"Hawk. It's me. Don't shoot your damn sheriff."
The air leaves me in a rush that makes my ribs complain.
I hear Hawk's boots cross to the door. Hear him open it. Hear a low exchange I can't quite catch, and then footsteps coming toward the bedroom.
"Delilah. It's Parker. Come out."
I come out the way I went in. Slower. Using the dresser, the doorframe, the wall. My ankle screams once when I put weight on it wrong and I grit my teeth through it.
The sheriff is a square man in his fifties with a graying mustache and kind eyes. He's got his hat in his hand. He gives me a nod that doesn't take inventory of my legs in the too-big Henley, which I appreciate.
"Ma'am. Sorry for the scare. I'd have called ahead but I wanted ears on what I brought with me before it went out over any radio."
Hawk is right at my elbow. Not touching. Close enough that I know he would if I started to go down.
I look up at him. "I'm okay."
"Sit."
I sit. On the couch this time. He brings the ottoman over and lifts my ankle onto it without asking, settles the quilt back across my lap, and only then turns his attention to Parker.
Parker holds up a manila folder.
"State AG moved faster than I expected. They've had eyes on Crestview's parent LLC for eight months. You handed them a live wire, Ms. Reyes. Your assay data matched anomalies they were already chasing. They needed ground truth. You gave it."
I let out a breath. "What is it. The site."
"Money laundering front. Some arms on the edges. Your prefab structure on the west side is a processing setup they haven't used yet, but they were close. What you saw tracking you is a private security contractor on retainer to the parentcompany. Not a mine guard. Not a field hand. He's on a federal watch list."
Hawk's jaw does something.
I don't look at him.
"What do you need from me."
"Sworn statement. Digital copies of your data to a secured server the AG's office will provide. Testimony down the line. They'll want you in protective custody once it moves."
"How long before it moves."
"Five days. Seven. They want the raid timed."
"And until then?"
Parker looks at Hawk. Hawk doesn't look back. Just waits.
"Until then," Parker says, "you stay exactly where you are. Nobody knows Hawk pulled you off that slope. Nobody's going to know. If they come looking anywhere, they'll look at the hospital in town, at the trailhead, at anyplace a hurt woman might surface. They won't look here."
"And the contractor?"
"He went back down the mountain this morning. Got on a plane out of Reno. That doesn't mean he's gone. It means whoever hired him is regrouping. You keep your head down."
"I can do that."
"Good." He turns to Hawk. "You keep her that way."
"Counting on it."
"I brought a bag. Clothes. Toiletries. A laptop set up with the AG's secure channel. You'll transfer the data tonight if you can. The password lives in your head, and it stays in your head."
