“Could Freddie have stolen Mouse’s new identity? Or maybe he’s doing all this in Mouse’s honor?” She sounded both fascinated and horrified at the same time. “It’s also possible they worked together before Mouse’s death. … If Mouse knew how to get himself a whole new ID, a new life, maybe that’s something Freddie could do too.”

  “Freddie would also likely know our Mouse was born Mickey Mouse O’Connor before taking over Ryan Hanson’s life.”

  She nodded. “But with two IDs, it would be easy for Freddie to travel around.”

  “And honestly, if he has two IDs, it’s pretty easy for him to get a third.”

  “Any other names you want me to check?”

  He thought for a long moment. “Could you check Reginald Henderson?”

  “Sure. Did you just pull that name out of your ass?”

  He chuckled. “No, there’s definitely a reason for each of these names.”

  She clicked through and raised her eyes. “Because, if you’re just guessing, that was a hell of a good guess.”

  He leaned forward. “Really?”

  “But don’t forget. It’s not all that unusual of a name.”

  He nodded. “Does it give any details?” Jager could feel the excitement pouring through him. This was it, the hunt was on. Now they were finally getting the pieces they needed. He stood and paced. “That means Poppy—Reginald Henderson—came here to visit Freddie, aka Ryan.”

  “Were they friends?”

  “They had a friend in common. Mouse. But, while Poppy was here, either he gave the ID to Freddie, potentially several IDs, or Freddie stole and copied Poppy’s ID. Although there was a huge age gap.”

  “Right. But how good a disguise can somebody make up?”

  He looked at her. “You mean, how does a thirty-year-old look like a sixty-year-old?”

  She nodded. “Wigs are possible. Makeup is possible, and who knows? Maybe they managed to change the image on the ID. Just darkening the hair in the photo is often enough to make a person appear younger.”

  “If he’s traveling within the States, he doesn’t need a passport. He just needs a driver’s license. And pictures can be changed out on those too.”

  She nodded slowly. “In the Norway flight, he traveled under his own name.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Wow, this is intense.”

  “I’m not sure that’s the word I would use, but we’re definitely getting closer. And, of course, it’ll blow up in Santa Fe.” He bounced back and forth, his hands opening and clenching as he worked his way through the morass in his mind. “I’ve got a photo of Freddie, a picture from the guys who stayed in the same rental house. I’ll get that scanned and sent over to them. I can take a photo of it with my camera for the moment but the photo is poor to begin with.”

  “We can do that at the office if you want.”

  He nodded. “I’m afraid to do it tomorrow. Delaying it another night is another night my friends could potentially be in danger.”

  She opened her missing person’s police file and brought up the digital image. And then she flipped her laptop around. “Does that help?”

  He got up and pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and unfolded it. It appeared to be the same person on the wall at the men’s house. “It’s similar. I need to call the guys.”

  “I guess I need to go to the station then. We can get a paper copy of this image.”

  “Can you email that to me? I’ll email it to the others too.”

  She nodded and did so.

  He hit Speed-Dial #2 and spoke to Erick. “We’ve got puzzle pieces coming together at a rapid rate.”

  “Damn good thing,” Erick said. “This is bullshit, and I’ve had enough.”

  “You guys have to watch your backs tonight. I’ll try to get back there tomorrow, but it could be late in the day. There’s something else I have to take care of while I’m here.”

  “Does that have anything to do with this interesting Allison?”

  Jager shook his head. “That’s none of your business.”

  Erick chuckled. “Bring her with you.”

  “No, don’t think I can do that.”

  “Sure. We haven’t heard that before, have we?”

  Jager rolled his eyes at that because, of course, they’d been watching it happen to their friends. “I’m sending you a picture of Freddie Brown. He’s traveling under the name of Ryan Hanson, plus he’s been using Reginald Henderson, Poppy’s name.”

  “What?”

  “Yeah, we’ve seen flights in and out. Maybe Poppy was coming here to visit him. I don’t know. But there’s a good chance Freddie’s also using that ID to fly where he wants to go.”

  “Do you think he was in a relationship with Poppy? Or did they just have a friend in common? Mouse did seem to generate very loyal friends,” Erick said. “Look at Minx. Look at us.”

  Jager stared off in the distance. “He did, didn’t he? It doesn’t matter. Track down anything you can under those names that might pertain to travel and the timing with all the accidents we know happened to our families. And beware. Freddie Brown is already in Santa Fe. He’s already after you guys. I’m sending the photo. Make sure you spread it around. According to an ex-girlfriend, he’s hunting badgers. However, he also did a special trip searching for unique gears—aka Geir’s friends and family. And, if he’s hunting one of us, he’s hunting all of us.”

  “I hear you,” Erick said, his tone grim. “I think we’ll all get together and watch our backs.”

  “You may want to set up at Badger’s for the night. He’s still laid up, and he’s not capable of fighting too hard. You know he’ll bust his ass and take himself out if it’ll protect Kat.”

  “We all would,” Erick said. “Every one of us now has somebody we would die to protect.”

  “Being together will be the best to keep all of us safe. Like I said, get everybody in the same place.”

