Page 51 of Deadly Target (Rocky Mountain Courage 2)

TWENTY-ONE

Erin dared to lift her gaze to Nathan and wished she hadn’t. His eyes were riveted on her.

What was he thinking? That she’d lost her mind? She was overly dramatic?

She’d only meant to encourage him with the truth as she saw it. Her view came from dealing with the ever-growing population of the criminally minded and the psychopaths out there. People had no idea what law enforcement went through to bring these people in, the battles they had to fight under great restrictions, and then the battles they faced again when defense attorneys tried to free the worst sorts of criminals on technicalities.

Clearing her throat, breaking the spell, Erin moved the candle to the side of the table against the wall and placed the tablet in the center between them. Time to get down to business.

He moved to sit next to her instead of across from her. She could have flipped the tablet so he could see, but this made it easier for them to study.

Except for the fact that he was close, and that was a distraction.

They both stared at the tablet—the image of the crime board Erin had taken—in silence. What are we doing again? She found it hard to think with him so close, and she couldn’t afford anything but a clear mind.

“So much was erased already,” Nathan said. “I hope we can figure it out with only the peripheral details.”

“As I said, we’ll work it in reverse and hope for the best.”

“Too bad I can’t just walk into the Gifford PD and ask about the case Dad had been removed from.”

His cell rang, and he glanced at the screen. The look he shot Erin told her he wasn’t happy about the call, and then the way he slinked down in the chair confirmed it.

“Great timing,” he said.

“Who is it?”

He eyed his cell. “I should answer and get this over with. I’ve been expecting this call.”

Ah. “Henry.”

Nathan nodded and put his cell on speaker but turned down the sound so only they would be able to hear. “Campbell here.”

“Nathan! What in the world are you doing in Boston?”

“I wanted to check on Dad’s house to make sure everything was okay. It wasn’t. I interrupted a burglary in process.”

“So I hear. I thought we agreed you would not be investigating your dad’s shooting.”

He glanced at Erin.

Would Nathan bring her into this now? Or would that make any difference to Henry at all?

Nathan scratched his head. “Technically, I wasn’t investigating his shooting. I simply wanted—”

“Save it,” Henry said. “We both know you didn’t fly out to Boston to check on his house. I gave you time off to spend with him and to take it easy after what you’ve gone through. If you’re going to work, you can hightail it right back here and I’ll put you on the Rocky Mountain Courage Memorial case.”

What? Erin leaned closer as if she could somehow force Henry’s explanation out of him this instant.

“I thought we closed that case,” Nathan said.

“It was dead, not closed. But it has been revived. Another vandalism occurred last night.”

Oh no. Erin lifted her gaze to Nathan.

Erin wanted to ask Henry for the details if Nathan wouldn’t, but she doubted he wanted Henry to know she was listening to the call.

“You need to put someone else on that, because I won’t be back for a couple of days.” Nathan crossed his arms as if Henry could see his resolve.

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