Once again, Luca was skimming the recorded feeds, but this time he was shaking his head.
“She does,” Luca confirmed, “but not from that time period. Looks like it had a critical system failure.”
“Meaning?”
Luca shrugged a shoulder. “Could be anything.”
“Someone disabled it, too?”
“Possibly, but not likely. I’d say old equipment. Doesn’t look like she’s upgraded these in a while.”
Of course it couldn’t be they’d get lucky enough to see who else was in JJ’s house.
“You think whoever set this in motion is skilled?” Luca asked, twisting in his chair to look at them.
“They’re somethin’,” Brantley bit out, pivoting and pacing.
Reese remained where he was, staring at the screen that showed a list of files.
“Go back to the camera at the front of the house,” he instructed Luca.
Luca spun around. “What’re you lookin’ for?”
“To see if they disabled the other cameras after Dante arrived.”
Luca keyed in a few things, then they were watching from JJ’s front porch once more.
“What time is that?” Reese asked when the porch light was flipped off.
“Nine thirty-seven,” Luca noted.
They continued to watch, although it was nearly impossible to see. JJ clearly hadn’t invested in night-vision cameras, because this one reflected nothing more than a dark screen with a few pinpoints of light every now and then.
“Hold up. Is that…?”
There was a sliver of light, and Dante appeared in the doorway, then he stepped back and another figure stepped inside.
“Son of a bitch,” Brantley grumbled. “Dante opened the fucking door. That motherfucker.”
Reese peered at Luca. “Any chance you can get into any other camera feeds nearby?”
“Like what? This is Coyote Ridge. Not like we’re spyin’ on the residents.”
“What about doorbell cameras?” Holly suggested.
All eyes shifted to her.
“Damn good thinkin’,” Reese told her.
She smiled, a light blush infusing her cheeks.
Before Luca could get to work, Brantley’s cell phone rang.
“It’s the governor’s wife,” he said, his gaze swinging from one face to the next.
Reese moved a step closer. “Answer it.”
Brantley did, and for a few seconds, he was silent before saying, “Hold on, Trina. Slow down.” He pulled his phone from his ear, tapped the screen so the call would come through the speaker. “All right. Tell me what happened.”