  “Badger might not like that,” Erick said with a chuckle.

  “Then arrive with beer and pizza. You know you’ll win him over. The minute you explain it to him, it’s a done deal.”

  “His place is also the biggest,” Erick said. “I don’t know that he has room for all of us, but we’ll work it out. You watch your back. And make sure you get your ass back here as soon as possible.” Erick hung up.

  Jager walked over to the couch and sat near her. “So I need to do a couple things. I need to talk with your commander, and I need to talk with somebody else.”

  She looked at him, frowning.

  He shrugged and shook his head. “Some things you can’t let sit.”

  “It’s nine-thirty.”

  “Right. So too late?”

  She shrugged. “I would say so.”

  He stood again. “I’ll go back to my hotel room, so I can grab some sleep. Maybe I can hit the station early in the morning.”

  “My boss won’t be there before eight, maybe not until nine,” she said.

  He frowned. “Where does he go in the evenings?”

  “To the pub. He and Roger go there a lot together.”

  He looked at her. “You want to go to the pub?”

  She stared at him. “What are you up to?”

  He shrugged. “Injustice can’t be allowed.”

  Wondering where this was all headed, she said, “I’m likely to get fired in the pub.”

  “Do you care if it’s in the pub or tomorrow morning at the station? And if he fires you without just cause …”

  She nodded. “I think he’s been trying to get me to quit for a long time. But I haven’t buckled under his bullshit.”

  He chuckled. “You don’t have to now either.”

  “I really want to follow this through,” she said. “I can’t believe somebody we all treated as a party junkie kid could be a serial killer.”

  “And a very skilled one. It’s all blowing up in Santa Fe, and I want to get back there. If I can get out of here tomorrow morning, I’m gone.”

  She winced.

  “You can come with me, if you want. But I think it’d be better if you come in a few days, when the worst of this is over.”

  She glared at him. “What was that? I stay away, where it’s nice and safe, and you get to go off and be the crazy-ass hero?”

  He looked at her in surprise. “Hell no. You’re the one packing a gun, not me.”

  At that she burst out laughing. “Isn’t that the truth?” She hopped to her feet. “Pub it is. If I’m getting fired, I’d rather know now.”

  “What if he does fire you?”

  “I’ll probably put in some formal complaints, force him to deal with it through official channels.”

  “About?”

  “Roger, for one. His behavior is not acceptable no matter whose friend he is.”

  “Is it the first time he’s threatened you?”

  She nodded. “He’s yelled at me a couple times, warned me away. But it wasn’t anything as direct as this last time.”

  “That shit’s not acceptable.”

  She chuckled. “You’re a dinosaur in today’s age, you know?” She hooked her arm through his. “Your vehicle or mine?”

  “Mine, so it’s not official.”

  She nodded.

  They walked out. He unlocked the truck and helped her in. “And I’m not a dinosaur,” he said quietly. “You just hang around with the wrong people.”

  Startled, she looked at him in the shadows of the truck. “What do you mean?”

  “My unit believes in honor, integrity, monogamy. Those are all words we live by. We don’t beat up women because we’re having a bad day. We don’t cheat or steal because somebody has something we want. We know how to fight for what’s ours, and we protect every damn bit of it, but we’ll get it honestly. It won’t come because we’ve taken a shortcut or paid someone to get there.”

  “All except for Mouse?”

  He let out a sad, heavy sigh and nodded. “All except for Mouse.”

  Chapter 8

  They drove to the pub in relative silence. Inside, her stomach twisted. Was she getting fired? She wasn’t even sure why. She and the commander had certainly had an argument about Roger and Margery, and her boss’s attitude left a hell of a lot to be desired. But Allison knew a lot of men who felt that way about women—if they took the knocking around, it was because they liked it. How the hell that worked, she didn’t know. Because no way in hell did any woman like it. But still, people would be people. Although it sucked, that that male attitude existed.

  As they reached the front doors of the pub, music and laughter rolled out. She smiled and said, “It’s always been a popular place.”

  He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, tucking her up close in order to squeeze through the crowd. “Means there probably won’t be a table for us.”

  She nodded. “We can sit at the bar if you want.”

  He looked toward the bar and saw two empty spots. Holding her hand gently, making sure a space opened up for her, he led her toward the barstools.

  She looked at him. “How did you do that?”

  He gave her a bland stare.

  She snorted. “You’ve got to teach me that parting-of-the-seas trick.”

  “What trick?”

  “Everyone here just moved out of your way.”

  He gave her a sideways look. “Good.”

  She chuckled. “Like I said, you should share that trick with me.”

  “You just saw me.”

  She shook her head and sidled up to the bar.

  The bartender looked over at them, and Jager held up two fingers, pointing at the draft barrel. The bartender nodded and loaded up two tall glasses. He slid them down the long glass countertop.

  She smiled. “How’d you know I like draft?”

  “I didn’t,” he said with a wicked grin. “I’ll drink them both if you don’t want one. We’ll get you something else.”

  At that she burst out laughing. “So that’s how it works. This way you get two drinks.”

  “You can have two drinks too,” he said.

  “But that would mean you might be trying to get me drunk. We can’t have that.”

