Indispensable Party (Sasha McCandless Legal Thriller No. 4) by Melissa F Miller Page A

spent the weekend tamping down. Sasha looked at
Naya for a long moment then said, “I’m thinking this is getting too ugly, too
fast. And I’m not up for anything other than a civil lawsuit between two
corporations.”
    Naya’s voice was softer and had a
note of concern when she asked, “So, what are you gonna do, Mac?”
    “The first thing I’m going to do
is call Gavin Russell. We have to find out whether we even have a problem.”
    Gavin Russell, formerly of the
Clear Brook County Sheriff’s Office, had struck out for greener pastures and better
coffee after the dust settled in Springport. He’d refused the promotion from
deputy to sheriff, taken an early retirement package, and opened a private
investigator’s office across the street from the courthouse in the space
recently vacated by the town doctor.
    He answered Sasha’s call on the
second ring.
    “Russell Investigations.”
    “First of all, it’s Saturday, why
are you in the office? Second of all, you still don’t have a secretary?” Sasha
asked.
    “Hey, Sasha,” he laughed. “As to
your first question, you’re one to talk—I see you’re calling me from your
office. And, as to the second, I can’t convince Gloria that I’ll pay her better
than the new judge. I’m still working on her, though.”
    Sasha smiled, surprised at the
fondness she felt for the former deputy and the judge’s secretary. “You’ll wear
her down,” she said. “So, how’s business?”
    Russell’s voice rumbled across
the line, and Sasha could picture him, his chair tipped back on two legs and
his feet propped on his desk. A cup of shade-grown Cubano at his elbow.
    “Good. It’s a piece of cake,
actually. Mainly, I’m doing what I used to do for the sheriff’s office—serving
subpoenas, tracking down witnesses, that sort of thing. But, I can charge less
and still make more than I was earning. And the oil and gas people are like an
untapped market.” He chuckled at his own pun.
    “How so?”
    “Well, the riggers aren’t local,
most of them, anyway. And they’ve been up here a long time, months on end. Some
girlfriends and wives are starting to get worried. One of them found my website
and hired me to follow her guy around for a few weekends. Took a bunch of
pictures of him playing cards and watching football at The Hole in the Wall,
and she was delighted. She told all her friends, and now everybody wants me to
follow their guy.”
    Sasha wasn’t sure that was a
great idea. Her last messy case had involved broken marriages and photographic
evidence of bad behavior. “That sounds kind of dangerous, Gavin.”
    “Naw, I tried to explain to these
ladies—there’s not a huge single woman population up this way. Trust me, I
know. Their guys aren’t going to get into that kind of trouble, not in
Springport. But, they just want the peace of mind and are willing to pay top
dollar for it. Speaking of long-distance relationships, how are things with
Leo?”
    “We’re working on it,” she said
simply.
    “Good. He’s a good man,” Gavin
proclaimed. Then, his tone changed, and he said, “But, I know you didn’t call
me just to shoot the breeze. What’s up?”
    “I might need to hire you. Can
you still access state databases?”
    Gavin answered slowly. “Do I
still have personal access to the state databases? No.”
    “That’s not what I asked.”
     “To answer your question, then,
yes. But, what exactly do you need?”
    “I’m not sure. I have a corporate
client that’s trying to find an employee. She used fake references and a phony
address but her social checks out. Her last whereabouts were in New Kensington,
outside of Pittsburgh. Naya’s going to run down all the publicly available
information, but we have a bit of a time crunch. Are there any databases you
know of that would help?”
    “Does she have any known prior
arrests or convictions?” Gavin said.
    “None that I know of, but to
check the criminal dockets on our end would be a