“You need to find these men, don’t you?” For his friend, Calhoun. For Atlas.
“They’re responsible for Calhoun’s death.” The one statement held so much conviction. “I need to know why and how. And I need to see them held accountable.”
“Do you know where to start looking for them?” She wasn’t sure how she could help, but she wanted to. Because David needed to do this for his friend, but she wanted to do this for David.
“I saw one, yesterday. Shouldn’t be hard to find him again,” David commented. “He’s keeping a close eye on Atlas.”
And her by association.
“He was in New Hope yesterday. That’s why you told us to come back here.” Her anger had been settling but it sparked back up. “You could’ve told me.”
David held up his hands again. “I knew he was following but I didn’t have the connection until we found the micro SD today. I don’t have the full picture yet, just a bunch of pieces to the puzzle, and I’m going to have to dig for the connections to assemble everything.”
It was her turn to rub her face with her hands. “What about the men who attacked me?”
“Not military. Hired thugs, most likely. But they’ve got to be connected.” David drew in a deep breath and let it out. “I’m going to find that connection, too, and see them held accountable for what they did to you.”
“You sound like a man about to turn into a caped crusader.” She regretted the words as they came out. It was the wrong thing to say and she didn’t mean to make little of what he planned to do.
He shook his head. “I’m not a superhero. But there’s something wrong here and it’s got a cascading effect. Hurting people like you and probably others. This is about doing the right thing, and seeing to it Calhoun didn’t die for nothing.”
She’d always thought of honor as a word on a plaque or written under a crest. David was teaching her about the meaning of it.
“I’d like to help, however I can.” She put every ounce of sincerity she had into it, to make up for her previous statement. “It’d bring a lot of attention on if you took me off Atlas’s case. I can work with you still, and help track down the rest of the information you need.”
“You don’t have the training for this.” But he didn’t sound adamant.
“Any time you leave the kennels, you’re going to be watched, aren’t you?” She tried to think as quickly as possible. “Just like me. They’re less likely to think something is off if we’re together and working with Atlas. It could just be another approach to his rehabilitation. Without me and Atlas, it’d be obvious you’re up to something.”
“You have a point.” He wasn’t happy about it. His shoulders sagged.
“I said it last night and I still mean it; there’s nowhere I feel safer than with you and Atlas.” Truth again.
His gaze locked on hers, searching. After a long moment he sighed. “Okay. We work on this together, but anything starts to go sideways and you listen to me. No arguments in the midst of shit going down. Understand?”
She bit her lip. Not a small thing to ask and he’d hold her to it. “Agreed, so long as I can ask my questions once we’re someplace safe again and you promise to give me the full, unedited answers.”
“Agreed.”
Chapter Eleven
Is it horrible to ask for a rest stop?”
Cruz glanced at the digital display on the dashboard. Only an hour and a half into their road trip. Granted, they’d been caught in some traffic getting past Philadelphia but they hadn’t even made it through Delaware. Traveling through it on I-95 was almost literally a blink-and-you-miss-it sort of thing.
Atlas chose that moment to let out a brief whine from the back seat. Dog probably sensed her discomfort but damn, it seemed like Atlas was always going to take her side in awkward situations.
He sighed. Well, he’d decided to bring the two of them along. If this was an indicator for the rest of the trip, he should be glad there were rest stops at regular intervals the whole way there and back. “There’s a big rest stop just up here.”
“Thank you.” She fidgeted. “Have we gotten at least close to halfway there?”
Nope. “Is this your way of asking if we’re there yet?”
“No!” She huffed. “It’s been a while since I’ve been on a road trip instead of a flight. I guess I’ve been spoiled by the availability of a restroom en route.”
“You don’t ever get stuck in a window seat with someone sleeping?” The image of her squirming in a coach seat, too polite to wake somebody up, amused him.