Chapter 7

CHAPTER SEVEN

Sawyer pulled his car to a stop in front of the apartment complex, then glanced at the address once more, confirming he was at the right place. He climbed out and headed up to the second floor, to apartment 2F.

Sawyer gave a quick, hard knock, then waited. A few moments later, the door creaked open, revealing a very exhausted-looking man. His hair was disheveled, a mixture of brown and gray strands sticking out at odd angles, like he’d just rolled out of bed. Clad in a wrinkled t-shirt and plaid pajama pants, he squinted his eyes against the daylight. “Yeah?”

“Jay Cochran?”

“Uh… Am I in trouble?” Jay's voice was thick with sleep, his expression puzzled as he took in the sight of the detective on his doorstep.

“Not at all.” Slipping his hands into his pockets to keep his stance non-threatening, Sawyer leaned back against the wall. “Mr. Cochran, sorry to disturb you so early, but I’m investigating a situation that occurred last night. We’re trying to get some information, and I’d appreciate it if I could ask you a few questions.”

Jay rubbed a hand over his face, clearly trying to shake off the last remnants of sleep. “Yeah, sure. Come in.”

Sawyer followed him inside, where they settled in the living room. Jay covered a yawn. “Sorry. What did you say this was about?”

“There was a murder in the alley next to the restaurant where you work,” Sawyer said. “A woman was found near the dumpster.”

Jay’s mouth dropped open in shock, his fatigue gone in the blink of an eye. “Murder? You’re serious?”

Sawyer nodded. “Unfortunately.”

“Jesus, that’s…” He gave a slow shake of his head. “This is the first I’m hearing of it. I… I just woke up.”

Sawyer studied him carefully, noting the genuine shock on Jay’s face. “You worked last night, right?”

“Yeah, I did. I left after my shift, came straight home, showered, and went to bed.” Jay gestured vaguely behind him, his hand trembling slightly. “Didn’t hear or see anything after that.”

Sawyer nodded, taking in the details. “When you left, did you notice anything out of the ordinary? Any people around, anything unusual near the restaurant?”

Jay frowned, his brow furrowing as he tried to recall the night before. “Not really. I parked out back, like I always do. Didn’t see anyone around when I left, though. It was quiet.”

“Were there any vehicles parked near the alley when you left?” Sawyer pressed.

Jay thought for a moment, then nodded slowly. “There was a vehicle parked on the side road—you know, over by the church—but I didn’t think anything of it at the time.”

“Did you happen to notice the make or model?”

“Might’ve been an SUV or a van, I think. Maybe white?”

Sawyer filed that away, a small piece of the puzzle, perhaps, but a piece nonetheless. “Did you notice if the vehicle was running? Anyone inside?”

Jay shook his head. “No, it was just parked there. No lights on, no one around that I saw.”

Sawyer stood, offering a nod of thanks as he walked toward the door. “I appreciate your time, Mr. Cochran. If you remember anything else, don’t hesitate to reach out.”

Jay looked relieved that the questioning was over, his hand gripping the doorframe as if to steady himself. “Sure thing, Detective. I’ll let you know if anything comes to mind.”

With that, Sawyer turned and walked back to his car, his mind already working through the new information. A white vehicle, maybe an SUV or a van, parked near the alley on the night of the murder.

He started the car and drove away, the quiet neighborhood fading into the background as he headed back to the station. The pieces were slowly coming together.

* * *

Inside the police station, activity buzzed around him as he stepped inside. Phones rang, voices carried on muted conversations, but his focus was singular as he headed straight for the small conference room where Dare Jensen and Cam McCoy were waiting.

The fluorescent lights glowed brightly overhead, illuminating the photos on the wall. Dare was leaning against the table, arms crossed, his expression more stoic than usual.

“Got something for us?” Dare asked.

Cam glanced up from where he was seated, flipping through a notepad, his attention now focused solely on Sawyer.

Sawyer nodded, relaying the events of the morning as he pulled a USB drive from his pocket and plugged it into the computer connected to the monitor. “I stopped by Jay Cochran’s apartment after I left the restaurant. He claims he didn’t see or hear anything unusual when he left the restaurant last night, but he did mention spotting a light-colored vehicle parked near the church down the street. I’ve pulled the footage from the restaurant’s cameras to see if we can spot anything.”

