Page 30 of Durango

Samantha flashes a devilish grin and begins typing. Ten minutes later, she stands up. “It’s been done.”

“Do you really think whoever runs that site will care about that influencer?”

“Yes, they will. And I made a copy of all the videos just in case there is anyone else on there who’s famous. But we should go. We’ve been here too long.”

I check the time, and we’ve been inside for about thirty minutes. Not too long, assuming Tyler and his new girlfriend are both at work for the day. But she’s right; I don’t want to push it.

We head out, and I put the key under the gnome. As we walk down the driveway, the girlfriend’s car approaches.

“Oh shit, we almost got caught,” Samantha says.

What does she mean almost? We are still on their property. Shit, she might recognize this box.

The woman rolls down the window as she pulls up next to us. “Can I help you?” Her tone is snappy.

I open my mouth to warn her, but nothing comes out. She needs to know what kind of man Tyler is.

Samantha steps forward. “Yes, we are out spreading the good word of the Bible. Can we talk to you for a minute?”

“No,” she says as she hits the gas, leaving us behind.

We practically run to the car. I have us down the road and onto the highway as fast as possible. “Using religion? That could have backfired.”

Samantha nods. “It could have, but I would have figured something out.”

“I feel guilty not telling her about Tyler.”

“Don’t. She wouldn’t believe you anyway. We have to take him down with these videos. Hey, what’s in the box?”

“Jewelry. It’s mostly costume, but most of it was from my mom. I hated that I left it behind. Same with Fuzzy.”

“Fuzzy?”

I nod to my purse. “The purple elephant.”

We grab a couple of sandwiches from a local deli and then drive to a nearby park to eat them.

“What if this doesn’t work?” I ask. “The gossip site might ignore what you sent them. The police might not consider what we have to be enough evidence of a crime.”

Samantha finishes her food as she stares at the swings, which are currently empty. “Let’s stay another night and see where we are in the morning.”

“You mean I should wait to go to the police?”

She nods. “I’ve been thinking about it. You can’t walk into the police station saying you broke into his house to get those videos.”

I laugh. “Obviously. I was going to report it anonymously.”

“How?”

I shrug. “I’ll use a library computer.”

“You need a library card. It’s traceable.”

“Okay, I’ll drop the USB stick off at the police station with a letter.”

“They have cameras. They’ll identify you.”

I wipe my mouth and stare at my friend. “All right, what do you think will work?”

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