Nina was taking notes and looked up.
“Where do you park?”
“In back. There’s a gravel lot for employees.”
“And you didn’t notice anything unusual that day?”
“No. Well, now that I think about it, there was one thing.”
“Oh?”
“When I got here, there was a guy sitting on the grass, behind the lot, drinking a coffee. I didn’t think anything of it at the time.”
Jason touched her hand.
“I know this is hard but I need you to focus on that moment in time and see if you can recall anything about him.”
“I only glanced at him. He was sitting down so I don’t really know how tall he was. Let’s see. White, short hair, I don’t remember a beard. Jeans and a yellow shirt.”
“Had you ever seen him before?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Was there anyone else here that day?”
“Just the manager, Mr. Chambers.”
“Is he here?”
“Yeah, in back. I’ll get him.”
The interview with Mr. Chambers didn’t produce any new clues. Jason asked Trudi to take them to the spot where she’d seen the man sitting.
She walked them through the small kitchen and out the back door of the donut shop. They stepped out onto a gravel parking lot behind the restaurant that backed up to some woods. It only had one entrance onto the street. It made a good place for an ambush. Nina favored the theory.
“I bet he was waiting in or near her car.”
They did a search around the spot where the man was seen but didn’t find anything useful. Jason realized Nina was probably right.
“Where was Miss Morris’ car found?”
Nina looked in the file.
“About two miles from here, cement plant.”
“And to get there, what direction?”
“She’d leave and turn right towards Huebner Road.”
Jason turned to Trudi.
“Which direction would Chelsea turn to go home.”
Trudi thought for a minute.
“Left. She goes over and takes the beltway north.”
“Thanks for your help, Trudi. We’ll be in touch when we have news.”
Jason headed for the vehicle with Nina trying to catch up.
“Jason, where’s the fire?”
“Traffic camera headquarters.”
Nina smiled.
“Of course. We can probably track her with traffic cameras!”
“Let’s hope so. If we can we can spot her car, we can find out if you’re right about her being ambushed here.”
Chapter 10
Suzanne pulled her teal colored Ford Focus into the Quikstop. Her gas light was on and she felt like a cold drink anyway. It’d been a busy day and she was worn out. She filled her car and went into to get a drink.
Something with a lot of caffeine is called for if I’m ever going to get any housework done tonight.
Grabbing a Red Bull, she went to the counter. While the guy if front of her paid, she got out her debit card and noticed her address book was missing from its usual pocket. She rummaged around, looking for it.
Where is that stupid thing! I hate this purse; it’s like a bottomless pit.
The man in front was done and she stepped up. While the clerk ran her card, she continued to search for the book.
“Thank you, maam.”
She reclaimed her card, picked up her drink and went to the car.
Maybe it’s at home. It had better be; all my clients are in that book.
****
Donnie sat in his car across from the Quikstop gas station. Resting next to him on the seat was an address book decorated with pink flowers on it. He watched as Suzanne Cooper got gas, went inside and then searched her bag for something while standing in line.
It’s not in there, Miss Cooper. I’ll bring it to you later.
He smiled to himself. After he got Suzanne Cooper, there would be just one more.
****
Jason got on State Highway 281 going southeast, the fifteen minute drive would bring them to the I-410 access road that was home to the Texas Department of Transportation traffic cameras.
Nina had brought with her the phone records of Ed Garland and Chelsea Morris. She was nearly 3/4 of the way through them and hadn’t found a connection. She wasn’t giving up even though it was tedious work.
“Bingo!”
“What?”
“I’ve got a phone number from Ed Garland’s records that also shows up on the records of Chelsea Morris.”
“Whose is it?”
“That’s odd. It’s McCollum High School.”
“Really? Why’s that odd?”
“That’s the school I went to.”
Jason laughed.
“Not so weird, a lot of people went to that school. Were they incoming or outgoing calls?”
“Incoming. The school called them.”
“We’ll need to go by and find out who made the calls.”
Jason turned into the parking lot of the DOT office and stopped.
“At least we have a connection now besides just the finger prints”
****
Suzanne arrived home a few minutes later. Home was a white, single story bungalow with a shake shingle roof and tan shutters.
She had never married and her only companion was a Yorkie called “Tizzy”. The name had come from the way her dog greeted her at the end of the day. A friend had given her a lift home one day not long after she got the pup. When the friend came in to see the new puppy, she watched as the little dog went crazy to see Suzanne.
“She’s having a tizzy!” her friend laughed.
Right there and then, the puppy was named.
She let herself in and the dog met her at the door. She went through the standard ‘pick me up and give kisses’ with Tizzy before putting her out in the backyard to do her business. She went looking for her address book. After several minutes of searching, she found herself standing in the kitchen.
Where is that stupid book?! My purse sits by my station and I don’t remember taking the book out today.
She decided to wait until she checked work tomorrow before going into a full blown panic. In the meantime, the Red Bull was kicking in and there was laundry to do.
****
Jason and Nina came through the double glass doors into the cool reception hall of the Texas DOT offices.
“Can I help you?”
Jason showed his badge to the twenty-something blonde at the desk.
“I’m Detective Strong and this is Detective Jefferson. We need to speak with Jack Burns.”
The girl immediately looked concerned and picked up the phone without saying anything.
“Mr. Burns, there’s two detectives here to see you.”
She listened for a minute before hanging up.
“He’ll be right out.”
Jack Burns was the name Lieutenant Patton had given them. Jason had called the lieutenant on the way over here to find out if he knew someone. The lieutenant had said he and Burns went way back.
“Thanks.”
Jack Burns came through the glass door at the far end of the reception area. Short, thin and tanned with silver hair, Jason guessed he didn’t spend all his time in an office.
“Jack Burns?”
“Yes, that’s me. How can I help you?”
“My name is Detective Strong, this is Detective Jefferson. Is there somewhere we can talk?”
“Sure, let’s go to my office.”
As they walked, the DOT official looked from Jason to Nina.