Chương 12
“Yes.”
“Can we send it to Rusk?”
“Yes.”
She forwarded a screenshot to the attorney despite his earlier warning about forwarding evidence to Logan.
Then she stopped.
“You said don’t forward.”
“To me.”
“Right.”
She sent it to Rusk.
His call came almost immediately.
“Do not go.”
Amelia put him on speaker.
“We know.”
“Good.”
“Can you call someone to check?”
“I already contacted the federal duty line and advised them of the message.”
“How fast can they move?”
“I don’t know.”
“That could mean anything.”
“It could.”
Logan said, “Can state troopers do a welfare check?”
“I can ask, but understand the risk.”
“What risk?”
“If local law enforcement monitoring picks up the request, Vance may hear about it.”
Amelia said, “He probably already knows we got the message.”
“Possibly.”
Logan looked at the clock.
4:58.
“Ask for the welfare check.”
Rusk paused.
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
That was a choice.
Not a perfect one.
But it was better than letting fear dictate the field.
Rusk said, “I’ll make the request through state channels and document why.”
The call ended.
Amelia stood by the window.
“Ten minutes.”
“Means nothing.”
“It means something to whoever sent it.”
“Maybe.”
She turned.
“If we’d gone, what would you have done?”
“Depends what we found.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
Logan looked at her.
“I would have tried to keep you alive.”
Her expression tightened.
“And if someone was waiting?”
“I’d still try.”
“You mean you’d fight.”
“If necessary.”
The room went quiet.
Amelia looked down at her hands.
“Part of me wants to see it.”
“See what?”
“The person I married.”
“You have.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“I’ve seen the person you built after.”
Logan did not answer.
She looked toward the garage.
“Dominic thought you were harmless.”
“He thought I was controllable.”
“Were you?”
“For three years, mostly.”
“That sounds like a no.”
“It is now.”
Amelia’s eyes filled, but she blinked the tears away.
“Please don’t become whatever you were.”
He looked at her.
“I’m not trying to.”
“Promise.”
“I can promise not to chase this into a fight.”
“That isn’t the same thing.”
“No.”
At 5:07, no new messages came.
At 5:09, Amelia’s phone rang from an unknown number.
She looked at Logan.
He nodded once.
She answered on speaker.
“Hello?”
A man said, “Mrs. Mercer?”
“Yes.”
“This is Trooper Michael Dane with Montana Highway Patrol.”
Logan straightened.
“We were asked to conduct a welfare check at a property off Old Mill Road.”
Amelia gripped the table.
“Did you find Cal Harris?”
There was a short pause.
“We found a vehicle registered to Mr. Harris.”
“And Cal?”
“Not yet.”
Her face collapsed slightly.
The trooper continued.
“I need to ask whether either you or your husband has been at this location today.”
“No.”
“Are you certain?”
“Yes.”
Logan said, “This is Logan Mercer.”
“I heard you, Mr. Mercer.”
“We’ve been home since roughly three.”
“Can anyone confirm that?”
“Our neighbor may have seen our truck.”
Amelia said, “And our doorbell camera.”
Logan glanced at her.
He had forgotten about it.
Good.
Human.
Useful.
Trooper Dane continued.
“Do not come here.”
Amelia’s fingers tightened.
“Why?”
Another pause.
“We located blood inside the truck.”
She covered her mouth.
Logan said, “Is there a person?”
“Not inside the vehicle.”
“Any sign where he went?”
“I can’t discuss the scene further.”
Amelia stepped away from the table.
“Is Cal alive?”
“I don’t know.”
The answer was honest.
That made it worse.
Trooper Dane said, “There’s another reason I’m calling.”
Logan’s stomach tightened.
“What?”
“We found a county document box in the truck bed.”
Amelia stopped moving.
The trooper continued.
“It has your wife’s name written on the inventory label.”
Amelia stared at the phone as if the trooper had accused her personally.
“What inventory label?”
Trooper Dane’s voice remained measured.
“A printed county asset label with your name and employee number.”
“I have never seen that box.”
“I understand.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Amelia,” Logan said.
She shot him a furious look.
“I didn’t put it there.”
Dane said, “Mrs. Mercer, I’m not making an accusation.”
“Then why tell me?”
“Because I need you to remain available, and because I don’t want you learning this from someone else.”
Logan respected that answer.
“Has the sheriff’s office been notified?”
There was a pause.
“The location falls within county jurisdiction.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
“No, it isn’t.”
Dane lowered his voice slightly.
“I have requested that my supervisor contact the appropriate investigative authorities before the vehicle or box is transferred.”
Logan understood what he was not saying.
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet.”
A faint radio transmission sounded behind Dane.
Then another voice called his name.
“I have to go.”
“Trooper,” Logan said.
“Yes?”
“The text that sent us there came from an unknown number.”
“Preserve it.”
“We are.”
“Do not reply.”
“We haven’t.”
“And do not come to this location.”
Amelia looked at Logan.
“We won’t.”
Dane ended the call.
Amelia immediately called Rusk.
This time she spoke before Logan could.
“There’s blood in Cal’s truck and a county box with my employee number on it.”
Rusk went silent.
“Daniel?”
“I’m here.”
“What do I do?”
“Nothing with your county accounts.”
“I know.”
“Nothing with your personal email containing county documents.”
“I know.”
“Do not call Harris.”
“I already tried before.”
“Do not try again.”
She sat heavily.
“They’re framing me.”
“Someone may be creating evidence that points toward you.”
“That is lawyer language for framing me.”
“It is lawyer language for refusing to claim more than we can prove.”
Logan walked to the front window again.
A dark pickup slowed at the intersection.
It continued past.
He let the blind fall.
Rusk asked for Dane’s name and the approximate time of the call.
Logan supplied both.
“I’m contacting the federal duty attorney again,” Rusk said.
“This changes the urgency.”
“Can they take over?”
Amelia asked.
“That depends on what they already have and whether federal jurisdiction exists.”
May you like
“Two million dollars disappeared.”
“County theft alone does not automatically make everything federal.”
