Page 53 of Valor

He drew a small notebook from his back pocket and took his seat. “Oliver, since you called, would you like to go first?” Usually, he would have someone else interview one person and he would interview the other, but he’d been told Oliver was the only one there. His gut told him that, in this case, he’d get more information interviewing both at once. It was against protocol, but his gut was rarely wrong.

“Sure, but the story starts with Heather. I heard some shots and screaming from outside. If my old ears can hear it, it’s mighty loud. Heather and I are the only ones this far down on the street who are home at this time of day. So, whoever did this probably knew the area and that they wouldn’t be seen, though, I’ll be honest, I’ve never seen that car before.”

Heather interrupted the man with a quick raise of her hand. “I wouldn’t normally be home this time of day either, and Dad was supposed to be at a photo shoot. The house should’ve been empty.”

Red flags went up in Allen’s head. “Why do you think he was still home? Could he be a part of this?” He hated to go that route, but he had to ask. Could his thoughts be contaminated by bias? Maybe. But that was a question that needed an answer.

Heather immediately looked hurt. Her shoulders curved in, mouth dropped open, and she hugged her middle. “Never. Dad was far too honorable to get mixed up in anything illegal. Hehatesdishonesty.”

Allen hid his internal reaction that felt like a gut-punch. She was telling the truth and probably jabbing him with an invisible knife, just as he’d done to her by asking the question. He hadn’t realized how much Ed Sundin would be opposed to dishonesty until Allen had gone hunting for the truth. “Point taken. So, can you tell me why you think he was still there?”

She swallowed hard enough to hear it, and he watched the subtle changes in her face as she spoke. “It would only be a guess, of course. I think, whoever that was, caught him as he was about to leave. The car they drove blocked his truck in. My father would’ve only opened the door to the garage if he was packing his truck and was about to leave. He liked the natural light instead of the overhead one when he puts his equipment in his truck.”

That was an astute observation. “That makes sense. Do you think he could’ve caught them trying to steal his equipment?”

Her brow puckered, making her lips look fuller. He had to stop looking anywhere but in her eyes. She was too pretty by far.

“I don’t think so, but I haven’t checked his truck yet.” Her glance dashed to the door.

He held up his hand to stop her. “You said you heard shooting?”

She nodded again and closed her eyes. “I got out of my car, thinking that I would ask what the person needed. Maybe they were a client of my dad’s who I didn’t know. I didn’t think the worst right away. As soon as the man in the car saw me, he put his phone to his face and said something, then there were shots fired inside my house. I dove behind the bush.” She ducked her head. “They brought Dad out, and I wanted to help him but couldn’t.”

Oliver cleared his throat and rested a hand over Heather’s. “That’s where I come in. I heard the shots and went to my window. I can’t see her house from here, but the whole street is within sight. The shots seemed to come from her side of my lot. I saw Heather make a run for my garage and a man was chasing her with a gun. He took at least one shot toward her but didn’t hit her.”

Allen took down everything the man said. Something seemed off though. Why take the man hostage and why shoot at Heather at such a close range and miss? Either the man was the worst shot imaginable, or he intended to miss. “Go on.”

Oliver grinned. “I was waiting for you to catch up.”

He liked the old man who’d always treated him and his whole team with respect. “Thank you, I’m good now.”

“I heard the garage door closing, but I also heard Heather scream. That’s when I knew I had to get involved. I went to my door to the garage and saw her defending herself. The guy outside started blasting bullets through my garage door, but again, nowhere near where Heather was. I aimed with my shotgun at roughly the place I thought the man might be. I’d be surprised if I didn’t put a hole in his car, but he was using deadly force and I’m not sorry.”

Allan nodded at his assessment. They’d have to investigate, but given the fact that Oliver missed his target, it would likely lead nowhere. “I radioed the nearest ambulance and hospital. Neither have any recent shooting victims, so you didn’t hit anyone. Let’s hope you hit the vehicle though, so when we find it, that’s proof they were here.”

Oliver nodded as if he liked that idea. “They drove away, and that’s when I called you.”

He took a deep breath. Now was when he’d have to take Heather over to her house and see what the kidnappers had done and check for anything stolen.

“Allen?” Oliver asked. “I told Heather that I think those men were after her. It would’ve been too easy to kill her if all they wanted was to make sure she didn’t tell anyone what they looked like. They took her father instead of killing him. I may be wrong, but I think there’s more to this than meets the eye. That guy was only a few feet behind her. There’s no way he missed without trying to.”

He had to agree with the older man. “I think you’re onto something. Heather, if you’re willing, we should go to your house and see what went on over there. Maybe they left clues about what they could be after in what they looked through at your house. Don’t touch anything until I can get a crew in there, but I want to know if anything was stolen.”

He expected her to pale or shake her head. Most people didn’t have the stomach for facing situations like this head-on and he couldn’t blame them. Even after training, there were things about his job he did because he had to. Instead, she resolutely stood and pushed in her chair.

“Thank you, Oliver. I appreciate your help so much. I’m sure, without you, I’d have been in that car with Dad.”

Allen followed her to the front door and finally laid a hand on her shoulder. She tensed and her mouth opened slightly in surprise. He couldn’t argue that he was surprised too. Touching her had made every feeling come alive, feelings he had no business examining. He had to do his job to the best of his ability, or he’d never overcome his past. “Let’s go.”

She allowed him to go first, and he put on protective boot covers and gloves, then drew his pistol in case the attackers left anyone behind to surprise Heather when she returned to her house. He slowly opened her door and motioned for her to stay just outside until he cleared the house.

Everything within sight was toppled or trashed. Furniture had been slashed. File cabinets were hanging open, with files spread all over the floor. A laptop lay broken next to a desk. Where they’d held off in harming Heather, there was anger in how they’d handled her living quarters. He couldn’t deny someone was after her and they wanted something badly.

He checked the whole house. Finding no one, he opened the door and let her inside. “I was hoping there would be a more centralized area of damage, but they took their time looking for something that apparently wasn’t here.” He motioned around the ransacked room. “I’m sorry to have to bring you in here.” Especially with the splotches of blood left in a few areas. Though it wasn’t enough to put her father’s life in danger, they’d done something to him to either get information or direction.

“Oh, Dad.” Heather kneeled in front of the broken laptop but didn’t touch it. “Can I move it?”

He sighed and shook his head. “No. I need my team to come in and process everything for prints, hairs, anything that might lead us to who did this.”

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