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As Mina made her way around the escape room, she could feel Nolan watching from the doorway. She should be concentrating on the murder, but she couldn’t get over the fact that he’d supposedly left her a note. He seemed sincere, but he could just be trying to get on her good side so she wouldn’t suspect him or one of his friends of this murder.

Sincere or not, how could he have left a note without her receiving it? Tommy was a loyal friend until the day he died. If he’d gotten a note from Nolan, he would’ve delivered it.

Wouldn’t he?

His mother had always hinted that he had a crush on her, and they would make the perfect couple. He’d protested and said that’s the last thing he wanted. That they were just good friends. But could he have been covering up for his true feelings and kept the note from her because he hoped they would get together?

No. No. She was certain of that. Even if he wanted to be with her, he wouldn’t have decided her future for her. Not Tommy. He was as loyal and honest as they came.

So let it go . It’s all in the past. Spilled milk and all that. Don’t cry over it. She’d done plenty of that when Nolan had disappeared from her life.

Chalk it up to a summer romance. That was all it was. This kind of romance happened around these parts with tourists and college kids coming to work in the shops and hotels during the peak season. Love ’em and leave ’em. It still happened today, leaving lots of broken hearts.

Not hers. Not again. Though it would be different now. Nolan seemed like he planned to stay this time. Set down roots and all.

Also didn’t matter. She was so not going there, but seeing him made clear an issue that had nagged at her for years. She needed to find a way to forgive him. Not for him, but for her. The Bible clearly said if she didn’t forgive him his sins, her Father wouldn’t forgive hers.

And then what if she didn’t? She couldn’t even begin to comprehend the consequences because she couldn’t find a way to let go of the hurt long enough to forgive him.

She had to address it and soon. Not now. Now she had to get to the bottom of this murder.

Gritting her teeth, she spun to look at him. She wanted to move on to the murder, but her emotions betrayed her. “Why here? Why set up your business at the inn?”

“Lost Lake got under my skin when I visited, so when I decided to leave my post with the Secret Service to come back to Oregon, I thought this was where I wanted to live. So did the others. I was already in escrow on the inn before I knew you were still here, much less the county sheriff. Your goal was always to experience big city policing, and I knew you’d moved to Portland.”

She wouldn’t ask him how he knew that, because she really didn’t care. “I got my fill of city living and came back as a deputy. When the sheriff stepped down, I decided to run. Folks around here didn’t much like that I’d left, so no one was more shocked than me when I won.”

“They must’ve liked you better than your opponent.”

“I guess so, though the deputy I ran against had been a deputy here longer than me.”

“Is he or she still on the team?”

She nodded and left it at that. She didn’t want to talk about the challenge of supervising Sergeant Abell, who’d vied with her for the sheriff’s office. He often pushed her buttons simply to get a rise out of her, which she wouldn’t fall prey to. “I’ve seen enough here. As much as I want to keep this investigation in-house, our county is too small for a full-time forensic staff. I’ll need to call in the state team.”

Nolan nodded, but his gaze flitted around the room.

“What are you not saying?” she asked.

He hesitated for a long moment. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m sure the state team is quite capable.”

Before she said something she would regret, she clamped her mouth closed, then took a breath. “But you’ve worked at the federal level, and you don’t think the state staff possesses the necessary skills.”

“I’m not saying that, but I was going to suggest we bring in the Veritas team from Portland.”

She snorted. “No way we can afford a world-class team like theirs.”

“I get that, but I have a buddy who owes me, and he has a connection to the team members. It’s possible he could get them to process the scene pro bono.”

Interesting but… “Say that’s possible. They’ve got to be booked up. How long would it even take before they could work this scene?”

“If you’ll authorize me to ask, I can find out the answer while also finding out if they’ll do it pro bono.” He leaned closer to her. “What do you have to lose by asking?”

“What? I’ll tell you what. Number one, it keeps you involved in the investigation. Maybe they’ll be obliged to give you results. That won’t work. If I agree, and it’s still a big if, I would insist on every bit of the forensic reports and updates coming directly to me. Not to you.”

“No worries,” he said as if it were no big deal when it was a huge deal to her. “They’ll sign a contract with you stating who the results are to be delivered to. Trust me. They don’t share information unless authorized to do so.”

“Fine,” she said, giving in to the lure of having a top-notch team at her disposal in this investigation. At the same time, she was certain she was making a mistake. “As you said, what do I have to lose by asking? So go ahead and ask.” She feigned indifference, but her gut clamped down tight.

