Nhiari went on alert. “Which friends?”
Lee hesitated. “You can’t share it with Dot. Not yet.”
“Am I allowed to contact Dot?” she countered.
Lee nodded. “She has people looking for you. We need her to call off the search.”
This was her chance to catch Lee. Nhiari and Dot had come up with a code back at the police academy, which they could use if either of them had been taken against their will. She could lead Dot to where they were.
She glanced at Lee, who was studying her.
But did she want to? Lee was filling in information they didn’t know. Nothing so far that helped the case, but it filled in the blanks. What she needed was new information. “Tell me the names.”
“Will you keep it quiet until I say you can tell others?”
She didn’t like making promises to him. “As long as I don’t think my friends and colleagues are in danger.”
Was that approval in his gaze? “Kristy and Steven Hamilton.”
Nhiari frowned. They were as close to a power couple as you could get in the small town. Kristy volunteered on different committees and Steven worked at the council, but they’d been having marital difficulties this year. Her eyes widened. “Those fights were faked?”
Lee nodded in approval. “Whenever you were getting too close, they would fight to draw you back to town and switch your attention. They also helped with small things like supplying Kurt with a drone, taking him out to the islands and hiding people when they drew police attention.”
Nhiari had never liked Kristy’s attitude, but she hadn’t thought she would stoop so low as to put children in danger. Particularly because she loved her own so much.
It put a whole new perspective on the past month.
“Nhiari!” The call was faint, almost inaudible.
She jolted, her head whipping to the front of the cave. Lee strode to look out. “The SES are searching for you at the other end of the canyon.”
Their gazes met. Decision time. Lee wasn’t holding the gun. She hadn’t seen a weapon since they’d arrived. She could get the searchers’ attention and be home by lunch. Lee would melt away to another camp and she wouldn’t see him until he was ready to be seen.
She glanced at the envelope in front of her.
The file of information still had many pages in it. But staying meant she had to spend who knew how many days with Lee. Could she do that and keep her emotions out of it?
She gritted her teeth. Now wasn’t the time to let her feelings get in the way of stopping a crime syndicate. “Let me radio Dot.”
“People are monitoring the police radio.”
She and Dot suspected someone on their team was working for Stonefish too. “They won’t know what I’m saying.”
His stare pierced her, and she met it unblinkingly. Finally he nodded and went to his pack to get the radio. The exit was unguarded. It wouldn’t take more than four steps to be out in the open and wave to get the searchers’ attention.
Nhiari’s feet twitched, but she stayed where she was and then switched on the radio. She took a moment to figure out what to say and then pressed the button. “Dot fifteen.”
She waited for Dot’s reply. “Dot eleven.”
She switched the channel to thirteen and waited a moment for Dot to do the same before saying, “Heading to the waterhole at sunset.”
“Want me to come with you?” Dot’s concern was evident.
Lee watched her, waiting. Trusting she wasn’t feeding Dot information.
“No, I need to be alone.”
“You coming back tonight?”
