In Safe Hands (Search and Rescue #4)(68)
“But there’s no theme.”
“Are you going to eat that or just cuddle it?” Rory asked. Widening her eyes, she glanced between the treat and his face. His shoulders lowered in defeat as he held out the cookie toward her. Rory pounced on it with glee.
Chris gave an amused snort. “She just played you, buddy. You’re helpless when she puts on her big-eyed, starving-kitten-in-the-rain face.”
Instead of getting offended, Ian just stretched an arm over the back of Rory’s chair. “Pretty much. I like making her happy.”
The responding “oohs” varied in tone from sweet to mocking, but Daisy was pretty sure all the guys in the room would give up their last cookie to make their women happy, even Chris—not that she was his woman. Despite his recent behavior, she tried to keep her hope under control. The last thing she wanted to do was drive him away by pushing for more than he had to give.
“Any new Willard updates?” she asked, changing the subject to derail her dangerous line of thinking.
“Thanks for reminding me, Dais,” Chris said. “Walsh, would it be possible for me to get copies of those arson reports—and the wildland fire ones—from Chief Early? I went through Rory’s notes, but I have some questions.”
“Sure, I can get you copies, but not from the chief. He said his reports on the arson calls are kept in Records at the sheriff’s department.”
Chris’s eyebrows snapped together. “What? No, they’re not. Stacy even double-checked the files, and she couldn’t find anything.”
“That’s strange.” Frowning, Ian absently massaged the back of Rory’s neck. Chewing the last bite of her cookie, Rory looked too blissed out to focus on the conversation. “I always keep a copy of all my reports, so that’s where Rory got her notes. I can get you copies of those. They’re just the ones for the calls I was on, though. It’s not all of the arsons.”
“It’s not?” Lou sat forward in her chair. “If they’re not at either place, where do you think those reports ended up?”
“No idea.” Chris’s expression contradicted his words. He looked like he did have an idea, but it wasn’t one that was easy to swallow. “Who has access to Fire’s records?”
“Just the Chief has direct access, but anyone can request a copy. What about yours?”
“Anyone with a key card can get into the Records room.”
“Which means all the deputies,” Daisy clarified. It was looking more and more like Ellie’s father had put them on the right track regarding Willard’s death being linked to the arsons.
Chris nodded. “Plus Stacy, the records manager, and Paul, who does maintenance.”
“What’s your gut telling you?” Callum asked, looking at Chris, who twisted his mouth in a grimace.
“It’s not being too specific.”
“My vote would be Deputy Lawrence,” Lou said, and then looked around the table at the surprised faces. “I’m just saying what everyone else is thinking.”
“He doesn’t fit Daisy’s description.” It was a testament to how bothered Chris was that he was so easily discussing the case with them. “She said that guy was bigger. Dais, can you show everyone that video you took?”
“Sure.” She took her phone from her pocket.
“Video?” Lou repeated. “Of what?”
“Macavoy that night,” Daisy answered absently as she pulled up her videos.
“Wait,” Lou said. “You had video of the dead-body-toting deputy this whole time and didn’t share? Daisy!”
Daisy wasn’t paying attention to Lou’s scolding, because the video was missing. It had been the last thing she’d recorded, so it should’ve been right there. Frowning, she flicked through the thumbnails, checking her small collection of saved videos several times. “It’s not here.”
“What do you mean?” Chris asked. “I watched it. It was on there—what happened to it?”
Making a sound of frustration, Daisy scanned her videos again. “I don’t know. It’s just not on here anymore.”
“Could you have deleted it by accident?”
Although Daisy started to protest, to say that there was no way she could have done something so careless, she stopped. No one else had access to her phone. It had to have been her. “I guess I must have. Sorry, everyone. It was really dark, though, so I don’t think it would’ve helped much.”
“You thought he looked taller than Deputy Lawrence?” Lou asked, still sounding hopeful that he could be a viable suspect.
“Yes, but don’t assume what I saw had anything to do with the Gray case,” Daisy warned. “For all we know, it was Macavoy doing exactly what he said he was doing. Have you had any luck tracking him down?”
“Not yet. It’s like he just fell off the planet. None of the other deputies were close with him. Angel, one of the dispatchers, said she sent a couple of how-are-you messages to his personal email, but he didn’t respond. The guy’s disappeared. The way he ran and hid makes me pretty certain he’s involved in something illegal.” Blowing out a hard breath, Chris stood, looking at Ian. “Can I get copies of your reports on the arsons?”
“Sure. But since they’re my reports, they won’t have the law enforcement angle. Most of them will read, ‘Got there, dumped some water, went home.’ You’re welcome to look them over, though.” He stood, as well. “I’ll talk to the chief, too, and see if we can get some information on the arsons that happened when I wasn’t on duty.”