Tripp had his phone out, busy typing something into it.“They’re coordinates.”
Everyone looked at him.“You sure?”Rafe asked.
“Positive.”He turned his phone around, showing a map.“The red dot corresponds to the first number of the second column.I only did the first three, but they all came up as locations on the island.”
Rafe quickly pulled up a digital map on his computer and angled the screen for them to see.“Read ’em out, and I’ll mark them on here.”
Blaine took his phone back and began reading them out.One by one, red dots began populating the map on Rafe’s screen.More than two dozen locations, scattered across the island.
When they were done, Rafe enlarged the map to zoom in on a series of dots clustered around a particular area.“This is a forested area off the main highway leading up into the hills.”He zoomed back out, shifted the map down.Zoomed in again.“And this one...”
“Is in the woods behind my house,” Willow said, shock ripping through her.“So these are all potential weapons cache locations?”That was...alarming.
“Could be.”
“If that’s true, there could be more to this,” Blaine said in a grim tone.“A local councilman mentioned a possible locally organized militia operating on the island.If it’s true, maybe this is linked to them.”
“Yeah, that’s news to me.”Rafe whipped up his phone and dialed someone.“Who’s the head librarian?”he asked her.
“Beth,” she answered, struggling to process all of this.If they were right, if this was related to the militia...She could be in more danger than she’d imagined.
“This is Sheriff Torres.I need to speak to Beth, please.”He waited.“Hi, Beth.I’m at the station with Willow right now, working on an investigation.I’m going to need all the information you have for everyone who’s checked out that book she asked you about for the past six months.”
Willow glanced at Tripp, who was still studying the marked map with Blaine.This was worse than she could have imagined.A rogue militia here on Skelly?Packing that kind of firepower?If those locations marked the site of more caches, it was like they were preparing for war.
“About eighty-percent of the locations are inland,” Tripp murmured, “but the few near the coast are close to private property.Isn’t this one near the edge of the parcel you just closed on?”he asked Blaine, pointing to a dot on the western coast not far from Shipwreck Cove.
Blaine reached out and hit some keys to zoom in closer, expression grim.“Not near it.Inside it.”
Rafe ended the call.“She’s going to pull everything up and email it to me.What’ve you got?”he asked them.
“This location is near the marine research station,” Blaine said.“It’s part of the parcel we just closed on.”
“I’ll head over and check it out.”He got on his radio to one of his deputies.
“I’ll go with you,” Blaine said.
“Keep Willow with you until I know what’s going on,” Rafe said to Tripp.
“Won’t let her out of my sight.”Tripp wrapped a solid arm around her shoulders and guided her out of the office after them.
“Where are we going?”she asked as he escorted her to his truck.
“Home.Where I know you’ll be safe until we find out what the hell’s going on.”
