CHAPTER 10
“Kind of young, aren’t you?”
The police officer sitting at the desk in the small office, his head down, closely studying the credentials he had been handed, turning the black wallet over in his hands a few times.
“Zelda McCord.”
He said her name flatly, looking up at the attractive young blonde woman standing at his desk. She carried a weathered, tan satchel under her arm, as if the statement itself might trip her up in some way. After a moment he looked up at the woman.
“Aren’t you just the flatterer,” she said, finally. “Don’t worry…”
She stopped a beat, assessing him evenly.
“I’ve had plenty of experience.”
If this phased the desk officer it didn’t show.
“I’m sure it’s not as action-packed as your post here in Rosebud, South Carolina,” Zelda added, looking around the small, dusty office.
She had become very familiar with the dance between local police and outside investigators, as well as with the accompanying resentment that often came with working in a small town’s back yard. She smiled her best “you really don’t want to fuck with me” smile, and leaned in, retrieving her credentials.
Taking them, she looked pointedly at the man’s nametag.
“It was my understanding that you knew I was coming, Bob Jasper,” she breathed out his name at the end. “And that you would be very accommodating.
“I was specifically told to ask for Bob.”
“Well, whoever told you that must have talked to Big Bob,” the desk officer responded, a little too quickly, a little too practiced.
“I’m…” he stopped. After years of habit, he had started to say “Little Bob,” but caught himself. The only reason he had ever been saddled with “Little” Bob was because “Big Bob” was football player big.
God, he hated it whenever anyone called him by that nickname.
“I’m, I am, I’m ‘Bob.’”
“Well…Bob…I’m going to do my best to stay out of your way,” Zelda continued. “I’ve worked a lot of these types of cases, so I get up to speed pretty fast.
“I’m here because a good friend asked me to help look for this missing girl, Kayla Morgan,” she said. “So, if you just point me to an open desk, I’ll get to work.”