Chapter 8 #2
“There’s a truck coming.” Dom grabbed her arm, tugging her back from the road. She bent to make sure Smoky stayed at her side. They stayed in the shadows, watching as the large truck rolled past. When she realized it wasn’t a GMC Sierra, the tension leeched from her body.
“We’re okay.” She forced a reassuring smile. “Grady’s home is just six blocks away.”
“I know.” Dom hadn’t relaxed one iota. She knew he was battling guilt over Helen Gingrass’s death. It wasn’t his fault, but she understood why he felt bad. Maybe if Helen had just kept silent about Stuart’s confession, she’d still be alive.
There was no point in thinking that way. Helen was an honorable person, and Kendra gave her credit for doing the right thing, alerting the authorities about Stuart’s confession.
The sky remained dark as they walked. Sunrise was still an hour away, and she wanted to be safe inside Grady’s house by then.
She told Smoky to get busy, and the dog didn’t hesitate to make use of a snow-covered area of grass.
Kendra quickly cleaned up after her dog, tossing the waste into a nearby garbage can.
A moment later, another pair of headlights lit up the sky. There were no hiding spots nearby this time. Dom wrapped his arm around her, as if that alone would save them from being shot. Thankfully, the driver of the vehicle didn’t slow down, which was reassuring.
“I don’t know how people live like this,” Dom said in a low voice. “Constantly looking over their shoulder? There’s no amount of money on the planet for that.”
“Desperate people do desperate things.” She watched Smoky sniffing along the ground. “We’ll get through this.”
“I hope so.” He didn’t sound convinced. Even once they reached Grady’s house, Dom didn’t relax.
“Still no lights on.” Kendra went up to peer through the windows. While it was possible Grady was sleeping in, she didn’t think he was home.
“You’re not planning to break in, are you?” Dom asked.
“Joel and Justin are friends of his, they went to high school together.” She turned and walked to the attached garage.
There was a keypad there. She pulled out her phone and made another call.
“Hey, Raine, can Justin give me the code for Grady’s place?
” She punched in the digits. The garage door slowly rose.
“We left the restaurant; the place was getting busy.”
“We’re on the way, but it’s going to take us time to get there,” Raine told her. “Justin says to make yourself at home. Grady won’t mind.”
“Great, thanks. Have you reached out to Levy yet?”
“I left him a message,” Raine said. “I’m sure he’ll return my call soon. I know he’s anxious to talk to you and Dominic.”
“Yeah, well, I wish I could be sure he’s on our side.” She walked into the garage behind Dominic. The space was empty, so she dug her keys from her pocket. Best to keep the SUV in the garage from this point forward.
“There are no rumblings about him being untrustworthy,” Raine assured her. “My boss assured me Levy is a great marshal.”
“Okay. We’ll be here at Grady’s. See you later.” She ended the call as Dom opened the connecting door to the house. She didn’t follow him in, which had Smoky standing between them, as if not sure which way to go. “Go on, girl. Go with Dom.”
He glanced back at her. “What are you doing?”
“Parking the SUV in the garage.” She stepped closer, handing him the backpack. “Go ahead and get your computer online. We’ll work until my family gets here.”
“I’ll need the internet password.” Dom took the backpack. “I could try hacking in, but it will be quicker if your brother happens to know it.”
“I’ll get it for you.” She wasn’t surprised Dom knew how to hack into various systems. Was it possible the gunman has connections with a hacker too? Was that how they kept getting found, despite their efforts to stay off the grid?
She parked the SUV in the garage, closed the door, and joined Dominic. Smoky had stretched out between Dom and the garage door, waiting for Kendra to come in. She pulled out her phone and made another call.
This time her brother Justin answered. “Let me guess, you need the Wi-Fi password.”
“If you know it.” She grinned. Just knowing her brother was on the way made her feel calmer. “Otherwise, Dom can hack in.”
“He can do that?” Justin sounded surprised. “Okay, the password is WingSong876.”
She repeated it for Dom, who typed it in. He sent her a thumbs-up and went to work.
