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Harper opened the case and found a handwritten note from Dulcie to her lying on the keyboard.
Hey, Harper!
I’ve stumbled onto something. Not sure what to do with all of the information, but some of it may loop back to your beloved mustangs.
There are some horses showing up in Dubai with what look to be altered Jockey Club tattoos. I’m told the registration papers look a little sketchy as well.
I’m going to gather what I can before I head over to Yellowstone. I’m going to stop and See an old flame. I don’t want to have to worry about having it with me, so I’m sending my computer to you to keep until I get there.
I’ll see you at the lodge. Get ready for all that girly stuff you hate.
Love you,
Dulcie
“Well, that explains why she didn’t have it with her.”
“Any idea who she would stop to see?”
“Could be Daniel. She had real misgivings about the way things ended with him. She’d talked about maybe giving it another go. He’s got something to do with racing, but I can’t remember what it was. I just don’t think he could have done it.”
“I don’t, either. My team checked him out and said he had a rock-solid alibi.”
“I want to take this inside to my office. I know that it’s important. I made French Dip sandwiches with cucumber salad for lunch. We can take them and eat upstairs. Dusty, you don’t mind, do you?”
“Not one damn bit. In fact, why don’t you go on upstairs and start working.”
“Thanks, Dusty.”
They headed up to the house. As they did, Spence called his team and let them know the laptop had been delivered and that he and Harper were going to try and get it opened. Once they did, they’d bring it in.
Once inside the farmhouse, Harper grabbed a Diet Coke for herself and a bottle of water for Spence. Upstairs in her office, Harper sat down and began to try and figure out Dulcie’s password. Dusty came and went delivering their sandwiches. Her first two attempts to get into Dulcie’s computer were failures.
“Shit.”
“What is it, sweetheart?” he asked.
“I’ve tried the two most logical ones, and neither was it. The problem is she has some kind of failsafe that if you get it wrong three times, it rewrites the hard drive and destroys all the data. I’m afraid to try anything else.”
Spence picked up his phone. “Alice? We’re going to need a tech. Harper’s made two attempts to get into Dulcie’s laptop. She’s says there’s a failsafe that if she tries a third time and doesn’t get it, the computer will fry itself.”
“Was her sister very tech savvy?” asked Alice.
“She was. She used to give me hell for not upgrading,” answered Harper.
“In that case she’s probably got a backup. We can clone her laptop. We still won’t be able to access the data but at least we’ll be able to work on it. The safest way is with a USB cable. The boss should have one, and you can copy it to his computer. Once it’s cloned, we can see if we can undo the failsafe.”
“Should we bring both?”
“No. Have the boss check to see if the clone was successful; then bring us the original.”
Alice stayed on the line as they cloned Dulcie’s computer. Spence went to update Dusty and let him know he and Harper were headed into town and wouldn’t be back until later in the evening.
When they started out, dusk was just beginning to settle on the Wyoming prairie that predominated Harper’s ranch. The mountains and Yellowstone made the perfect distant backdrop, but the grasslands almost turned purple in the dying light. He drove down the long driveway to the two-lane highway that led into town. Night fell quickly in this part of the country. Once the sun started to set it seemed like no time at all until it was completely black.
By the time they hit the main road, the dark was closing in. A truck pulling a stock trailer passed them by, the driver lifting his hand in a universal sign of recognition that was so common among ranchers even when people didn’t necessarily know one another. Spence waved back and then glanced in the rearview mirror to watch the rig as it began to pull out of sight.
The sun had set, and the moon had yet to rise. As the truck and trailer’s lights began to disappear, just for a moment, Spence thought he saw a shadow where it shouldn’t be—far beyond the glow of his taillights and only briefly illuminated by the rig that had passed. He knew there weren’t a lot of people out this way, especially not traveling at this time of night. Still, it was the only road into town.
