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Derek opened a desk drawer and pulled out an envelope. He slid it across the desk to Kira. She opened it, pulled out a note card, and read it aloud.
“‘Derek—I know we didn’t always see eye to eye, but if something happens to me, you need to continue my work. These rabbits are the key.’”
Kira couldn’t hide her interest in the note but tried to focus on Derek. Questions flooded her mind. What work was Fenton Young doing besides being the town historian? And what did he mean that the rabbits were the key?
Did Derek have a sentimental bone in his body? He’d kept the note but gotten rid of the one thing his father meant for him to have.
Derek took a sip from his cola can. “The Young men were hoarders through and through, and I wanted none of it. Plus, my father was incredibly eccentric. My place is too small to store all the boxes my dad had crammed in his house. But I assumed my estate company was appraising everything before they sold it.”
A bell dinged and Derek stood. “I’ve got a customer picking up a car now. But good luck with everything. Wish I could help you more.”
He escorted them through the garage toward the exit. Their time was almost up, but Kira had one more question. “If you don’t mind me asking a personal question, how did your father die?”
Derek stopped and turned. “It’s common knowledge.” He gestured to the car on the lift. “He took a curve too fast coming down the mountain in the rain and wrapped his car around a tree.”
“Where was he headed?” Bryce asked.
“I’m not really sure. It happened in the evening. He might have even been coming to see me for all I know, but I hadn’t heard from him in months. If only he’d told me the value of those statues.” The man blinked, as if to hold back tears. Whether he was distraught about his father’s passing or losing out on a secret fortune, the man had a right to grieve both.
They thanked Derek for his time and headed outside, where Kira gulped a deep breath of fresh air. “That office smelled like cigarettes and those Christmas tree air fresheners.”
“That’s an accurate description. But at least it was a productive trip,” Bryce said, pulling the keys out of his pocket.
“Where to next?” Kira jumped into the passenger’s seat and pulled out her phone to check out the GPS map.
Bryce sat for a moment drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. “Since we’re here, why don’t we check out a few of the antique shops around the area? See what the local gossip is about the three statues and who’s been asking for them.”
Kira researched several of the antique shops within a thirty-mile radius. “There’s one a few towns over called Copper Creek Collectibles. Let’s start there. If the Russians are searching the area, they may have already found the other two rabbits.”
Bryce navigated onto the main street that cut through town. His eyes shifted from the road to his rearview mirror. Kira caught him looking and craned her neck to see out the back.
“That pickup truck pulled out behind us when we left the auto body shop,” Bryce said. “And I just made two turns. The truck hung back, but I think it’s following us.”
“I see it.”
The drive out of town morphed into a two-lane mountain passage, with winding curves and narrow shoulders. The truck kept its distance but continued on the same path.
“We’re one hundred percent being followed, Bryce.”
A sign with a white arrow pointed toward Copper Creek, and Bryce took the turn to head down the mountain they’d just crested. “I’m going to shake him off.” Trees lined both sides of the road. “Hold on.” Bryce swung the SUV around and turned onto a narrow dirt path that Kira hadn’t noticed.
She chewed her lip.
Who knew they were coming to see Derek? Had they been followed from DC? She frowned and discarded that idea. They’d been watching too close to have missed that. She braced herself as the car rocked from potholes and placed her hand over the butt of her weapon.
Bryce made a three-point turn so the car was facing the road but was hidden under the wild canopy of trees and shrubs on an overgrown plot of land.
“I can tell you grew up in this area,” she said. “You’ve got some great navigational skills.”
He shot her a small smile. “This is probably someone’s driveway or an abandoned lot, but it should give us enough distance off the road to let this guy pass.”
From her position under the overgrown vegetation, Kira could make out a fence, and behind them she could see the roof of a forgotten structure.
The sound of an engine reached her, then the truck rumbled by their hidden car. It was going slow—searching?—but didn’t stop.
Kira tried to take a picture of the passing license plate, but the foliage blocked her view. “Do you think Alex or maybe even Ivan sent someone to trail us?”
“I’m not sure. I feel like it may be a local. I didn’t see that truck until we left Young’s repair shop. Maybe someone was watching his place and didn’t like us coming to town and asking questions?”
