by Liz Shoaf
“And you, Chloe,” he asked softly, “do you believe in God?”
The tension left her body, and she sat down and slouched in the seat facing his desk. The coy smile he was coming to detest curved her lips. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to get personal. I need to buy a laptop. Is there anywhere in town I can purchase one?”
He let her momentary lapse go. For now. “There’s a computer store in town. I’ll take you there after I catch up on my messages.”
“I appreciate it. I need to check on my email and stuff.”
“Did you forget to pack your laptop when you fled the scene?”
She snapped her head up, then lifted a finger and waggled it in the air. “No-go, Sheriff. Better men than you have tried to trip me up.” She stood. “I’ll leave you to catch up on your work. I’ll just wander around the station for a while.”
“Stay in the building. Don’t make me come after you.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
She walked toward his office door and was almost run over by David Cummins, his young, overly energetic deputy.
“David, watch where you’re going. You almost knocked Miss Spencer down.”
David was growing into his gangly body and had a touch of peach fuzz on his face that he liked to think of as a beard in progress. He almost stumbled in his haste to apologize to Chloe.
“I’m sorry, it’s just that I have something important to show the sheriff.”
Chloe waved him forward, and David almost stumbled again in an attempt to show Ethan a picture that had come in over the wire. “Sheriff, this just came over the fax machine. It probably has nothing to do with us, but I wanted to show you right away.”
Ethan took the picture from David, wondering if he’d ever been as excited, or as green, as his deputy. “Thanks, David. I’ll look it over.”
“Sir, the feds are all over this one. Some hotshot CEO of an international tech company was murdered. His name is Peter Norris.”
If he hadn’t been looking up, Ethan would have missed Chloe’s face going pasty white as she grabbed onto the door frame for support. This was it. This was the murder she had witnessed.
He came out of his chair and walked toward her. “Chloe, is there something you’d like to share?”
SEVEN
She was busted. Maybe. She could still salvage this. Ridding herself of the visuals playing in her head of Peter Norris lying dead in his office, she went for casual but failed, even to her own ears. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Sheriff. How would I know anything about a big CEO’s murder?”
Ethan looked thunderous and she flinched under his hard stare. He kept his gaze on her as he spoke to his deputy. “David, have you run the prints on the gun I gave you at the motel murder scene?”
“Yes, sir,” he said crisply, then scratched his head. “Come to think of it, the name that came through is the same as Miss Spencer’s here.” He cast Chloe an accusing look. “Is that your gun?”
She’d had enough of this. She hadn’t done anything wrong, and she didn’t deserve to be stared at by Ethan’s deputy like a criminal. She lifted her chin and took a step toward the young guy. “You bet it’s my gun, and I want it back if you’re finished with it.”
She received only a moment’s satisfaction when David Cummins took a step back, which made her feel like she’d just kicked a puppy, but she couldn’t believe she’d dropped her guard and let Ethan see the truth in her face.
“David, I need to talk to Miss Spencer. Close the door on your way out.”
David shot her a satisfied look, as if she’d been called to the principal’s office, and made himself scarce. As soon as the door closed, Ethan sat down behind his desk and pointed at the chair in front of it.
“Sit.”
Chloe slid into the chair, her mind working furiously, figuring every angle. She could tell Ethan everything, but then she’d be putting Stan and Betty’s lives at an even higher risk, and she wasn’t ready to do that. She needed to handle this herself. On the other hand, she had to find that disc, and if she didn’t, keeping Ethan in the dark wouldn’t be an issue because she might not live long enough for it to be a problem.
He leaned back in his chair, looking all relaxed, but keen intelligence shone out of his eyes, eyes that were focused on their target, which would be her.
“I can have David run your name and find out everything about you. Eventually, I’ll discover the truth. It would be better for you, in the long run, to volunteer the information.”
She’d never figured out how she ended up in these types of messes, but here she was, once again.
His chair creaked when he leaned forward and propped his elbows on his desk. “Chloe, I can help if you’ll let me.”
She didn’t doubt that, but for some odd reason she didn’t want to see disappointment on his face if he ever found out about her past.
“Before we start, I need to make a phone call.” She had a burner phone in her jacket pocket—the one she’d swiped from Geordie’s pouch on the Harley after telling Ethan she had to grab something before loading up in the car that morning—and she needed to check in with Stan. That would buy her some time to come up with a plan and check in with her adoptive parents at the same time.
She slipped out of her chair, wanting to run for the door, but forced herself to walk. “I’ll be back in a minute.”
She half expected him to hold her hostage in his office, but he didn’t say a word when she closed the door behind her. She snagged one of the hard plastic chairs lining one wall and tugged the phone out of her pocket, goose bumps prickling her arms. Police stations gave her the willies.
She punched in Stan’s private cell number—a secure phone that was less likely to be bugged—and it was answered on the first ring. “Chloe?”
There was a sense of urgency in his voice, and she got a bad feeling that things were about to go south. Still, she played it cool in case her imagination was working overtime.
