“Okay. But I’m telling you I don’t think that package is on there.”
“Then we confirm it.”
Five minutes later they had their confirmation. No package.
Lan looked worried as he surveyed the room. “I never saw anything like that.”
“Dog might’ve eaten it,” said Cole, drawing a long look from Puller. “I guess I could have the vet check or do an X-ray.”
“It’s paper, it probably wouldn’t show up, or else the mutt’s already digested it and pooped it out,” replied Puller.
Cole’s phone buzzed. She saw the caller ID and looked surprised.
“Who is it?” asked Puller.
“Roger Trent.”
“Your mining mogul.”
The phone continued to ring.
“Aren’t you going to answer it?” said Puller.
“Yeah, I guess I am.”
She opened the phone. “Hello?”
She listened, tried to say something, and then listened some more. “That’ll be fine,” she finally said. “See you then.”
She closed the phone.
“Well?” asked Puller.
“Roger Trent wants to see me. At his house.”
“Why?”
“He says he’s been receiving death threats.”
“You better get going.”
“Why don’t you come with me?”
“Why? You want some backup on this?”
“Couldn’t hurt. And I can tell you’re curious about the man. This way you get to see him up close and personal.”
“Let’s go.”
CHAPTER
30
COLE AND PULLER drove to Trent’s home in her cruiser.
She said, “I’m taking a shortcut. Cuts off a chunk of time but it’s bumpy.” She hung a hard right and swung onto a narrow road full of potholes.
It looked familiar to Puller. He gazed around and then saw why this was so.
“What the hell is that thing?” He pointed at the towering concrete dome over and around which trees, vines, and bushes had grown. He’d seen it on his way in here the first night, when he’d gotten lost.
“Folks around here call it the Bunker.”
“Okay, but what is it?”
“Used to be some sort of government facility. It was closed up long before I was even born.”
“But certainly the older folks in town know what it was. Some of them had to work there.”
Cole shook her head. “Nope. No one from Drake ever did work there, at least not that I know of.”
“I know the government is a financial black hole, but even D.C. won’t put up a facility like that and not even use it.”
“Oh, they used it.”
Puller turned to see her gazing at him. She had slowed the car to a crawl while she too watched the children.
“No,” he replied. “Never married.”
“When I was a little girl only thing I wanted to be was a mom.”
“So what happened?”
She hit the accelerator. “Life. Life happened.”