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Mina waited at the table as Nolan went to fetch the next teammate for interviewing. She couldn’t help but think about him. Every spare moment. Her brain should be working on the murder, but it was full of Nolan instead. Now that he had an alibi, which she assumed would check out, she could involve him in the investigation. Question was, would it be more distracting to have him around all the time or be thinking about him?

If only she could prove Tommy had the note from Nolan and didn’t give it to her, she might be able to put her past to rest and stop thinking about Nolan. But how would she do that? The bigger question was, why would Tommy have withheld the note from her?

Was there some reason he might not want her to get together with Nolan? Maybe he feared if she did, she would leave town and their friendship would be over. She knew he’d counted on her. He’d gone off to college and earned a degree in information technology, then landed a wonderful job in that field in Portland. But unfortunately, he started gambling online and got into serious debt. His parents had to bail him out to the tune of fifty grand.

Their conditions for providing the money were that he was no longer to use a computer, had to join a gambler’s anonymous support group, and had to move back home with them to save money and pay off the debt. He took the first job he could get, assistant manager at the hotel. He hated every minute of it, but it gave him some spending money and money to start paying his parents back.

He’d gotten a bit depressed and often talked to her to find the light of day. Now that she thought about it, he’d become somewhat dependent on her. So maybe he had feared she was going to move to D.C. with Nolan, and he would have no one in town to help make his life better. But was that motive enough for him to ruin her life?

“I’m your next victim.” Abby laughed as she stepped into the room and took a seat. “Seriously, I’ve been in your shoes, and I’m more than willing to cooperate in any way I can.”

Mina appreciated her good mood and cooperation. “How about starting with telling me what happened tonight?”

“I’m sure you’ve heard the story from Nolan, but here goes.” Abby leaned back in her chair and started from the time she arrived at the location.

Mina didn’t disturb her with questions. No reason, when Abby was recounting the same thing as Nolan, though she did add a bit more of a nostalgic feel to speaking about her academy days.

“That’s it.” She let out a long breath. “This was my first escape room, and I never want to do one again.”

“That’s understandable.” Mina set down her pen. “Can you tell me where you were between three and five p.m. today?”

“Ah, you have an approximate time of death, I see.” Abby’s eyes narrowed. “I was in a meeting with the rest of the team. We were debriefing from our most recent investigation. Everyone was there but Jude.”

“And where was he?” Mina asked.

“On his way back from Portland, but he was on the phone with us the whole time. And before you ask, we had burgers delivered, so you can check with the Submarine delivery guy. He can confirm five of us were present.”

“Did you know the mayor very well?”

“Not at all. I’d only met him once when he and his daughter came to our open house.” She smiled. “He seemed like a real friendly guy. His daughter too. So friendly that she had a date with Jude before she left.”

“That was fast,” Mina said, but took a moment to link Jude to several parts of the crime. His locker held the body. He didn’t have a solid alibi. He’d dated the mayor’s daughter. Could be coincidence, but like most law enforcement officers, she didn’t believe in coincidences.

“Yeah,” Abby said. “I don’t know anything about her, but Jude’s a real charmer.”

“Have they gone out yet?”

“Two times, in fact, but I don’t get the sense from Jude that it’s very serious. He’s not really looking for a steady relationship.”

“Did she seem upset by that?”

“Not that Jude has said.”

“Is there anything else you can tell me about the mayor or about who might want to harm him?”

“That’s all I know. I joined the team later than the others, so maybe they have more information about him than I do. Nolan has been here the longest, so if you haven’t asked him—which I suspect you have—you should do so.”

“Do you remember the Smythe fellow well enough to be able to provide a description for an artist?”

“Oh yeah. He treated me like a princess during dinner, and I’m not about to forget any man who treats me that well.” Abby laughed.

“I don’t have any further questions. Is there anything I haven’t touched on that you think I need to know?”

She sat up straight. “About the investigation, no. About Nolan, yes.”

Mina took her time closing her notebook and laying her pen on top of it. “What exactly do you think I need to know about Nolan?”

“He told us that you never got the note he left you that spring break.”

Mina didn’t expect this to be personal, and she wanted to shut it down. “That’s really between Nolan and me.”

“I agree, but when Nolan won’t stand up for himself, I’m going to do it for him.”

“What do you mean stand up for himself?”

Abby crossed her arms. “We all know he left that note for you.”

“How do you know? Were you there when he did it?”

“No, but he told us immediately after he did.”

“He can tell you anything, but that doesn’t mean he did it.” Mina folded her hands on the table. “Besides, even if he left a note, that didn’t have to be the end. He could’ve followed up.”