“Yeah, it’s me. I just wanted to check in—”
“Chloe, I want you to shut up and listen.”
“But—”
“Listen.” His voice sounded gruff—full of love mixed with authority—much the same as it had when he’d gotten her released from juvenile hall by taking full custody of her when she was sixteen years old.
“Okay.” She chewed on her thumbnail, something she hadn’t done since she was a kid.
“The police department forwarded the FBI cyber unit an anonymous email sent to them, asking us to track down the source after their own department failed to do so. The email stated that CEO Peter Norris had been killed in his office late one night. Chloe, there was no body found at the scene.”
She couldn’t stop the harsh intake of breath that paralyzed her body. No body? “But—”
“I said listen.” The words were harsh, but she knew Stan, and she detected the underlying fear mixed with frustration.
Her blood ran cold. “Okay.”
He took a deep breath. “I received your email about going on vacation, but when I couldn’t reach you on your cell phone, we got worried and Betty and I decided to drop by your apartment.” His voice lowered. “Chloe, Peter Norris’s dead body was in your apartment when we arrived. I noticed that your computer was missing, and I know you never go anywhere without it. I didn’t know where you were and couldn’t reach you, so I called the police when I discovered the body. The examiners already know he wasn’t murdered on-site, in your apartment, but they want to talk to you. As a favor, I asked them to give me a few days to bring you in, so they delayed putting anything out on the wire. You have to come home as soon as possible so we can get this straightened out. I know you’re innocent. I have faith in you. Please come home so we can prove you weren’t involved in this.”
Chloe wanted to cry, but she hadn’t cried since her parents had b
een murdered on the mission field. She couldn’t cry because she was afraid that if she started, she’d never stop. Stan hadn’t asked if she was innocent, and his blind trust in her had her swallowing a lump in her throat.
“Stan, I had nothing to do with this. I’m an innocent bystander, but you and I both know, with my unflattering past, they’ll lock me up until I’m proven innocent.”
She started shaking at the thought of being in a jail cell. She couldn’t let that happen, even for a short while.
“Chloe, I know your first instinct is to run, but in this case that’s a very bad idea.”
She had to get off the phone and make plans. She had to find that disc.
“Stan, everything will be fine.” She glanced toward Ethan’s office. “I know a very good detective who will be glad to help me figure this out.” At least she hoped he would. “I’ll check in and let you know I’m okay. Please don’t worry and give Betty a kiss for me.”
She ended the call and sat there for a few minutes, taking in this new turn of events. Her quicksilver mind came to a horrifying conclusion. This was another way for the killer to put pressure on her to give him the disc. It would also be a nice and tidy closure of a high-profile case that the police and FBI could wrap up quickly and present to the public as a job well done. The killer thought he could pin the murder on her. She knew exactly how everything would go down, but she wouldn’t allow that to happen.
* * *
Ethan glanced up from the messages he’d been trying to concentrate on and stared at his closed office door while waiting for Chloe to finish her phone call. He was more curious than he wanted to admit about who she was calling. Boyfriend? Partner in crime?
His curiosity spiked, and his trouble antennae waved a big fat red flag when the door was flung wide open and she stood on the threshold, determination stamped across her face.
Briskly she strode to the chair in front of his desk and lowered herself, sitting on the edge of the seat. He waited, even though he had a dozen questions, but she didn’t leave him hanging for long.
“There’s been a few developments and I need some help.”
He leaned back in his chair, assuming a false sense of relaxation. Funny how her long Southern vowels had turned brisk and short. “Is that so?”
She winced as she lifted her chin, which only accentuated her secretive pixie face.
“Yes, that’s so.” She leaned back in her chair and mimicked his air of calmness. “But we’re going to have to make a deal before I divulge any information.”
The red flag started flapping furiously in the breeze as he leaned forward, propping his elbows on his desk, all business now. “If you’ve committed a crime, I won’t make any deals, but if you need my protection in connection to witnessing a crime, I’ll help you.”
Her pupils widened for a fraction of a second, which was enough to tell him she might not reveal the whole truth. He gave her a hard look and she shifted in her seat. Another telling sign of discomfort.
She lifted her chin and looked him in the eye. “I didn’t have anything to do with Peter Norris’s murder.” Her eyes darted to the right before settling back on him. A sure sign she was, at the very least, not telling him everything.
“I’m pretty good on a computer. I have clients who pay me to test their company’s cybersecurity. Sci-Fi Works Corporation is one of those businesses. One of their board members suspected someone at the company of selling client lists to the highest bidder.
“I set it up so I would be notified if someone opened their system late at night, and I was watching for any aberrations during working hours. Peter Norris logged on to his computer late on the evening of his murder.” Her words sped up, as if she wanted to get it all out as quickly as possible. “I opened the portal to the webcam, and he was sitting at his desk when I looked. Someone knocked on his door while the camera was still operating. Peter Norris got up and answered the door, but I couldn’t see anything at that point. Someone came in, but I couldn’t hear what they said. The next thing I knew, a gun appeared on-screen and a shot was fired.” She shivered, and Ethan decided her reaction wasn’t fabricated.
