Page 50 of Alibi for Murder
Then she sat, unable to move or really think, for a moment.
This couldn’t be…
Her parents had died twenty-eight years ago. About three years before flash drives were available on the market for everyday consumers…but they had existed. She knew this from some movie she had watched, and she’d been certain they’d made a mistake, but she googled it, and sure enough, the writers had been correct.
Still…she should check again. She looked at the name on the tiny little device.
Allie grabbed her phone and searched flash drives and the name. She remembered correctly. They did exist—this brand in particular—well before they were widely available on the market.
Okay. Her disbelief drained away. This could be loaded with evidence. From her father. About Ledwell and SILO.
What the heck was she thinking? Of course it was. It was in the time capsule thattheyhad buried, and it was inside her baby rattle. What else would it be? Anticipation seared through her veins. Her right leg started to pop up and down.
She glanced at the police department building. There was no way to know how much longer Steve would be. Her house was like two miles from here. All she had to do was rush home, get her laptop and come right back. No biggie. Ten minutes tops.
Heart pounding, she hit the start button on the SUV and drove out of the parking lot. She drove slowly, maybe too slowly. So possibly the trip would take fifteen minutes. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d driven anywhere, so slow waslikely the best option. Even at her turtle-like speed, it took her a whole fourteen minutes to make the short trip.
She turned into her driveway. The house was so damned dark. If she’d had any idea they would be gone so long she would have left the outside lights on. She shuddered as she parked. She could do this.
She could.
Just because someone had killed her parents and several other Ledwell-associated people didn’t mean she was in that same sort of danger.
The storage device clutched in her right hand seemed to grow warmer as if warning her to think again.
Don’t be naïve, Al.
Before getting out, she sent a text to Rivero and told him that she may have found something and had come back to her house for her laptop. She left it at that. No need to give him any other specifics. Then she sent a text to Steve’s phone. It had most likely been confiscated, but he needed to know where she was just in case he came out in the next ten minutes before she was back in the parking lot.
She surveyed the darkness outside the vehicle. She had lived in this house her entire life. Played in every corner of this yard. At one time, she had known all her neighbors. Granted, this was an old neighborhood, so the houses were farther apart than in newer communities, and there were trees—lots of trees. Lots of hiding places.
She banished the notion. She knew every tree. This was home. Not some wilderness she’d never explored.
Deep breath. She opened the door and climbed out. She touched the door handle and locked the SUV. Continually scanning the darkness for movement, she tucked her cell into one back pocket and the fob into the other. Clutching her house key and with the flash drive in her front pocket, she hurried tothe door. She unlocked each of the deadbolts with the key. Every click making her look around to ensure no one had appeared out of the shadows. The back door was still an issue, but Steve had screwed it shut from the inside, so that wouldn’t be easily used by an intruder. This door had been locked, so it wasn’t likely anyone had gotten in again. She relaxed a little.
Of course, there were plenty of windows to be broken and climbed through.
She shook off the thought.
“Focus,” she muttered.
The door opened into the little entry hall, and she flipped on a light switch. She breathed easier then. No one jumped out at her. No sound of running footsteps. It was all quiet. Since Steve had arrived, she’d been forgetting to set the security system, not that it would have alerted anyone, but it did make enough noise to probably deter a would-be intruder. She would be sure to set it when she left this time.
“Okay.” She closed and locked the door, all three deadbolts, then put the key in her front pocket. Moving quickly, she went from room to room, turning on lights, to ensure all was clear before heading upstairs.
Once in the second-story hallway, she checked the rooms up there too. When all appeared clear, she hurried to her office and reached for her laptop.
She froze, the laptop in her hand.
Why drive back to the station to have a look? Why not look right now? Assuming the contents weren’t password blocked or somehow encrypted, she could see what she had in like ten seconds.
She really should get back.
But what if this was the information they had been looking for that would lead them to the truth?
Her need to know won the battle.
She slid into her chair and opened the laptop. It took a moment to get the flash drive into the proper port. Even more time was required for it to launch and load.
