Page 94 of Lost Hours
“You’re sure?” El asked.
He nodded. “The monkey puzzle tree is a dead giveaway. I hike a lot, and you don’t see one of these often in the wilds of Oregon.”
Mina had never seen a tree like it before. The branches were narrow, somewhat contorted, and covered with thick, dark-green triangular leaves.
Anderson jerked his head toward the side of the road. “The phone was in the ditch down there.”
“Why were you in the ditch?” she asked.
“A car was coming down the road at a fast clip, so I was forced to step off for safety.”
“Did you get a good look at the car?” Nolan asked.
“It was a newer model Ford Explorer. White.”
“You didn’t happen to catch the plates did you?” Mina asked.
He shook his head. “They were Oregon, but splattered with mud and not clear.”
“So you picked up the phone and returned to your cabin?” El asked.
He shook his head. “I finished my walk. About two more miles down the road and back.”
“Did you happen to see that vehicle again and where it went?” Mina asked.
“No. Was just me out here.”
“Do you know if the houses around you are occupied, or are they recreational cabins like yours?” El asked.
He shrugged. “I’ve only owned this place for less than a year and stayed here maybe a half dozen times. I come here to unplug and get away from people, so I’m not about to go out looking for them.”
Mina understood that. “So you didn’t see anyone in the area? Like someone who might’ve been looking for this phone?”
“No one.”
Mina turned to El. “When we get back to the cabin, we’ll send Abe for the vehicle and you two can escort Mr. Anderson to lock up.”
Anderson spun and fired an angry stare at her. “Wait a minute. You’re saying you’re going to arrest me? Lock me up?”
Mina kept her tone level to keep from making him madder. “We’re going to detain you for now while we search your other properties.”
“And then what?” His eyes narrowed even more.
“That will all depend on what we find in our search.”
He growled at her again. This man could be bad news for her career. Seriously bad, like get-her-fired bad. But no matter the consequences to herself and the job she loved, she had to do what was right for Becca.
24
Nearing seven a.m. and a large cup of steaming coffee in hand, Nolan paced the inn’s conference room behind Hayden. As the team’s IT expert, he created a map of properties surrounding Anderson’s cabin. Their theory? Whoever took Becca tossed the phone out the car window on the way to their property or on their way back.
Mina and El were sitting at the table, ready to access DMV records. The moment Hayden located the owner’s name, they would search the database for anyone who might own a white Ford Explorer like the one Anderson claimed to have seen on the road. Not that this person was a suspect. Just driving on the road didn’t mean they’d tossed the phone out earlier, but if not a suspect, they could’ve witnessed something important.
Meanwhile, Abe was booking Anderson in jail and getting the warrants for his Portland addresses. Reece had seen the light on in the conference room and had come by to bring coffee, muffins, and fruit. She’d always been the mother of the group, if anyone filled that role, and it wasn’t unusual for her to do such a thing.
“Map’s done,” Hayden called out. “Putting it on the screen now. Properties are labeled one to five. I’ll start looking up property records.”
“I’ll take the first one.” Mina sipped on her coffee, then poised her fingers over the keypad.
