The following morning Evan picked Nathan up at the hotel by the big box store. When they arrived at the station, Evan introduced Nathan to the officers on duty.

Nathan took the time to speak to several of the officers before he met Evan in his office. As he closed the door, he asked, “How many shifts and number of officers are there?”

“Three shifts with about a dozen officers on each shift. Most of the office personnel on the weekends are retired officers who volunteer.” Evan slid Nathan’s badge, gun, and keys to him. “If you want a second piece, you’ll have to provide it. Come on, let me show you to your office.” Evan stood and walked toward his door.

Once they were in the hall, Evan showed him the restrooms and break room which was all that separated their offices. Next, they stopped by the centralized desk.

“Rita, do you have Nathan’s phone?”

Rita handed Evan the phone. “Thank you,” Evan said to Rita before turning his attention back to Nathan. “If you need anything when you’re on first shift, Rita is who you come to. She keeps our schedules as far as meetings, appointments, ceremonies.” Evan handed Nathan his phone. “All of the officers have this number.”

They left Rita and walked into Nathan’s office where Evan pulled a shirt from behind the door just as the Mayor did for him. “This is yours.” He turned toward Nathan’s desk. “Good, your cards came in. You’ll need those until people around here learn your name. They’ve already got your phone number on them. Any questions?”

Nathan chuckled. “Damn, you really want me to work and shit.”

“I know. Hard to believe, but yeah.” Evan shook his head and laughed. “I’m glad you’re here, man.”

“Me too.” Nathan changed shirts as he said, “I’m going to the library first. Anything, in particular, I need to know?”

“Just ask Vanessa to help look for people she doesn’t know, most likely a man.”

“Gotcha.”

“You know where you’re going?”

“Just because I was undercover, doesn’t mean I wasn’t observant. I know where the library is.”

“Good to know.”

* * *

Nathan drove the few miles to the library. As he walked through the door, he saw a beautiful brunette behind the desk doing something with books. His smile spread across his face as he thought he’d died and gone to Heaven. As he got closer, he noticed the wedding rings on her left hand and his hopes waned.

“Excuse me, but I’m Nathan Cox with the Riverton Crossing Police Department. My Chief told me a lady named Vanessa Harper may be able to help me. Is she in today by chance?”

“I’m Vanessa,” the lady said with a polite smile.

Nathan pulled out one of the business cards and gave it to her. “Like I said, I’m with the police department. I need to look at your security video for the last ten weeks. Would that be possible today?”

“Evan Riverton is your boss?” she asked.

“Yes, do you know him?”

“I’m a couple years younger than his brother, so I don’t really know Evan.”

“Well, there goes that idea. I was hoping to get some dirt on him from his childhood,” Nathan said with a flirtatious smile.

“Why do you need our security video, Officer…” Vanessa looked at his card before she continued, “Cox?”

“An email was sent from this location that’s part of an on-going investigation between us and ATF.”

“ATF?”

“Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.”

“I see. Well, we don’t have ten weeks of discs here. We keep four weeks on site, then move them to an off-site location. It’ll take me a few days to get them here.”

“Do you have time to go through the ones you have here?”

“You need me to look at them with you?” Vanessa asked. The further she went into the sentence the slower her words became and the wider her eyes got.

Nathan saw she was nervous. “Would that be a problem?”

“No, but the machines are in the back room. I-I c-can’t leave this desk until someone else comes in, and Ms. Jane isn’t due in for another hour.”

Nathan looked at his watch. “How about I come back about eleven?”

Vanessa rubbed her hands down her black pencil skirt. “That’ll be fine. I’ll make sure we have everything ready by then.”

“Thank you.”

As Nathan walked back to his car, he couldn’t believe how nervous Vanessa Harper was. He normally put people at ease with his laid-back personality, but she was shaking from just talking to him. Hopefully, she’d loosen up a little once they started working together.

He had a couple of hours to kill, so he rode through town reacquainting himself while he called Evan.

“Riverton.”

“Hey, man. I just left the library, but have to be back there at eleven. Have you ever spoken with Mrs. Harper?”

“She’s a little skittish around men, why?”

“That’s an understatement. Thanks, man,” Nathan said before he disconnected the call.

A little over an hour later, Nathan pulled back into the library parking lot. He didn’t know how many discs they had on site or how many they’d get through, but he was prepared for a long afternoon.

“Mrs. Harper, are you available now?” Nathan asked as he approached the desk.

