Wish her killer would be caught, even if it has been so long...
Kadin Tandy solved cold cases. What if she went to him with Ella’s case? She didn’t have to tell him he had another daughter. Not right away. She could get to know him first. Somehow that made her impending trip easier to bear. Call it procrastination. Call it breaking the news gently. She just felt better with that approach.
Locking the tin in the safe-deposit box, she left the bank with a livelier spring in her step than when she’d entered. She’d stop at the sheriff’s office and pick up the Neville case file. She would also ask Margaret, their office manager, to send Ella’s clothes in for more modern testing. Then she’d head for the airport.
*
Kadin had moved his office to a bigger building. Jamie read about his first office, an unassuming downtown building with barely one office and a place to hold meetings—he and his wife had lived on the floor above. The new building was a restored mercantile building, the old sandstone exterior walls covered with white glazed brick. Three rows of six casement windows ran the length of the front. He could see a chandelier hanging in the middle of the upper two rows, revealing the open architecture of what must be a nice home with lots of light. A stone railing on each upper corner indicated the location of rooftop balconies. The building sat on high ground, with open space in the back.
The covered front walk on the first level shaded tinted windows and a double-door entrance with an inconspicuous and prettily written Dark Alley Investigations on the right door. Jamie stepped inside, ready for his first day of work.
An artsy lobby housed a young and beautiful, dark-haired woman behind a white marble-topped counter that matched the floor. A few plants warmed up a seating area and several paintings hung on high walls.
“Jamie Knox,” he said to the woman.
She smiled, baring a mouth of pearly white teeth. “Go on back, Mr. Knox. Mr. Tandy is waiting for you. He’s in the far right corner office.”
The inner door buzzed, unlocking for him. He stepped from the lobby into the office-lined interior. Four conference rooms took up both sides of the front. A square area in the middle was filled with cubicles. People walked the halls and stood at printers or worked away at their desks.
Jamie went down the middle aisle, the smell of new carpet and leather accompanying him on the way. Everyone dressed business-casual, some of the men in ties with no jackets.
The far wall had a row of windows like the front, and as he turned to the right, he enjoyed a view of White Mountain and Pilot Butte. Before moving here he’d read that wild horses still ran in those hills. Nothing he’d see in a city, and the notion intrigued him.
Kadin emerged from his spacious office and greeted him. “Let me show you to your office.”
Jamie followed him to the opposite side of the building and into the opposite corner office with the same view as the boss. He went to the window. “This gives me an adequate idea of your expectations.”
Kadin smiled wryly. “You’re taking on an important role in this organization. The safety and protection of my detectives and the victims’ families are of utmost importance. The more notoriety I get, the more of a threat we are, and the more high risk the case, the more danger we attract.”
“Risk is my résumé.” This new role would present plenty of challenges, but Jamie would thrive. This was exactly what he was looking for—a way to get his life back on track, for the good.
“Mr. Tandy.”
Jamie turned with Kadin to see the beautiful receptionist at the door.
“Sorry to interrupt. There’s a Ms. Reese Harlow here to see you. She says she’s a sheriff’s deputy from Ute County, Colorado, and she’s got a forty-year-old cold case she’d like to discuss with you.”
“Put Roesch on it. I can’t seem to give that guy enough work.”
Kadin had a lot of top-notch detectives working for him, Jamie thought, but the one named Roesch must be one of the best if he completed his cases so fast the work didn’t keep up.
“She insisted on speaking only to you, sir.”
Many must request him personally, but he couldn’t possibly solve every case that came to DAI.
“She said it was personal.”
Speaking to Kadin or the forty-year-old case? Her insistence on speaking only to Kadin must be the personal part. But why?
Kadin stared at the receptionist for a moment. “Bring her back.”
Evidently he wondered the same.