I have no doubt that’s why she turned her back on me. She’s strong, having grown up in the school of hard knocks.
“We’re still investigating.”
She sighs. “I don’t have your tapes yet. Lazy son of a bitch hasn’t shown up to attempt to fix this. All I’m getting is static, on every single recording. I have to be doing something wrong.” She turns to look at me. “You’re more than welcome to take a look yourself if you have time.”
“That would be great. Thanks, Shirley.”
She moves from the chair, motioning for me to take her vacated seat.
“I tried to view the night before Jenna went missing and that’s when I found the recordings are all wonky.”
“Has this happened before?”
“I’ve only checked a recording once before. There was a fightand I needed to provide evidence to the police because one of the guys filed assault charges. That recording was perfect. But that was months ago.” She grabs money from a drawer and stashes it in her purse. “If you figure it out, you’ll have to do some toggling if you want to check different cameras.”
This is news to me; the only one I was aware of is the visible camera over the bar.
“Where are the other cameras?” I ask, getting comfortable in the chair.
“I have one in the back alley for safety purposes. Can’t have my girls or the kitchen staff getting mugged in the middle of the night when they’re leaving here.” She purses her lips. “There’s also one hidden in the front lot; that way, if there are fights after hours, we have the details on what went down. You should be able to access back to the spring of 2019.”
She goes about showing me how to search for specific dates.
“Pretty straightforward. Need anything else?” she asks, hand still over the mouse.
I’m about to tell her I’m good to go when the computer goes haywire, shifting from one camera to the other, finally settling on the one over the bar. A man is leaning down, saying something into Charlie Dunbar’s ear. I move closer to the screen and when the guy turns, I get a good look at him.
“What is Marcus Wells doing here?” I ask, looking over my shoulder at Shirley.
“Marcus? He’s Amanda’s boyfriend. He’s always here.”
My eyes widen with that knowledge. Does Amanda know she’s in bed with a criminal?
“What the hell?” Shirley says, eyes narrowed in on the screen. “The cameras have all gone to shit.” I turn around to see the screen flick on and off before a video pops up. “What is happening?”Shirley asks. “I tried to pull that up for a week straight and just got static.”
I check the date on that particular recording and the blood drains from my face. August 10, 2023. The day Jenna went missing.
I shrug because I have no explanation. It seems to be working now. The whys hardly matter. I click the play button and watch what unfolds.
Jenna walks out the door at 3:15 a.m. according to the timestamp. Aside from Jenna’s Volvo, a black Yukon with blackout windows is in the back, right next to Jenna’s car.
“Any idea whose car that is?” I ask Shirley, who practically puts her nose to the screen to get a look.
“No clue. Never seen it.”
Jenna’s eyes are on her phone, and I watch as someone with a black ski mask exits the Yukon and approaches her. There isn’t sound on this camera, but the man is pointing toward the phone, and it looks like he’s instructing Jenna to take some action. Then he grabs it from her hand, and she takes off running. She doesn’t get far, because a second man exits from the passenger side and grabs her from behind, placing her in the back of the Yukon.
“Oh my god. She was taken right from the parking lot?” Shirley’s voice breaks on a sob.
Within a minute, the man who threw Jenna in the back of the Yukon gets into her car and both vehicles drive off. I write down the time, and I rewind the video and take some stills to send off to try to get a positive ID on the plates.
“This whole time I had evidence. I could’ve saved her.” The fragile woman is falling apart.
I spin around in my chair and grab her hands. “You did the best you could. This isn’t your fault.” Another sob rips through her chest, shaking her frail frame. “We’ll get them, Shirley. I promise.”
She wipes her face, working to pull herself together.
“For the time being, I need you to keep this information to yourself. If it gets out that we have this, the people involved could run.”
