Fulfilling Promises (Red Starr, Book Five) by Kennedy Layne

antique twenty-horsepower Johnson Seahorse outboard motor. “He and Charlie would go a few times every year if Charlie could get the damned thing running.”
    “I remember Charlie,” Trigger said fondly, looking at the frame in Devyn’s hand. “He transferred in from Corinth during his sophomore year. Have you spoken with him? Did they have plans and then Joey was a no-show?”
    “I haven’t spoken to him personally, but the police already had by the time they released me earlier this morning.” Devyn gently placed the cheap wooden frame on the desk and then rubbed her eyes. Those hours of sleep hadn’t nearly been enough to erase some of her exhaustion. “The Staties followed up everything I told them. Charlie and Joey didn’t have any plans and I have no idea where Joey might have been headed.”
    “Was Joey seeing someone other than Grace lately?” Trigger inquired, running possible scenarios through his mind on what might have happened. The computer had been on for a while now, but he hadn’t wanted to interrupt Devyn while she was describing what had taken place. “You mentioned he didn’t show up for work on Monday, but what about Friday? You said he skipped dinner with you on Thursday, so did he head out of town that night?”
    “Grace and Joey were on another one of their breaks, but he wasn’t seeing anyone else that I know of.” Devyn was getting antsy, but Trigger needed a little more information before he placed another call to Starr. She mentioned on the phone that she was in Washington D.C., but that she would still make the necessary calls to those few contacts she had in Mississippi. She was also getting him a name of the best lawyer in the area should Devyn need him or her. Starr most likely had already informed the team of what had happened, but he would still call his team leader in the morning to give him a recap. “I’m assuming Joey had closed the garage on Friday evening as usual, especially since I didn’t receive any calls from angry customers until Monday.”
    Trigger leaned forward and entered the administrative password. It still worked, for which he was thankful. The monitor’s screen flickered before the desktop appeared. Everything seemed to be in order, but he checked every place he could for anything out of the ordinary. Nothing. He then scrolled through the dates and times the computer was last used.
    “When were you here this morning?” Trigger asked as Devyn stood up and came around the desk to stand behind him.
    “Around ten-thirty, give or take.” Devyn rested a hand on the desk beside his arm, her hair cascading down and pulling a memory from the time they’d been together. Trigger hesitated before placing the cursor above the security system’s icon. The time she gave had been the last one listed and the last login had occurred on Thursday at closing time. That meant the police hadn’t combed through the computer system, only the property. Why? Did they not have a complete warrant? This changed things and he wasn’t sure what he’d find on the cameras. He didn’t want her to see anything that would continue to haunt her nights. “John?”
    “Yeah,” Trigger replied, going ahead and pressing the right side of the mouse. The files of the security footage appeared in a small white box, listed by dates and times. He wavered over Thursday’s folder. “Are you sure you want to see what could be on these recordings?”
    Devyn answered by walking back around the desk and dragging the guest chair so that it was positioned beside his. It was a tight fit, but she made it work. Grief worked differently for everyone, but Devyn was very much like him…she needed to keep busy and work through it, giving her the time to mentally accept death while searching for the reason. In this case, the person responsible.
    “Click it,” Devyn instructed before what sounded like her holding her breath.
    Trigger opened up the video and together they watched as Joey completed