Page 117 of Deathmarch

“Why did he target Lamm specifically? Installing safes was Dusty’s job. He must have installed dozens, probably hundreds over the years. Presumably, they were all bought to hold valuables. Did he rob any of his other customers?”

“Not that we know of, but I’ll get a warrant for his client list in the morning and check.”

“Do you think he robbed Lamm because Lamm was old and Dusty thought he wouldn’t fight back?”

Harper said something that she didn’t catch. The door muffled his voice.

She glanced down at the water. Thank God for the bubble bath Wendy had brought over. “You can come in if you want.”

A moment of silence.

“Are you sure?”

“Unless you don’t want to.”

He was in there before she finished the sentence.

To his credit, he kept his gaze on her face even as he murmured, “You’re killing me, you know that?”

“I didn’t catch what you said before.”

He went to sit on the closed toilet, putting most of the bathroom between them.

There was a patience to him, a kindness.Shannon O’Brian’s words about her Henry echoed in Allie’s head.Harper too,she thought, enveloped in warm water. He wasn’t a soft-spoken bird-watcher, he was a police detective, but he had plenty of kindness in him. Even when he’d thought she’d been involved in murder. And he had patience to him too. She’d been living with him for a week, and he wanted her—the way he looked at her made that clear—yet he hadn’t made a single move.

“Dusty was sick of putting in safes for preppers,” he said. “Some prepper website featured that type of safe, then every prepper had to have it. Dusty was working for the Donovans for twelve dollars an hour because without a college degree, his options were limited. They kept him part-time to avoid having to pay him benefits. His girlfriend didn’t want to get married because she thought they couldn’t afford it, and she didn’t want kids because what was the point with global warming coming.”

Allie listened, trying to follow the logic and failing.

“Meanwhile,” Harper said, “there Dusty was, installing safes that cost ten grand a pop, for old geezers who were spending an obscene amount of money on prepping. The same people who caused global warming in the first place, according to Dusty, plastic bottles piled in their basements to the ceiling. It chafed at him.”

“Why Lamm? Why not one of the other preppers, if he’d done jobs for so many?”

“Don’t know. Maybe the old man left an impression. Maybe Lamm told him he needed to set aside some gold and silver. Maybe he ranted on like he did at my father a few months ago. But Dusty didn’t just wave it off. He got mad. He couldn’t afford lunch.”

“Why now? The installation wasn’t recent.”

“He got fired from his current job. He needed the money and knew where to get some. He probably thought since the installation at Lamm’s was years ago, it was ancient history, so nobody would make the connection to him.”

Allie thought about that for a few seconds. “It was a damn thin connection. Can’t believe you figured it out.”

He puffed out his chest and said a single word. “Detective.”

“Yes, you are.” She laughed, then she grew serious again. “Are you in trouble because you shot the guy?”

“If it turns out I am, you could marry me. They can’t make a wife testify against her husband. It’s the law.”

She stared at him. “Harper?”

He stared right back, his gaze heating. “Allie?”

“Did you just ask me to marry you?”

“Too soon?” He shook his head. “You’ve just been kidnapped. Sorry. I just want you to know that’s the direction my brain is heading.” He paused. Watched her. “Since you’ve been back… It’s like my life makes more sense. You know?”

“Could you please give me a robe? I can’t think naked.”

“Something to remember in the future.” He grinned at her as he got up for his robe and brought it over, held it out for her.