“Griff is on his way too,” Justin informed her. “Chase wanted to come along, but Wynona has a doctor’s appointment in a few hours. She has been having some false labor, so she asked Chase to accompany her, just in case.”
“I hope she’s okay.” Kendra frowned, thinking about how Bailey had just delivered her daughter several weeks early.
Naomi was still in the hospital, but her condition was stable.
Trevor and Bailey were hoping to bring their daughter home soon.
“We already have one premature baby in the family, we don’t need another one. ”
“Exactly why Chase is taking Wynona to the doctor,” Justin agreed. “I assured him that Griff, Raine, and I can handle things. We’ll be there as quickly as possible.”
“No problem. We’re safe at Grady’s.” She couldn’t imagine a better place to stay.
“See you soon.” Justin ended the call.
Kendra pocketed her phone, then joined Dom at the table. He was so intent on his task he didn’t seem to notice her. Remembering how he liked to drink coffee while working, she snooped in Grady’s pantry. Finding coffee and filters, she quickly made a pot.
When the coffee was finished, she filled two mugs and carried them to the table. Setting one next to Dominic, he finally looked up at her.
“Thanks.”
“What can I do?” Kendra didn’t like feeling helpless. “Is there some angle I can investigate?”
“I don’t think so.” His gaze went back to the screen. “I’m still working on the rerouting process. Once I have our connection secure, we can start looking into the three men who may have hired Stuart in Jackson Hole.”
“Okay.” She dropped down beside him. Their plan was still a long shot, but they had nothing better to do while they waited for Justin, Raine, and Griff to arrive.
It was a solid ten minutes before Dom glanced at her. “If this doesn’t work, I’m not sure what will.”
“I’m sure it’s fine.” She touched his arm. “You’re the expert. I can’t imagine any other computer geeks are smarter than you.”
“Not sure about that.” He grimaced. “This technique I’m using isn’t necessarily new.”
She squeezed his arm. “You’ve got this.”
He nodded, then cracked his knuckles. “Let’s start with the forty-nine-year-old Lamar Mortenson.
” Dom’s fingers danced along the keyboard as he spoke.
“I know we shouldn’t use age as a marker, but it seems logical this guy would have been older than twenty-nine when he hired Ramsey to kill my father. ”
“Agree.” She knew bad guys came in all shapes and sizes. Not to mention, gender. But in this case, it was logical to think a man had ordered the hit. She leaned in to see Dom’s screen. “You’re checking to see if he has a criminal background?”
“Yep.” He frowned at the screen. “He’s clean. Not even a minor arrest on his record.”
“Try the next one. What was his name? Ian Bartly?”
“Bartoli,” he corrected. “Ian Bartoli.”
A couple of hits popped up on the screen. “Drug possession from nine years ago.” She did the math. “That means he was arrested for having drugs when he was fifty-one. Seems old to have been popped for drug possession.”
“Yeah, but it looks like he paid a fine and that was it.” Dom sat back in his chair, his gaze focused on the screen. “A lot of rich and famous people do drugs. Maybe he’s one of those that like to party hard.”
“Maybe. But his arrest was in Jackson.” Was that significant? She couldn’t see how. “I wonder if he likes to ski. Jackson is a known ski destination for those with money.”
“The arrest was in February, so that’s a safe assumption.” He drummed his fingers on the table. “Not sure that’s enough to consider him capable of murder.”
“Maybe Raine and Griff can find a connection between Bartoli and Gunther Volter. Or Theo Le Ruiz.” It felt a bit like grasping at straws. “Or we could be on the wrong path. These guys may be innocent.”
“Too bad there’s not an easy way to find out if any of these guys have been to South Africa.” Dom sighed, then leaned forward. “I guess we should try the third guy, Timothy Platt, even if he is young.”
As it turned out, the only thing that popped for Timothy Platt was a DUI from back when he was seventeen. As a lot of kids were caught drinking and driving while underage, she didn’t think that moved him into a prime suspect category either.
Looking into these guys wasn’t working. She rose and paced the room. Their attempts to investigate this case were laughable. They weren’t cops and didn’t have access to any real criminal databases. They couldn’t even see if these guys had passports, much less had traveled to South Africa.
