Page 16 of In the Shadows
The afternoon light slanted through the window behind her, catching the dust motes floating in the air.
"If I help you," she said finally, "I want something in return."
"Name it."
"The truth. When this is over, I want to know what really happened. To my father. To this town. All of it."
It wasn't a promise he could make. Classified operations stayed classified, and the details of what Shadow Ops uncovered would never appear in any public record. But she'd asked for the truth, and the truth was that he wanted to give her answers. More than he should.
"I'll tell you what I can. When I can."
"That's not a yes."
"It's the best I can offer."
She studied him for another long moment. Then she nodded, once, and began gathering the papers back into the file.
"I need copies of everything," he said.
"I figured." She pulled a flash drive from her desk drawer and set it on top of the folder. "It's all on here. Everything I've found. Everything my father found."
"You made a backup before you even showed me."
"I told you. I've been doing this for two years." A ghost of a smile crossed her face. "I'm careful."
He took the flash drive and slipped it into his pocket. "We should establish protocols. How to communicate, when to meet, what to do if something goes wrong."
"You really are a spy."
"I really am careful, too."
He didn't go back to the cottage right away.
Instead, Ronan walked. Down Main Street, past the shops and restaurants that were starting to fill with the dinner crowd. Past the park where the bandstand sat waiting for the centennial concert. Past the church with its white steeple and the library with its new wing funded by Warren Caldwell's charitable foundation.
The town felt different now. The picture-perfect streets, the friendly waves from people he passed, the carefully maintained storefronts—all of it looked the same as it had this morning. But he was seeing the shadows underneath.
His phone buzzed. Caleb.
Update requested. Status?
Ronan ducked into the alley between the antique shop and the ice cream parlor. Typed his response.
Asset acquired. Local source with independent research. Confirms land fraud pattern. Possible connection to death of county surveyor five years ago.
Three dots appeared. Disappeared. Appeared again.
Surveyor name?
Bennett. Daniel Bennett.
A pause. Longer this time.
Cross-referencing. Stand by.
Ronan leaned against the brick wall and waited. A couple walked past the alley entrance, too absorbed in each other to notice him. Down the street, someone laughed. Normal sounds of a normal town on a normal evening.
His phone buzzed again.
