He was just beyond the exit for Brule, midway through his shift, thinking about lunch at Thorsen’s Diner in Big Springs and maybe hitting the books again. He had five years with uniformed patrol and was working on getting selected for the Investigative Services Division. Making the Cold Case Unit was his dream. He’d studied, applied and written the exam. His interview was in three days. The brass at Troop D headquarters in North Platte was encouraging. Captain Wagner liked him, and Lieutenant Tolba let slip that Hanson had scored the highest he’d ever seen on an ISD exam. It likely helped that Hanson was a voracious reader and had a near-photographic ability for retaining details, especially when it came to a “Be On the Lookouts.” While most guys scanned the local, state and national BOLOs, Hanson devoured them every day. It would be sweet to make it into ISD, he thought, plus, there’d be the little pay boost. He flipped down his visor to a pretty woman smiling at him from a small color snapshot.
