The Family Gathering (Sullivan's Crossing #3)(84)

“You don’t have to be in a hurry,” she said. “I hear snowplowing is fun.”

“What really happened, Sid? Was it just your lousy husband?”

“It was mostly him,” she insisted. “I think I’d been working way too hard, playing and relaxing way too little. I was too alone. It happens to people like me, you know? I was working in a university. I watched brilliant professors go off the rails. When the work is meaningful, it can get intense. When it gets too intense...”

“How do you keep that from happening?” he asked.

“I have some ideas. Coming to Colorado to be with family gave me balance. Working in Rob’s bar gave me people. Then there’s you.” She leaned over and kissed him. “Now that I’ve been with you, I have a new perspective. A jackass like David could never catch me now.”

“Good to know,” he said.

“Cody, if I’m going to go to LA, I want to go now. I feel bad about abandoning you before Neely is rounded up and stopped, but you have your family to shore you up. And I’d only get in the way. Now that she knows we’re together, she’s getting more destructive. I’m going to fade out for a week or two...”

He laughed sarcastically. “It was a few days. Now it’s a week or two.”

“I’ll talk to you. Let’s see how long it takes Stan to do something about Neely.”

“I don’t want you to go,” he said. “I also don’t want you to be anywhere near her.”

“You went to Australia and walked for a month,” she said. “That was your way of letting go of the past. What I’m doing shouldn’t panic you. For me, this is like a good workout.”

He shook his head. “You are such a beautiful nerd.”

“It’ll go by fast.”

“When do you think you’ll leave?” he asked.

“I’m going home to look up flights,” she said. “The sooner I go, the sooner I’m back.”

“I just want to be sure you’re safe,” he said.

She laughed. “There’s so much security in and around that computer lab, it’s almost ridiculous.”

“Where will you stay?” he asked.

“I’m not sure,” she said. “I’ll email Dr. Faraday’s assistant and ask her to set up something. Could be anything from a hotel to guest housing. It’ll be perfectly safe and comfortable.”

“If you want me to go with you—”

“God, you’d be bored out of your mind! You couldn’t get clearance into the lab and I’m sure I’ll be putting in long hours. No. Let me do this. It’s not as scary as you think. I’ll be back.”

“Convince me,” he said, reaching for her. “Kiss me like I have nothing to worry about.”

“My pleasure,” she said.

*

Sid was able to arrange a flight out on Monday and Dakota drove her the two hours to Denver to catch her flight. Then she generously loaned him the use of her car since his was going to be in the shop for quite a while. He had barely arrived back in Timberlake when his phone rang and he saw it was Stan.

“What’s up, Chief?” he asked.

“I wondered if you had time to stop by the office before close of business. I just want to give you a heads-up.”

“Can’t you just tell me on the phone?” Dakota asked.

“I can’t, sorry. You need to see something.”

“I’ll be right there,” he said. “The sooner we get this over with, the better.”

Dakota walked into the small, storefront police station to find Stan and Officer Cantor grinning as they looked at the computer screen. “Just so you’re ready, Dakota, tomorrow at midnight, this goes out on social media.”

There was the surveillance video of Neely pouring acid on his car, coupled with a sliver of the video from the alley. Her face was much more recognizable in the dark alley video when it was put together with the better, more clear camera video from Dakota’s cabin. “So?”

“We’ve formed a nice little collective of small towns in the area, including Vail and Aurora, who will launch this public service announcement, looking for this woman.”

Dakota was not impressed. “What good is that going to do?”

“You on Facebook or Twitter, Dakota?”

“I have a Facebook page but I never look at it. I keep up with people, though. Just not that way.”

“You are behind the times,” Stan said.

“Like over twelve years,” Paul Cantor said. “I thought military men used it all the time.”

“I guess most of them do,” he said. “So, what do you expect to happen?”

“Honestly? We expect to bring her in, that’s what. Her friends and neighbors are going to recognize her, share it. She might see it herself. Most police departments have active social media connections helping them alert the public about important issues, encourage people to call in suspicious criminal activity, keep the dialogue open. All the TV stations have social media—they want their audience to talk to them. A lot of them will pick up this request to identify this woman. It will probably make the news.”

“But we know who she is!” Dakota said.