Page 63 of Valor

She nodded, already engrossed in his phone. “Oh! I know that spot!”

He ran the first glass under the water and squirted a drop of soap in it. “You do? Is it close?”

“Yes. It’s near where I took the picture of those two men.”

Her silence made him turn around to look at her. Her eyes looked drawn and worried. “What is it?”

“Is it possible they were undercover cops? The police didn’t give their names, but that doesn’t mean that they didn’t have ID on them. If they were, they may not have been from Rapid City.”

He hadn’t considered that. His first assumption was that the killers had taken all ID and phones off of the men before they’d left them to be found. “It’s possible, but not likely. Why would two cops drop a thumb drive in your bag and make the colossal mistake of taking your picture? That’s a rookie mistake and rookies don’t go undercover.”

Her mouth screwed up in thought. He had to stop staring at her mouth.

“Hear me out. If they were undercover, they may have been working for whoever is after me. They may have dropped the drive in my bag, thinking they were headed to Rapid City, where it would be easier to hide. They could then contact me once they were there. I’d also given them my business card because they asked.”

And now he knew how they’d found her house so easily. “I’m assuming your home address was on that card, since you work from home?”

She paled slightly. He hated doing that to her.

“Yes, it does. We’d thought about putting a PO Box on there, but people come to our house to talk about where they want their shots done. It’s a small town. We’ve never considered that it might be dangerous.”

He held up a hand to stop her from feeling defensive. That wasn’t his intent. “I completely understand. You don’t have to defend yourself.” Which was precisely why his own address was private.

“So, your take is that they thought they would be safe because they were close to their destination? They would be able to get that information from you and if they were caught, they could claim they didn’t have the drive. Do I have that about right?” He still didn’t think they’d purposely put an innocent woman in danger.

“I’m saying it’s possible. Who else would these people be?”

“There’s always the chance this is a coincidence. There may not be a connection between the drive and those men or you. Or maybe they used to work for whoever that drive belongs to. Maybe they realized things were going on they didn’t agree with. They grew a conscience and wanted to make sure someone else knew what was happening?” That seemed more likely, though he would always defend officers and assume they were following the rules until proven otherwise.

She took a deep breath. “I checked my phone before I heard you talking on yours. They still haven’t released the names of those men. They say it’s because they have to notify the family, but they posted pictures of them earlier today, so that doesn’t add up. I think they knew exactly who they were. They showed images of them in their disguises to get leads and to turn up the heat on those who did it.”

“Where were the coordinates?” He wasn’t discounting her theory. There were points that made total sense. He just had no energy to speculate between two theories that they couldn’t prove from this cabin.

“The Badlands National Park. The very center of the loop. It’s really treacherous getting there. Most people aren’t even allowed because the formations are delicate. Every touch with human hands changes the stone. Rain weathers it.”

Someone hadn’t cared about the rocks. They were hiding where they knew no one would look for them. “I guess we need to go hiking.” And he’d need to find help. While he was a pretty good hiker, he wasn’t a rock climber. “You’ve gone in there?”

She grinned. “I know a few people who have let me hike in as a photographer... and avid outdoorswoman.”

His chest tightened and he regretted her father would probably always be his enemy. Ed Sundin wasn’t the kind of man who gave up on an argument just because he was proven wrong. But in this case, he wasn’t. He was exactly right. Allen couldn’t defend himself against anything Ed said, because it was the truth.

“Then I guess tomorrow we’ll have to get in touch with your contact in the park and see if we can find out what’s at that location.”

She nodded. “One thing I know for sure, I’m not taking that flash drive with me.”

Her comment reminded him about Rod. “Can we hike to the middle of the loop and meet someone at your house in the afternoon?”

Her eyes widened. “Why are we going back to my house?”

He reminded her about Oliver’s theory that they were safe when everyone was home and children were outside playing. He tended to agree. Small towns were full of people who knew every car, and strangers stood out. “We’re meeting a friend of mine with the FBI. He’ll help us uncover what’s on the drive.”

She swallowed and looked away. “Will he want to be involved?”

“Are you afraid of more help?” He wasn't sure why she wouldn't want as much assistance as possible to get her father back.

“No. I just don’t know who to trust right now. Everyone is a suspect when I don’t know who took my father or why. Right now, the only one I trust is you.”

Words had never hit him so hard. Not even when he’d been told he wasn’t wanted anymore.

---