town. Why would someone target specifically me?’ The group muttered amongst themselves as they tried to dissect the mystery behind Lincoln’s body-snatch and their colleague’s involvement but were lost for answers. They discussed the possible options for a further hour but they kept hitting a brick wall every time down they went down any seemingly accessible alley to find it was a cul-de-sac
‘So what about those two security guards on duty that night? Have we got backgrounds on those guys yet?’ asked Hill.
Vanessa lifted a bunch of paperwork out of her yellow designer handbag which matched the colour of her strapless dress. She passed around the profiles of the two security guards, each with a photograph in the top right hand corner of the documents.
‘So far they both seem pretty clear cut. No criminal backgrounds appear to be on file. They’ve both been reliable at the cemetery according to the site manager.’
She pointed to the first file of Rick Spabrunt, who had fluffy brown hair, a goatee and brown circular glasses.
‘Rick Spabrunt claims he had sickness and diarrhoea at the time of the theft. He said he’d been feeling unwell all evening. His story is backed up by the other one, Carl Bradshaw. Bradshaw claims he was asleep at the time and felt unwell when he woke up. But both say they didn’t see or hear a thing all evening. We’ll follow it up as something doesn’t feel right about their story. How they couldn’t hear a drill in a cemetery where it was, excuse the pun, deadly silent, I have no idea.’
‘Unless of course they were poisoned,’ Hill suggested. ‘If one was asleep and the other was sick, that sounds like a spiking, for sure.’
‘Where are we up to on the list of previous employees?’ asked Darnell. ‘I’m convinced that anyone who did this knew exactly where the cameras were. They managed to dodge every single one of them.’
‘We’re still waiting on that from human resources.’ Vanessa sighed, ploughing through the red tape of data protection.
‘So what now?’ asked an impatient Hill, who appeared frustrated by the lack of progression on the case. ‘We can’t just sit around waiting for clues. We need to do something now.’
‘Well I suppose we better take the advice of the person who emailed Darnell,’ said Vanessa. ‘We have to go back to the very beginning where Lincoln, the man, began.’
‘Well that’ll be easy then. You won’t need to go very far. You’re already in Springfield,’ Lawson excitedly suggested.
‘Lawson, you’re a smart kid but history isn’t your forte. Lincoln wasn’t born in Springfield. We’ve got quite a journey ahead of us.’
‘Where do you need to go?’
Vanessa turned to Darnell, considering the journey they’d need to embark on to reveal the answer to the riddle they’d been served.
‘Kentucky.’
Chapter 5
‘So you’re telling me you’re off to Kentucky with some hot young thing tomorrow and you can’t even tell me how long you’re going to be away for?’ Jasmine raised her eyebrow and put her hand on her hip. She shot him a sceptical stare as she took in the details of his task, for which he’d been coy with the reasons.
‘I never said she was hot. I know you don’t want me to go away, dear, but it’s got to be done. It’s part of a mission I’m on. It’s my duty. My job.’
‘And what exactly is this mission? Hmm?’’
‘I can’t say. I’ve signed an NDA. It involves national security.’
‘Then why can’t the FBI deal with this?’ Jasmine shook her head as she ironed his shirts, enough to carry him through for the following days. ‘If you need any more of these, you’re gonna have to get yourself an ironing service at the hotel.’
‘Thank you.’ He kissed her on the cheek and folded them into his cabin-sized case. ‘I was asked to join it. I can’t say no.’
‘You’re meant to be retiring soon, do you really need this stress at your age? We only need to look at your stomach to see the kind of mess you can get yourself involved in. I’d like a nice long retirement with the man I love. I can’t deal going through all that again, worrying about you in hospital.’
Darnell placed a hand over his ostomy bag, reliving the day he was shot, before offering a reassuring rub on his wife’s arm.
‘And you’ll get it. Trust me, I’m only looking for clues and making recommendations to the team. I’m basically a consultant.’
He held back on revealing his personal element to the case, whether that be his desire to find Lincoln himself or the fact that whoever did this had clearly targeted him directly. Not only would it break the non-disclosure agreement he’d signed, but it would also cause superfluous worry for his family.
The pair hadn’t spent a night apart since they married nearly nineteen years before. They met when she called 911, asking the police to visit the school she taught at. They’d had a suspicious person wandering the grounds and she couldn’t be too careful; there’d been too many high school shootings in the country to take any risks.
As soon as he was sure that the area was safe, Darnell asked her out to the local jazz club and she accepted. A few months later she found herself pregnant with Thomas and Darnell quickly proposed; she was in the back seat on the drive back from their doctor’s practice and he looked into the rear-view mirror and said, ‘I suppose we should get married then.’ They’d had their rows over the
