Cold Hearts by Sharon Sala Page B

regarding what was happening. He didn’t envy Trey the job of having to interview his own mother. By the time he got to the station and unlocked the doors, Trey was right behind him.
    “What are you thinking?” Mack asked.
    Trey wasn’t in the habit of talking police business with a civilian, but this case was different.
    “My mom hasn’t been the same since finding Dick Phillips’ body. Now, since your dad left that letter, it leaves me wondering if maybe the murder triggered some blocked memories from that wreck for her, too. However, that’s all supposition until the lift is examined.”
    “Is Lissa Sherman’s car still on the lift?” Mack asked.
    Trey nodded. “Until I figure out if this is a crime scene or the scene of an accident, it’s still part of an ongoing case.”
    Mack turned around and jammed his hands in his pockets, wondering at the whimsy of fate that had thrown them back together again after all these years. The wind was chilly, and he hunched his shoulders, wishing he’d put on a heavier jacket before leaving the house. When he saw a long blue van pulling up to the stoplight down the street he shifted nervously from one foot to the other. The service company was here.
    “Hey, Trey, here they come,” he said, pointing.
    “Good. Maybe we’ll get a definitive answer soon.”
    After the van pulled up beside Mack’s SUV and parked, he recognized the two men who got out.
    The older man came straight toward him with his hand outstretched.
    “Mack, Junior and I were sure sorry to hear about what happened to your dad. He was a fine man.”
    “Thanks, Eldridge. This is Chief Jakes.”
    “Chief, this is Eldridge Warren and his son, Junior.”
    The men nodded at each other, Trey thanked them for coming and then led the way inside, explaining what he needed to know.
    “This is the same car that was on the lift. It went up fine when we removed the body, and then we let it down for safety’s sake. However, I need to know what caused the lift to fail.”
    “Yes, sir,” Eldridge said. He walked over to the control and pressed it. He looked surprised when the lift went up without a hitch. He pressed the control again, and the lift lowered without a bobble. He frowned. “I’ll need to get down into the trap to check everything out,” he said.
    “I’ll do it, Pop,” Junior Warren said, and then glanced at Trey. “He hurt his back a couple of months ago.”
    Mack raised the door in the floor that led down into the space beneath that held the equipment that powered the lift.
    “The light is just to your right as you go down,” Mack said.
    “Right,” Junior said, and they watched the lights come on as he descended.
    They heard him banging around, and then there was silence.
    Eldridge frowned. “What’s going on?” he yelled.
    “Nothing,” Junior said, then walked to the foot of the stairs and looked up at the three men staring down at him. “If the hydraulics had failed, there would be hydraulic fluid all over, but everything is dry.”
    “I’m gonna hit the control again. You watch the gauges for fluctuations,” Eldridge said. Then he shook his head. “No, I’m coming down to see for myself. You handle the control, Mack.”
    Mack got into position. “Yell when you’re ready,” he said, watching as Eldridge slowly descended.
    He heard father and son talking but couldn’t make out what they were saying, and then Eldridge yelled, “Now, Mack! Hit the control.”
    Mack’s heart was pounding as the car rose on the lift without issue.
    “Is it all the way up?” Eldridge called.
    “It’s up,” Trey said.
    “Now let it down,” Eldridge said.
    The lift went down as easily as it had gone up, and Mack’s heart began to pound. He glanced at the expression on Trey’s face but couldn’t get a read on what he was thinking, and then Trey turned toward him.
    “Do it again, up, then down.”
    Mack complied, and as it was going down, Junior and Eldridge climbed up, turned out the