Page 71 of Valor

Rod’s fingers flew over the keyboard. With a security screen, he couldn’t see what was on the computer anyway. He glanced around to see where Heather had gone. Her location had become very important to him.

She had curled into a ball on the one cushion of the sofa that wasn’t completely destroyed, though there was a slit cut through the center. A drawing tablet lay over her lap, so she didn’t need a table. She’d gathered a metal container of pencils that looked like various colors of gray.

Curiosity made him move closer to see what she was doing. Her eyes were partially closed as she made slow, confident strokes over the paper. A face took shape. At first, it was crude, like a cartoon. The longer she worked, adding detail, the more the image looked real. It was probably the best facial image he’d seen as far as forensic drawings were concerned. She had a talent, and he prayed she would let him hire her in the future.

Was he grasping at straws to see her after this was over? If he was, was that bad? She was a good woman. She attended church, had a stable job, worked hard, and took care of her father. What wouldn’t be attractive about that? Yet, she might find out his deepest secret. Her father knew, which meant she could easily find out. Her hesitation about him might be why she’d tried to push him away outside.

He’d assumed she would know he was trying to get a look at the car, since she’d just mentioned it. He wasn’t crude. It had been the totally wrong time to make a pass at her after she’d just shared that she was worried. Her breath had caught, and she’d tensed. He’d felt it.

“I have something,” Rod said.

Heather immediately put down her pencil. He didn’t turn fast enough, and she caught him watching her. Her cheeks turned pink, and she tried to cover it by hiding behind her drawing.

“Don’t. It’s good. I think that will work well.”

She bit her lip and headed over to Rod, ignoring his statement. “What did you find?”

“It’s encrypted. I’m trying to break it now. The weird thing is, there’s only about twelve variables.”

Allen considered everything they knew about this particular case. If there were only twelve characters, this couldn’t be words. It had to be numbers. But why twelve and not nine? “Could it be numbers? Math of some sort?”

Rod shook his head, his fingers still flying. “It’s pretty crude. I don’t think they tried very hard. Give me a little time and I’ll crack it. I think it is numbers, but not math. How much time do I have to work on this?”

Allen glanced at his watch. Even though he had until the meeting that evening, he didn’t want to be in this house after dark. That was too dangerous. There was only so long they could hold someone off with a parked squad car and relying on wonderfully nosy neighbors.

“Thirty minutes. We want to be out of here before the sun sets. I don’t want to have to turn on lights. Right now, anyone who didn’t see us walk up to the house probably thinks we’re the police, looking for evidence.” He strode to the window to check where the sun was in the sky.

As the curtain fell back in front of the window, his phone buzzed. Tommy had sent a text letting him know he’d been called to an emergency across town. A break in. That seemed wildly convenient.

“We have to go. Sorry Rod, you’ll have to finish this back at the station. My lookout has to leave, and we’re unprotected.”

Heather sat up straight and quickly gathered everything around her. “He’s right. We shouldn’t stay.” She gave him a questioning look.

He nodded, knowing she was wondering about the same car from earlier. Rod continued typing away. “If you can give me just ten more minutes, I can have what you need.”

“We really shouldn’t. It’s not safe.” He drew his weapon and searched the front yard, keeping an eye out for anyone.

Heather shoved things into a bag and slung it over her shoulder. “I’m ready.”

“Rod, I’m sorry. I know you can’t be rushed, but this is dangerous. They abducted her father and shot at her. She can’t stay here.”

A car slowly drove by, and he wished he knew if it belonged there or not. It wasn’t the one from earlier, but that didn’t mean anything. The red car could’ve gone across town to create a diversion.

Rod finally closed the computer and headed for the door. “Where can I meet you?”

“I don’t mean to put you out. I have to think about Heather’s safety.”

Rod took a deep breath. “It’s fine. Just tell me where I can meet you. If you think your office is safe, then we’ll go there. I don’t want you to have to get my office involved if you don’t have to. You know they’ll take you off the case. If that happens, this will just be another crime to solve. We both know that.”

Allen glanced at Heather. She wasn’t the type to be frightened. She’d faced getting shot better than others he’d seen. Right now, she was rattled. Between being back in her house after it had been trashed and trying to imagine her attacker’s face, plus hearing what could’ve been her abducted father, today had been a lot for her to go through.

“Let’s meet at the cafe.” He grabbed a stocking cap from the coat closet hanging open near her front door and tossed it at her. “Put your hair up in this. If someone knows you well, they’ll see right through the disguise. Someone who doesn’t, won’t.”

He opened the door and looked at his watch. Life felt like a ticking time bomb. He had a few hours until the meeting, but he’d hoped to find out all he could from the thumb drive. There was only so long they could take before her father would be a recovery, not a rescue.

He held open the car door for Heather. Even with her blonde braid tucked up under the hat, she was lovely. He shouldn’t think that way, but couldn’t help it. He was beginning to respect her for many things, which made her attractive.

“I know this sounds silly. We were probably safe there, but I was concerned.” Heather bit her lip and sucked in a pained breath as she buckled her seatbelt.