“Great help.” Gage leaned back, rubbing his chin. “What else?”
“Duke said the guys who ran away from Matt Keller’s house last night were trained. Not some kids, but people who knew how to be covert. He went after them, but they slipped away like ghosts.”
Gage’s eyes narrowed. “I’d go with Duke’s opinion on that. He’s got enough experience to know. Hell.”
“There’s still nothing linking the burglaries,” Cat pointed out scrupulously.
“There wouldn’t be if they know what they’re doing. Inexperienced juveniles might not be smart enough to conceal it. Why didn’t Larry get tied up, too? And why was Matt tied up but not killed? Serious questions here.”
“When was the last time there was a string of burglaries around here?”
Gage shook his head, then gave a mirthless half smile. “We’ve had a few. Kids. I remember one when they gave themselves up by their choices in clothing.” His humorless smile turned back into a frown. “I don’t like this.”
“Me neither. And to frost the cake, Duke is wondering if he might be a target, too.”
“Oh, for the love of—Why?”
“Because a person or several persons in the Army might think Duke was a source for his brother. Even though he wasn’t and didn’t know about the murder-for-hire thing until it broke in the paper. From what Duke has said, his career has gone by the wayside.”
Gage just shook his head. This was a lot to take in, she thought, watching him absorb it. “Which story was this again?”
Cat started. “Oh man, I didn’t tell you. Larry did an exposé about two years ago that uncovered three soldiers involved in a murder-for-hire operation. Duke thinks some officers had to have been involved some way. He could explain his thinking to you better than I can.” She spread her hands. “I don’t know the Army the way he does.”
“Few of us do,” Gage said absently. Then he snapped back again. “This settles better in my gut than our original random theories about Larry’s murder. What are you planning to do next?”
“It’s okay for me to get involved again?”
“You already are, from what I can tell. Do you see me objecting?”
Despite the night she’d just had, Cat had to smile. “I haven’t heard it.”
“And if you had, you’d become conveniently deaf. Sort of like the cat you’re named after.”
He leaned forward again and reached for a pencil, drumming it on his desk. “What’s your next move?”
“Duke wants to go see Ben Williams. To warn him what might be happening. Is that okay?”
“At this point, I’m saying yes. Your case, your decision.”
Cat walked out of there feeling a whole lot better. Well, in a few ways. The major part of this was going to be impossible to feel any better about.
WHEN SHE GOT HOME, Duke was waiting for her with coffee and a bag of buttery croissants. The man definitely knew how to spoil a woman.
Feeling almost as if the kitchen table had become the center of her life, she joined him, holding her mug in both hands, trying to warm up her fingers. He had placed a croissant on a plate in front of her, and the open butter dish with a knife.
“Aren’t you going to eat?” she asked.
“I already did. I might have more later. How did it go?”
“It went.”
“Any news about Matt Keller?”
She shook her head. “Not really. They’re holding him for observation for a few hours, but no reports of serious damage. Apparently some good bruises, though. We’ll have to go with him tomorrow for an inventory to find out what’s missing, if anything.”
“Did someone talk to him?”
“A deputy went to the hospital to interview him. Right now, I don’t know any more.” She raised weary eyes to look at him. “I don’t think I’d want to go home today if I were Matt.”
Duke sighed. “I wouldn’t, either.”
Cat felt a stab of anger. “No, but you’ll waltz around this county acting like you don’t believe you might be a target.”
His expression grew flat. He spoke levelly. “I can leave if you’re worried.”
“Worried about what? Your safety? Of course I am. Worried about myself—no way!”
He frowned. “I’m the last person you should worry about. Anything these perps know, I know a thousand times better. Trust me, I may be infantry now, but I used to be Airborne. A long-range sniper rifle is the only thing I need to worry about, and snipers are few and far between.”
She liked his confidence but wasn’t as sure herself.
“I’ve got to get to bed,” she announced. “I won’t be good for anything without some sleep. I’ll phone Ben when I get up.”
But before she rose, she gave him another bit of information. “I’m in charge of these investigations now.”
Then she marched off to bed, hoping her pillow would silence her racing thoughts and give her a break from all of this.
It had been bad enough when she found Larry. The weeds, though, seemed to just keep getting deeper. She needed some fuel for her tank.
“ANYTHING YET?” THE first man asked the second.
The second guy tossed another flash drive on the small but growing pile beside him. “No. Nothing seems to be hidden or locked. But this guy might have some trouble with the IRS.”
“Why?” asked the third man.
“Because we may have all his business files and spreadsheets. He owns a store, and the litany of numbers is mind-numbing. I’m guessing he kept the information on both his laptop and backup flash drives, which he wouldn’t need if he was using the cloud for storage.”
The first man merely nodded, but the third snorted in disgust. “Cripes,” Man Three said. “What the hell are we doing out here?”
“My guess,” said the first man, “would be any information related in any way to the Army. So nothing
