Chapter 6: The scene of the Crime, Linda’s Diner

When we pull into the parking lot, the first thing I see is Erica's car surrounded by crime scene tape. They must not have an impound yard close enough to transport the car too because if they did they would have taken it there to keep it preserved I think to myself. As Austin parks the car once he shifts the car into park. He opens the middle console and grabs two pairs of forensic gloves. He hands me them. I snap them on and we head towards the car. I walk over and duck under the tape then start checking around the car for signs of a struggle while he checks inside the car. I find nothing out of the ordinary, nothing that could or would suggest she struggled with her captor. This means she either knows who took her or he disabled her with ease.

Pulling myself from my thoughts I say “Outside of car clear,”

To which he responds, “Inside of the car is clear, you know what that means.” With that said I walk to the driver side of the car where he was looking for clues or evidence. And give a simple nod. The wheels in my head turn as we both duck back under the tape and head towards the door. When we got there I put my hand on the door handle but instead of pulling it open I said “I don’t think Erica knew who took her. She was always so careful but if she didn’t that means this guy know what he’s doing..”

Austin nods his head to this and says “I agree from what Erica’s mom said this supports your theory. After we finish here we can go to the police station. Cops may not like me but I do know a crime scene tec thats has a sweet spot for jelly donuts.” I crack a smile at that and open the door to the diner. We walk in and the smell of coffee and pancakes hit me square in the face. I wrinkle my nose up a little from how strong the smell is, and turn to find that Austin is having a similar experience as his forehead wrinkles up. A distracting thing that has me hyper focused on how something so simple as some small forehead wrinkles can be so distractingly handsome.

He notices me staring and says “I know I'm hot but come on we gotta focus,” this breaks my focus and makes me blush as I give him a dirty look, and go to the counter. Once there I grab one of the empty bar stools and look around. The diner is small; it has four booths, two on the left side and two on the right, then the door in the middle separating the two sides. Then you have two tables with four chairs and about 5 steps from that is the wrap around counter with bar stools. On the side of the wrap around is a piece of counter which can be lifted to walk behind. Then a simple metal door which must lead to the kitchen. Then on the right side there's a small hallway with three doors, two I assume are bathrooms then the other must be the office where Erica’s boss Mike works. As I continue my scan of the diner, Austin comes and takes the stool next to me and grabs a menu from the salt and pepper holder, browsing it lightly as we wait for the waitress to finish handing the change to another customer. Her name tag reads Debbie who I vaguely remember Erica mentioning as someone she liked to work with. The other waitress I snap my fingers as I try to remember her name.

It comes to me Sandra she didn’t like working with because she was always standing around Erica said. Leaning towards Austin I whisper “Debbie will be helpful but not sure about the other waitress.” I nod to her as I see her come from the kitchen with a tray of food.

Austin responds “Alright,” then continues to scan the menu as if we are just normal customers grabbing a bite to eat.