“Roger that.” He wasted no time but stepped into the hallway.

She half expected him to gloat about her giving in to his wishes, but he didn’t. He was simply straightforward and acting like he wanted to solve the murder. She could honestly use his help in the investigation. The help of his team too. Certainly one or more of them had participated in a murder investigation and had better skills than most of her deputies possessed.

Maybe even better than hers.

And Nolan had been on the president’s team when there was an attempt on his life. She suspected he’d been involved in finding the shooter. She couldn’t say that for certain, but he was on the detail the day of the shooting, and he wouldn’t let something like that rest.

If she contrasted their skills to her deputies’ skills, there was no question. The LLL team had more experience in large investigations. There hadn’t been a murder in her county for twenty years, and the only murder-investigation skills her team possessed were what they’d learned at police academy. Same thing went for her too.

She was a newbie. A greenhorn. Had only been the sheriff for two years. But she’d been around long enough to know that when the news got out about the mayor, she was going to receive a parade of phone calls from the citizens demanding she find his murderer. He was beloved by all, and if she didn’t solve his murder quickly, they would definitely call for her to resign or find a way to remove her from office.

So the question was, did she want to stay in office more than she wanted to avoid working with Nolan and his team? She loved her job and didn’t want anything to take it away from her. She especially didn’t want to be removed and disgraced for not handling a murder investigation as quickly as the citizens wanted her to.

But an even bigger question she needed answered before she could work with the team was, did they have airtight alibies for the time of the mayor’s death or was one or more of them guilty of this murder?

Nolan dialed his friend Colin Graham. A former FBI agent, Colin was now a member of the Shadow Lake Survival team, a group who taught survival skills to people who wanted to change to off-grid living. His boss, Reid Maddox, knew the experts at the Veritas Center and could hopefully be Nolan’s way in.

“Yo, Nolan,” Colin said. “How’s the new business going?”

“You know.” Nolan tried not to let the murder color his tone. “The usual start-up issues, but otherwise it’s good.”

“Doesn’t sound like things are good.”

Nolan laughed. “You asked about the business, not if things are going good.”

“Right. So what’s up?”

“I need your help.” He explained their situation.

“Whoa. That must’ve been a shocker.”

“It was. Still is, really.” He took a deep breath. “And that’s why I called. I was hoping you would talk Reid into seeing if Veritas would get on board with doing the forensics. Not only handle them, but do it pro bono.”

“You don’t want much, do you?”

“I know it’s a big ask.”

“Not too big, man. We owe you and your team for helping out my brother when he needed it, so I’m glad to ask Reid. I’m sure he’ll make the call, but I don’t know if Veritas will go for it.”

“All we can do at this point is ask, right?”

“Yeah, will do as soon as we hang up.” Colin let a long breath of air through the phone. “Anything else I can do for you? Like maybe you need manpower?”

“We’re good for now, but I’ll let you know if something comes up. And thanks, man. I appreciate the help.” Nolan ended the call and stowed his phone.

Mina exited the escape room, closed the door, and stopped by her deputy. “I don’t want anyone else in here without my approval. You got that?”

Her deputy gave a sharp nod. “Roger that, boss.”

She approached Nolan and looked up at him. “Any luck with that phone call?”

“I got a hold of my friend, and he’ll get the ball rolling with Veritas. I’ll let you know as soon as we hear anything from them.”

“Sounds good.” She started to walk away, then stopped. “I didn’t ask you. Any ideas on who might want to kill Mayor Sutton?”

Nolan shook his head. “I didn’t know him very well. We worked together on some of the issues regarding refurbishing the inn and applying for a tax break, but other than that, I didn’t have any dealings with him. And we’ve all been far too busy getting the business up and going to socialize and catch any gossip about him.”

She frowned. “Then why would someone want to try to connect this murder to you? And connected it is, considering the personal nature of the escape room. That’s what I’m having the hardest time with.”

“You’re having a hard time! Think about our confusion when we don’t have any connection. Maybe it’s just someone who wanted to pin the murder on the new guys in town because no one knows much about us. Maybe making it easier to do.”

She eyed him, fire burning in her gaze. “You mean because they don’t think I have enough experience to handle investigating your backgrounds to find a connection?”

“Not you particularly, but yeah, something like that.” He regretted upsetting her, but he had to tell the truth. “I know that’s not true. I know that you’re very skilled in law enforcement, and I have no doubt that you’ll solve this murder with or without our help.”

