The Silence (Columbia River #2)(36)

A Google search told him Mosier had fewer than five hundred residents. Mason didn’t think he could live in a town that small. No anonymity. Everyone would know everything about their neighbors, and he was fond of his privacy.

Veronica didn’t have an employment history, but her husband worked for the Hood River County School District. Previously he’d worked for the Washoe County School District in Reno.

Did they want a change of scenery?

If Veronica had moved to Oregon, surely she had been in touch with her brother. Mason wondered how deep the estrangement went. Or maybe there was no estrangement . . . The information about her location had been wrong. This could be too.

He tapped a freshly sharpened pencil on his keyboard, mentally figuring the length of time it would take him to drive to Mosier. If traffic was decent, he’d be there by 6:00 p.m. He could send the local police to notify her of her brother’s death, but Mason had a strong urge to talk with the sister. She was relatively close by, and Mason liked to do as many interviews as possible face-to-face.

“Hey.” Nora Hawes approached his desk, her heels rapping on the cheap tile flooring. “The task force assigned me to dig into Reuben Braswell.”

“Thank God.” Mason meant it. He’d assumed someone from the task force would be working parallel to his investigation, and luck had shone on him. Working with Nora was a breeze. She was sharp and funny and worked her butt off.

“Can you catch me up?”

He tossed her a fat three-ring binder. The murder book he’d started on Reuben Braswell. So far it didn’t have many pages, but he knew it would fill up fast. “You can read that on the way to Mosier.”

“Who?”

“Mosier the town. Just past Hood River.”

“What’s in Mosier?”

“Braswell’s sister.”

Nora hefted the light binder in her hands. “These aren’t supposed to leave the building.”

Mason said nothing.

She gave him a side-eye. “Feels like we have a lot of work to do.” She tucked the notebook under her arm, clearly planning to take it with her. “I saw Ava at the task force meeting.”

“Then you’ve seen more of her today than I have.”

“She’s catching some crap for being a part of it. Her name turning up in Braswell’s documents isn’t doing her any favors.”

Mason’s gaze sharpened on Nora.

“Don’t worry. She handled it like the professional she is.”

“Asses.”

Nora shrugged. “A lot of driven people were in that room today. The energy and anger were palpable. We’ll get the job done.”

“Good.”

“Reuben is at the core of that shooting.” Nora said. “He may be dead, but from what I’ve seen so far, it originates with him. Have you dug back further?”

“A bit. He didn’t hang out with the nicest people.” Mason stood and grabbed his hat. “I can tell you about it on the way. Ready to go?”

She rapped her knuckles against the binder. “Yep. Good thing reading doesn’t make me carsick.”

“Reading what? I don’t see a binder under your arm.”

“I’m blaming you if someone reports me walking out with it.”

“No one is going to protest. Not today.” He swallowed hard.

Five dead officers.

Nora caught her breath. “True. Let’s go.”





15

“There’s the camera,” Ava stated as she pointed through the windshield of Zander’s vehicle. He took a sharp left into a church parking lot. They’d been canvassing the area near the 7-Eleven in the direction in which the clerk had seen the white car turn. Zander had tried to get Ava to take the afternoon off even though Ray was out of danger, but she’d assured him she needed the distraction.

Past the 7-Eleven, the streets were lined with small homes. The roads were narrow, just wide enough for two cars to pass. There was no street parking. Most of the homes sat far back from the street and had skinny, long driveways that led to garages behind the homes.

Two blocks away from the 7-Eleven, Ava had spotted a white camera perched high on the corner of a small stone church. Its parking lot had several dozen spaces, but none were currently occupied.

“Looks like no one is here. The lot is empty,” said Zander. He parked as Ava checked the church address against the log of canvassed properties.

“An officer came by yesterday evening, but his knock went unanswered. He walked the building and noted two cameras.”

“That one doesn’t cover the street. Don’t know if it will help us,” Zander said, nodding toward the one that had caught Ava’s eye. “Let’s find the other one.”

“You check. I’ll see if anyone is here.” She headed toward the wide steps that led to the building’s front entrance. Zander nodded and went in the opposite direction. “This building is lovely,” she said under her breath, wondering how old it was.

It was made of rough square stones and had steep peaks that gave it a European feel. The windows were arched, as was the wide entrance to the covered area in front of the door. She stepped through the big arch and felt the temperature drop ten degrees inside the roomy alcove. She hesitated at the tall double doors. Do I knock? Do I go right in? She knocked.