As Sam tucked in his shirt, he heard banging and rustling from the office. Maybe Jolene was making him a copy.
He buckled his equipment belt around his waist and strode to the office door. Poking his head inside, he said, “Are you making that copy?”
Jolene spun around, gripping her empty hands in front of her, her eyes dark pools. “It’s gone, Sam. Somebody came in here and stole that map.”
Chapter Five
Jolene dropped to her knees and rested the side of her face on the cool floor as she reached out with one hand to feel beneath the desk. “Maybe it fell to the floor.”
Her words sounded hollow to her own ears. It hadn’t fallen to the floor. She’d left it in the top right drawer of her desk.
Sam walked into the room, his boots clomping on the tile. He loomed over her. “Where did you have it?”
She sat up, bumping her head on the underside of the desk. “I put it in the drawer.”
“Is the drawer full? Could it have gotten stuck?” He yanked open the drawer, and a couple of pens rattled. He shuffled through the sticky notepads, a few business cards and some slips of paper with usernames and passwords scribbled across them.
“It’s gone, Sam.” She sat cross-legged on the floor, rubbing the side of her head. “Someone broke into my house and took it.”
“Is your head okay?” He extended his hand to her, and she grabbed it, more to steady her nerves than for assistance getting up.
“The head’s fine. I’m not.” She swept her hands across the neat desk. “Who would want that map? Why wouldn’t he or she want me to have it?”
“And how’d this person even know you had the map?” Sam leaned his thigh against the desk. “Obviously, someone didn’t randomly break into your house, see a map in a drawer and steal it on a whim, unless...”
“Unless what?” She pressed a hand against her stomach, trying to still the butterflies there—and this time they had nothing to do with Sam’s touch.
“Is there anything else missing?”
She twisted her head from side to side. “Not that I noticed.”
“When was the last time you consulted the map? If you looked at it this morning, the theft occurred when you were at the ground-breaking.” He tapped a knuckle against the desk. “Did you happen to take a picture of it with your phone?”
“I should have, but I didn’t.” She balled her hand into a fist. “I haven’t seen the map since the night I dumped the bones at the construction site. I had it with me that night.”
“Could you have lost it there? Left it in your car?”
“I wish.” The corner of her eye twitched. “I had it in my backpack when I went out there. When I came home, I unloaded my pack and put the map back in the drawer. I’m sure of it.”
“So, somebody broke in at some point after that night.” He swept his arm out to the side. “Have a look around. See if anything else is gone. Maybe it was just a common thief burglarizing your place, saw the map and thought it was buried treasure or something.”
“Really?” She put a hand on her hip. “X marks the spot?”
He flicked a finger beneath her chin. “I’m exaggerating. Maybe he thought he could use it to blackmail someone. Look around.”
“Computer’s still here.” She tapped the top of her closed laptop. “Printer.”
She yanked open the top drawer of a two-drawer oak filing cabinet and thumbed through some files. “My passport, birth certificate, social security card, all here.”
“Forget that stuff. What about valuables? Money? Jewelry?”
“Jewelry? You know I don’t own any expensive pieces of jewelry.” She held her arm in front of her and jangled the wooden bangles on her wrist. “I do have a safe with some cash and a few weapons.”
Sam’s head jerked up. “Weapons?”
“A couple of pieces my dad left me. If he’d have had one of them the night he was murdered, he’d probably still be here.” Her eyes stung as she spun away from Sam. “The safe’s in my bedroom closet.”
He closed the desk drawer and followed her out of the office.
When she walked into her bedroom, she made a beeline for the walk-in closet and flicked on the switch on the wall outside. She pulled open the door, shoved aside some blouses hanging from a lower rack and crouched in front of the safe, which had been bolted to the floor.
She tapped out the combination and the lock clicked while a green light flashed twice. She swung open the door of the safe and lifted out a .45 and a 9mm Glock. “Hold these.”
Sam took the weapons from her, holding one in each hand, weighing them. He whistled through his teeth. “Nice.”
Thumbing through two stacks of bills, she said, “It doesn’t look like anything was taken from the safe.”
“I suppose you don’t have a camera inside or outside?”
“Nope.” She sat back on her heels. “But maybe I need one.”
“Not a bad idea.” He held out the guns to her, handles first.
She placed the .45, a heavy piece, on top of the cash and slammed the door shut. She entered the combination again, and held her finger on the lock button until it beeped.
“You forgot the Glock.”
“No, I didn’t.” She stood up to face him, clutching the gun in her hand. “I’m keeping this one with me.”
“You do know how to use that thing, don’t you?”
She slid open the chamber, checked the bullet nestled inside and closed it with a snap. “Sure.”
“Do you think Wade found out you printed the map and broke in here to take it back? Did he have to break in? Does he know about the key under the flowerpot?”
“If he does, I never told him. His sister knows, but she wouldn’t blab about that.” She made a move to exit the closet and he stepped to the side.
Their little dance set her
