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“How does he know Gavin?” Rafe asked.
“Good question, and that falls into the TBL category. To be learned,” Jericho explained to Bree. “This particular photo was captured three days ago in the parking lot of the construction company where Gavin works. I’ve got the actual feed, and I’ll send it to you, but it looks to me as if this is a surprise visit from Buckner, that the two men didn’t actually know each other before this.”
“I don’t suppose, by some miracle, we have audio on the feed?” Bree pressed.
Jericho shook his head. “But as we speak, Ruby is sending it through a lip-reading program, so she might come up with something. As it stands now though, there appears to be some kind of deal going on.” He pulled up another photo of Buckner handing Gavin an envelope.
It was impossible to tell, but Bree was guessing there was cash inside. “Some kind of payoff,” she muttered, and she quickly tried to put the pieces of this together. “I need to find out when the work crews got the assignment for the job at the inn.”
“Three days ago,” Jericho provided. He smiled again. “Hey, Ruby’s good and fast. In fact, she determined that Gavin got the assignment about an hour before this encounter with Buckner.”
Bree gave that some thought. “So, Buckner could have known there was a body buried there, and he wanted Gavin to alert him if he uncovered it,” she said, but then stopped and she shook her head. “Gavin doesn’t look spooked enough in the photo for that.”
“Bingo,” Jericho said, and judging from Rafe’s and his expressions, they’d already reached a slightly different conclusion. “Gavin is in debt up to his proverbial eyeballs, so I think Buckner approached him with a deal. Maybe a story about buried treasure or some other shit, and if Gavin finds it, he’s to call Buckner right away.”
Yes, that would make more sense. “And Buckner couldn’t have just said,Don’t dig in this specific spotbecause then that would have alerted Gavin. He has no criminal record, and he would understand that finding a body would pull him into a potential murder investigation.”
“Bingo,” Jericho repeated. “So, our boy Gavin takes the money, agrees to call if treasure is found. Instead, he finds some bones.”
“Did he call Buckner?” Rafe asked.
“He did,” Jericho confirmed and then looked at her. “Sorry, that’s not admissible in court either, but when you search Gavin’s phone records, you’ll see he made a short call to an unregistered number. A burner. Ruby hasn’t been able to confirm Buckner owns the burner, but Gavin might fess up once you hit him with the picture of Buckner and him together.”
Bree took out her phone and tried to call Gavin again to get him in for questioning. Again, the call went to voicemail, causing her to curse.
“Gavin could have done a runner,” she muttered, and she called a contact at SAPD, Detective Jace Malley, and she requested he send some officers out to Gavin’s residence to check. If Gavin was gone, she’d need to do an APB.
Part of her wanted to curse at maybe letting Gavin get away. But this could be the break they needed. And she could thank Ruby and her Maverick Ops team for it. That eased some of the frustrations and doubt about having to investigate with civilian consultants and their corner cutting strategies.
Some.
But there was too much cop in her blood to want this to be anything more than a one off. Once she had a fully recovered team of deputies, then she’d be glad to see Rafe go.
Except she wouldn’t.
And that caused Bree to do some more mental cursing. This thing she had for him was a distraction she couldn’t afford right now. Thankfully, Jericho got her back on track by pulling up something else on his phone. Not a photo this time but rather a list of names.
“You’ll get a copy of this, too,” Jericho went on. “These are missing women who could possibly fit Tessa’s description and the somewhat limited details we have of the woman that I suspect is on the autopsy table right now.”
“I’ve seen the body, and I don’t have a great description of her either,” Rafe admitted. “Blonde hair. Not quite five and a half feet tall. A willowy build. No distinguishing marks, as we just learned.” He paused. “Most of her face is missing so I can’t tell you the color of her eyes.”
Jericho cursed under his breath. “Well, the list has been sorted by height and coloring so that might help you narrow it down. Also, there are actually two lists. One is for women who’ve gone missing in the past thirty-six hours. That could cover the body you found. As for the bones, there’s another group of women who’ve been missing more than a decade.”
“Are any of the names specifically linked to Tessa, Canyon Ridge, the inn or Buckner?” Rafe asked.
“Not so far, but if there’s a link, Ruby or you will find it.” Jericho yawned, and he used his phone to send them the files they’d just been discussing. “As for me, I’m getting that lunch, some sleep, and then I’ll give you what help I can.” He looked at Bree. “You want that help by the book or with blurred lines?”
She sighed. “By the book.”
Jericho sighed, too. “I have a healthy respect for the badge, for the law, but after some of the situations I’ve been in, I don’t mistake the law for justice. Sometimes, they aren’t close to being the same thing.” He held up his hands in a mock surrendergesture. “But, hey, for you, I’ll stay above board.” He stopped, volleyed glances at both of them. “Are you two…together?”
She felt herself blush. Actually, blush. And she got the feeling Jericho had nearly used the f-word instead oftogether.
“No,” Bree said, with Rafe following quickly with his own, “No. But we were blood friends,” he added.
Jericho grinned. “You know that sounds creepy so I won’t ask for details.”
With that, Jericho muttered a goodbye and headed out, and once the roar of his motorcycle faded, that left Rafe and her there in the silence of the morgue. They’d gotten a mountain of information in this conversation, and they would no doubt get even more once they were back in the office. First though, she needed to get Tessa’s prints, and she would have left to do just that if her phone hadn’t rung.