  He glanced down at her, leaned closer and whispered in her ear, “Are you flirting with me?”

  Instantly heat washed up her cheeks. He reached out a gentle finger and followed the blush.

  She shook him off and gave him an irritated look. “It’s not nice to embarrass a lady.”

  “Did that embarrass you? I was thinking it was the truth. I’m very much a straightforward kind of person myself.”

  At that, she laughed out loud. “You are anything but straightforward.”

  He stared at her in astonishment. “Seriously?”

  She laughed. “Yes. You’re mysterious, like a deep ocean pool.”

  He shook his head. “Too fanciful.”

  “Okay. You’re the dark-of-midnight shadowland. You walk mostly in the shadows, stepping out only when it suits you. You’re comfortable in the dark, less comfortable in the light. You are who you are, comfortable in your own skin. And that skin may have changed, adapted. You may not look the same as two years ago, but you’ve made peace with it. And, if others can’t make peace with it, then you don’t give a shit because you’ll say it’s their problem.” She narrowed her gaze at him. “Don’t turn those shimmering eyes on me like that.”

  Surprised, he widened his gaze and studied her. “Shimmering eyes?” he questioned. “You mean, dark eyes? Narrow eyes?” he added helpfully.

  She picked up her beer and took a big sip. He watched as the foam laced around the top of her lip. She licked her lip and cleaned off the mustache of white; then she chuckled. “Better watch out. Looks like that’ll get you in trouble.”

  “What kind of trouble?”

  She leaned forward. “Are you flirting with me?”

  And he chuckled, the chuckles soon turning to rolling laughter. And, even though the bar was noisy, several turned around to listen to the husky, almost smoky laugh of the man who sounded like he’d forgotten his body could let out such ruckus rolls of laughter. When he finally got himself under control, he stared at her. “Thanks. I needed that.”

  “That sounded beyond rusty, like there hadn’t been a whole lot of laughter in your life in the last few years.”

  “No, there sure hasn’t been, especially not in the last six months.”

  She nodded. “Here’s to the turning point in your life.” She held up her glass.

  “Here’s to the turning point in your life.” He nodded toward a table on the far side where Roger and the commander drank beer.

  As she turned their way, both the commander and Roger looked up, and matching frowns came over their faces. She sighed. “I don’t need to talk to them, do I?”

  “Why would you?” he asked. “You’re here with me. Not with them.”

  She chuckled. “And you’re worth two of them.”

  He looked at her aghast. “Only two? Each one of them is twice my size.”

  She shook her head and joined the rapport. “Only around the girth. But when it comes to the man inside, you’re definitely twice each of them.”

  “Flattery,” he murmured.

  “Exactly.”

  And again he chuckled. They settled into enjoying the beer as they talked about how early he could fly out in the morning.

  “Is there anything you want to do about your parents’ reports?” she asked.

  He nodded. “That’s what I’ll talk to your boss about.”

  “Then you have to do that officially, tomorrow. Don’t bring it up tonight. He hates having his evenings or his private life disturbed.”

  “In a way I can understand that. But, if he did his job, it wouldn’t matter. I’ll also hire a crane to bring the motorhome out of that ravine. I couldn’t be there for my parents’ funeral, and I couldn’t be there for them at the time of the accident,” he said softly, “but I don’t have to leave the vehicle of their demise sitting crushed and covered in their blood.”

  She nodded. “What do you want to do with it?”

  “Probably have it taken to the wrecking yard. Recycle it. Make sure nobody gets hurt climbing around on top of it.”

  “There could be personal belongings inside.”

  “There were. But there’s nothing I need. After six months, there’s nothing worth trying to save. I have what’s important. I have the memories. I also have the knowledge my mother loved me, and that’s worth everything.”

  He wondered if they would ever make a move. He understood the mentality of guys like Roger. But the commander should have a little bit more behind him than just straight temper and bullshit. He ordered two more beers, happy Allison was content to stay beside him and to enjoy her evening. They shared a moment in time.

  He wondered what it would take for her to go to New Mexico. But so much was going on right now with his unit that he felt guilty staying in the bar. He should be working his part of the investigation. He could go to the station to talk to the officer in charge, but that was like dealing with a night porter instead of a hotel manager. And he wouldn’t do that.

  His phone buzzed. He pulled it out and saw Erick had sent a message.

  All in place. We’re safely tucked in for the night. Make sure you watch your back.

  He placed the phone on the bar in front of him, thinking about that.

  “Problems?” Allison asked, leaning closer.

  He turned his head to see her right there beside him. He dropped a kiss on her temple and whispered, “No, it’s all good.”

  Her gaze searched his.

  Had she looked at the phone, then back up to his eyes?

  “Are you sure?”

  He nodded. “They’re all safe for the night. Wanting me to watch my back.”

  Just then a hand reached out and gripped his shoulder, wrenching him around. He could feel muscles inside screaming in outrage. He stood up in a motion so smooth it would be hard for anybody to see the uppercut he shot directly below the guy’s sternum, just at the bone that would snap off if he had missed the spot he was aiming for. The other man bent over, gasping in pain.

  Jager smiled and asked, “What did you want?”