the more reason I should be writing it. This just means somehow, somewhere in the past couple of weeks I’ve turned over a rock, and something’s popped up. I just wish I knew what it was.”
“If you did, we could put a watch on whoever it is,” Hank pointed out. “Make sure that’s who’s behind this and see if he or she has anyone else involved.”
Zoe sighed. “If only it were that easy.”
“I didn’t know you then,” Sadie said, “but from what you’ve told me, Justine was a very close friend.”
“My best friend. There wasn’t anything we wouldn’t do for each other.”
Sean certainly knew what that was like. It was the same way he felt about the other SEALs on his team. Which meant he really had to be on the alert because nothing was going to stop her from following through on this.
“Okay.” Sean took a slug of his coffee. “You’ve told me all about what went on the day she disappeared and who you talked to afterward. What about before that? When you talked to her on the phone, did she seem distracted about anything? Worried? Upset?”
Zoe frowned. “I’ve been going over it in my mind again, trying to recall all our conversations in the weeks before that night. She worked for the Lewis and Clark County Attorney as a paralegal, so she was always busy. I know she loved her job, although sometimes she said she wished days were eighty-hours long.”
Hank nodded. “I don’t think there’s a county attorney’s office anywhere that isn’t always busier than shit. But did she seem more distracted than usual? Can you remember?”
“It’s hard to say. Usually by the weekend she was trying to finish a hundred things so she could have some free time. Somehow, I had the idea she was dating a new guy, but she never specifically said so. I guess I just figured we’d gossip about it over the weekend if it was true.”
“So, nobody hassling her?” Sean asked. “The new boyfriend, if there was one? Someone in the office? Maybe someone the county attorney was filing charges against?’
She shook her head. “As far as I know, Justine never hooked up with men like that.”
Sean snorted. “Half the time you don’t know if a man is ‘like that’ until he does something, and by then it’s too late.”
Zoe shook her head. “No. I’d be able to tell.” Then she nibbled her bottom lip. “But there was definitely something. I just hope after ten years my imagination isn’t making things up. Besides, I’ve talked to Warren Craig, the county attorney, again, and he would have said something if that was true. He wanted this solved as much as anyone else. Justine was very valuable to him.”
“Okay, let’s it go for now.” Sean knew there was always something simmering below the surface, something people didn’t even realize. It would take some time to fish it out. “Hank, did you want to get those fingerprints to the sheriff?”
“As a matter of fact, that’s why I walked out here. Alex is back in the office and can talk to us right now. I gave him a bare outline of the situation, and he wants to get all the details. See where he can help. If he can do some investigating on his own, you know he will.” He looked at Zoe. “In case whoever this is decides to follow you here.”
Sean glanced at Zoe and again saw the color fade from her face. But then she hauled in a deep breath and nodded. “Okay. Just give me a minute to get ready.”
Hank drove, and from his place in the shotgun seat Sean took time to look at the scenery. He needed something to distract his mind from the woman in the back seat. He hadn’t paid much attention on the drive from Bozeman, but now he could see stretches of land that belonged to ranches, the Crazy Mountains as a backdrop. There was something so soothing about them, a peaceful feeling he hadn’t known in a very long time. He’d have to make time to do some exploring when they got Zoe and her stalker taken care of.
Maybe Zoe will go with me.
The minute the thought flashed in his brain, he gave himself a silent order to squash it. He hadn’t the faintest idea where this was going. He considered it a small victory that she agreed to see what happened between them. Not fight it. But how much of that was