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She felt a smidge of sympathy for whoever might be listening. “Want me to call the sheriff?”
“I’ll do it.” He tapped his ear and she nodded. They would play this out. “Go put some ice on that eye.”
“Yes, boss.”
“Don’t push me, Hannah.”
“Is this going to be our first fight?”
“Would you blame me?” He sighed, waved his hands so she knew he didn’t mean it. “No,” he said with a sigh. “You know I’m not mad. Not at you. I’m just damned tired of nasty surprises.”
“I understand.” The compassion in his eyes wasn’t an act for anyone. Countering her eagerness to accept the comfort, she bolted for the kitchen. “I’ll heat up the oven.”
“Great.” He was already dialing the sheriff’s department and requesting assistance. “I’ll see what’s missing.”
Together they examined the area and discovered the bug had been moved to a picture further down the hall. They might not know exactly where to look, but they were clearly making someone pretty desperate.
Wallace arrived with a deputy half an hour later to assess the scene and take Bart’s statement, interrupting their dinner. “How the hell did they get in?” he asked when he accepted her offer to join them for dinner.
“No idea,” Bart replied. “The door was locked and I looked over the video. No one came near the stairs while we were out.”
“Today alone, I think you’ve exceeded our typical monthly crime reports. Your video must have been tampered with. I’ll have the tech guys give it another look.”
Hannah nearly choked on the water she’d sipped as she listened. Tampering with video feeds wasn’t something a junkie looking for cash or the cartel bothered with. They all had to know that.
“You okay?” Bart patted her hand, then turned back to the sheriff. “Thanks for the increased patrols. I saw them cruise through.”
“We’ll keep those going until we have something like a lead on Tim.” He pushed back from the table. “You’re sure nothing’s missing?”
“Just the forty bucks I kept in the drawer.”
“Lot of work for not much gain. Do me a favor and lock yourselves in for the night, okay? I’d like to get a little rest.”
“I promise we’ll stay right here,” she said with a sly smile that implied just how she wanted to spend the rest of her evening.
When the sheriff was gone she cleaned up in the kitchen and told him to choose a movie. It seemed like a marital way to spend an evening for whoever might be listening. He turned up the music in the opening credits and then took her hand, leading her down the hall.
She really didn’t need the temptation of another conversation in the shower, but he obviously had something else in mind. He turned into Kyle’s bedroom and walked over to the window. “The bathroom window at Tim’s house was open,” he whispered. “So is this one.”
Glancing out and down, she realized this window was above the vandalized camera. It was entirely possible someone had managed to sneak in close and climb up without being spotted by the customers on the other side of the building or the cashier inside. In fact, it was the only thing that made sense.
“What do you want to do?”
“Whoever wants the notebook must believe I have it on me now.”
She nodded.
“I’ll booby trap this and I can decipher the notebook while we watch the movie.”
She gave him a thumbs-up sign and went back to the front room.
It was quiet and close work on the couch when Bart joined her and showed her how to break Tim’s shorthand. Still, not muchof it made sense to her, partly because she kept dozing off. She woke when Bart shook her gently.
“Come on, sweetheart. Movie’s over. Let’s get you to bed.”
“I’m awake.”
“Sure you are.”
