Page 96 of Deadly Target (Rocky Mountain Courage 2)

FORTY-ONE

The articles in his pocket, Nathan steered back toward town—Nadine lived outside the city limits—and headed straight for the sheriff’s department. He called Deputy Blaine so he wouldn’t “distract” Erin from packing. He smiled at the idea that he could distract her, but those thoughts quickly faded when Blaine answered.

The deputy was just handing off security duty to Atkins. Nathan was glad a fresh deputy would be there for the short time Erin remained at the house, and then they would adjust the security detail as needed at Stone Wolf Ranch since they wanted to keep her whereabouts known to only a few.

In the meantime, Nathan wanted to catch Trevor to ask about the picture Nathan had handed over to Henry. He also wanted to ask Henry why he’d taken the envelope meant for Nathan. Still, he had no clear reason to distrust Henry. Nathan still had a half hour before Erin’s mom would be home, and he would be there to help Erin persuade Celia they had to leave.

Inside the county offices, Nathan hiked up the short stairs to the landing and Carol buzzed him through. “Hello, Nathan. Any news on your dad?”

“He’s doing better every day.” Though not nearly as well as he should be doing.

At Henry’s door, Nathan saw that the sheriff wasn’t in his office. He looked around the office cubicles—a recent addition—and spotted the back of Trevor’s head. Nathan made a beeline over to Trevor and knocked lightly on the side of the cubicle.

The detective had been looking at his phone—answering a text?—and glanced up at Nathan. He smiled and put away his cell, then stood and thrust out his hand. “Just the man I wanted to see.”

“Oh?” Nathan said.

“I got the images you sent and was about to call you.” He grabbed a chair from an empty desk and set it near the small space in his cubicle. “Have a seat so we can talk.”

Nathan was eager to hear what Trevor had learned. The man opened a manila folder on his desk and pulled out the picture Nathan had passed on to Henry.

“Who is he?” Nathan asked.

“Jason Cain. Now that he’s deceased, the information was easier to obtain.”

Nathan shook his head. “I don’t understand.”

“I have contacts from my previous position with the US Marshals and was able to learn that Mr. Cain had been in the WITSEC program.”

“You’re saying he was a witness who gave state’s evidence to convict ... who?”

“I’m still working on all those details.”

“You saw the image of my father’s crime board?”

Trevor nodded. “You did good work in Boston. Thanks for grabbing the intel, Nathan.”

Nathan nodded. “Mr. Cain was connected to the organized crime characters on that crime board, then.”

“I’m still working on how they’re connected.”

“The articles I sent over should help.” He pulled the envelope from his pocket, then tugged out the hard copies, unfolded them, and set them on Trevor’s desk. Dad had gone to some trouble to mail these to Nathan, so he hoped he wasn’t making a mistake by sharing them.

Trevor lifted one of the articles and glanced at it, his gaze shifting back to Nathan. “Have you learned why your father didn’t want anyone to know about this?”

Nathan shrugged. “I have a theory, nothing more. I hope I didn’t make a mistake, but I see no way forward without help from the department that has had my back for years.”

“Care to share that theory?”

“He told me that lives are at stake. Back East, Erin and I learned that Dad’s girlfriend was killed in an unresolved hit-and-run. He suspected she was murdered to distract him from a case he was working, and then just a few weeks ago after he met with her son, another detective, to talk about finding answers, her son was shot and killed. His name was Ian Sandfield. His sister, Holly, gave us the photograph of Jason Cain.”

Trevor pursed his lips, then said, “So you believe your father feared that someone was taking out anyone who might know of the case, but he had to tell someone and he trusted you? He told you at a fishing hole where he thought no one would know or see, so you would be safe.”

“His last words to me were ‘in case something happens to me.’ Then he was shot. I don’t know what more he would have said.”

Trevor nodded, then slowly flipped through the file and revealed another set of photos. Part of a steel canister and some muddied bits of wire.

Nathan’s gut clenched. “What am I looking at?”

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