the caffeine might help. You didn’t get all that much sleep even with your nap.”
Her grin made his chest tighten. “Our exercise in the park did more for me than caffeine ever could.”
“I’m glad to hear that. I wouldn’t want you falling asleep on me tonight.”
“That’s not going to be a problem.”
He was still smiling when he dialed Hotwire’s private line, but he got off the phone more determined than ever to cement his claim on Josie that night.
Hotwire had insisted on flying out to help with the investigation. Knowing it would be best for Josie if he let his friend help, Daniel hadn’t even tried to talk Hotwire out of coming, but he hadn’t forgotten the fact that Josie had kept in touch with the other merc while keeping a wide berth around Daniel.
The doorbell rang as he dialed Wolf and Lise’s number. He disconnected and, figuring Josie was still engrossed in the journals, got up to answer it.
When he opened the door, there was a state policeman standing on the small porch, his expression serious. “I’m Officer Ryan Johnson. Is Miss Josette McCall available please?”
Daniel’s gaze flicked to the patrol car parked on the curb, then back to the officer.
“What’s this about?”
“I’ll have to speak to Miss McCall, if you don’t mind, sir.”
Daniel nodded. “I’ll get her. Wait here.”
He closed the door, locked it and went to Josie’s room.
“You’ve got a visitor, honey.”
She scrubbed at her cheeks and rolled over and came to her feet all in one graceful movement. “I do?”
She must have been “not crying” again. He only hoped the tears were good ones, not grief.
“It’s a state patrolman.”
Her pretty brow wrinkled. “I was expecting the Forest Service, but I hoped they’d take longer to find me than this. I suppose with Dad MIA, they want some answers.”
“Don’t give them any. There’s no way they could know you were up there when the bombs went off, and you have no more idea where your dad is than they do.”
She nodded and squared her shoulders. “You’re right.”
Josie followed Nitro to the door, glad she wasn’t alone. She’d been trained to be a heck of a soldier, but she didn’t lie worth beans.
He had to unlock the door before he opened it, and she looked at him askance. “You locked the officer out?”
“Of course. He’s not exactly a long lost relative.”
“You’re as paranoid as my dad.” She said it jokingly, but Nitro tensed.
He didn’t say anything else, though, but pulled the door open, his body language anything but welcoming.
The state policeman waiting on her porch stood at attention, his face set in unreadable lines. “Miss McCall?”
“Yes. How can I help you, Officer?”
“Are you Josette McCall, daughter of Tyler McCall?”
“Yes.”
He moved into the classic at-ease position, his feet eight inches apart, his hands clasped behind his back. “Miss McCall, we need some information if you have it.”
Her stomach clenched in anticipation of fielding a bunch of questions. “Yes?”
“Can you verify the whereabouts of your father last night?”
“Why?”
“There’s no easy way to say this, Miss McCall, but there’s been an accident.”
“Dad?” Josie could barely get the one word out.
“Apparently, he didn’t make it, Miss McCall. I’m sorry.”
Josie sagged, and Nitro grabbed her, pulling her against him. Her father had survived an explosion to die in a car accident, an accident he wouldn’t have been in if he’d stayed with her instead of disappearing. And she’d let him walk away, not even suspecting his intention to bolt.
Bile rose in her throat, and she gagged it back down, her muscles painfully tight with tension.
“What happened?” Daniel asked.
Chapter 6
“There was an explosion at Mr. McCall’s training camp. The subsequent fire destroyed the entire compound.”
Nitro’s hold on her tightened, and he spoke again. “No one else was hurt in the fire?”
“The school was on hiatus between sessions. McCall was supposedly staying there alone, but that was something we hoped Miss McCall could verify for us.”
Josie finally found her voice. “But you said an accident.”
“Yes. We believe the explosion was accidental. Mr. McCall was known to have explosive materials on hand at all times. It was part of his teaching curriculum. The subsequent fire burned uncontrolled until an anonymous female trucker called it in on her CB radio.”
They’d assumed she was a trucker. That made sense. She hadn’t identified herself and had called it in on the citizens band radio, which anywhere but Tillamook County, Oregon, would be operated almost exclusively by truckers.
“And you believe Dad died in the fire?”
“If you can verify he was at the compound last night, unfortunately I’d have to say yes, Miss McCall. No one could have survived in the fire that followed the explosion. Was your father staying at the compound last night?”
“Yes,” she replied automatically.
He nodded, his expression not changing. “I’m sorry.”
Nitro put his hand out to the patrolman. “Thank you for coming by. I’ll take it from here.”
The patrolman shook the offered hand. “You’ll be staying with her, Mr…?”
“Yes.” Typically, Nitro didn’t tell the officer his name. He and her dad really did have a lot in common.
“A shock like this can have unexpected side effects.”
“She won’t be alone.”
“I have a roommate,” Josie offered.
Taking in Daniel’s proprietary hold on her, the officer nodded. “Can you be reached here if we have any further news or questions for you?”
“Yes.” She gave the officer her number, which he wrote down on a small pad he kept in his breast pocket.
“Again, I’m sorry about your father, ma’am.”
She bit back the urge to tell him the truth. “Thank you.”
Nitro waited until the patrol car had pulled away from the curb before turning to her. “If your dad’s enemies think he’s dead, they won’t be looking for him.”
“You’re right, but they’re going to figure it out soon enough when they don’t run across any bone fragments in the ashes. And it feels funny letting them think he’s dead when he’s really MIA.”
“It would feel a lot less comfortable if it became a reality. The longer we can keep Tyler’s circumstances from whoever is trying to kill him, the better. We don’t know how muddled his thinking or strong his survival instincts are at the moment.”
“I don’t know. I think Dad could be out of his mind and in a fever and still act on the need to survive. It’s been the driving force of his life for years.”
“You read the early diaries.”
“Yes.” Her eyes burned with the same overwhelming sadness she’d felt in reading her dad’s sporadic journal
