Page 104 of Durango

“We didn’t ask. She didn’t share,” the middle guy says. “Look, I’m sorry we grabbed you, but it was just a job. She wanted the coordinates and said you had them.”

I take a deep breath to remain calm. “You didn’t just grab me. You shot me, remember?” I point to the bandage on my arm. “And I’m pretty sure if I had given you those coordinates, you would have killed me.”

He winces. These guys don’t strike me as seasoned criminals. They seem more like weak men who were manipulated by someone.

I glance at Harding, who is watching the man intently. “Did you find any phones on them?” I ask.

“We did. They were all password-protected. I sent them to our expert who’s working on them,” Harding says.

I frown. “It’s been a couple of days.”

“He wasn’t able to get to it until this morning,” she says. “Another case took priority.”

I turn back to the man. “Anything you want to tell us before we find it for ourselves?”

He stares at the floor and doesn’t respond. I glance at the other two, and they avoid my eyes as well.

“We’ll figure out who this woman is. And my guess is that she’ll sell you all out the first chance she gets,” I say.

The middle guy kicks his leg out, trying to get to me, but it’s tied to the chair, so all he accomplishes is a small movement forward. He cares for her. Hopefully, Harding can use that to get more information.

“Monroe, take that man to the green room,” Harding says.

Monroe smiles. “With pleasure.”

I lean down and ask Harding quietly, “What’s the green room?”

“A room with green walls.”

I roll my eyes. “You know what I mean.”

“I just want to keep these guys separated for now. I’m hoping we get that phone information before they are transferred.”

“Where are they going?”

She nods for me to follow her out of the room, and I do.

“Local police to be charged with kidnapping and assault,” she says once the men can’t hear her.

“Can’t you put that off? This is more important.”

She shrugs. “I’ve already put it off a day. The detective isn’t willing to wait any longer because he’s worried one of these guys will claim unlawful imprisonment.”

I frown. “Why would he care? It would fall back to you.”

She nods. “He shouldn’t. But unlike Monroe here, he’s hell-bent on following the rules.”

CHAPTER 31

Willow

Now that Tyler is dead,I should feel safe, but I don’t. I guess I thought there would be some sort of wave of relief. Maybe it just hasn’t really sunk in yet.

“Let’s go out to eat,” Samantha says as she stares into our refrigerator.

“Sounds good to me.”

She’s already dressed and ready to go since she went back to work today. I decide to change out of my yoga pants and put on some mascara.

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