“And trust the two of you to do the job right? I had to be sure. It's too important. I'm the one who has to report to Betworth.”
Bastard. “Well, you can trust me to do this one. I'll let you know when she's no longer a problem.” He hung up.
He leaned back against the brick wall and looked up at the seventh floor of St. Joseph's Hospital. Too bad he hadn't been able to reach Graham before she talked to the police.
Oh, well, he was used to doing damage control.
Sarah was waiting for Alex when she came out of the police station late the next afternoon. She was still wearing her work clothes and had obviously come straight from the site. “Any luck?”
Alex wearily shook her head. “It seemed as if there were thousands of faces. . . . They were all blurring together. But I'll be coming back.”
“I know you will.” Sarah unlocked her car door and motioned for Monty to get in the backseat. “That's a given. When?”
“Tomorrow.” She got into the passenger seat. “I'll need to pick up my rental car at Arapahoe Junction so that I'll be mobile. May I go back with you?”
Sarah nodded. “That's why I'm here. I thought you'd want to go back.” She pulled away from the curb. “Why don't you try to nap on the way up there? You probably shouldn't even be out of the hospital yet.”
“You're the one who should be sleeping.” Alex glanced back at the golden retriever, who was stretched out on the backseat. “Like Monty.”
“He needs it. Monty's the one who does the work. I just go along for the ride.”
“Yeah, sure.” Alex stared unseeingly out the window. “Leopold isn't sure that I'm not imagining everything. He says there's no proof. Do you believe me, Sarah?”
“Damn straight I do. I called John after I left you last night. He's going to try to light a fire under the FBI team who's doing the investigation at the dam.”
If anyone could do that, it was Sarah's husband, John Logan, Alex thought. He was a billionaire whose influence stretched from the political elite of Washington to Wall Street. “Good. Though I don't know what the hell they're going to find at the dam that they didn't before. They went over that entire area with a fine-tooth comb.” She rubbed her temple. “But maybe they'll be able to find the helicopter and pilot.”
“That's possible.” Sarah gave her a sideways glance. “Now stop thinking and close your eyes, dammit.”
“What else did Logan say?”
“Quite a bit.” She made a face. “He said for me to go home. He said it was bad enough that he had to worry about me on disaster sites, but he wasn't about to let me run around with scumbags blowing up dams.”
“And you said?”
“Nothing. He didn't expect me to cave. I told him I'd be home when the job was done.” Her expression became shadowed. “Which may be pretty soon. I think they're going to change the status at Arapahoe from rescue to recovery tomorrow. They say there's not much chance of there being anyone left alive.”
“Shit.”
“Right.” She drew a deep breath. “But even if the job is done, I'm not leaving you alone here. If you won't come home with me, I'm staying with you.”
“No, I can't blame your husband for being worried. He's right. You have enough on your plate without worrying about me.”
“Shut up,” Sarah said. “We've discussed this before.”
“I'm not your responsibility.”
Sarah didn't answer.
God, she was stubborn.
Stubborn, loyal, and brave, and the best friend a woman could have. All good reasons to get her to go home to her husband and leave Alex to solve her own problems. But Alex couldn't argue with her right now. She was so exhausted she could barely put two sentences together. She leaned her head back against the seat rest. “We'll talk later.”
Sarah chuckled. “That's what John said, and in exactly that tone.” She switched on the headlights as the sun disappeared behind the mountains. “And I'll tell you what I told him. Don't mess with me or I'll sic my dog on you.”
Alex found herself smiling as she repeated, “We'll talk later.”
“Go to sleep. It's going to be another hour or so before we get to the site.”
Alex doubted she could sleep, but she fell silent, gazing out at the rolling foothills through which they were driving. This was wonderful country. Purple shadows, white peaks in the distance, such a beautiful place. Terrible things shouldn't happen in beautiful places like this. . . .
2
She woke with a start to full darkness.
Monty was barking, jumping back and forth on the backseat, trying to climb up to the back window.
She shook her head to clear it. “What's wrong with him?”