AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I blow out a breath. “Okay, thanks, Derek. Not exactly what we were hoping for, but all good information.”
Another hour passes as we continue finding out more about our second victim, and I still haven’t heard back from Quinn. Other than her phone dying, I’m not sure why she wouldn’t have called me back by now, and it’s starting to bother me a little. We’re pretty much at a standstill until we can go interview some of our leads tomorrow, so I tell the guys who aren’t on shift to head out and I go pack up my stuff.
I want to check on Quinn since she’s not answering her phone, so I head towards Paint and Paper. I notice her car is still here when I pull into a spot in front of the store. I walk in the door and look around. There are only a few lights on, and it’s quiet. “Quinn?” I yell so she knows I’m here and I don’t scare her. Not hearing an answer, I walk to the back room where all of the inventory is stored and look around. She’s not here either, and my gut continues to churn.
Something isn’t right. “Quinn?”
Still no answer.
I find her purse and her phone on a shelf along with her computer and an unfinished mug of tea. I keep walking around the back room and see that the bathroom door is open and the light’s out, so she’s not in there. Running my hands through my hair, I call Megan to see if she might know where she is.
“Hey, Coop.”
“Hey, Megan, I was wondering if you’ve heard from Quinn tonight.”
“No, I haven’t. Why?”
“I’m at Paint and Paper, and her car’s still out front and her stuff is still here, but she’s not. Just wondered if you might’ve heard from her or something.
“Sorry, Cooper, I haven’t heard from her. Could she have gone to get a coffee or something?”
“I don’t think so. Her wallet’s still in her purse.”
“Hmm. Didn’t you put up security cameras a while back? Maybe you could see if she stepped out or something?”
“Yeah, I’ll have to go back to the station and get on my computer. I can’t access it from my phone.”
“Maybe leave her a note just in case she comes back after you’re gone. I can also text the girls and see if any of them have heard from her.”
“Thanks, Megan.”
“Keep me updated, and I’ll let you know what I hear back.”
“Will do.” After I hang up, I quickly write Quinn a note saying I was there and head back to the station. Todd comes down the hallway as I walk towards my office.
“Hey, what are you doing back here?” he asks.
“I can’t find Quinn. Her car and purse and stuff are still at the store, but she wasn’t there when I stopped by. Something doesn’t feel right, so I’m going to check the cameras I put up to see if anything weird happened.”
“Did you ask Megan if she knew anything?” he asks as we walk into my office. I sit down in my chair and Todd sits in one of my visitor chairs.
“Yeah, and she hasn’t heard from her either. She said she’s going to ask the rest of the girls if they know anything.”
I get into my computer and log onto the website that runs our security system. It takes a few minutes, but I find the feed and make sure she hasn’t shown up since I got back to the station. The store is still empty, so I rewind the feed until I see Quinn and press play.
She’s in the back room when her head lifts and she looks towards the front like something caught her attention. I switch the camera to the one in the lobby and watch as she walks to the front door and lets someone in. The angle doesn’t quite catch who came in, but it’s obvious she knows who it is. Quinn walks back into the view of the camera and so does the person she let in.
“What the fuck?” I look up at Todd as my heart drops.
36
QUINN
“Ouch,” I say, rolling my shoulders back as I stand up from my stooped position. I am going to be so sore tomorrow. For the first time since we started renovations on the gallery, I am not liking my job so much.
The moving guys screwed up the art we had perfectly organized, and nothing is where it should be. We had everything sorted by artist and medium, and they were supposed to put each group into one crate, but instead, they just threw whatever would fit into each box, and now, it’s all out of order.
I’ve been going through each one to figure out what’s in there, check it off my inventory list, and then place it on the storage shelves where it should go. It’s been a tedious process and, unfortunately, one I won’t finish tonight. I was hoping I’d get it all done or at least get close, but it’s a little past seven now, and I’m only a third of the way through the inventory.
