The conversation had moved on to which climbers had the best chance of winning in each category of competition—speed climbing, free climbing, and bouldering—when a knock came at the door.
Sasha turned, saw Darius standing with Julia, and her pulse skipped. He stood there in jeans, a black turtleneck, and a fleece-lined denim jacket, a small laptop in hand.
“I’ve got it.” Nicole was on her feet in a heartbeat, an excited Mocha on her heels as she walked to the door. “Hello, Detective Silva. Come on in.”
“I’m here, too,” Julia said.
Sasha waved. “Hi, Julia.”
Darius stomped the snow off his boots and stepped inside, bending to pet the puppy. “Sorry to interrupt your lunch.”
“No problem,” Nicole and Lexi said almost in unison, their transparent enthusiasm somehow amusing and irritating at the same time.
“Ms. Dillon, I was hoping you might have a moment to look at some footage.” He held up the laptop.
“Of course.” Sasha motioned to him and Julia to join them. “Have you had lunch yet?”
“No, but we can’t stay.”
Whether Darius saw through this overly friendly welcome, Sasha couldn’t say, but Megs was fighting to keep a smile off her face.
Lexi dabbed her lips with a napkin. “We were just talking about you, Detective.”
“Oh?” Julia looked interested. “Do tell.”
Nicole explained, while Sasha tried not to look worried about what her friends might say next. “Rose said you must be done with the case because you’d checked out of the Inn and left town.”
Darius seemed confused. “Well, I’m right here and still working on the case.”
Sasha felt her friends watching her and had to fight not to let her emotions show—except, of course, she was no good at pretending.
She changed the subject. “What did you need to show me?”
Darius sat beside Sasha and set the laptop on the table, but he didn’t open it. His gaze met Sasha’s, his gray eyes soft with concern. “This is footage of the SUV that hit you. Are you sure you’ll be okay seeing it?”
Sasha nodded. “Thanks for asking.”
He opened the laptop, turned it toward her. “We recognize the man in the passenger seat, the one who flipped you off, but not the driver. I was hoping you might be able to tell us who it is.”
Then he clicked play, Megs, Lexi, and Nicole crowding around behind Sasha.
Sasha saw herself, riding through the roundabout. And there was the SUV, sitting on the side of the road across from the gas station. It waited until she’d ridden out of sight, then pulled into the street and followed her.
Chills skittered down her spine. “They were waiting for me.”
“Lying in wait is more like it,” Julia interjected.
Darius enlarged the image and slowed the playback. “Watch here. Do you recognize the driver? We’ve put out a BOLO and sent the image out to the CBI and FBI databases, but I thought maybe you’d know him.”
Sasha studied the man’s face. He had dark hair and a goatee, his eyes hidden behind sunglasses. “I’m sorry. I don’t. Do any of you know who he is?”
Megs, Lexi, and Nicole shook their heads.
Sasha pointed to the screen. “Who’s the other man?”
“That’s Kyle Watts, Riggs’ buddy. We put out a warrant for their arrest twenty minutes ago.”
Darius stood,service weapon drawn, waiting for a signal from Boulder’s SWAT captain that the property was surrounded.
