THIRTY-SEVEN

THIRTY-SEVEN

AT HALF PAST FIVE, Kyle Janowski is already awake and showered, preparing to throw on his uniform, when his phone buzzes. He reaches the Bowers home at six.

The sun is still over an hour from showing its face as he pulls along the curb. The cold hits him hard when he steps out of his ride.

Officer Virginia Risely is there, standing by her squadrol, wearing her uniform jacket, hands on her hips, when he pulls up. "Sorry to bother you, Sarge, but you had a flag on any incident involving the Bowers —"

"Yeah, I did, Ginny. Glad you called."

"You go back with Mr. Bowers?" she asks.

"I grew up with Marcie Bowers," he says. "Hardly know David."

He leaves out the part about Marcie dumping him because, she claimed, she didn't want to settle down in HG — only to later do that very thing, settle down in HG with another man.

"Well, Mr. Bowers had to leave for work. Mrs. Bowers's daughter has to get up now for music before school. So we're pretty much done. We told her we'd increase the patrols around her house."

"That's fine," says Kyle. "I don't need to talk to them. Just tell me what I need to know."

Ginny exhales, frosty air leaving her mouth as she gives him the brief rundown.

"Okay, so let's look at the ALPRs for the northeast quad," says Kyle. "Call Ramona over at town services and tell her I want them ASAP. Kind of time window we're looking at, around three thirty in the morning, can't be too much data."

"Okay, boss." Ginny gives him a look. "Something concerning you here?"

"Oh, they've had some strange stuff happen," he says. "She's a lawyer, and he owns Hemingway's Pub — maybe someone has a grudge or something. Who knows these days?" He puts his hand on Ginny's shoulder. "Get the information right away and let me see it the minute you do."

"Sure thing, Sarge. Hey, you're up and in uniform pretty early."

Kyle nods. "Got an out-of-town meeting this morning," he says.

"Where you headed?"

"Chatsworth," he says.

"Chatsworth? What, did someone steal a cow or something?"

Kyle obligingly smiles. He wishes his meeting were that frivolous. It may be his best chance to figure out what the hell is going on with the Bowers family.