Page 60 of Liar's Point

“Ten minutes ago,” Owen said, not looking up. “I just printed it out. I haven’t even had a chance to cross-reference anything yet.” He slid a stack of pages toward her. “Here, look through those. That’s November and December.”

“How far back did we get?”

“Four months. Well, not even.” Owen ran his hand through his hair. “November first through yesterday, so three and a half months.”

Nicole wanted the more recent records, but Owen had first dibs, so she took the pages he’d given her and began combing through, starting with December. She immediately noticed a lot of 281 and 713 area codes.

“I’ve got a lot of Houston stuff,” she said. “I assume that’s her family?”

“Her parents, yeah. Here are their numbers.” He slid a notepad toward her with some phone numbers written down.

“Then there are calls to O’Toole’s, where she worked,” he said.

Nicole spotted a phone number that looked familiar. Was it Cassandra’s? She tore off a sheet of scratch paper and jotted it down. Then she noticed a different number that appeared six times in one day. The date was December 31.

“What’s this 512 number on New Year’s Eve?” she asked.

“You’ve got it, too?”

“Yeah, there’s quite a few of these.” She glanced up. “That’s an Austin area code.” She flipped through the papers. “A lot of these 512 calls are late at night.”

“Same with mine.” Owen pivoted to the laptop computer beside him. He tapped at his keyboard and looked over at her, making eye contact for the first time. “Thanks for helping.”

“Sure.”

“Anything new from Miranda today?”

She shook her head. “I was going to ask you.”

Miranda was Owen’s sister-in-law, but evidently he hadn’t bugged her for an update on the lab work today.

“I haven’t talked to her,” he said.

“I’ll send her a text, see what she’s got.”

“Thanks.”

Nicole typed up a message to Miranda as Owen ran the 512 number through the database.

Miranda responded immediately. Nothing yet but I put a rush on that DNA analysis.

Nicole’s pulse picked up. If the DNA came through, it would be a game changer.

What’s your best guess on timing? Nicole asked.

IDK. Maybe by Friday?

Owen pounded his fist on the table, and Nicole jumped.

“Jesus. What is it?”

“This number traces back to Samuel Pacheco.” His eyes sparked with excitement. “Sounds like Sam, the boyfriend.”

***

Alex Breda’s office looked dark and quiet. Cassandra checked her watch. She’d thought she might swing by for an update before her four o’clock Bikram class, but there was no Porsche out front, and it didn’t look like anyone was there. Maybe Alex had gone home early for the day. Or maybe he’d never come in at all.

She eyed Alex’s new sign as she crossed the intersection. So, was he a one-man show, no assistant? She might have made a mistake hiring an attorney whose practice was barely up and running.

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