Kendra nodded. “We need to consider all possibilities. For all we know, there’re more Krugerrand lying around in the mountains somewhere.”
He grimaced. “If there is, we’ll never find it, not after all this time.” He didn’t really care about the money. He made a decent living at his job and had inherited his father’s house after his death. It wasn’t as if he needed more. “But now I’m starting to think that maybe these guys are coming after me because they think I have a stash of Krugerrand.”
“I don’t know about that. Why wouldn’t they just search your place?” Kendra’s brow furrowed. “Killing you wouldn’t help them find it.”
Her comment brought another memory to the surface. One that he hadn’t thought much about until now. “I think they did search our home. Shortly before my dad’s plane went down.”
“Really?” Kendra’s blue gaze locked on his. “What happened?”
“There was a break-in at our house. I remember my dad was pretty upset about it, even though the Billings police was convinced a couple of kids were responsible. Apparently, there had been other break-ins in another area of the city.” He tried to recall the pertinent details. “Our house and hangar are located on the outskirts of town. My dad pointed that out to the police, wondering why the kids would come all the way out by us to steal. The cops told me they believed the kids responsible went to my school. That was why they came out to our place.”
“But now you think the break-in was related to the Krugerrand,” Kendra said. “Although why would Gunther’s guys wait so long to search in the first place?”
“I don’t know. I guess that depends on how they found my father’s identity and location.” He shook his head. “Now that I know my dad was placed in witness protection, I’m trying to figure out how and where he learned to fly small planes. That doesn’t seem like a hobby an accountant would have.”
“That’s a really good question.” Kendra bent to stroke a hand over Smoky’s fur. “From what I’ve read, anyone going into witness protection is advised against keeping previous hobbies. If your dad had known how to fly planes before he was relocated to Billings, he never should have used that skill as his source of income.”
“Maybe he didn’t have a choice?” Dom knew his knee-jerk defense of his father wasn’t warranted. “I mean, how else is a single father supposed to support himself and a small kid?”
“I didn’t intend to criticize him,” she quickly interjected. “I’m sure your dad did his best for you.”
He blew out a breath, reminding himself there was a lot about his father he didn’t know. Like the fact that they were in witness protection. And that his father’s testimony against Gunther Volter had put the man behind bars. “I know you didn’t. I’m being overly sensitive about all of this. I don’t want to believe my father’s decisions caused his death.” Not just his father’s demise, but Kendra’s losing her parents too.
“This isn’t your father’s fault,” Kendra said firmly. “Your dad did the right thing in coming forward. In testifying against Volter. First, he lost his wife, then he gave up the life he knew for you, Dom. I’m sure it wasn’t easy for a guy from New Jersey to start over and acclimate to Billings, Montana.”
“True.” He forced a smile. Kendra was sweet and kind. As much as he’d tried to convince her to head back to the safety of the Sullivan ranch, he was glad she was there with him. “Thanks for saying that.”
“It’s the truth.” She waved a hand. “I’m still not sure why the gunman has come after you now, though. What could they possibly want after all this time?”
“Revenge? Payback for my father testifying against Volter?”
“They could have finished you off six years ago, but they didn’t. They chose to come after you now.”
He felt like they were going in circles, rehashing the same thing over and over. Maybe this was about the Krugerrand. He didn’t want to believe his dad had stolen it, but he was forced to consider anything was possible. Had Krugerrand helped pay for his father’s plane? He wasn’t sure how the charter business had been funded in the first place.
So many questions without answers. And with his father being gone, Dom wasn’t sure he’d ever know the truth.
“Hey, we’re going to figure this out.” Kendra rested her hand on his arm. The warmth of her fingers seemed to radiate up his extremity. Getting emotionally entangled with Kendra wasn’t smart. Much like his former girlfriend, Shari Coffen, she was pretty enough to have any guy she wanted.
She didn’t need to settle for a beanpole like him.
“We can ask Helen about the coin tomorrow.” Kendra’s voice pulled him from his thoughts. If he didn’t watch out, he’d get his foolish heart broken all over again. “Stuart may have confided in her about how he received it. I’m leaning toward the theory that Gunther’s men paid Stuart with the coins to get rid of your dad.”
“Yeah. Maybe.” He was still having trouble wrapping his mind around how valuable the coin was. Why would his father have allowed him to keep the gold coin if he knew it was worth so much money?
“We should probably get some sleep.” Kendra squeezed his arm, then stood. “I need to take Smoky out one last time.”
“Okay.” Despite his exhaustion, Dom doubted he’d sleep. Not when his mind was going a million miles an hour.
Everything he thought he knew about himself and his father was a lie. One born out of necessity, but still untrue. Maybe their best option was to meet with the US Marshals office. At the very least, Andrew Levy might be able to answer a few of his questions.
But they wouldn’t meet with him here, in the cabin. Dom rose and crossed to the fire. This was the first place he’d felt safe since the initial gunfire had erupted outside the Redwood Motel. They’d used disposable phones, and he’d covered their ISP address to use the computer. He honestly couldn’t think of anything else he could do to keep them off-grid.
He headed down the hall and poked his head into the various bedrooms. Kendra should take the master suite. He could make do with the bedroom directly across the hall from the second bathroom.
“It’s snowing,” Kendra announced when she and Smoky returned. Seeing the snowflakes covering Smoky’s fur had him taking a step back to avoid the dog’s inevitable shaking.
“Maybe that will help keep the bad guys from finding us.” He couldn’t help but smile ruefully when Smoky shook the excess water from her fur.
