“Do I need a lawyer?” she asked, not believing this was happening.
“That is your right to have one during questioning, but things don’t have to get that official.” He gestured toward his car. “We just want to record our interview with you.”
“Let me just grab my purse and lock up,” she said.
He nodded.
Leaving him on the doorstep, she went into her bedroom and shot off a quick text to Nash.
Miles Garrett from the FBI is taking me in for questioning. What should I do?
The text came back immediately.Don’t say anything until I get there.
I don’t know where he’s taking me.
“Ms. Keller?” Miles called from the door. “Let’s go.”
I’ll find out and meet you there.
Stuffing the phone into her purse, she hurried back out. “I’m coming.”
After locking her apartment door, she got into the front seat of Miles’s sedan. She fought the rising urge to hyperventilate as the car’s engine rumbled to life. “This is just a misunderstanding,” she said as Miles pulled away from the RV park.
But Miles remained stone-faced, refusing to engage any further until they arrived at a discreet mobile office tucked away in a vacant lot. He ushered Dolly inside the cramped trailer, bringing her to a sparsely furnished room with a folding table and chairs. “Please, have a seat Ms. Keller. Can I get you some coffee?”
Caught off guard by his bland politeness, Dolly could only nod mutely as Miles departed, leaving her to stew in dread and confusion. Finally, he returned with Styrofoam cups and settled across from her.
“Now then,” he began crisply, “you expressed a desire to explain yourself regarding the files you deleted from Ms. Mitchell’s computer. I’m listening.”
Dolly wet her dry lips, throat tight with nerves. “I…yes. Of course. You see, it wasn’t anything related to your case. It was just a personal file. About me.”Where the hell are you, Nash?
Miles’s expression didn’t flicker. “Why did you delete it?”
“You’ve seen what was in it, right?”
The trailer’s door banged open before Miles could respond. Nash stormed inside with fire in his eyes.
“What the hell is going on here, Miles?” He looked poised for violence as Miles rose calmly to face him.
“Ms. Keller has some explaining to do.”
“The hell she does,” Nash snarled, moving to stand protectively beside Dolly. “You’ve got no right dragging her down here like a criminal.”
“Actually, I do,” Miles said evenly. “She deleted files off Debbi Mitchell’s computer.”
“You did what?” Nash whirled to her.
She flinched back from the incredulous look in his eyes.
“One file. I deleted one file, and it had nothing to do with the rodeo.”
“Since she obviously called you instead of her lawyer, you might as well stay.”
Nash looked mutinous, but after a beat, slid into the chair next to Dolly, taking her clammy hand in his larger, calloused one. His dark eyes searched her face. “You okay, sweetheart?” His voice was low, tense. Dolly squeezed his hand hard, drawing courage from his presence despite the fact this was not how she wanted to tell him about her escort days.
“Yeah.”
Miles cleared his throat meaningfully as Nash reluctantly released Dolly’s hand. “Let’s start from the top. What can you tell me about your relationship with Jackson Blevins?”