Page 48 of High Country Escape

“I haven’t seen it, but feel free to look.”

Carter leaned over Dalton’s shoulder and peered at the monitor. “What are you working on? Your next million-dollar idea?”

“None of my ideas have made a million dollars,” Dalton said.

“I figure it’s only a matter of time.” He straightened, then moved away. Moments later, the click and thump of doors opening and closing announced Carter’s path through the apartment.

Dalton went back to scrolling through the list of names on the screen.

“I found it!” Carter emerged into the living room again, holding aloft a small red plastic box. “It was way back in the closet in my old bedroom.” He plopped down onto the sofa, long legs stretched in front of him, picked up the remote and turned down the music. “You really ought to clean this place up. Especially now that you have a girlfriend. She’s not going to want to sleep in a dump.”

Dalton ignored him, but Carter refused to take the hint. “What is that you’re looking at?” he asked. “It looks like you’re reading a phone book—if people still used phone books.”

“It’s the state driver’s license database.”

“You have access to that?”

“Not officially, no.” But he knew a guy who knew a guy who had agreed to let him take a peek in exchange for cheat codes for an online game Dalton knew about.

“Then how—” Carter shook his head. “No, I don’t want to know.” He got up and came to lean over Dalton’s chair again. “Who are you looking for?”

“A woman named Betty Josephs. I found her in Texas, then I tracked her to Denver, but I can’t figure out where she went from there.”

“Who is Betty Josephs?”

“Supposedly, she’s William Ledger’s girlfriend.”

“Who is William Ledger?”

How much could he say without betraying Roxanne’s confidence? “He’s a guy Roxanne used to know. He may be harassing her now.”

“The guy who ran her off the road and broke into her house?”

Of course. Everyone in search and rescue knew about those things. Probably a lot of other people in town, too. “Yeah. I figure if I can find the girlfriend, maybe I can find him.”

“Does Aaron know you’re doing this?”

“No. And don’t tell him.”

“Like you have to even say that.”

“I’ll tell him myself when I have more than a name.”

Carter pulled a chair close and sat. “So, what have you found out so far?”

“I’ve tracked her as far as Denver three months ago. She got a speeding ticket and her address is an apartment on the south end of the city. Then she disappears. She’s no longer at that address.” He closed the file and pushed back from the desk. “I think she’s using a different name. I think Betty Josephs was a fake identity, too. At least, I can’t find evidence she existed before three years ago. That’s when Ledger was moved to the federal prison in Seagoville, outside of Dallas, and she started visiting him.”

“Maybe you should quit doing Jeep tours and become a private detective,” Carter said.

“Not interested. I just want to help Roxanne.”

“Is Roxanne okay?” Carter asked. “She seems pretty chill when I see her at Mom and Dad’s, but not being able to go backto her own place because some creep broke in must be kind of a downer.”

“She’s okay. She’s a strong woman.”

Carter studied him. Dalton was about to tell him to knock it off when he said, “Mom and Dad like her a lot.”

“She really likes them, too.”