An older lady whom he didn’t meet before turned around at the same time as Vanessa. “Yes, Officer Cox,” she said as she raised her head from the computer screen. “Ms. Jane, we’ll be in the back going through the security footage. Please make sure this request is sent to the off-site facility to pull the following security discs and deliver them here. Thank you.”

She turned to Nathan. “Right this way.”

As Nathan followed the brunette, he couldn’t help letting his eyes scan her backside. His gaze lingered on her ass. Damn, why did she have to be married? She stopped to unlock a back door, and Nathan almost ran into her. Get a grip. She’s married.

“Officer Cox, we have the last four weeks discs here. I’ve ordered the rest and will let you know when they arrive,” Vanessa said as she unlocked the door. “We can pull up two chairs and use this big screen monitor to view the footage. Do you know who you’re looking for?”

“No, that’s where you come in. Chief Riverton said you’d know people from here or at the very least those with children. I can take a picture of them and run it through a database to see what I find.”

“Are you looking for a man or woman?”

“We think a man, but I’ll take pictures of anyone you don’t recognize.”

“We can freeze the video, and the machine can print a still picture, you won’t need to take one.”

They watched from most recent backward, and after watching two discs, Vanessa pointed out a man she didn’t know using one of the computers. They zoomed in on the computer screen to see if they could make out any features on the reflection of the screen in front of him. They had a good shot of his back, but nothing of his face. Nathan had Vanessa print out a picture anyway. Maybe Evan or Ginger would recognize his build.

“Do you have any of the parking lot?” Nathan asked. “We know the motorcycle they drive, so that could possibly narrow down the days we should look at.”

“They’re with the rest of the discs. Sorry,” Vanessa said as she tensed and leaned away from Nathan.

What the hell? “That’s okay. Let’s look at the parking lot videos first, then maybe we won’t need to go through all of the discs,” Nathan said with a friendly smile.

Several hours had passed, and they were on the last disc. “My eyes are killing me,” Nathan said. “I haven’t had to do this in a long time. I forgot how tedious it can be.”

“You’ve had to do this before?”

“On a case I worked several years ago. At least this time I have a pretty lady to keep me company. Then, I just had a large older man who smelled as if he hadn’t bathed in a month,” Nathan said with a chuckle.

A tap on the door caused Vanessa to jump away from him. “Come in,” she said.

Jane opened the door. “Vanessa, your husband is here to take you home.”

The smile on Vanessa’s face faded, and her eyes widened. “Thank you, please tell him I’ll be right out.”

Nathan moved their chairs as Vanessa put the discs away before they walked out together. Nathan followed her as before but made sure to keep his eyes forward and above her shoulders. As they turned the corner walking toward the main desk, there stood a man in a suit who was much smaller than Nathan. When the man noticed Nathan behind his wife, he flashed a scowl at her, so she quickened her steps.

Vanessa walked directly behind the desk as Nathan moved closer to the man whom he assumed was her husband. Was he jealous?

“Charles, I’d like you to meet Officer Nathan Cox. He’s with the Riverton Crossing Police Department. They’re working on a joint case with ATF and need to look at our surveillance videos. I’m helping him by pointing out people that we don’t know,” Vanessa rambled quickly. Her voice was shaking as well as her hands.

“Good to meet you, Officer Cox. I’m sure my wife will be glad to help where she can,” Charles Harper said as he shook Nathan’s hand. Charles tried to squeeze it, but Nathan didn’t put too much pressure into the shake. He didn’t want to hurt the man.

“Mrs. Harper, you have my card. Please call me when the rest of the discs come in. How long do you think it’ll take? This needs to be concluded before the Chief’s wedding.”

“I should have them by Monday, but I’ll call you,” Vanessa said looking everywhere but at Nathan.

Nathan thanked her and nodded his goodbyes to Jane and Mr. Harper. As he was leaving, he heard Mr. Harper say to Vanessa, “You’ve been locked away with him for how long?” Nathan didn’t like the tone of the man’s voice, so he sat in his car to wait for the Harpers to emerge.

A few minutes later, Nathan watched Mr. Harper walk out of the building with his hand clamped around Mrs. Harper’s bicep. He escorted her to his car, but it wasn’t gently or lovingly. She tried to pull away, but he held her arm tighter, and Nathan knew she’d have bruises on her arm tomorrow. Before Vanessa got in the car, he was in her face saying something that Nathan couldn’t hear nor could he read the man’s lips.

A bad feeling rolled through him. No damn wonder she was skittish around men.