Page 58 of Valor

“I don’t know. Whatever it is, those two men died for knowing.” Suddenly, things were not looking good for Heather’s father. If he hadn’t been able to tell them where the drive was, he was likely already dead. They’d probably taken him to lure Heather into a situation where she would meet them to get her father back.

“I could give it to them. Maybe they would exchange it for my dad.” Her brows rose in unveiled hope.

“What if something on that drive harms people? What if they don’t believe that you didn’t look at it? Do you think they aren’t willing to kill you?” He wasn’t trying to frighten her senseless, but she couldn’t simply hand over the drive to people she didn’t know and think life was going to return to normal.

She looked at the clear baggie holding the drive. “I don’t know. I just want Dad back. He’s all I have left. Mom is gone. I don’t have any other family.”

He could relate. He’d never known his mother, so he didn’t know any family besides his father. Dad wasn’t exactly a model citizen, though no one else seemed to think Dad’s lack of character affected his son. No one else knew what his dad had done to get him, except Heather’s father.

“I should let the Rapid City PD know you have this.” He wasn’t sure his force could handle something this big.

“What good would that do? This is part of my case. My father’s case. Not that one. The drive was in my bag and we’re assuming there’s a connection. I want to see what’s on it. If I know, then I’ll have more to bargain with when it comes to getting my dad back.”

Her grit was exciting, but not something he could encourage. “If you tell them too much, you could put a bigger target on your head.” He didn’t want to see that happen. Not to her or her dad.

“I have a mark on me already. This way, the guys who did this are more likely to get caught.” She clenched her fist.

He nodded and felt the need to tell her what he innately knew. “I need you to be prepared for the fact that your father might not be coming back. Whoever this is, they feel like the information on that drive is life or death. Those two men were trying to get whatever is on that drive to someone else, maybe the police. It cost them their lives. They may have known the risk. The bodies of those men were found within a block of the police department, so whoever did this wanted them found. They wantedyouto know they aren’t afraid to kill to get their hands on what they want.”

She crossed her arms as she stared at the bag. “I don’t know what to do.”

Jasper growled and headed for the front door. Allen followed, holding up his hand for Heather to stay silent and where she was. Jasper didn’t growl for delivery people or his father, so whoever was out there wasn’t known to him. The dog pawed at the door to be let out, but Allen held him back. Instead, he used his thumbprint to unlock his gun safe.

Heather sucked in a breath behind him, but he couldn’t turn back to her. He had to focus on who could’ve found his house. Had someone followed them home that he hadn’t seen? He was good about watching his rearview, even when he wasn’t on duty. Being a cop could be dangerous on or off the clock. He looked through the peephole in the front door to see if anything seemed out of the ordinary.

His security light had tripped, meaning something was moving out in the yard. It could be a rabbit, but it could also be someone. Having Heather there and knowing her life was in danger made him certain it was nothing innocent.

“I think you should go downstairs,” he said. He’d barely finished when the glass in his back door exploded, raining down all over the floor.

“Scratch that. Come over here. Now.” He hated yelling, but someone was breaking into the house, and he wasn’t about to let them get Heather.

She grabbed the thumb drive, shoved it in her pocket and raced to his side. “What should I do?”

While she’d seemed afraid when she was only thinking about the danger, in the thick of it, she didn’t seem to have any fear.

“Stay behind me so I can shield you. We need to get out get out of here safely.” He grabbed his cellphone and quickly called in his situation, keeping his voice down now that he could be heard outside.

A chill wind raced down the hall and cooled his heated skin. Who was out there and how close were they? Was the front safe? If there was more than one of them, it might not be. Just because they’d shot out the back didn’t mean they hadn’t left someone to watch the front. This felt like a trap.

“Allen? What should we do?” Heather’s urgent whisper ratcheted his heart rate.

“We hold this position until we’re forced to move.” If he went out the front, straight into a trap, he’d never forgive himself. Until someone came in the back door, he would stay right where he was. Someone would have to reach in through the broken back window and down to get to the knob to unlock his door. The pane was only in the top third. That left him open to return fire if they showed themselves.

Tense moments passed and sweat gathered on his forehead. Jasper lunged toward the back door, barking and growling. “Jasper, stay,” he commanded. The dog obeyed, skidding to a stop halfway through the kitchen. Deep growls seemed to fill the whole house.

He heard someone touch the doorknob behind him and yanked Heather away from it as he took aim at where the center mass of the invader would be. The door slowly opened, and his father stood there, his eyes wide.

In the next instant, Heather screamed as Jasper broke out in urgent barking. He whipped around as a shadow crossed the open window of the back door. Allen took off after the person, Jasper directly on his heels.

“Freeze!” he called as he unlocked and opened the back door. Pitch black darkness met him. He should’ve installed security lights back there too, but he hadn’t gotten around to it yet. The house had needed a lot of work when he’d purchased it, so that was on his list.

Grabbing a flashlight from the cabinet near the back door, he took chase after the shadow. “Freeze!” He tried getting them to stop once again. A moment later, he heard a door slam and an engine start.

If he could get close enough, he might be able to get a license plate number. That would tell him where the car was from, since the first number on South Dakota plates corresponded with the town the owner was from.

The car didn’t turn its lights on. He only saw it getting away because of brake lights for a mere second before the sound of the car disappeared. He called in what had happened, hoping his backup could take chase. With no clue what the car looked like or what the person looked like, they would’ve had to see the car in his driveway.

Dispatch called him right back and let him know that they were still five minutes out. The shooter had gotten away yet again.

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