“We’ll need something more to go on,” Cody told Callahan. “Don’t get me wrong—I believe everything happened just as you said. But with Tressler dead, we don’t even have a starting point.”
A thought occurred to Keira, but before she could voice it, Callahan said, “I know. But like I said, I’m too tired to think straight right now.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Maybe my brain will function better after I’ve had a couple hours of sleep.”
* * *
While Ryan Callahan slept, Cody called the agency and got the contact information for the backup team in Buffalo. He called the head of that team and arranged for the pickup on Steve Tressler’s body, along with everything else. Then Keira and Cody unpacked, sorted and stacked in neat piles the assets they’d brought with them.
Cody smiled ruefully when they were done. “Doesn’t look like much to take down an army.”
Keira’s eyes met his. “I thought we were here to investigate,” she said quietly. “Not wage war.”
“True. But you weren’t around six years ago, so you don’t know how quickly things can heat up with the New World Militia.” He drew a deep breath and let it out slowly, tiredness tugging at him. He needed sleep, too. Maybe not as much as Callahan, but... “I wonder who else’s name was on that hit list.”
“Could yours be on it?”
“If the list has anything to do with what Callahan calls ancient history, it’s likely. I was working undercover in the militia, too....” He thought back. “Must be almost ten years ago when I started.”
He smiled slightly. “Unfortunately, my name wouldn’t mean anything to Tressler—he’s not a local. I knew everyone around here when I was the sheriff, and the name Tressler doesn’t ring a bell, which means he had to have moved here after I left. So even if he saw my name on the list...”
There was an expression on Keira’s face Cody couldn’t read. “Do you think whoever was following you in Denver...”
“Was there to kill me?” he finished for her. “The thought had crossed my mind. But it’s pure speculation at this point.” He made a face of frustration. “I wish we knew what that key is for. I wish we knew what Tressler meant.”
“I wish he were still alive to tell us,” Keira said softly, turning her face away momentarily, as if to hide her expression from him.
Cody realized she wasn’t just regretting Tressler’s death from an investigation perspective; she was thinking about the loss of a human life, the same way Callahan had, and a small pang shot through him that he hadn’t. It was easy to tell himself he didn’t know Tressler, and therefore his death didn’t affect him except in a professional capacity, but still...
“What’s our next step?” Keira asked
“I hate to say it after we’ve come all this way, but I don’t see anything much we can accomplish here. We need information we’re not going to get, stuck in my cabin—I don’t even have a phone here, much less internet access. And cell-phone coverage can be spotty at times.”
“What about Callahan? We can’t just leave him unprotected.” And Cody knew she wasn’t just thinking about him as a potential witness; Keira was remembering her promise to Mandy.
“When McKinnon gets back, he can shadow Callahan. I want you to focus on the investigation side.”
She opened her mouth—to protest, Cody was sure, so he added, “McKinnon told me on the drive up you’ve got a knack for figuring things out, putting puzzle pieces together to solve a case. That’s all we’ve got right now—a few scattered pieces of the puzzle that don’t seem to make sense. I need you to concentrate on that.”
“Okay.” She was silent for a moment. “In D’Arcy’s office you said the New World Militia was destroyed six years ago. What did you mean? What can you tell me about it?”
He considered what to tell her, what might be important for her to know. “You know who David Pennington was, right?” She nodded. “Callahan and I took Pennington down the hard way, together.” He didn’t have to draw her a picture. “Pennington kept most of the real power in the organization in his own hands, so without him to run it, the militia fell apart.”