“Was Bubba driving last night?”
“I think so. Let me double-check.”
After unlocking the door to the building, Gary walked inside, and Jake followed him. As he suspected, there was no real alarm system since Gary didn’t punch numbers on any keypads. The small building was just an open room with several desk stations and a restroom at one end. After flipping on the lights, Gary ambled over to one of the desks and lowered his substantial girth into an office chair behind a computer on a messy desk. He punched on a keyboard and a few seconds later had some answers for Jake.
“Yeah, Bubba was working last night,” Gary confirmed.
“Was he driving the truck with the LSU bumper sticker?”
Gary rolled his eyes. “Archie put that damn sticker on there. Mr. McDonnell keeps telling him to take it the hell off. My boss loves Alabama and hates LSU.” He poked at his keyboard some more. “No, that truck was not actually on the schedule last night. You sure you got the right vehicle?”
“I’m sure. It was clearly identified.”
“Well, I don’t know what to tell you. If it was out, it was unauthorized.”
“Who else has access to the property and the trucks?”
“All of our drivers do. There’s a combo lock on the gate. Truck keys are kept in a lockbox behind the building.”
“So any one of them could’ve come here and taken out one of your trucks even if they were not scheduled to drive?”
“I suppose. But they’d get fired for doing something like that.”
“How many drivers do you have?”
“Eight part-time guys that rotate on the schedule.”
“Then I’m going to need the names and contact information for each of them.”
Gary wrinkled his brow. “Well, I, uh, probably need to check in with Mr. McDonnell first. I mean, I don’t want to get into any trouble here.”
“I wouldn’t do that. Because that will only turn this into a much bigger ordeal. It’ll be a real hassle for both of us. Honestly, I’ll probably have to lock down this whole facility for a while as part of the investigation.”
“Damn. Really?”
“Yeah. I just need a list, Gary. Then you probably won’t see me again.”
“Yeah, all right.” Gary typed on his keypad again and printed something off the cheap printer behind his desk. He then handed it over to Jake.
Jake quickly scanned it and wondered which of these guys might have shot Caitlin and taken his daughter. Not a single name on the list meant anything to him. “Hey, save me some time here. The driver in question was a slender guy. About my height.”
“Then you can scratch off Bubba, Marcus, and Ned. Those guys are even fatter than me, if you can believe that. You can probably also scratch off Lewis. He’s a short dude. Probably only five foot five.”
“That’s helpful.” Jake headed for the door but then thought of something else and turned back. “Hey, one more quick question for you, Gary. Was one of your tow trucks involved in a major crash a little over a year ago?”
Gary leaned back in his office chair. “A year ago?”
“Yeah. November 10, to be exact.”
“Is this related to last night?”
“Maybe. I don’t know yet. But am I right?”
“Actually, yeah. I mean, I can’t remember the exact date, but it was around the time you mentioned. Did about three thousand dollars in damage to the front.”
“Who was the driver involved?”
“Eddie Cowens. Said a deer made him swerve off the road.”
Jake glanced at the paper in his hands. Eddie’s name was on the list. He’d actually found the guy. Eddie’s address was the same zip code as the tow company, which meant his place was nearby. The thought of potentially having Piper safely back in his arms within minutes shot a bolt of adrenaline straight through him.
“Thanks,” he said, darting for the door.
NINETEEN
Logan Gervais did a quick pass through the middle-class neighborhood in his black Ford Taurus. He wanted to get his bearings and process his options of escape should he have to quickly get away from the one-story white brick house he’d set eyes on a few minutes ago. He wanted to get in and out, especially because daylight was now putting him out in the open. Based on the text message he’d just monitored, Gervais knew he could have unwanted company here soon. The message had originated from someone on his list and went directly to his target’s cell phone, which was no longer in service.