Page 23 of True Valor
The computer had been wiped clean.Howconvenient.No recent emails, no sites saved in favorites, nodocuments, save one.Julie printed the suicide note, pulled thepaper from the printer, folded it, and stuck it in her hippocket.
“Okay, let’s get out of here.”
It was eleven fifteen when they got back tothe car.
“What now?”Julie asked.
“We get out of this county and find a motelroom.We have to hope they don’t know about me.”
“I’m sorry, Nic.”
“For what?”
“For getting you into this mess.You sure youdon’t want to resign?”
Nic laughed.Like he could do that.As hisGranny used to say in for a penny, in for a pound.“I’m sure.”
Chapter Seven
It was after midnight when Nic checked intothe motel, leaving Julie in the car.He asked for a back room, awayfrom the highway, with the excuse that he needed to get some sleep.Not exactly a lie.His eyes burned and the adrenaline rush from hisforay into lawlessness had evaporated, leaving him spent.
The room only had one bed, but it didn’t takemuch cajoling to convince Julie to sleep under the covers while heslept on top of them.Neither one felt like crashing on the floor.Before she’d get into bed though, she insisted on reading thesuicide note.
“My father didn’t write this.”Julie wasemphatic, tossing the letter onto the bed.
“How do you know?”
“Because, whoever wrote this, misspelledgrief.Look.”Julie snatched up the wayward paper and moved ontothe bed so he could see.“My father was the spelling nazi,Nic.”
“Maybe he was upset.It’s a suicide note,Julie.”
“Nope.”Julie shook her head.“No way.Itwasn’t in him to misspell a word.Especially one like grief.Myfather did not write this note.”
Julie’s whimpers woke him well before light.She was crying in her sleep.So much for not feeling it.Nicgathered her close, pulling her head to his shoulder.She quieted,but not for long.
When he woke a half hour later, Julie sat,knees pulled up to her chest, head in her hands.
“He told me, Nic.He told me.”
“What?”His eyes felt heavy, his throatparched.
Julie turned on the bed.“He told me.Thenight I came home.”She reached down, shaking Nic’s shoulder.“Wakeup!”
“All right.”Nic raked his fingers throughhis hair and propped up on his elbow.Was it too much to ask for adecent night’s sleep?Apparently so.“What are you trying to tellme?”
Julie bounded off the bed.“My father.Thenight I came home.He said he had something for me to see.”Shestopped speaking and started pacing.“Something for me to workon.”
“And that means what?”
“It’s what I do.”Julie gestured impatiently.“For a living.”
“What?”Nic was lost and it wasn’t just beingawakened from a dead sleep.
Julie sighed and flopped on the bed.“I’m aninvestigator.For the station.That’s what I do for a living.Maybemy dad left me something.”Julie grabbed his hand, tugging.“Weneed to go back to the house.C’mon.”
It took a good ten minutes before Nic couldconvince Julie that they couldn’t possibly go back to the housenow.It would be light in an hour.It was too dangerous.What werethey looking for, anyway?Julie could argue ‘til she was blue inthe face.No way was he letting her out of this room in thedaylight.If they had to go back to the house—she insisted theydid—then she’d have to wait until tonight.
“Can I go back to sleep now?”