She studied him carefully, her gaze boring into him but suddenly softening. “I honestly don’t believe anyone on your team is behind the murder. However, you know that whoever finds a body is an automatic suspect until proven otherwise. And in this situation, with everything in the murder scene related to you and your team, that further implicates you in this investigation.”

“I understand, I do, and I think you’re about to tell me that we can’t work together on this investigation until our names are cleared.”

“Yes.” She planted her feet, a stubborn stance she’d always taken when she’d felt threatened. “I hope you understand this isn’t anything personal.”

“I do, and I hope you understand there’s no way the team and I can leave this alone. We’ll be investigating this murder one way or another. Either with you or alone.”

She gritted her teeth. “I can’t allow you to get in the way of my investigation.”

“Then maybe you need to reconsider us working together. After all, if we did join forces, you would know everything we were involved in.”

“Sure, during the time you’re with me, but when we’re apart, I would have no idea what you were up to.”

“Then you’ll just have to trust me.”

“Hah!” She scoffed. “It’s going to take far more than this conversation for me to trust you ever again.”

He knew she was angry at him, but this obviously went deeper than that. She didn’t trust him, and he had no idea if or how he could get past it.

“Well, then.” He made eye contact with her. “The only other option is for you to spend all of your time with us.”

She continued to meet his gaze but suddenly jerked it toward a gray-haired man walking down the hall. He was dressed in a white Tyvek suit and carrying a medical bag. Had to be the county medical examiner.

“Dr. Osborne.” She held out her hand and smiled. “Thank you for coming so quickly.”

“When you told me it was Mayor Sutton, I could do no less than get over here as fast as I could. My assistant is right behind me with our gurney.” He shook hands, but he released hers before shoving it out to Nolan, giving him the once-over. “Lawrence Osborne. GP in Seaside Harbor and county medical examiner.”

“Nolan Orr.” Nolan shook the doctor’s firm grasp.

“Nolan’s the leader of the team who found Mayor Sutton’s body,” Mina said.

His eyes narrowed. “Must’ve been quite a shock to discover him in that locker.”

“That’s putting it mildly.” Nolan released the man’s grip. “So Osborne. Any relation to the former owners of the inn?”

“My family.” He fished gloves out of his pocket. “Glad you bought the place. I hated to see it stand vacant so long and worried it would fall into disrepair.”

“No disrespect,” Nolan said, “but it was already in need of major repairs when I bought it.”

“Yes, of course, and I’m glad to see you’re restoring it to its former glory.” Osborne smiled and put the gloves on.

“It’s our pleasure. Once we’ve made more progress, I’ll invite you over to see it.”

“I’d like that very much. If it’s not too much trouble, could my parents come along too? They’d be thrilled to see the restoration.”

Nolan had only just met this guy and already liked him. In his experience, MEs and coroners could lack interpersonal skills, but he seemed compassionate and kind. Maybe because he was also a GP.

Nolan gave him a sincere smile. “It would be no trouble at all, and I’m glad to have them as our guests.”

“I hate to interrupt this touching conversation, but we have a murder to solve.” Mina gestured down the hallway. “I’ll show you to the scene.”

Dr. Osborne tsked. “You’re always one to stick to the point. You never did grasp the idea of laid-back, small-town conversations. I was just enjoying a few moments of reminiscing before the ugly task at hand.”

He spun and started down the hallway.

Mina faced Nolan. “You can return to the dining room, and please don’t wander around on the way.”

“I was hoping to accompany you and the doctor.”

“No,” she said, but her attention had drifted to a tall, lanky guy pushing a squeaky-wheeled gurney in their direction.

Nolan kept his focus on her, taking in details of her features that he’d forgotten. Details like her high cheekbones he’d traced the sun-soaked days they’d sprawled out on the beach.

Concentrate, man. You have a murder to solve. “I thought we were going to spend all of our time together.”

“I never agreed to that, and if I do, it won’t start until I can verify your alibi for the mayor’s time of death. And I won’t know the time of death until the ME does his job.” She pivoted and hustled down the hallway, her booted footfalls reverberating against the plaster walls and ceiling.

He’d always liked her feistiness. She knew her own mind, knew what she wanted and how she was going to achieve it. So when he said he thought she would solve this investigation with or without him, he really believed that. But he wouldn’t give up trying to help with the investigation.

He didn’t want to spend time with her. Not with his residual pain from their breakup. Too bad. He needed to. If he didn’t, he could very well find himself or one of his team members arrested and charged with murder.