Chương 6
“Sorry.”
“You’re not.”
“No.”
That almost made Amelia smile again.
Nora said, “Logan, there’s something else.”
He straightened.
“What?”
“Sheriff Vance asked if your booth had security coverage.”
“What did you tell him?”
“The truth.”
“That there are cameras?”
“Yes.”
Logan glanced at Amelia.
“Where does the footage go?”
“Recorder in the office.”
“Does Vance know that?”
“He’s eaten here for twelve years.”
“So probably.”
“Probably.”
“How long do you keep recordings?”
“Two weeks unless the thing decides it hates me and overwrites early.”
“Can you make a copy?”
“I know how to burn toast.”
“Do you have someone who handles the system?”
“My nephew.”
“Don’t call him yet.”
Nora sighed.
“Anything else I’m not allowed to do in my own restaurant?”
“Lock the office if it isn’t already locked.”
“It’s locked.”
“Keep it that way.”
Across the line came the faint ding of the diner door.
Nora stopped breathing for a second.
“Someone came in,” Amelia whispered.
Logan listened.
A male voice said something too distant to understand.
Then Nora answered in her normal customer voice.
“Coffee’s fresh.”
Logan waited.
“Nora?”
Nothing.
He ended the call.
Amelia stared at him.
“Why did you hang up?”
“So she doesn’t have to explain why she’s on the phone.”
“Who came in?”
“I don’t know.”
“That could have been Krall.”
“Yes.”
“And we’re just standing here?”
“For another minute.”
Her face hardened.
“You said this is what you know how to do.”
“It is.”
“Then do something.”
“I am.”
“You’re waiting.”
“That is something.”
“Not to me.”
Logan looked at the kitchen clock.
4:17.
The sunlight outside had already started flattening toward evening.
He took out his old phone and called Shaw.
She answered immediately.
“What changed?”
“Potential witness and evidence issue.”
“Go.”
He explained Nora, the envelope, the camera footage, and Krall’s presence across the street.
Shaw listened without interrupting.
When he finished, she said, “Do not go to the diner.”
Amelia heard her through the phone and shook her head.
Logan turned slightly away.
“Why?”
“Because if the sheriff is provoking you, you showing up at a location containing evidence connected to a possible financial case is a gift.”
“I’m not under investigation.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Do you?”
“No.”
Her answer was sharp.
“And that is exactly why you don’t freelance.”
Logan paced once across the kitchen.
“What can I do?”
“You can contact civilian counsel.”
“I don’t have one yet.”
“I’m sending you a name.”
“Local?”
“Bozeman.”
“That’s ninety minutes.”
“Good lawyers are rarely sitting in your driveway.”
Amelia muttered, “Could have fooled me.”
Shaw heard her.
“Is your wife there?”
“Yes.”
“Put me on speaker.”
Logan did.
“Mrs. Mercer?”
“Amelia.”
“Amelia, my name is Evelyn Shaw.”
“I know.”
“You should also get your own lawyer.”
Amelia looked at Logan.
“My own?”
“Yes.”
“Why would I need separate counsel from my husband?”
“Because your interests may overlap without being identical.”
The kitchen became quiet.
Amelia sat down.
“That sounds bad.”
“It sounds cautious.”
“Is Logan in trouble?”
“I don’t know.”
“Am I?”
“I don’t know that either.”
Amelia pressed her fingers against her temple.
“Very helpful.”
“I’m trying not to lie to you.”
That changed something in Amelia’s face.
Logan noticed because it was the same expression she used when a doctor refused to promise a good outcome for her mother years earlier.
Fear preferred certainty, even bad certainty, over honest ambiguity.
Shaw continued.
“Do either of you know whether the documents Amelia copied contain personal identifying information, protected records, or restricted law-enforcement material?”
Amelia answered slowly.
“They’re payment records, vendor invoices, approvals, internal emails, and some account reconciliation sheets.”
“Any medical records?”
“No.”
“Juvenile records?”
“No.”
“Victim information?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Then don’t guess beyond that.”
Amelia swallowed.
“Okay.”
Shaw said, “I’m texting Logan contact information for an attorney named Daniel Rusk.”
“Can he help Nora?”
“He can advise on preserving the video and your documents.”
“Can he stop Vance from taking them?”
“Not magically.”
Amelia gave a humorless laugh.
“Apparently nobody in this situation does magic except my husband.”
Logan closed his eyes briefly.
Shaw did not rescue him.
“Logan has specialized experience,” she said.
“That is not the same thing as legal authority.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
The line went dead a few seconds later.
Amelia looked at him.
“She likes you.”
“She tolerates me.”
“That sounded like liking.”
“She once threatened to have me arrested in Bahrain.”
Amelia blinked.
“For what?”
“I deserved the warning.”
“That is not an answer.”
“No.”
For a moment, the ridiculousness of the exchange weakened the pressure in the room.
Then Amelia’s phone buzzed again.
This time it was a call.
Vance.
She stared at the screen until the ringing stopped.
A voicemail notification appeared.
“Play it,” Logan said.
Amelia hesitated.
“Speaker?”
“Yes.”
She tapped the voicemail.
Vance’s voice came through calm and conversational.
“Amelia, I asked you a simple question.”
There was background noise behind him, perhaps a vehicle engine.
“I need to know whether Logan made contact with anybody from his old life.”
A pause.
“This does not have to become ugly.”
Another pause followed, longer than the first.
“Cal is trying very hard to keep your name out of places it doesn’t belong.”
The message ended.
Amelia looked sick.
“Places?”
Logan took the phone and replayed it.
“What?”
“Background sound.”
He listened again.
A faint electronic chime sounded halfway through the voicemail.
Then a muffled female voice.
Not close enough to understand.
Amelia leaned toward the speaker.
“That’s the pharmacy.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
“They have that automatic door chime.”
“So does half the town.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“That one has a double tone because the second speaker is broken.”
Logan handed the phone back.
If she was right, Vance had been across from the diner when he called.
That meant either Krall had moved or both men were there.
“Call Nora again,” Amelia said.
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
“Because Vance may be watching the diner entrance.”
May you like
“He already is.”
“And if her phone keeps ringing after he starts asking questions, he may start caring who’s calling.”
