“Winchester.”
It was like the heavens had opened up and an angel had kissed her. There was a strong possibility that he wasn’t the man they were searching for and that Dana had met him after arriving in Telluride, but in light of the strange circumstances surrounding her disappearance, and the home burning down, she was beginning to think that they were on to one hell of a story.
After getting the address, she thanked the chief, left her name and number just in case Dana showed up and headed out the door with Zach falling in step.
“Well?” he asked.
She shook the piece of paper with the address. “We might be able to kill two birds with one stone.”
Zach was all questions on the cab drive over to the address. Kelly was equally excited. “She’s missing? And he said her home had burned down?”
She nodded. “And he mentioned a name. Jack Winchester. Does it ring a bell?”
“I’ll have to check with my source,” he said getting on the phone while the cab weaved its way through the valley heading north of the town. While waiting for the call to connect, Zach kept running away at the mouth. “The police? The goddamn police? How the hell did you manage to extract that information from them?”
“Can you believe I went in looking for directions?” she replied.
She was as surprised as him. She thought the cops would direct her to town hall and she’d spend the next ten minutes trying to convince some gray-panted government official that it was critical that she get an address. The fact was being a good reporter required hours of research, plenty of lying and a fair amount of luck.
Zach shook his head as whomever he was calling picked up on the other end. The fact was the police might not have given out the information had the circumstances not been unusual. Then again it wasn’t normal protocol to have someone travel over a thousand miles with news of a funeral. If they knew where she was they would have likely taken her details and passed them on to Dana but it was clear they had no idea.
On the short ten-minute drive out to the home, Kelly went through a series of questions in her head. The questions vanished as the cab veered around a corner and they came upon the aftermath of the house fire. Gravel crunched beneath the tires as it came to a stop outside. Kelly got out. Zach remained in the cab on the phone.
She walked over to what was left and gazed around. The home was remote and if the foundations were anything to go by, huge. This was no run-of-the-mill suburban house. It spoke of value. Her thoughts went back to what Zach had said about the money going missing. What money? And how much?
“Yeah, yeah, just hold your horses. Keep the engine running, we won’t be long,” Zach said as he made his way over.
“Any luck with your source?” she asked.
“He’ll look into it.” Zach paused for a second. “Wow. What a mess.”
“That story Johnson wanted,” Kelly said turning around. “I think we’re on to something bigger.”
Chapter 11
“Why, you interested in fighting?” Tyson asked tossing his napkin down on his plate. Jack glanced out the window, his thoughts shifting to the spot he recognized from Dana’s video.
“I didn’t say that. I asked how does someone get a fight?”
Tyson chuckled. “If I knew that, I would be fighting. Pope is real particular about who he brings into the fold. He has trust issues. You know, with it being illegal and all. He mostly seeks out those who have some experience behind them. No point bringing in a couple of bums. You can stand outside any bar in this city and watch that for free. Nah, people want to see real fighters. But listen, if you’re interested I can put a good word in. Though don’t expect top dollar straight out the gate or even for him to say yes. You’ll have to prove yourself. Hell, he’s seen me spar and I’ve yet to get green lit.”
Jack nodded.
“So you never told me what you’re doing here, or where you come from?”
“Colorado. I’m looking for someone.”
“Oh yeah, who?”
“A woman.”
“Well that narrows it down.” He chuckled. “I can find you all types of women. Brunette, blondes, busty, curvy, what’s your poison?”
“Not like that.”
Although he was hesitant to show the video, Jack thought it wouldn’t do any harm for him to see what Dana looked like. Who knew? Maybe he had seen her. He bent down and retrieved it from his bag and fired it up. He started the video and hit pause and turned it. “You seen her before?”
He squinted back. “Can’t say I have. I know a lot of people but this is a big city. But I recognize that spot,” he said turning and pointing to the monument. “That’s definitely the Plaza. So who is she? Your sister? Girlfriend?”
“Ah doesn’t matter.”
He went to put it away and Tyson extended his hand. “If you don’t mind. Maybe I can help.”
Jack paused for a second then decided, what the hell. He handed it over and let him watch the video fully while he finished his breakfast. The smile on Tyson’s face soon left as he reached the end. He handed the tablet back and looked out the window again. “Listen, I have a few connections in the city, if you’ve got a photo of her I can pass it around. Maybe someone has seen or heard something. I can’t guarantee anything but it’s worth a shot.”
Jack placed the tablet back in his bag. “That video is all I have.”
“It’s in safe hands. We can take a snap from it and print it out. In the meantime I’ll take you down to Pope’s place and introduce you to him. He might hook up you up with a fight or a job, that’s if you’re planning on sticking around.”
Jack nodded.
“If you want I