“There was blood spatter on his webcam.” She swallowed hard. “The shooter got in front of the camera, where he knew I could see him—he wore a ski mask—and he said that, yes, Peter Norris was dead, and that he’d been looking for me for a long time. He told me the delay had cost him a lot of time and money and that I had to give the disc to his deliveryman, who would be at my door any minute.” The words came even faster now. “I had to get out of there. I have no idea what he wants. I don’t have a disc of any value. I needed time to figure out what he wanted, and I didn’t care to meet up with his ‘deliveryman,’ so Geordie and I packed up and took off. He must have somehow tracked me down and set the whole thing up at Sci-Fi Works to frighten me into giving him what he wants.”
Ethan didn’t doubt that she’d witnessed the murder, and he had a lot of questions.
“You don’t know what the killer is referring to in relation to the disc?”
She shook her head with an answering no, but he wasn’t sure he believed her.
“That’s just it.” Her voice was filled with frustration. “Why didn’t he just explain about this mysterious disc?”
“There’s a lot of holes in your story.”
Her pointed chin lifted and belligerence laced her words. “Like what?”
“Like why you didn’t call the police. Why run?”
She started chewing on her thumbnail but slapped her hand on her thigh when she realized what she was doing. “I’m a woman alone and I didn’t trust the police to protect me.”
Ethan chuckled. “Lady, I’ve seen the arsenal you carry around. And let’s not forget your attack dog. Try again.”
The gold rimming her brown eyes shot fire at being called out, but he got what he wanted.
“Fine, but I want a deal. I can prove everything I just told you. I hit the record button on my computer, which automatically saves everything in the cloud, as soon as I heard an argument between Peter Norris and the killer. And I also recorded myself as a security measure that protects me in case there’s ever any question what I’m doing. The time stamp and location of the device proves I wasn’t anywhere in the vicinity of the murder. You can keep me in your custody while we find out who’s behind this, because I’m not turning myself in as a witness while my life is in jeopardy. We’ll have to go to New York.”
Ethan’s mind raced as he processed the information. He had to admit he was intrigued by Chloe and the information she’d just laid out. He loved being sheriff in Jackson Hole, but it had been a long time since his heart had beat with the excitement and thrill of an intriguing case.
“New York is out of my jurisdiction.”
She tilted her head and her eyes gleamed. “If you refuse to help me, I’ll run, and trust me, this time no one will find me.”
Ethan didn’t like being backed into a corner, but he liked the thought of Chloe being harmed even less. The killers had likely tracked her to Jackson Hole—if the incidents that had happened in his town were connected—and it was a good bet they would find her again.
“Tell you what... Level with me and I’ll consider it.”
She crossed her arms over her chest and the leather creaked. “No way. I want your word that you won’t call the authorities until we figure out who killed Peter Norris. Otherwise, I’ll run.”
Her stubborn chin told the tale. She meant what she said. He really didn’t have any choice unless he wanted to officially detain her, and he didn’t have enough evidence to warrant that. If he didn’t agree, he had no doubt she’d slip out of Jackson Hole and he’d never see her again, but he wasn’t going to make it easy on her, not when he was possibly risking his career over this.
“I have two murders to solve that may be directly connected to the Peter No
rris killing. Fine, I give you my word that I won’t contact the authorities unless we uncover information instrumental to the case. Now it’s time for you to fess up. Why didn’t you call the police when you witnessed the murder?”
Her eyes flashed with irritation. “As I told you, I was checking into a situation for a board member. That’s private and confidential information. The killer also threatened someone I love, but this goes way beyond that. I have to find out about this disc he wants, and if I call in the authorities, they’ll be all over me like a swarm of angry yellow jackets.
“You already promised you wouldn’t contact the authorities unless there was information instrumental to the case.” She took a deep breath. “There’s more.”
“More?”
“That phone call I made earlier?”
That was his next question, who she’d called. “I’m listening.”
“Well, I couldn’t just leave Peter Norris’s body to be found the next morning by his coworkers, so I sent the police an anonymous email. I routed it through a bunch of servers so it would take several days to trace it to the internet café in New York where I stopped before coming to Jackson Hole. It gave me time to leave town and I made it to Jackson Hole after three days of hard riding. The phone call I made a few minutes ago was to an FBI guy I know. He said Peter Norris’s body was found in my apartment.”
After dropping that bombshell, she sat still as a statue, allowing him to absorb that startling piece of information before she started speaking again.
“He stated that the examiners have already determined the body had been moved there after, you know, his death, but they want to talk to me.” She leaned forward, all earnest now. “Ethan, I need your help. I have to find out about this disc, and you know there’s a lot of pressure on the authorities to wrap up a case as quickly as possible. You know what that means.”
