His grumpiness wasn’t really aimed at her, so Alyssa wasn’t bothered by his tone or his words. ‘Not sure yet. Can I get back to you?’

He shook his head, mumbled under his breath, and then proceeded to lead the way into the station. They nodded to Hal, who was sitting at the front desk discussing something with Ruby. He wasn’t out there much longer before joining her and Cord in the conference room.

Alyssa peeked over her shoulder as Hal rolled in. Grinning, she said, ‘So, what was that about?’

Hal returned her grin. ‘Oh, nothing.’

Alyssa’s grin grew wider. ‘In other words, you’re still trying to butter her up. How’s that working out for you?’

It was an ongoing goal of Hal’s to make the grumpy secretary laugh. To date, he’d been unsuccessful. There were two pools going – one for when he succeeded and one for when she grew tired of the game and clobbered him upside the head. The pot with the most amount of money was the second one. Alyssa herself had tossed in twenty.

‘It’s gonna happen, oh ye of little faith,’ Hal said.

The rest of the conversation was cut off when Sandra strolled in, giggling at something Joe was saying.

‘Care to share?’ Hal asked.

‘Nothing you haven’t heard before,’ Joe said. ‘Just regaling our new teammie here with some of Tony’s hunting adventures. Remember when he woke up in that hunting blind to find a bear had climbed the tree and was watching him sleep? He told us he almost peed himself.’

It had happened just last year when Tony was still Tony. Alyssa recalled how he’d shared the story with them, and how they’d all laughed so hard, they’d cried. She missed her teammate, and she knew the others did, too, but none more than Joe. Watching him settle himself next to Sandra, she wondered if he’d subconsciously paired himself with her because he missed the camaraderie with his best friend.

Alyssa cleared her throat to get everyone’s attention, then gave an update on Elizabeth Monroe’s condition which was unchanged from last night. The jovial mood of moments ago morphed into instant sobriety.

Sandra raised her hand. ‘I asked Hal to help me check into that name you gave me. Alexandra Greene, aka Al, lived next door to the Bensons and attended Anasazi High School in Del Luna from 2009-2012. A couple weeks after Hayden Benson disappeared, Alexandra’s mother, Helen Ross, put their house on the market and moved away. In July 2012, Helen Ross was killed in a single-car rollover accident on I-40.’

A soft knock on the door interrupted Sandra.