“I’m sure this was the spot,” she said, searching the ground beside the downed tree.Rufus was sniffing like crazy, pawing at the brush and dirt.
Rafe moved past them and knelt to take a look.“All this material is loose.”
“Did someone cover it back up?”Willow asked.
“Let’s find out.”Rafe took a shovel from a deputy and started digging.Rufus tried to jump in and help, but Willow pulled him back.
They all stood watching as Rafe dug at the loose soil, uncovering an area large enough to match the size of the container Willow had shown him.
Rafe stopped.“They didn’t cover it back up.”He looked up at them.“It’s gone.”
A slight chill snaked down Tripp’s spine.Had someone seen Willow find it?Or did they regularly come out here to check on it and make sure it was still buried?
He aimed his flashlight at the trees, looking for a camera.But searching for a decently camouflaged camera at this time of night was almost pointless.
Rafe and the deputies were all doing the same.“I don’t see any cameras,” Rafe said.“Anyone?”
“Nope.”
“No.”
Rafe lowered his flashlight and turned to Willow.“You said whoever broke into your car stole your backpack.”
“Yes.”
“And that there were no valuables in it.”
“Right.”
“But the paper from here was inside it.”
“Ah, shit,” Tripp murmured, a bad feeling taking hold.
Willow nodded, face strained.
Rafe’s expression was grim.“So then it might not have been a random break-in at all.”
Darren unzipped thefront pouch of the recovered backpack and came up with a pack of gum, a pen, and a bag of dog treats.“Was there anything else in the car?”
“No,” the guy who’d stolen it for him said.“Just this.”
He opened the main pouch, breathed a sigh of relief when he pulled out the coded paper.“This is good.We wouldn’t want this falling into the wrong hands.”
“No.I got her name and address from the insurance papers.”He held out his phone, showing the picture he’d taken of the registration.
“Willow Carlson.From...”He frowned.“New York?Nah.She’s a local.Has to be, for her and her dog to be wandering around that area.You had someone run her plate number?”
“Yeah, of course.”He swiped to show the next photo with the plate info.It was registered to New York.
“I’m betting she’s still somewhere on the island, probably close to that cache site.”
“You want me to see if anyone can trace it?”
“No, I’ll handle this personally.”They had a new sheriff in town, and all signs pointed to him being by the book.Reaching out to his contact there was too risky at the moment.He’d have to work some other contacts and find another way.One that didn’t raise more suspicion.“Once we?—”
He paused at a beeping sound from his phone.Grabbed it from the kitchen counter, his expression tightening when he saw the alert from the security camera app.
It had come from the compromised ammo cache site.He’d left the cameras in place specifically to watch if anyone came back, posted high up on two trees.