He clicked through a few files, bringing up the video feed from the restaurant’s back alley. The footage was grainy, but clear enough to make out shapes and movement. Sawyer fast-forwarded until he found the timestamp that matched Jay’s departure.

“There,” he said, pointing to the screen. A light-colored vehicle moved slowly through the frame, the headlights flickering as it passed by the alley. “That’s the vehicle Jay mentioned.”

Dare leaned in, his brow furrowing as his gaze narrowed on the screen. “Looks like a van or an SUV. Hard to tell in this light.”

Cam squinted at the image, his pen tapping lightly on his notepad. “You think this is our guy?”

Sawyer shrugged. “It’s a lead. Jay said the vehicle was parked near the church when he left. We need to scout the area, see if we can find any cameras that might’ve captured a clearer image.”

Dare pushed off from the table, already heading for the door. “Let’s get moving then. I don’t want this asshole slipping through our fingers.”

They split up, combing through the streets around the restaurant, checking every angle for possible cameras. But the results were far from satisfying. Hours later, the three of them found themselves back in the station, the frustration weighing heavily on their shoulders.

Dare glanced their way. “Either of you come up with anything?”

“Not a damn thing worthwhile,” Cam said. “It’s like he knows where every camera in town is, and managed to avoid all of them.”

“Wouldn’t surprise me.” Dare let out a little growl. “Reed, you find anything?”

Sawyer slumped into a chair at the table and rubbed his temples. “Only one camera managed to capture anything remotely useful,” he said, pulling up the footage they had retrieved.

“Got this from that dance studio across from the church.” The video flickered to life on the screen, showing a distant shot of the side road near the church. The camera was located inside the lobby of the studio, and the image was blurry, the distance making it difficult to make out any clear details.

Dare stepped forward, head tipped in contemplation. “What does that look like to you?”

The area was dark, no street lamps or anything to illuminate the vehicle’s shape, and Sawyer shook his head. “Van or SUV?”

The vantage point wasn’t great, but from here they could see the front right corner of the restaurant, and part of the road. The footage rolled for several minutes, and they watched as several of the restaurant employees pulled out of the back lot, turned on to the road, then headed home.

Sawyer checked the timestamp and pointed to a sedan pulling out of the restaurant’s back lot. “This must be Jay Cochran.”

The sedan turned left onto the main road, in the direction of Cochran’s apartment complex. As soon as the car disappeared, the white vehicle parked along the side road began to move. The headlights remained off as the driver steered the vehicle into the parking lot, then disappeared behind the restaurant.

“Rewind that.”

Sawyer did as Dare asked, then tapped play as it pulled away from the curb once more.

“Look at the shape.” Dare dipped his chin. “Doesn’t that look like a van—the type contractors use?”

“Fucking great.” Cam rolled his eyes. “That should be easy to narrow down. Every business only has a dozen of those.”

“Something is better than nothing,” Dare softly admonished as he watched the vehicle disappear behind the restaurant again. Less than two minutes passed before the screen grew brighter and the vehicle appeared again.

Cam used his finger to trace the headlights on the car. “Older style. Maybe ten, fifteen years old?”

Dare nodded, and they all watched as the van turned left out of the lot, heading away from town.

“Goddamn it. No decals, nothing to identify it,” Cam noted, his tone laced with frustration. “And we can’t even see the damn plate.”

“It’s a start,” Dare said, though even he didn’t sound particularly convinced. “We’ll run a check on all registered work vans in the area, see if we can narrow it down. But this… this isn’t going to be easy.”

Cam sighed, flipping his notepad closed. “When is it ever?”

Sawyer knew Cam was right. Investigations were rarely straightforward, but the nagging sense of urgency clung to him. A woman had been murdered, and somewhere out there was a killer who thought they’d gotten away with it.

Sawyer stared at the screen, the white van taunting him from the fuzzy footage. It was a lead, but one that was frustratingly out of reach. “We’ll get him,” Sawyer said, more to himself than to anyone else. “We have to.”

Dare and Cam nodded. There was still much to do, more leads to chase, and a killer to bring to justice. They were closer than they had been that morning, but still, not close enough. And until they were, he wouldn’t rest.