“And that’s what he didn’t tell you. He did follow up. A week later he called the desk clerk to see if he gave you the note. He said he couldn’t find you, but would keep trying. So a week later Nolan called the clerk, and he said he’d given you the note. Nolan asked how you reacted to it. The clerk said you just took it and left. So Nolan asked him to find you again to ask if you’d read it. He promised to do that.”

Mina slumped back into her chair. “I had no idea.”

“That wasn’t all. After a week, he called the clerk back. The clerk told him you tore up the note and said you wanted nothing to do with him. But Nolan didn’t stop at that either. He came back to town as soon as he could get leave from his job and located your parents. He went to their house. They said you no longer lived there, and he’d hurt you badly. They wouldn’t tell him where you went.”

“I’d moved to Portland to get some experience in city policing, but they never mentioned that to me.” And the first moment she got, she was going to ask them about it.

“He did everything he could to tell you where he’d gone and why he had to leave so abruptly.”

“Why didn’t he tell me any of that?”

Abby shrugged. “Only he knows that. But maybe he wondered what the point was. Too many years have passed. Or maybe he thought he looked too desperate, and if you’d wanted to be with him, you would’ve found a way to tell him.”

Mina didn’t know what to think now. She’d like to race to her parents’ house and question them, but how could she? Her top priority had to be finding Mayor Sutton’s killer, and she could talk to her parents in her downtime.

But then, was there any downtime when hunting for a killer? She’d never had to find one before, but she was certain her every waking moment needed to be spent on bringing the killer to justice.

Nolan had no idea why he was being summoned along with Jude to speak to Mina again. Sure Jude still had to give his statement, but Nolan didn’t need to be there. Maybe something the others said made her want to clarify his statement.

He entered the room behind Jude. She had her back to them, facing the window. Perfect. She wasn’t looking, and he took a moment to study the curves of her body evident even in the nondescript county uniform.

She rested her hand on her sidearm, and the manicured nails painted a delicate lilac were a contrast to the weapon. To her rough and tumble personality too. Reece was the only other woman he’d seen so at home in both the tough law enforcement environment and as a feminine single woman. He hadn’t just seen it in Mina, but he loved it. He’d always been a sucker for a woman with a gun.

She turned and ran her gaze over them. “Have a seat, Jude.”

“You want me to sit too?”

“That’s up to you.” She stepped to the table. “I thought since Jude’s the only one without an alibi, he might want you with him for the interview.”

Jude’s eyes flashed up. “Am I a suspect?”

“Yes, until I can rule you out.”

“Come on, now.” He narrowed his eyes. “I’ve only met the guy once at our grand opening. Why would I want to kill him?”

“Maybe he didn’t like you dating Becca.”

“Seriously?” Jude blinked at her. “We only went out twice. I don’t think he even knew about me.”

“Were you planning on a third date?”

He shook his head.

Mina’s eyebrow rose. “Why not?”

“No spark.” He held up a hand. “Before you think she was upset by that, it was a two-way street. A mutual decision.”

“So if I ask her about it, she’ll tell me the same thing?”

“Absolutely.”

Nolan took a step. “Do you want me to hang out here, Jude?”

He crossed his arms. “Probably wouldn’t be a bad idea since it seems like Mina has forgotten everything she knows about me.”

Mina lifted her shoulders. “That’s not fair and you know it. If you were still an FBI agent and handling this investigation, you would be doing the same thing. Even if you knew and respected the primary suspect.”

Nolan leaned against the wall. “She does have a point. I think we’d all be doing the same thing and should give her a break. And be honest with her, as I know you will. The more you tell her, the sooner she can rule you out.”

Jude eyed Mina. “What else do you want to know?”

“You were on the way back from Portland when the mayor was killed, is that right?”

“Correct.”

“What were you doing in Portland?”

“Not that it’s related to the investigation in any way, but I had just come from the Multnomah County Courthouse where I was looking up records for our investigation.”

“He’s being modest,” Nolan said. “He had a lead on a property that we couldn’t get detailed owner information about online, and he got the clerk to give him the owner’s name, which led us to find our missing girl in time.”

“The Jennings girl from Seaside Harbor.”

“Yeah,” Jude said. “That’s her.”

“Congratulations on finding her.”

“We were glad to bring her home.” Nolan smiled as he recalled the moment she’d reunited with her parents.

She smiled back at him. “Always a good day when a missing person case turns out that well.”

He loved feeling the warmth of her genuine smile again. “Which is why we do what we do, even if we sometimes step on law enforcement’s toes in the process.”

Her smile vanished. She probably realized a day could come when she would butt heads with him over such an investigation. She shifted her focus back to Jude. “Did you stop along the way where anyone could’ve seen you?”

“No.”

“Make any video phone calls?”

He arched a dark eyebrow. “Why video in particular?”

