Bonaparte's Belle: A SEALs of Honor World Novel (Heroes for Hire Book 24), Dale Mayer [read an ebook week .TXT] 📗

“And much higher perhaps,” he said.

“I know.” She pulled out her phone and, as soon as Levi answered, she explained what had just happened.

“Give me a little time, and I’ll get back to you,” he said, and he hung up.

Chapter 11

Angela looked over at Bonaparte. “What would we do without guys like Levi?”

“Wander around in the dark,” he said quietly. “We need people doing what he does. It’s really necessary and nice to have somebody who’s unbiased helping out. Plus he and Ice have some of the best people, who are all fast and expert at what they do.”

She nodded, waiting for Levi to call, then noted Bonaparte doing something on the laptop. “What are you doing?” she asked.

“Checking to see just what information is here,” he said.

“A whole server is here,” she murmured, looking over his shoulder.

He nodded. “But we don’t want Denver or even the FBI to have everything without a backup.”

She frowned at that. “What should we do then?”

“Well, I have a thumb drive on my key chain,” he said. “It’s a USB, so we can transfer a bunch of information, if need be. I’m just studying this to make sure we actually have something solid.”

“Now I feel useless,” she said, looking around.

“There’s another laptop,” he said and pointed to the one he had put on a stack.

She immediately popped it open, turned it on, and said, “The email program is open.”

“Good,” he said. “You might want to start taking some photos. Get his various email addresses that we can then search through for anything we might need, plus hopefully some log-ins.”

She laughed. “Ronnie, the idiot, has a file called Passwords.”

Bonaparte looked up. “Really?”

Nodding, she opened it up and started taking photos.

“What we really need to know is what’s going on with this property development angle,” he said. “And anything they may have done in the meantime.”

While working on that, she shifted the laptop, since the stack it rested on was a little precarious. She pulled a notebook out from underneath it, and, flipping through it, realized it was mostly empty. Then she turned it around because it was one of those that had a front cover on either side. She stopped, checking out both covers, front and back, then went through the first few pages from each side. She was stunned to see the information and note-taking written there.

Remove deputies.

Sheriff cooperates or take her out.

As she mumbled the words, he looked up, distracted. “What are you reading?” he asked. She held out the notebook. “Looks like somebody’s doodles,” he said, studying the page. “But not doodles we particularly like to see.”

“Yeah, especially not the part about taking out the sheriff,” she said, shaking her head.

“No, but that’s not a shock either,” he said. “It’s nothing more than we’ve already seen signs of, right?”

“I know,” she said. Her phone rang at that moment. She looked at it, smiled, and said, “Hey, Levi. What’s up?”

“I’m sending two men from Denver your way.”

“Okay,” she said, “but why?”

“Because I trust them,” he said.

“Well, I’m happy to hear that,” she said. “I presume that means you’re not trusting anybody else?”

“I pulled the governor’s ear,” Levi said. “We have to get to the bottom of this, and we can’t trust anybody at the moment.”

“Good enough,” she said. “So how will I know who they are?”

“Do you remember Stone?”

“Are you kidding? How could I not remember Stone?” she said, laughing. “He’s very memorable.”

“He is, indeed. And he happens to be in Denver.”

“Oh, yay,” she said, turning to look at Bonaparte, who now straightened up and stared at her in surprise. “Is he coming with them?”

“He is, and he’s also one of our best hackers.”

“Yes, I’ve heard about his skills,” she said. “I’m actually quite delighted. How far out are they?”

“With any luck the good guys will be there in ten minutes.”

“Is that before or after the forensic team from Denver gets here?”

“I’m not sure, but Stone and his men take priority,” he said. “You hand off nothing until he gets there.”

“Well, if there’ll be a fight,” she said, “I need some legal leg to stand on.”

“Stone has it with him. It’s coming directly from the governor.”

“Good enough,” she said, then hung up the phone. She looked at Bonaparte. “Well, this will be interesting.”

“Hey, we couldn’t ask for a better person in our back pocket than Stone. Both for hacking and for a scuffle.”

“Oh, I agree,” she said. “It’ll just be a matter of who gets here first.”

“Doesn’t matter who gets here first,” he said. “Nothing leaves without Stone.”

She looked at the laptop in his hands. “Did you find anything?”

“All kinds of shit,” he said. “Ronnie’s got folders in here, with access to a lot of details on business dealings.”

“Well, if we do end up in trouble,” she said, “and have to hand everything over, I suggest we keep that one back, out of everybody’s possession, unless you can get it all saved to that thumb drive before those Denver people arrive.”

He looked at it, with a slow dawning smile. “I like the way you think.”

“I just want to make sure,” she said, “that the brothers don’t get away scot-free.”

“Nope, that’s not happening.” Just then they heard a vehicle.

She looked over at him, sighed, and said, “What do you want to bet we’ll have an entirely different fight on our hands right now?”

He immediately closed the lid and placed the laptop on the bed, and said, “Come on.” She headed downstairs with him at her side.

When they got to the front door, she stepped out and froze.

*

Bonaparte joined Angela and took a look at the two forensic vans, clearly marked Denver County, Colorado, that had just pulled up with a team of six. Bonaparte looked at them, crossed his arms over his chest, and said, “Where’s your authorization?”

The team looked at him in surprise, then at her. “Sheriff Angela Zimmerman?”

She nodded. “Yes,