Page 84 of Durango

Nearly an hour later, there’s a knock at the door. It’s Reed and Samantha. I unlock the door and swing it open.

Samantha walks in first. “Ugh, the apartment is a wreck. I’m sure it was Tyler. Every drawer has been pulled out and emptied. The cops say it looks like someone was searching for something.”

Reed follows her in. I glance out the window but don’t see anything out of the ordinary.

“Don’t worry, no one followed us,” Reed says.

Samantha shows me her phone. “I took photos. Look at this mess.”

She’s right. Every drawer has been pulled out and emptied. A photo of the kitchen shows cereal dumped out onto the floor. Another shot shows a plant turned over and the dirt pile on the tile. But something in that photo catches my eye.

“Wait, go back to the plant,” I say.

She does.

“Can you zoom in there?” I point to the kitchen table.

She zooms in, and I stare at the photo.

“If this was Tyler—or someone he hired—and they were looking for the files, why did they not touch that?”

“Let me see,” Reed asks.

She hands him the phone. We all stare at the photo. The kitchen table also doubles as a workspace for Samantha sometimes, and she keeps a desk organizer with cubbies that hold pens, binder clips, and other odds and ends, including several blank USB sticks that are sitting in plain view and appear not to have been moved.

“Those USB sticks haven’t been touched,” I tell Reed.

“Huh, you’re right. That’s odd. What was he looking for?” Samantha asks.

I swallow as it all comes together. “Tyler isn’t looking for the files. He’s looking for me. And trying to scare me by ransacking the apartment. He must have followed you back here.”

“I agree that was probably his plan, but we were careful coming back,” Reed says.

Samantha moves to go to the window, but I stop her. “If that’s true, why hasn’t anyone burst in here yet?” she asks.

“Because he might have seen you with Reed. And he has no way of knowing who else might be inside. Stay away from the windows.”

“Both of you stay in the kitchen,” Reed instructs. “But I assure you, we were careful.”

“Durango’s not back yet?” Samantha asks quietly.

I shake my head.

“I haven’t heard from him, either,” Reed says.

I pull my phone from my pocket and call Axel.

“Hey, Willow, we’re still at the hospital. They decided Durango needed fluids. He’s been stitched up, and now we are just waiting for them to say we can go.”

“Hospital? Stitched up? He was hurt?” I ask.

“Uh,” Axel says. “A little, but he’s fine now. How are you doing?”

I want to ask more about Durango, but I suspect I won’t get all the facts. Instead, I tell him about the break-in at Samantha’s apartment and that she went there and back. Then I explain that the kitchen table photo wasn’t right.

“So, you think it was a ploy so he could follow her back to where you are?”

Reed steps up and takes the phone from my hand. He turns on the speakerphone. “I had Samantha go to the office. I brought her back here. We were careful.” He hands the phone back.

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