Agent Ren Bryce Thriller Series Books 1-3: Blood Runs Cold, Time of Death, Blood Loss. Alex Barclay

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      ‘In Bob’s office?’ said Colin.

      ‘Like we’re all going to fit in Bob’s office,’ said Ren. ‘The Sheriff’s Office I refer to is the entire building. It covers all the offices, including Bob’s and the one that has been loaned out to us. Bob’s office is Bob’s office. We’ll be meeting in the conference room.’

      ‘Thanks for clearing that up so slowly,’ said Colin.

      ‘Aw,’ said Ren. ‘Thanks for listening so loudly.’

      Ren was walking the hallway to her office when she heard Mike saying, ‘Oh, good God, she’s a train wreck.’

      His voice was coming from Bob’s office. Ren knocked on the open door and walked in.

      ‘Are you talking about me?’ she said.

      Mike turned and smiled. He pointed at the television screen in the corner.

      ‘Bob, turn that up,’ he said.

      Bob grabbed the remote control and the voice of Casey Bonaventure filled the room.

      ‘… disappearance in February last year of twenty-eight-year-old Mark Allen Wilson, whose body has never been found. Wilson was last seen at the Brockton Filly, a bar five miles outside Breckenridge at the base of Quandary Peak – a mountain that in the past year has cast a shadow over the lives of two families –’

      Bob shook his head. ‘Jesus, Casey is something else. I told her to go off and do some research, and she comes back with this non-story again.’ He turned down the television.

      ‘Hey,’ said Ren. ‘That could have been interesting.’

      ‘Seriously, it’s not,’ said Bob. ‘Missing guy from out-of-town, drinking all evening at the Filly, gets loaded, gets into a brawl, wanders out in the snow, goes to relieve himself in the trees, falls over, hits his head, gets hypothermia, dies. No body, but, hey, that’s the story of our lives around here.’

      ‘That’s it?’ said Ren. ‘No trace of him?’

      ‘Nope,’ said Bob. ‘Last person he was seen hanging out with in the bar was a guy called Terrence Haggart. And when I say “hanging out with”, I mean “getting badly beaten by”. Next thing, Wilson’s reported missing. And never shows up again. So, there you have it.’

      ‘I see,’ said Ren. ‘Has the family given you guys a hard time?’

      ‘He was an alcoholic they had no time for,’ said Bob.

      ‘That’s very sad,’ said Ren. ‘An illness that seems too recreational for people to do anything about until it’s too late.’

      ‘Whatever,’ said Mike.

      ‘Has anyone seen Tiny Gressett?’ said Ren.

      ‘Last time I saw him,’ said Mike, ‘he was in the kitchen down the hall.’

      ‘Thanks, see you later.’

      Gressett was on his way out of the kitchen with a coffee.

      ‘Tiny?’ said Ren.

      He stopped, but didn’t turn around. ‘Yes?’

      She walked around him to face him. ‘I know you probably didn’t have that kind of relationship with her, and that women can be tricky to read at the best of times, right? But can I ask you about Jean’s personal life?’

      Gressett nodded. ‘For what it’s worth.’

      ‘Did she talk about boyfriends or dating? Did anyone ever come pick her up from work, or meet her for lunch?’

      He frowned. ‘Not that I can think of.’

      ‘She never went to lunch with anyone else?’

      ‘She ate at the office a lot … or we went together.’

      God help her.

      ‘I don’t know after that,’ said Gressett. ‘She could have. I’ve seen her in Sacred Grounds a couple times with a magazine. It’s a coffee shop in Glenwood.’

      ‘So, alone?’

      He nodded. ‘Yes. Always.’

      ‘Did she seem interested in dating?’

      ‘In dating? Well, she kept to herself. Maybe she liked it that way.’

      Ren nodded. ‘Did you ever get the feeling, maybe, that …’

      ‘That what? She didn’t like dating?’

      ‘Do you think there’s any possibility that Jean could have been gay?’

      ‘I would say absolutely not.’ He almost recoiled.

      You asshole.

      ‘Nothing wrong with it, if she was,’ said Ren.

      He looked at Ren sideways, then tried to recover. ‘I … I know that … It’s just … she wasn’t.’

      ‘Maybe it was something she kept hidden,’ said Ren. Because of your biased ass. ‘So, just as far as you know, she didn’t go on any dates, that you were aware of, while she worked with you.’

      ‘Our relationship was strictly professional, if that’s what you mean.’

      No, that’s not what I meant, but knock yourself out.

      ‘So she wouldn’t have talked to you about her personal life?’ said Ren.

      ‘No. No, she would not.’

      ‘And to Todd?’

      He snorted. ‘Does he look like someone you’d confide in?’

      Tiny Gressett, your mask is slipping.

       Chapter 19

      Ren stood at the top of the conference room, waiting for everyone to make their way in. After ten minutes, her patience had taken a turn for the worse.

      ‘Hi,’ she said. ‘I don’t have time to wait for everyone, so I’m just going to start. Thank you, first of all, for the information that’s been coming through. We have Jean’s phone records from her home and office, so we’ll be working through them to see what we come up with. We have yet to locate the second cellphone.

      ‘From the detectives here at the Sheriff’s Office, we have a list of people in Breckenridge with priors, and we’re following those up.

      ‘We got a positive ID from several of the staff members at the Rifle Creek СКАЧАТЬ