Page 37 of Chasing a Kidnapper

The guy winced but lifted his hands in a gesture of helplessness. “Look, I’m Curtis Jenkins, the manager on duty. I’d like to cooperate, but I would lose my job if I gave out personal information about our renters or allowed you to search a unit without a warrant.”

West nodded, eyeing Peanut, who sniffed the area with interest. He’d half hoped his K-9 partner would alert on a weapon, but she didn’t. Resigned, he pulled out his business card and pushed it across the countertop. “Call me if you see anything suspicious. I’ll get to work on that warrant.”

“Yeah, sure.” The manager pocketed the card. “Nice dog. What does she do for you?”

“She finds weapons,” he said, more to scare the manager into possibly cooperating. Too bad, it didn’t work.

“I’ll be happy to help once you have that warrant,” Jenkins called out after them.

“Thanks.” He pushed through the door, holding it for Peanut and Trish. Outside, Trisha let out a heavy sigh. “I was hoping he’d cooperate.”

“Yeah.” He opened the back hatch for Peanut. Then went to the driver’s side of the SUV. “Maybe we’ll find evidence from the stolen car to justify a warrant.”

“In the meantime, we need to convince Renee Mills to cooperate,” Trisha said, settling into the front seat beside him. “Didn’t we hear that the black sedan wasn’t broken into?”

“True.” He caught her gaze. “You’re thinking her stepbrother knew where to get her key?”

“Why not? Her purse, a jacket pocket? A hook in her entryway. I’ll ask Jack if he can run Nick Cutter to see if he has criminal background.”

He nodded, leaving the storage unit facility behind. Trisha made the call, then pocketed her phone.

“Nothing?” he guessed.

“Cutter is clean.” She shrugged. “But I’m sure he just hasn’t gotten caught yet.”

That made him chuckle. “Spoken like a true cop.”

The trip to Renee Mills’s home took longer because traffic had picked up. Even in Plains City, South Dakota, they had a mild version of the early morning commute. He finally pulled into the woman’s driveway and killed the engine. He turned to face her. “I’ll take the lead if you don’t mind.”

“You’re the detective,” she said lightly. He remembered how she’d gotten angry with him in the aftermath of the truck shooting. After working with her the past few days, he believed Trisha would make a good detective if that was a career path she was interested in pursuing, but kept the thought to himself.

Once again, he opened the hatch for Peanut. He offered the K-9 some water, which moistened the dog’s mucus membranes and enhanced her ability to track scents, then gave her the same instructions. “Search for tools, Pea. Tools.”

Peanut appeared eager to get to work. He kept Peanut to his left, so that his right hand was free to draw his weapon as needed. Trisha was on the other side of Peanut.

Renee Mills scowled when she answered his knock. “What do you want? They said they’d call when I could pick up my car.”

“How often does your stepbrother, Nick Cutter, stay here with you?”

His question caught her off guard. “He doesn’t live here,” she said after a beat.

“But he knows where you keep your car key,” West pressed. “Do you think he stole your car?”

A resigned expression crossed her features. “I don’t know. I tried to call him, but he hasn’t answered me.”

“Why didn’t you mention your stepbrother as a potential suspect before?” Trisha asked.

Renee shrugged. “I wanted to talk to him, first. See if maybe he just borrowed it.”

Borrowed without asking? West held the woman’s gaze for a long moment. “It’s against the law to aid and abet a criminal. You should have mentioned your stepbrother yesterday.”

“You gonna arrest me for that? For protecting my family?” she demanded.

It was tempting, but he shook his head. Glancing down at Peanut, he was relieved his K-9 didn’t alert. Trisha frowned as if she wasn’t buying the woman’s story, either. “Not yet. But if you do this again, I will.” When she didn’t respond, he held up his business card and added, “If you hear from Nick Cutter, please call me. We would like to talk to him.”

Renee opened the screen door a crack, just enough to take the card. “Fine. Goodbye.” She closed the screen door and then the inside door, exactly the way she had yesterday.

West blew out a annoyed breath. The day was young, but so far, they weren’t getting anywhere on the case. And at the rate they were going, he felt certain this forced togetherness with Trisha and her adorable son would not come to an end any time soon.

---