Walker picked it up and they looked at it together.
"Those days at the lake were the best," Sabrina read out the words.
Walker looked confused. "So he must have thought you would find this?"
Sabrina moved around the room methodically. "My father was meticulous. If he wanted to leave information for me, he'd make sure I could find it."
"Trust but verify," Walker murmured.
"Right," Sabrina said, moving around the study, touching objects, remembering her father working here. On his desk sat the silver letter opener she'd given him for his birthday years ago. Next to it, family photos—Sabrina's graduation, her parents' anniversary, a wedding photo of she and Rob, family vacations.
She picked up a photo of all of them at the lake house—her parents, herself, and Walker's family. Young Walker stood next to teenage Sabrina, his arm casually around her shoulders.
"We were so young," she whispered. "This must be it."
Walker glanced at the photo, something flickering in his eyes that Sabrina couldn't read. "Different lifetime."
Sabrina set the photo down, then paused. "Wait." She turned it around. "This isn't right. Dad had this in a different frame."
She turned it over, opening the back. Inside, behind the photo, was a small key and a note in her father's handwriting:For my daughter, when the shepherd strays.
Sabrina looked up at Walker, pulse quickening. "The shepherd. That's what he said before he died."
Walker took the key, examining it. "Safety deposit box?"
"No," Sabrina said slowly, looking around the room. Her eyes fell on her father's antique desk. "His desk has a hidden compartment. He showed me once when I was little."
She moved to the desk, running her fingers along the ornate woodwork until she found what she was looking for—a small, nearly invisible keyhole beneath the right-hand drawer. The key fit perfectly.
When she turned it, a panel on the side of the desk slid open, revealing a slim leather portfolio.
"He wanted me to find this," Sabrina whispered, carefully removing the portfolio.
Inside were documents, photographs, and a sealed envelope with her name written in her father's distinctive hand.
Walker tapped his ear. "Reed says we need to move. They've tracked a van on the edges of the perimeter."
Sabrina clutched the portfolio to her chest. "Let's go."
They retraced their steps through the house, Walker leading the way.
As they reached the side door, he held up his hand, stopping her. "Movement outside," he whispered. "Two guys."
Sabrina's heart raced. "What do we do?"
"Change of plans. Follow me."
He led her upstairs to her old bedroom, locking the door behind them.
"Second exit?" he asked.
"The balcony, but it's a fifteen-foot drop."
Walker moved to the balcony doors, checking the distance. "Not a problem."
He removed a thin coil of rope from his tactical vest. "I'll go first, then catch you."
"Walker—"
