Jo shook her head. That was Sam’s area.
Kevin handed her the camera. "You can tell Sam all the pictures are on here."
"Okay." Jo watched him leave. Weird that he said he wasn’t at lunch when she’d seen him coming out of the restaurant. What had he been doing in there?
She’d never clicked with Kevin, not like she did with Sam and Tyler, but still, she had no good reason to think ill of him. She’d learned over the years that she had to rein in her instincts to be suspicious of everyone. Just because bad things had happened in her past, it didn’t mean everyone was out to get her.
There were plenty of reasons for Kevin to be in Lago. Maybe he knew someone that worked there. Maybe he was following up on something else. Maybe he was handing them his resume. Jo wouldn’t be too disappointed if it was the latter, other than the fact it would mean they were even more short-handed.
She was staring out the window at the disappearing taillights of Kevin’s Isuzu when Sam’s Tahoe came around the corner and pulled up to the curb.
Chapter Thirteen
As Sam parked the Tahoe, a blurry black-and-tan movement at the side of the building behind the shrubs caught his eye. He got out of the truck, and a furry ball shot toward him. Lucy.
"What are you doing here?" He bent down and petted the dog. Had her family claimed her, and were they bringing her downtown? He doubted it—she had no collar or leash.
He headed toward the front door, Lucy on his heels. Sam stood with his hand on the oversized brass handle and looked down at her. "You can’t come in."
As soon as one of the double oak doors was cracked open, Lucy shoved her nose through the opening and pushed her way inside. So much for the dog listening to him.
"Lucy!" Reese scooted her chair across the room and swirled to a stop in front of Lucy. Lucy wagged her tail profusely while Reese lavished her with attention. Reese cocked her head and looked inquisitively up at Sam. "What’s she doing with you?"
"She was outside when I pulled up. I was going to ask you why she was here."
Reese shook her head. "I don’t know. Eric said she ran away. She must’ve come here. Maybe she thinks this is home."
Sam’s heart sank. No one had claimed the dog.
"Looks like she wants to be a police dog," Jo said.
"Yeah, don’t tell Dupont. Unfortunately, having a K-9 unit costs money. She has to go back to the shelter. She looks good all cleaned up, though. I’m sure someone will adopt her if she doesn’t have a family." Sam tried to ignore the pleading look in Lucy’s whiskey-colored eyes. There was no budget for a police dog, and he couldn’t have her at home.
He’d gotten used to living alone. He didn’t want another person. But a dog was another story. Dogs didn’t argue with you or talk back. Dogs were always happy to see you no matter what you’d done the day before.
But his days stretched out too long. He knew Dupont would balk if he tried to have her in the Tahoe, so he would be forced to leave her at home alone. And sometimes his day stretched out to fourteen hours or more. Heck, sometimes he didn’t even go home at all. Now that they were shorthanded, he’d be at work even more. It wouldn’t be fair to Lucy. She deserved better than that.
Reese’s smile faded. "I know. I’ll call Eric."
Jo grabbed the donut bag from the corner of her desk. Lucy’s ears perked up at the crinkle of the paper.
"Can dogs eat donuts?" Jo asked.
Reese made a face and patted her stomach. "Desserts aren’t good for them just like they’re not good for us."
Lucy thumped her tail and whined, her eyes fixated on the donut that Jo was now holding up.
"I suppose a tiny piece wouldn’t hurt," Reese said.
Jo broke off a piece and flipped it to Lucy, who leapt up in the air and caught it in her mouth.
"Pretty good catch." Sam rubbed Lucy’s ears then noticed the photographs laid out on the corkboard. His mind immediately went into investigation mode. "Are those the items from Lynn Palmer’s tent?"
Jo put the bag down and went to stand at the board. "Yep. Pretty standard stuff for campers." She pointed to the pictures in turn. "Rain gear, jeans, undergarments, sweats, hiking shorts."
"Nothing out of the ordinary," Sam said. His eyes were still on the items, his mind inventorying each piece for later use.
"No. Except." Jo drew out the word as she turned around and pointed to one of the photos. It was a pair of cotton pants ripped on the side. "This is from the pile of clothes we found in the woods. The pants were ripped as if they snagged on something or there was a struggle."
"Or maybe she was in a hurry to get them off."
"If that were the case, would she have taken the time to fold them in a neat pile?" Jo tapped her index finger on the photo Sam had taken of the clothing pile. "The other unusual thing is that I didn’t find a cell phone."
"Maybe it wasn’t in her tent. It could still be lying around at the campsite."
Jo nodded. "It’d be important to get it. You never know when that last text or phone call is going to provide a clue. Speaking of which, what did you find out from Jesse?"
Sam plopped into a chair and leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. He absently stroked the soft fur on Lucy’s head as he told Jo what he’d gleaned from Jesse. He left out the part about the pot—not that he didn’t trust Jo, but the fewer people that knew, the better. He didn’t want word getting out that he let criminals off the hook, but sometimes you had to let the smaller fish go in order to catch the bigger one.
"That must be Amber she fought with. Do you think Amber had something to do with her death? Maybe killed her from jealousy?" Jo pressed her lips together. "She did seem awfully possessive of Noah. Maybe they had a fight about Noah and Lynn was killed in a jealous rage? That’s interesting, because I have a theory too, thanks to Reese."
Jo and Reese took turns telling Sam about Lynn’s will. He was getting a new appreciation for Reese’s computer skills. She had a knack for digging up information, though he suspected she pushed the envelope sometimes.
"Noah was angry at the campsite. Almost too angry," Jo said. "Sometimes people act that way when they have something to hide, so—"
"Woof!"
They spun around to see Dupont standing in the lobby on the other side of the post-office boxes. Lucy had wandered over to the partition and was standing there glaring at him. The hairs along her spine were raised like a mohawk.
"What is this dog doing here? I thought I told you people to get rid of it," Dupont demanded.
Lucy must not have liked being called "it." She kept her eyes trained on Dupont and resorted to a low growl.
Reese rushed to Lucy’s side. "We brought her to the shelter, but she must’ve run off. I’ll bring her back as soon as I can."
Dupont looked at Reese dubiously. "Make it soon. We can’t have an animal like that in a public office. Do you see the way she growled at me? What if she bit a kid or something? Would make me look like a shoddy mayor."
"Wouldn’t want that." Reese’s voice had a tinge of sarcasm that made Dupont look at her twice. She ignored him and pushed Lucy behind her desk.
Dupont proceeded into the squad room. Sam stood as the man approached. He didn’t need Dupont looking down on him. Sam was taller, and he figured it was better to have it the other way around.
"I don’t think I need to remind you who has control of the budget here." Dupont’s eyes flicked to Tyler’s empty desk, and Sam felt that familiar hollow sinking sensation.