Page 70 of Valor

Children played in their yards, since school had just released a few minutes before. An ache started low in her chest as she watched her neighbors swinging on backyard swings while others raced around the house. They all played together for as long as she could remember.

She had very little connection with her neighbors. Being unmarried and without children, they often assumed she didn’t want to be a part of their get-togethers. The only time she’d been invited was to take a picture of the whole group of them. Until then, she hadn’t realized how much she wanted a sense of community and a family of her own.

She glanced over at Allen and noticed him watching the children as well. Did he want a family? Not that he was an option. If he had children, the mother would have to do the bulk of raising them, since he was married to his career. Wasn’t he?

“What do you do outside of work?” That question could get her information. Did he do anything else? Hobbies meant he had time for other things.

“Do you mean fun?” He sucked in a breath, his face crumpling in a fake grimace. “Um, I walk my dog. Does that count? He requires a lot of walks and exercise, or he gets inventive.” Allen snorted. “Sometimes, I hike.”

“I can imagine.” Dog walking wasn’t really what she wanted to hear. She’d hoped he liked to travel. Something that got him outside the town of Wall where he couldn’t be called at any time. “Do you ever take vacations?” She controlled her voice, containing any hope that might slip through. Why did it matter? Even if she knew he could get away, a few weeks a year didn’t make time for a relationship.

“Not really. Every vacation I ever went on as a kid was part of school, so it was planned out, down to the minute. Maybe that’s where I became so regimented. I don’t know. Like I said in the cabin, there wasn’t any money to stay, even locally. When you don’t do things as a kid, you don’t think of doing them as an adult.”

School trips were often expensive or required a lot of fundraising. She wondered if someone sponsored him or if he worked to earn his way on those few trips. What would it be like to take him away from Wall and away from his day-to-day grind? Would he relax and smile even more?

A car pulled into her driveway, and it was everything she expected an FBI agent to drive. It was perfectly clean, black, with tinted windows, and nondescript. If she had to guess, the guy would fit the profile too.

As Rod exited his car, Heather laughed. For some reason, seeing a man who looked just like the television portrayal of an FBI agent put her at ease. If he’d shown up in a brown suit, she’d have questioned whether she could trust him.

“Fits the vibe, doesn’t he?” Allen seemed to know her thoughts.

“Yeah, I guess I’m not surprised. Maybe the image of an agent was formed by watching actual agents?”

He nodded his agreement and got out of the car, then came around to open her door. With her sore arm, she appreciated the help. He waved to Rod, who came over and offered her his hand. “I’m Rod Peterson. I have a secure computer with me, but I need to warn you, sometimes even our systems aren’t foolproof. Just trying to see what’s on this thing could destroy it.”

“We need to know.” If the drive was destroyed, they’d have to rely on her drawing to catch whoever was after her.

“Agreed. Let’s go inside and get to work.”

She followed the two men to the door and stopped partway. Something felt off. Glancing down the street, she noticed a car she didn’t recognize. All the kids had gone back inside. Coincidence or safety? The hair on the back of her neck tingled and she took a deep breath.

“Heather? You coming?” Allen asked.

She nodded, not wanting to point out the car where they could see her. When she reached the doorway, she tugged Allen aside. “See that red car at the end of the street? It’s not the car from the abduction, but I’ve never seen it before. Could be someone visiting a friend, but this is a weird time of day and a weird day of the week for visitors.”

He nodded his agreement and leaned against the doorframe, closer to her, like they were a couple, and he was whispering something in her ear. She held her breath, taking in everything about him. Was he going to kiss her? Why in the world did her mind immediately go there? She reached up to push him away, but his chest was solid and there was no moving him.

“Don’t worry. I’m just getting a good look at the car without letting them know.” He paused, and she heard him suck in a deep breath. “By the way. You smell good.”

He turned away from her and headed into her house.

CHAPTERSEVEN

Allen’s senseswere in overdrive. Why had he gotten so close to Heather? He’d noticed he couldn’t lean out of the doorway without being obvious, so he’d made it appear he was having a moment with Heather. No one would ever suspect he’d been using that time to memorize the make and license plate of the car, but it rattled him.

Heatherrattled him.

He took a deep breath and heard her follow him inside. Thank goodness the cop had been stationed in his car. Allen had forgotten himself. Heather shouldn’t have been left alone outside. He commanded himself to get his head on straight. “Rod, what do you need as far as a workspace?”

“First, thanks for agreeing to meet me here and not at your office. If we met there, I’d have to file paperwork, and I’d have to be included on this case formally. I don’t think you want that.”

Heather cleared off a section of the table. “And if this destroys your computer, what then? Will this have to go on record?”

Rod cracked his fingers with an exaggerated backstretch, then opened his laptop. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. You have the drive?” He held out his hand to Allen.

Allen dug into his coat pocket and pulled it out. He still felt guilty for not submitting it into evidence, but with his team as small as it was, they were more likely to get something off the drive this way than if his team tried to hack it.

Dropping the flash drive into Rod’s hand, Allen decided this was the right course of action. Heather needed to find out who this was and why they were after her. If there was nothing on the drive that would harm others, then they could try to offer a trade for her father. Though the kidnappers had yet to contact him with a ransom.