Dom abruptly stopped, causing Kendra to bump into him from behind. She stepped to his side, looking up at him. “Are you okay? Is something wrong?”
“I’m fine.” He gave himself a mental shake forced himself to keep walking. Yeah, the more he thought about Levy hauling him toward the truck, the more convinced he was that there was more to this than Stuart Ramsey’s confession.
This nightmare wasn’t just about a simple confession. Levy had thought Ramsey told them more than he had, but it wasn’t just that information that started this. It was about the Krugerrand. Coins that Bartoli might not have realized were in his father’s possession until Stuart had given his to his hospice nurse. That was enough to raise concerns about where Stuart had gotten it. They must have assumed Stuart had taken the coin from his father, and they must have thought there were more.
A lot more.
Had his father taken the Krugerrand on the plane? In theory, it made sense that his father would keep the coins close. Yet if that was the case, the coins were likely scattered across the Bighorn Mountains like the rest of the plane debris.
Yet somehow, Dom didn’t think so. He had to consider the fact that his father could have hidden the Krugerrand somewhere within the house, the hangar, or buried on the property. He’d gone through his dad’s things after his death, but that had been more of a clearing-out process. Getting rid of his father’s clothing and other personal belongings. He’d gone through all the boxes and closets, but he hadn’t searched for hidden coins.
There was only one way to find out if there were more Krugerrand. He needed to get back to Montana.
Dazed, he followed the others into the house. It looked the same as before, minus a few pictures that had fallen off the wall after the explosion.
“Sit down, Justin. I’ll look at your wound.” Raine pushed Jake Hutchins toward Griff. “Keep this guy away from his wife, Jennifer. We can’t allow them to communicate in any way.”
Griff arched a brow and nodded. “No problem. But what happened to Justin?”
“I’m fine.” Justin dropped into a chair, still cradling his arm across his chest. “It’s a flesh wound.”
“We won’t know that it’s only a flesh wound until we examine it,” Raine argued. “You can drop the tough guy act.”
Griff escorted Jennifer into one of the bedrooms, then came back for Jake, taking him to a different room. Dom wished he could badger the couple with questions, but he understood the need to follow procedure. He wasn’t a cop, but if he interfered with Griff and Raine, he could ruin everything.
Instead, he turned toward Justin. “Do we know what exploded outside?”
“A pipe bomb.” Justin grimaced as Raine pulled his coat off to see his arm. “My take is that it was used as a diversion.”
“A diversion that worked.” Dom grimly remembered how Levy had used the explosion to get him out of the cabin. “Are the vehicles damaged?”
“Only one, Levy’s. The other two seem okay.” Justin reached down with his uninjured arm to stroke Stone, before shrugging out of his shirt. “Why?”
“I need to go.” The words came from Dom’s mouth before he realized what he was about to say.
“What? You can’t leave.” Kendra frowned. Her K9 sat at her side, clearly waiting for another opportunity to play the search game. “Levy is still out there.”
“I know.” Levy didn’t matter as much as his need to get back to his place. If he found more Krugerrand, he’d know the coins were the reason he’d been ruthlessly tracked and nearly killed.
Along with Kendra and her family. Innocent people who’d only tried to help him.
“The Cody police are on the way,” Griff said. “They’ll want your statement, Dom, before you go.”
He nodded, but sticking around wasn’t high on his list of things to do. Kendra had her key fob, but Justin had just removed his coat. Dom took the jacket and surreptitiously slipped his hand into the pocket for the key fob as he moved it to the other chair.
“See?” Justin peered at the bleeding gash on his arm. “I told you it was just a flesh wound.”
“I’m glad.” Raine kissed him, then went to work cleaning the wound.
Dom swallowed hard and turned away. “I’m heading out to see if the police are here yet.” Without waiting for anyone to respond, he walked outside. The previously untouched and glistening snow in the front yard was now littered with branches, twigs, and pine needle debris from the trees around them. The pipe bomb had left its mark.
The sirens were loud enough to indicate the police were on the way. Dom clicked the fob, found Justin’s SUV, and slid in behind the wheel. He levered the seat back as far as possible to make room for his long legs. As he started the engine, the passenger door opened. Smoky jumped in first, followed by Kendra.
He glared at her. “You can’t come with me.”
“This is a Sullivan SUV, so yeah, I can.” She urged Smoky into the back seat. “Don’t bother arguing, that’s a waste of time. If you’re going, so am I.”
Dom didn’t like it. But she was right. They were wasting time. He hit the gas and headed out to the highway, silently praying Justin, Raine, and Griff would forgive him.
