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He shook his head. “What does it stand for?”
“National Organization for the Advancement of New Ideas—NOANC.”
“Sounds pretty vague.”
“Yes,” she agreed. “Trace and I couldn’t find out much about it or what they stand for in the short time we’ve had to work on this. But super PACs have to report their donors to the Federal Election Commission at least quarterly. NOANC received thousands of donations from individuals all over the country, so it sounds fairly grassroots, except...”
Her eyes widened with sudden excitement as she made the connection, and she could hardly get the words out. “Except for one thing. There were huge donations every year from a limited-liability corporation—an LLC. The Praetor Corporation.”
Cody and Callahan looked at each other, puzzled. “Praetor is Latin,” she said. “Like veni, vidi, vici. It has two meanings,” she explained, her eyes sparkling. “One of them is an elected official, a magistrate. The other meaning is the commander of an army.” She looked from one man to the other, her face alight, willing them to follow her logic. “Don’t you see? It’s got to be connected somehow.”
The two men stared at Keira, then at each other. “I think she might be onto something,” Cody said, his expression reflecting his growing belief that Keira was right—there had to be a connection.
Callahan nodded slowly, and a tiny smile started in his eyes. “It’s a good working theory, anyway.”
“We have to get back to Denver,” Keira told Cody with a sense of urgency. “I don’t just need internet access. I need access to government data banks I can’t get into except through the encrypted connection at the agency.” She pulled a notebook from her back pocket and started jotting down notes to herself on things she wanted to check, everything forgotten except the job at hand.
The silence made her glance up. “What?” she asked, looking at the two men, realizing they were both staring at her in rueful discovery.
Callahan answered for both of them. “Walker was right,” he said softly. “Guts and brains. You can’t beat that combination.”
Keira flushed but made a quick recovery. “You’re just now figuring that out?” she said, raising her chin in a challenge.
Cody cast a look at Callahan. “That puts you in your place,” he said with a grin.
“Like you weren’t thinking the same thing?” Callahan growled back at him.
Chapter 10
McKinnon returned just before four, and Cody quickly brought him up to speed on the revised plan. “Makes sense,” he said. “But what’s my cover story?”
Cody glanced at Callahan. “Whatever the story is needs to explain why he’s shadowing you, but what?”
Callahan smiled at McKinnon. “That one’s easy. Pick a small town from some other state, become its newly elected sheriff and say you’re here to learn how to operate your department more effectively.”
When McKinnon looked doubtful, Callahan explained, “We met each other at the New Sheriffs’ Institute last month—I taught two of the training sessions, so that part is based in fact. Anyone who knows me, knows where I was last month. The New Sheriffs’ Institute is a weeklong training program put on by the American Sheriffs’ Association specifically to train first-term sheriffs from all across the country. It’s an ideal cover and even explains why you’re staying with me—your department’s limited budget won’t stretch to cover living expenses.”
McKinnon looked at Keira. “Do you see anything wrong with that story?”
She shook her head. “It sounds plausible.”
“Sounds good to me, too,” Cody said. “Since there’s nothing more we can do here, I think we’ll head back to Denver tonight—the sooner the better. We’ll leave our gear and the truck with you, McKinnon, and take the SUV. We’ll get in late, but we can switch off driving and nap along the way.”
* * *
They left a half hour later. The sun was already setting behind the mountains, and Cody turned on the headlights before setting the cruise control for five miles above the speed limit. He drove in silence at first while Keira continued to make notes in the rapidly dimming light. When it got too dark to see, she sighed, sat back against the seat and slid her notebook into her pocket.
