“So you never even got close to her.”
“I was a good five feet away at the very closest.”
Seth frowned. “I wish someone had seen it.”
Ty glanced around the property. Somewhere nearby a car door slammed. He tracked the sound to the motel lot that was adjacent to the coffee shop parking lot. A sparse tree line separated the properties. “I wonder if the motel would have an exterior camera.”
“Good question. I know the manager. Did a little marketing for her last summer. Let’s head over.”
They walked toward the hotel entrance and once inside found a middle-aged brunette working the lobby desk.
“Hi, MaryAnn,” Seth said. “How’ve you been?”
“Seth.” She beamed. “Good to see you. I still tell Mr. Mays all the time that we need to hire you again.”
“I’m glad the campaign worked out so well for you. This is my brother Tyson.” Seth glanced at his brother. “MaryAnn pretty much runs this hotel single-handedly.”
“Oh, I have plenty of help. Nice to meet you, Tyson. Your brother’s a marketing genius.”
“We try not to butter him up too much. We have to live with him.”
She grinned. “Fair enough. What brings you guys by? I can’t imagine you need rooms.”
Seth leaned on the counter. “Actually we have a weird question for you. Do you happen to have exterior security cameras?”
“As a matter of fact, we do. We had a problem with auto break-ins last summer and Mr. Mays had them installed. Why do you ask?”
Seth went into the story, giving only the pertinent details about Ty’s encounter with Marissa and her false allegations, without naming her.
Her gaze swung to Tyson. “Oh my. You were accused of accosting her? When did this supposedly happen?”
“Last Sunday around three fifteen. I’m really hoping you have footage of the event so I can exonerate myself.”
She gave a sharp nod. “Well, we’re gonna find out right now. Come on back to the office and let’s see what we can pull up.”
“There she is,” Seth said.
Tyson couldn’t believe it. The motel’s camera view was black and white and focused on their own parking lot, of course. But just through the gap in the bushes, Marissa exited her car. And then there he was at the very top of the screen. They came to a stop andexchanged words. You couldn’t really see their expressions or hear what they were saying.
Then Tyson walked away from her, leaving the screen. Marissa headed toward the shop entrance. A moment later the bottom of Ty’s truck passed by as he exited the lot. He had everything he needed right here. Relief flooded through him, nearly wilting him.
“Bingo!” Seth said.
“Wow, you didn’t even go near her.” MaryAnn pecked a few keys on the computer. “She won’t get away with this. What’s your email? I’ll send you the file.”
Tyson rattled it off, his mind still whirling. He couldn’t wait to send that footage to Chief Jones.
Seth clapped him on the back. “It’s over, buddy. Marissa’s been caught in her lies red-handed.”
As soon as Tyson got back to his house, he forwarded the video to the chief with a message explaining where he’d gotten it and including MaryAnn’s number. A few minutes later his phone rang.
“I just saw the footage,” Chief Jones said. “Sure seems indisputable to me. I’m going to call Geena into my office, and I’ll let you know how it goes from there. Great job on this, Parker. I’ll get back with you soon.”
After Ty disconnected the call, he heated up some leftover pizza, but he hardly tasted it as he ate. Surely the EMS director would see he was innocent of Marissa’s accusations. When she’d made her allegations she’d given the day and time of the encounter, which were time-stamped on the footage.
For the hundredth time this week he wished he could call Jenna and talk to her. It had been lonely going through this without her—even though Luke’s and Ty’s families had been supportive. He’d been at loose ends without the fire company, wondering about the new rumors Marissa might’ve started or what other drama she might be stirring up.
Jenna.
