“Easily solved. The girl doing the cheating dropped out. She was actually a good kid who had some problems. She admitted everything, so Lara never had to do anything. Nor did I.”
“Let’s leave this here,” Matt said. “It’ll be dryer by morning. If we still can’t read anything, we’ll bring it to the lab. I know Gettysburg is on our tour list, but we’re about an hour and half from DC and maybe an hour and a half on to Gettysburg from there.” He gave her a questioning look. “I know you’re really worried and that you won’t be happy until we’ve followed the trail you and Lara used to take, but as you said earlier, the note may tell us something important. It could be too far gone for even our best techs, but I think it’s important to try.”
Meg nodded and sat on the foot of the bed. She didn’t move as Matt walked to the door.
“Hey,” he said, his hand on the knob.
“Yeah?”
“Lock this. Lock it when I go out.”
“Yes, of course.” She stood and met him at the door.
“You’re okay?”
“Of course,” she repeated.
“If I hear that dog barking, I’ll be right back in here.”
“I graduated—”
“Yes, from the academy. If you hear me screaming, I’ll expect you to have my back, too, okay?”
He was smiling, and she nodded, feeling a little foolish. The door closed, and she thought he was gone. Then she heard his voice from the other side. “Lock it now!” he barked.
She did.
Twenty minutes later, she was in a long T-shirt. Her regulation-issue Glock was at her bedside. She didn’t turn the television on; instead, she thought about the night. Matt believed that someone had been watching them at the cemetery. He believed that a black sedan might be following them. He wasn’t certain, but he was willing to consider the possibilities.
She smiled. He wasn’t so bad, after all.
She started to drift off, Killer curled at her feet. She did sleep for a while, but it was a light sleep. Suddenly she found herself wide-awake, hoping it wasn’t time to get up for the day. From the dim light easing through the drapes, she thought it must be very early in the morning. She could rest her eyes a few more minutes. She drifted in comfort, but then began to picture Lara’s note: b-a-r-d.
She jumped out of bed, startling the dog, who gave a worried “Woof!”
“It’s okay, Killer,” she said.
She hurried over to the TV stand and turned on the light, then stared at the note again. She still couldn’t read that part, but the b-a-r-d was the end of a word—the beginning of which had smudged.
She ran to her door, ready to tear over to the next bedroom. But when she opened it, Matt Bosworth was already there. He wore just his trousers, bare chest and hair damp from the shower.
“Bard,” he said. “I know...”
“Me, too. Bard. Hubbard.”
“Yes, Hubbard. Lara’s note to you is about Congressman Hubbard. I’m pretty sure that your friend suspected something about his death wasn’t right.”
“And,” Meg said, “it has to do with Congressman Walker!”
He nodded, then stepped back. She realized that her hair was tangled around her face and she was inappropriately dressed in her giant sleep tee.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you,” he said. “It’s still early. Not quite six.”
“I was awake. I can be ready to go in about ten minutes.”
“Good. Great. I’d like to get that note in, see what our experts can tell us. They have lights that can detect what’s faded, trace the slightest indentation on paper.”
“I know,” she said. “That’s perfect.”
“Perfect,” he echoed.
They stood awkwardly for a moment, and then he spun around to return to his room.
Killer followed him.
“Hey, you!” Meg called to the dog.
The animal ignored her.
“It’s all right,” Matt said. He disappeared into his room with Killer trotting behind him. She ran into the shower, anxious to be as good as her word.
When she stepped out of her room, he was waiting for her. There was a somber look on his face.
“Has something happened?” she asked.
He nodded. “We have another one,” he said grimly.
“Another...”
“Dead woman.”
Meg’s heart leaped to her throat. “Not—not Lara?” she asked.
10
Slash was tired as all hell. For once in his life, he wished he didn’t work alone.
He’d spent part of the night trying to determine how to break in on the agents. But they had the damned dog. The stupid creature had barked at him when he’d been quite a distance away, hidden in the trees. What would it do if he tried to get into that ramshackle inn with the agents sleeping? Not only that, Slash knew that agents slept with their firearms by their beds, always within reach.
He’d given up watching the old bed-and-breakfast and headed out in the early-morning hours. He was tired and irritated, but he’d worked out his next moves carefully. First, where to grab someone. Second, where to leave her. This latest killing would change the focus yet again.