“Try the copier room. That’s where she was when I saw her last.”
She turned and went down the hall. Voices filtered out of the last room along with the heavenly scent of pulled pork and barbecue sauce. Megan’s stomach growled. It was well past lunchtime. She rounded the corner, surprised to find Lieutenant Granger hugging Cindy.
“Oh, I’m sorry.” Her gaze skittered away as she tried to back out of the room. “I’ll—”
“No, no, Megs. It’s okay.” Brent released Cindy and lifted the takeout bag in his hand. “I brought my wife her favorite lunch and she can’t stop herself from thanking me.”
“I didn’t know the two of you were married. How did I miss that?”
“You’ve been out of touch with things around Cardin. Not that I blame you.” Color rose high in Cindy’s cheeks, and she flashed her wedding band. “Tomorrow is our one-year anniversary.”
“Congratulations to both of you. That’s lovely. Well, now I feel worse for popping in and ruining a romantic moment.”
“Don’t be silly. We’re at work.” She shoved her husband slightly. “Not the time or the place to be canoodling with my husband.”
“Anytime is a good time to canoodle with your husband.” Brent laughed and hitched up his duty belt. “Were you looking for me, Megan? Or my lovely wife?”
“Cindy. I’ve been through all the copies you gave me, but there seems to be some interviews missing.”
“Are you sure? Which one are you looking for?”
Megan didn’t pause. “Skeeter McIntyre.”
Her palms were sweaty, but she resisted the urge to wipe them against her pants. Not while Cindy and Brent were both looking at her. Heaven help her, she almost never lied, but it didn’t seem smart to mention it was actually Chad Dickerson’s interview that was missing.
“How strange.” Cindy put a finger to her lips as she glanced over her shoulder at the stack of papers on the table next to the copier. “I’m certain I pulled all the interviews out when I organized everything. Brent, is it possible there’s another box down in storage?”
“I suppose so. I don’t remember how many we ended up with.”
“Come on, Megan.” Cindy grabbed a set of keys from the table. “Let’s go look.”
They walked down the hall, taking a turn past the break room. Cindy unlocked a door and fluorescent lights flickered on. Rows upon rows of metal shelves lined the space, filled to the brim with boxes.
“Wow,” Megan said. “That’s a lot for such a small county.”
“It’s all the cases going back to the 1900s. Plus we share storage space with the courthouse, so there are a lot of duplicates.” Cindy’s heels clipped against the cement floor. “For a while, we were working with the Historical Society and digitizing our old files. That’s what Franny was hired to do. When she died… well, the project was abandoned. I think my uncle and the chief deputy didn’t have the heart to find a replacement.”
“It seems everyone really liked Franny.”
“They did. She was sweet and thoughtful. Franny was a couple of years behind me in school, so I didn’t know her very well until she started working here. I was suspicious at first—I figured Uncle Robert had only hired her because of her family connections—but Franny won me over. She loved history, especially when it came to the town.”
The more Megan learned about Franny, the more she liked her and the more emotionally entrenched she became in the case. It wasn’t enough just to free her brother. She wanted to get justice for Franny too.
“Did you attend her birthday party?” Megan asked.
“Yeah, most of the department did. We all liked her. I drove my brother there, but I left early. That’s why Kyle had to get a ride with Wade home.”
The workings of a small town meant people were connected in more ways than one. Kyle was Wade’s best friend, but he was also the sheriff’s nephew and Cindy’s little brother.
“It should be right here.” Cindy tilted her head back, running a manicured finger along the middle shelf. She stopped at an empty space big enough for several boxes. “Nope. I grabbed them all.”
Megan glanced around the towering shelves. “Is it possible it’s been misplaced?”
“I’d like to say no, but it wouldn’t be the first time. Let me run upstairs and double-check the records.” She hurried down the aisle. “Be back in a jiff.”
Silence descended. Being alone in the cavernous space was a bit creepy. Megan wrapped her arms around her middle, and ran her palms over her shirt sleeves to ward off goosebumps. Her tennis shoes made no sound as she walked the length of the shelf, scanning the boxes for any sign of the Dickerson name. If she was going to wait, she might as well be useful.
Footsteps echoed across the space and Megan froze. They were too heavy to be Cindy’s. The sound of boxes being shuffled followed. She poked her head out and glimpsed a brown uniform.
“Who’s there?” A familiar voice barked out.
Megan closed her eyes. Of all the bad luck… She stepped out from behind the shelf.
The chief deputy glared at her. “What are you doing down here?”
“I’m waiting for Cindy. She’s checking something on the computer.”
“She shouldn’t have left you by yourself,” Dan snapped. He moved closer. “You shouldn’t be here at all. You aren’t law enforcement and you have no business accessing our records.”
“I’m a part of Wade’s legal team. As such, I have the right to access Franny’s case file.”
“Not without a court order, you don’t.”
A technicality. Dan knew as well as she did, the court would order the sheriff’s department to turn over everything. Sheriff Franklin was just making things easier and speeding up the process. But something in Dan’s expression stopped the words from coming out of her mouth.
“You think you can come in here and insult me.” He scowled. “Dig through my case and cast a cloud over my good name.”
Dan stepped even closer. Megan stood her ground, even as her heart rate skyrocketed. She
