Page 74 of Fatal Vision

“Coyotes roam free here,” Colton threatened. “They’ll eat you in three chomps.”

The dog finally sat and panted up at him, that stupid tongue hanging out the side of his mouth.

“Oh, so now you’re begging to get eaten? Fine.” He dug out his phone and hit Vesper’s button, turning off the back door sensor. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

He unlocked the deadbolt and opened the door. Salisbury flew out into the night.

Turning on his phone’s flashlight, Colton shook his head and followed.

Damn dog. Salisbury was as good as Shelby at manipulating him.

The night was beautiful. The orange moon hung over them and lit the rows of harvested wheat. An owl hooted overhead, perched on the roof of the house.

Colton’s breath fogged in front of his face. He watched the owl, wondering if it was hunting.

Of course it was. How desperate was it for a meal, though? Desperate enough to go after a 12-pound dog?

He shined the flashlight on Salisbury who was sniffing his way around the west side of the house, stopping only for a moment to pee.

“Where are you going?” Colton said locking the door and hitting the button on the security system app.

Oblivious, Salisbury made his way around to the driveway, nose to the ground. He went around and around Colton’s truck as Colton stood and watched.

His phone buzzed in his hand and he looked at the screen.What the hell is she doing up right now?

Thank goodness, he’d turned off the ringer and left it on vibrate only. Otherwise, Shelby would have been woken by Green Day. He clicked the button to accept the call, putting it on speakerphone and lowering the volume so he could keep using the flashlight. “Hey, boss. What’s up?”

It became clear as he heard Sloane cooing through the speaker. The baby was awake and so was her mother.

“I’ve been going over your missions,” Beatrice said. “Your naval ones. The AARs from Connor’s rescue don’t match.”

AAR—after action report. “What do you mean, they don’t match?”

“The one filed by your CO matches the one filed by the Bureau. However, there was a third, filed anonymously a few weeks later, and was then deleted—Rory found the ghost file on the Bureau’s server and was able to retrieve it. It does not match the two official reports.”

Salisbury disappeared behind a tire. Colton followed, glad he had no idea what a ghost file was or how Rory had accessed the FBI’s main server. “Why does that matter?”

“The anonymous, deleted report states that Iman Quan was not killed by you.”

And ah, shit. Who knew that?

Him. Shelby. And…?

No one. Just the two of them.

Right?

Had Shelby told someone else? He certainly hadn’t, but maybe her fellow agent that night, Calisto, had seen something or she had confided in him.

Had she filed this anonymous ghost report?

If so, who had then deleted it? Shelby? Had she filed the report and then changed her mind?

Clouds moved across the moon, blanketing everything in shadow. “It’s bogus, don’t worry about it.” He needed to get Beatrice off this train. “Did you find anything else? Anything that connects Evers, Bard, and Edmonton?”

His boss was never one to be redirected. “Is there something you’re not telling me? Scratch that—I know you’re not telling me a lot of things, and I’ll trust there’s a reason for it. Bard was part of the planning team who worked closely with the Bureau on Mission Liberate Green Frog, Dr. Edmonton was part of the medical team who treated Connor, and Evers… I’m not sure how he fits in. But then, you know, don’t you?”

Colton’s gaze snagged on a dark patch of ground by the back bumper. “Yes, ma’am, I do, and with all due respect, I’m not going to share that with you for your own good. My question is—there were a bunch of people involved in Liberate Green Frog, many of whom were not part of the ground mission. Why these three men?”