“What do you need from me?”
“Records,” she responded, meeting Jake’s eyes directly. “Anyone I tagged while I was there. We’re going to be taking a hard look at any of the more serious cases, but if you can dump everything into a file, we can parse it. There will be a tech from the State Police reaching out to you.”
“How much information? There may be limits to what I can give you,” Vesta warned.
“Let’s start with serial number, date, charges and any sentence imposed,” Cassidy said, holding Jake’s wrist as she rattled the request off. “If we can find some kind of pattern, we might ask you to go deeper.”
Vesta hummed her agreement. “Fair enough. Who should I be looking to hear from?”
Jake leaned over to speak into the phone. “Special Agent Emma Parker, from our Cyber Crime Division, will be reaching out.”
“Very good,” Vesta replied. “I’ll get the information pulled. Cassidy. I expect to hear from you when this situation is cleared up.”
“Will do, Vesta. Thank you.” Cassidy ended the call and found Jake watching her, a curious expression on his face. “What?”
“Old friend?”
“Actually, yes.” She matched his tone but didn’t offer anything more.
Jake didn’t give up. “You serve together?”
Cassidy sighed and then fixed him with a bland stare. “Yes. Actually, Vesta was a member of my first training class.”
His eyebrows shot skyward. “And now she’s in charge?”
“Looks that way,” she said, going for a casual tone.
But Jake was not accepting the brush-off. He bent closer, a mischievous gleam in his eye. “Did she get promoted over you? Is that why you left?”
“You’ve been watching too many daytime dramas,” she said with a laugh.
His smile came slow. “Do they even have those anymore?”
“I bet you listen to true crime podcasts while you cruise around with your doggo.”
Jake chuckled, then made a move to stand. “Max prefers classic rock on satellite radio.”
Cassidy’s heart sank as she watched Max scramble to his feet as well. They were heading back into the search, and once again, she’d be left alone with only her own personal bomb for company.
“Hey, don’t forget to update your boss.”
Jake swiveled and gave her a smart salute. “Will do.” Then, walking backward, he checked his watch. “We’ll be back for three o’clock. We’ll bring water and snacks.”
A glance at her own phone sent a surge of relief through her. Twenty minutes. She’d see them again in twenty more minutes.
“Something salty,” she requested. “Like me.”
He held up a hand to indicate message received. “Sweet it is.”
Before she could answer, he turned and jogged away.
Cassidy sagged in her seat, but smiled nonetheless. Jake Donovan thought she was sweet. It wasn’t much, but it was enough. For now.
Chapter Eight
Tensions on the concourse of Barton Coliseum ran high. Colonel Aronson was in deep discussion with two other men. One was dressed in field gear, the other in a suit. The shorter one turned and Jake spotted the Little Rock Fire Department insignia on his shirt. He could only assume the other was city police.
Evan Furst and another firefighter hung back, close enough to catch the tenor of the conversation if not the details. “What’s going on?” Jake drew Max to a halt beside them.