Other than the one lead Dominic had stumbled upon with Bartoli having a record for drug possession, they really had no idea who had ordered the sabotage. “We need something more. We may as well wait for Raine and Griff to get here. They’ll have a better idea of where to go from here.”
Dom shrugged and continued to work at the computer. As she wandered through Grady’s home, Smoky stood and followed.
“Don’t mind me, girl,” she told the dog. “I just can’t seem to sit still.”
Smoky tilted her head and continued following Kendra. She felt a little guilty over not walking Smoky or spending time training with her. The K9 was highly energetic and normally enjoyed running around the ranch. Kendra vowed to make it up to Smoky once the danger was over.
Time moved slowly. So much so that she tapped her watch, worried that it had stopped working. It hadn’t.
When her phone rang, she eagerly grabbed the device. “Hello?”
“Kendra, it’s Raine. I heard you went to Grady’s house?”
“Yes, we’re digging into a couple of possible suspects.” That sounded better than admitting she was pacing the room. “Where are you?”
“Still on the road. The reason I’m calling is because I just spoke to Andrew Levy. He’s in Cody.”
She froze, glancing at Dominic. “Why is Andrew Levy here in Cody? We never told him where we were staying.”
“I’m not sure, but I don’t think we can put off meeting him for much longer.” Raine sounded apologetic. “We’re only ten minutes away. I’ll call Levy now and let him know he can meet with us at Grady’s.”
She tightened her grip on the phone, struck by a wave of apprehension. “Okay, if you think it’s safe, then go ahead and set up the meeting. I’ll feel better knowing you, Justin, and Griff will be here with us.”
“Me too. Don’t worry. He’s not going to try anything.” Raine paused, then said, “We’ll be there soon. I’ll ask Andrew to meet us in fifteen minutes or so. That way we’ll make sure we can be there before he arrives.”
“Great.” Her tone lacked enthusiasm. “Thanks, Raine. See you soon.”
As she lowered the phone, Dom stood. “Levy is coming here?”
“Yes. But we won’t meet him alone.” She crossed over to the backpack to retrieve the gun she’d stored inside while they were eating breakfast. “We’re armed too.”
“I don’t trust him.” Dom scowled and began to pace as well. “He must have tracked our new cell number. And that means he could have found us at the cabin.”
Her worry morphed into full-blown fear. She quickly called Raine back. Her sister-in-law didn’t answer.
Was she already on the phone with Levy? If so, they didn’t have much time. “Let’s get out of here.”
“Really?” Dom abruptly stopped to look at her. “I thought you agreed to meeting with him here?”
“I changed my mind.” Kendra couldn’t explain the sudden wave of apprehension. “Let’s go. We can call Raine on the way to a new location.” Where, she wasn’t sure. Maybe another café.
She didn’t like the connection between Levy being here in Cody like the gunman. The more she thought about it, the more she believed meeting Levy in a public place was a better idea. “It’s time to get out of here.”
“Right behind you.” Dom closed the laptop, unplugged it, and tucked it under his arm.
She grabbed her coat and shrugged it on. “Come, Smoky.”
Out in the garage, she opened the back hatch for her K9. Once Smoky was settled inside with the backpack, she closed the hatch and opened the garage door. She started the car as Dominic stayed behind to close the garage door behind them.
The sky was light now. She drove out of the garage, then waited for Dominic to punch in the code. He swiftly came over to fold himself into the front seat.
She drove from Grady’s house, feeling relieved when they managed to get two blocks. She pulled over to the side of the road to call Raine when she noticed a car approaching from the opposite direction. There wasn’t time to duck out of sight.
It didn’t matter, though, when the truck passed them without slowing down. But as the vehicle went by, she realized it was a large dark-gray truck.
The gunman? Levy? Were they one and the same?
Her heart thundering against her ribs, Kendra quickly hit the gas and sped away, watching her rearview mirror. As she turned at the next intersection, the sound of gunfire rang out. The occupants of the truck had opened fire on Grady’s house!