“Earl.”Tripp’s tone was clipped.He pulled away from the curb without another word, heading up the street toward the sheriff’s office.“What did he say to you?”
Willow glanced in the side mirror.Earl hadn’t moved, watching them drive off.“Nothing.He was just asking what happened last night.What was that all about?”she asked.The odd animosity between them had taken her off guard.Earl had his quirks, but he had a big heart and had always been kind to her when their paths crossed over the years.And to Peyton.
Tripp’s jaw flexed before he answered.“Let’s just say we’re not on the best of terms.”
There was a wealth of buried anger in his words.Or resentment.“Why, what?—”
“What happened at the library?You sure you’re okay?”
She let the Earl thing go.For now.“Yeah, I’m fine.I found something Rafe needs to see that I think is linked to the cache and break-in.A bookmark.I’ll show you when we get inside.”
Thankfully, Rafe had just arrived back at the station.He told his assistant to let them in, and waved them into his office as he finished a phone call.“Sorry I didn’t call you back yet,” he said as he set his phone down on his desk.“It’s been a crazy twelve hours.”
“Anything to do with an update on my case?”
“Nothing yet, unfortunately.What’ve you got for me?”
“This.”She pulled out the book, opened it to show the bookmark, and then slid her phone with the picture of the laminated sheet across the desk for him to compare while Tripp looked on.“I found this, and it’s an exact match.Or at least I think it is.It’s a relatively unremarkable book and over a decade old, but it’s been checked out a ridiculous number of times over the past few weeks.By the same handful of people.I’ll admit this might sound a bit out there, but I think the people behind the cache might be using this to communicate with each other.”
“Holy shit,” Tripp murmured, studying the bookmark.“You’re a detective on top of being an archivist and artist.”
She shrugged, ridiculously warmed by his praise.“Must be all those mystery books I’ve read over the years.And there’s a record of who checked it out.But look.”She pushed the bookmark closer.“See?That symbol at the bottom.It’s the same as on the cache sheet too.”
Rafe nodded, frowning.“Not many people impress me, Will, but you’ve done it again.Any idea what it means?”
“No.Not yet, anyway.I was hoping there would be some sort of cypher or whatever hidden in the book as well, but I didn’t find anything.I’m guessing you probably don’t have a cryptologist on staff?”
Rafe gave a wry smile.“Not included in our budget, unfortunately.Although...Actually, I might know someone who can help.”He looked up at Tripp.“You thinking what I’m thinking?”
Tripp nodded.“I’ll call him.”
“Who?”Willow asked, staring as Tripp pulled out his phone and made a call.
“Blaine,” he answered.“He’s got a secret weapon that might be able to crack this mystery wide open.”
THIRTY-TWO
