Tracks of Her Tears by Melinda Leigh Page B

that night and told him he had to pay me five thousand dollars or I was taking the video to the cops.” He looked pained. “Except instead of paying me, he beat the hell out of me.” Travis lifted his hand with the broken finger. “He used a hammer on my hand and made me tell him where I hid the flash drive.”
    Seth knew the answer before he had the question out. “What night was this?”
    “Tuesday,” Travis said.
    The night Amber Lynn had been killed. Bob must have followed Amber Lynn and Bruce from the bar. Did he ram their van with his vehicle, then snatch Amber?
    “Later that night Bob calls,” Travis continued. “He said the flash drive wasn’t in Amber Lynn’s purse and I’d better get it or he was going to use that hammer on the rest of me.”
    “Did Bob say he killed Amber Lynn?” Seth asked.
    Travis shook his head. “Not exactly. But he said she didn’t have the flash drive and it wasn’t in her purse or at her apartment. I figured . . .” His voice trailed off and he looked away.
    “So you got her killed,” Seth said. Amber Lynn had died because of Travis’s sheer stupidity. Bob must have followed the van, run it off the road, and taken her. The passenger side of the vehicle hadn’t been as heavily damaged. She could have climbed out of the vehicle to go for help.
    “Yeah.” Travis almost looked guilty, but his gaze turned thoughtful. “It took me a while to figure out what happened. When I was at her apartment, I must have put the flash drive in the diaper bag instead of the purse. They were both black and sitting next to each other on the floor. I guess I wasn’t paying close enough attention.”
    “Did you break into our house, Travis?”
    He nodded. “I was looking for the diaper bag or I thought maybe someone took the drive out and hid it somewhere else. But I didn’t find it.”
    “Where did you get the dirt bike?”
    “I stole it,” Travis admitted.
    Seth’s blood chilled. Debra had taken the kids to her house. If she hadn’t, gun-waving Travis would have shown up when she was alone in the house with four kids.
    Stevie arrived, then another Solitude cop, and a single county deputy who happened to be driving through town.
    Leaving Travis in Zane’s charge, Seth ran to the Jeep. Carly was sitting on the ground with both kids in her arms. Seth lifted Brianna and held her close.
    He kissed her head. “Are you all right?”
    Brianna nodded, sniffling. “I just wanted to see Santa.”
    “I know, sweetie. I know.” Seth hugged her close. “You were a brave girl today.”
    “I don’t want to be brave anymore, Daddy.” Brianna curled against him.
    “I don’t blame you, baby. Not one bit.” He set her back down on Carly’s lap. “I have to go catch one more bad guy, okay?”
    “You get him, Daddy.” Brianna rested her head on Carly’s shoulder. “Then I won’t have to be scared anymore.”
    Seth would stop Bob no matter what he had to do.
    The ambulance arrived and Travis was loaded in. Seth asked the deputy to follow the ambulance and stay at the hospital with Travis. Then Seth took the diaper bag from Carly’s Jeep and searched it. In an interior zippered compartment, he found a silver flash drive.
    Bingo.
    Seth went to his police vehicle and popped the USB drive into his laptop. Zane joined him at the open car door. They watched the screen. Taken at night without much light, the ninety-second video was grainy. Bob Fletcher carried a body out the back door of the bar. As he turned, Seth could see the body was female and slim. Long hair hung down past Bob’s hip. He loaded her into the rear of his SUV, tossed a blanket over her body, and closed the hatch. Brushing his palms, Bob got into the driver’s seat and drove away.
    “Any local girls reported missing in the past couple of days?” Seth asked.
    Zane shook his head. “No.”
    “We need to get Bob Fletcher.”
    “Let’s go.” Zane started toward his car.
    Leaving Stevie with Carly and the kids,