As a former FBI agent, he knew the answer to her question, and for some reason, was playing dumb with her. Why, Nolan didn’t know. Maybe testing her skills.

She didn’t miss a beat. “You know we can trace any calls you made on the drive, triangulating your location. A video call proves that you were with the phone when the call was made. Otherwise, if you texted or made a regular call, it only proves that your phone was in that location.”

“No video calls.” Jude’s expression was deadpan. “In fact, no calls at all after I left Portland other than with the team while I ate a granola bar or ten and drooled over their burgers.”

Jude had probably hoped for a laugh with the burger comment, but she didn’t crack a smile. His rejection by his parents when he’d gone into law enforcement had done a number on him, and he’d taken to using humor to cover up his emotions.

“Do you know who invited you to this party tonight?” Mina asked.

“No.” He flexed his fingers but kept a blank expression. “Just like the rest of the team, I was surprised by the invitation.”

“How about the property? Know who owns it?”

“No.”

“What about Smythe? Do you know his full name or anything else about him?”

“No. Tonight was the first time I’ve ever seen him.”

“Why do you think the locker you opened was the one that contained the mayor’s body?”

Jude sat up straighter. “I have no idea.”

“One of your trophies is present in the room too. Do you have any idea why that might be?”

“Not my trophy.” He stared at her, looking like her endless questions might be getting to him. “Just one made to look like I got it. Unless it’s a plot to make me look guilty of something.”

“You mean you’re being set up?”

“I can’t think of any other reason for the mayor to be in the locker assigned to me or for a trophy with my name on it.” He clamped his hands on his knees. “Although I have to say there were trophies from other of our teammates too. Not that I’m throwing them under the bus because I know none of them are guilty.”

She took a long breath, pausing as if regrouping. “Do you know why anyone would have motive to kill the mayor?”

“Like I said, I didn’t know the mayor, so I wouldn’t have a clue as to why someone would want to kill him. His daughter spoke highly of him, and it was clear that she respected him.”

“If there’s anything else you would like me to know about your involvement in this murder, now would be the time to tell me.”

“I have nothing else to say.” Jude stood. “I didn’t kill the mayor, I had nothing to do with this night at this place, and I’m innocent of all charges.”

He strode toward the door without waiting to be dismissed.

“You can go,” Mina called after him. “But don’t leave the area without letting me know.”

Jude snarled and exited the room.

Nolan pushed off the wall. “You honestly don’t think Jude killed the mayor, do you?”

“Put on your law enforcement hat, Nolan. You would see that he has to remain a suspect until proven otherwise. So whether I believe in what he has done or not done is irrelevant.”

He didn’t like that answer. Not at all. “You know we’re going to do our very best to prove his innocence. To prove the innocence of our entire team.”

She locked gazes with him. “I can’t have you go off half-cocked and interfere with my investigation.”

Nolan wouldn’t be told what to do when it came to defending his family. Sure, many people thought the team members were just friends, but they were more than that. More than most families. Connected. Caring. Protective. A strong unit. One that couldn’t be destroyed. No matter their circumstances.

He pulled his shoulders back. “Unless we break the law, I can’t really see how you can stop us.”

She looked down and ran a hand through her hair. He recognized her expression. She was thinking, and he imagined thoughts pinging through her brain. She suddenly looked up. “I have a proposition for you. Something that will benefit both of us.”

“I’m listening.”

“You served as a deputy before the Secret Service and are familiar with the proper investigative procedure. I can deputize you, and you can work directly with me.”

He almost sputtered and had to work hard to keep his mouth from falling open. “I can see how that would benefit you. After all, you can keep tabs on me and boss me around, but I sure don’t see how it would benefit me or my team.”

“Of course it will. You’ll have access to all of the information and reports about the investigation. Official law enforcement officers will have your back, and you’ll have the right to make arrests.”

She was right. That was appealing, but appealing enough to give up his independence and work for her? Work for the woman who he’d never wanted to see again? Despite the fact he still had feelings for her, was this the way to move forward in the investigation?

He just didn’t know.

He needed to clear Jude’s name and, because of their association with him, the team’s reputation so people would continue to hire them. Just having any whiff of impropriety connected to the team could be the end of the business they’d just started—sunk all of their money into. Being officially connected to the investigation gave Nolan a stamp of approval, and they could likely clear their names faster.

But he wouldn’t just roll over and let her use him. He held out his hand. “As long as you promise not to stonewall me or keep me out of pertinent details of the investigation, you’ve got a deal.”

She grabbed his hand. “I promise. And you promise too. No going behind my back with your team. Before you do anything, you’ll discuss it with me.”

“Then we have a deal,” he said and hoped he wasn’t making the biggest mistake of his life.