Holding Back

by kmac9

Will Walt and Vic continue to hold back, or finally go after what they want?

15. Chapter 15

Thanks for your patience! I had to take a longer than expected break from all things fanfiction, but I'm finally back…with an extra-long chapter.

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Looking up and out the windshield, Vic's gaze settled on the few clouds hovering just above the horizon, their whiteness in sharp contrast to the vivid blue that painted the rest of the canvas before them. Traffic was light, even for this stretch of the world, and it made the sky a dominating feature of the road ahead.

She returned to staring at the book in her lap like she was attempting to absorb everything her notes were trying to tell her. Her focus, to an outside observer, or in this instance, Walt, might seem one hundred percent aimed on their case. But the reality was that her attention was in two places at the moment, and their investigation was in second place. By far.

They had been sitting in silence since the initial flurry of activity. As they'd pulled away from campus, she'd ranted further about how the boys, and their secrets, had made things frustratingly difficult for them. She'd called Branch when they'd merged onto I-90 to let him know they were on their way back and to ask him to locate Dylan and bring him in. Then she'd called Tom Haskill to give him an update, leaving a message summarizing what had happened and asking him to call them. When she'd slipped her phone back into her pocket, she'd turned to find Walt staring at the road, looking lost in his own thoughts, and leaving her to marinate in hers.

And so she had.

He had said 'relationship.' Or maybe Cady had said it to him during their conversation in her Jeep, but he had repeated it. He hadn't really responded when Vic had repeated it as a question back to him, and now she found herself dwelling on what that meant.

His silence in his kitchen this morning could mean so many things. But she shouldn't be surprised by it. She had been doing it too. Holding back. It's what they both had always done.

Earlier, as they'd walked across campus toward the dorm, she had hinted at the fact that she'd stayed in Wyoming because of him. Or that he was a big part of it. But, she hadn't been able to come right out and say it because she didn't know where things fully stood between them. He had his concerns about their being together and she didn't want to scare him off.

But it wasn't just that she didn't want to lay things out there before he was ready. She didn't want to open herself up too much and leave herself exposed.

Deciding to take a peek in his direction, Vic shifted her eyes, trying to keep her head as still as possible. For a second she was able to watch him unnoticed, taking in the set of his jaw, and the steadiness of his gaze on the road ahead. But her attempt at subtlety must have failed, because he turned his head and caught her staring before she had time to go back to feigning absorption in her case notes.

His eyes narrowed slightly. "What's up?"

"Um...I was...uh..." She felt her stomach muscles tense. "I was just wondering why Tyler would take Jessica's dog." Did Walt buy that she'd been pondering that aspect of the investigation when she'd glanced his way?

His gaze stayed on her a fraction longer before returning to the road. "Maybe he hates dogs."

She shook her head slightly trying to focus her thoughts back on the case. "If you hate dogs, you yell at one, or kick the shit out of one, or hit one with your car and keep driving. You don't pick one up, and cart it around. That would require you to take care of it. Which is kind of the opposite of something you'd do if you hated dogs. Unless..." She turned toward him. "Did it look like Tyler had beaten or starved him?"

Again his eyes settled on her for a pause before he spoke. Intensely blue in the afternoon sun. Like a piece of the sky. He could probably see right through her. "Nope." She felt heat rise to her cheeks under his gaze, and she looked away. He had to know she'd hadn't really been thinking about the case when he'd caught her looking at him. He turned his attention back to the road. "But it was only the day after he took the dog."

She pursed her lips. Focus. She could do it. "Plus, if you hate dogs, you take it out on the neighbor's dog who's barking too loud. You don't drive seven hours round trip to pick one up." Dropping her chin, she pulled the picture of Jessica, Kelsey and Bear out of the file folder. "So, does that mean Tyler hates Jessica?"

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Walt take the steering wheel with his left hand. "I didn't get a sense that he does."

She could feel his gaze on her even though she was doing her best not to look at him. "Me either. No one even hinted at it. Including Jessica." She looked up from the picture but evaded his eyes, taking in the road sign that came into view and then disappeared behind them, listing the number of miles to Sheridan, Gillette and Rapid City. "So he doesn't hate dogs, and he doesn't hate Jessica. So why take Bear?"

"Maybe he trained the dog to be an accessory."

It took a moment for his response to sink in, and she turned toward him, her eyebrow arched in surprise at the unexpected humor. Greeted by a half-smile, she couldn't hold back a grin of her own. "Bear doesn't quite match the description that the victims gave us."

He shrugged. "We haven't seen the dog dressed in black and wearing a mask, so maybe we shouldn't dismiss him as a possibility yet."

With a laugh, she picked up her pen. "I'll add him to the list of suspects. Maybe we should put him in a line up."

His eyes crinkled as he held her gaze, and she felt something loosen in her gut. Shifting slightly, she twirled the pen between her fingers. She thought about the wall she'd put up between them over the past couple years. And the one he'd put up. And the effort they'd both put in keeping their walls in place. She had needed her wall. Then. But now. Now, even though he was no longer off limits, remnants of their walls were still there. Holding them back.

Could she let herself be vulnerable?

Could she let him more fully in?

As his eyes held hers she tried to read in their depths whether he felt the same way, and was wondering the same thing. Whether he would be willing to put himself out there if she would be willing to do the same.

"Walt...I…uh...I..."

Her phone rang, and she jumped slightly, the pen slipping from her hand to the floor at her feet. Walt's gaze stayed on her as she fumbled to pull the phone from her pocket and bring it to her ear.

"Hey, Tom."

"You two still driving back to Durant?"

"Yep. I'm going to put you on speakerphone so Walt can hear."

She held the phone over the console between them. "We've got Branch out looking for Dylan Matthews and are headed back to the office to talk to him."

"You think Dylan's involved?" Tom's voice filled the air between them.

She lifted her gaze and found Walt looking out the windshield. "We're not sure. It could explain why the robbery of the hardware store was so different than the others, but the video from the store's camera shows Dylan in the store Monday morning while the robberies were going on."

"And Tyler? Have you been able to track him down?"

"No. Walt and I talked to a couple of the friends Tyler hung out with on Friday and Saturday, but he went off on his own this morning and no one knows where he is."

"In your message, you mentioned something about the dog."

"The dog Tyler had with him in Durant on Monday most likely belongs to Jessica Suarez."

"Tyler's girlfriend?"

"She's just a friend, not his girlfriend. He took the dog from her parents' place on Sunday without her knowing."

"Why'd he take the dog?"

She smiled. "We were just discussing that very question."

"Hardship." Walt's voice came out quietly, almost as if he was talking to himself.

Her brow furrowed as she looked over at him. "What?"

He rubbed his neck near the collar of his shirt as he glanced over at her. "I was thinking about reasons why people take what's not theirs. Hardship is one of them."

"I don't think Tyler has much money, but stealing a dog doesn't seem to be the answer to financial problems, or a get rich scheme."

"Unless you are in the dog trade business. Or maybe dog fighting."

"Do you think he'd be able to completely hide his involvement in something like that? No one has even suggested the possibility, and all of them seemed surprised he had a dog with him. Plus, he had the dog out in full view while he was in Durant." She paused. "Hey, Tom. Have there been a significant number of missing dogs reported in your county?"

"No more than usual."

Walt ran his hand along his jaw. "People steal for the thrill of it."

Glancing back at him, she nodded. "Everyone has been saying that he likes challenges. But...I don't know. Stealing a dog..."

"People steal because they believe that the item is rightfully theirs."

Vic paused. "Rich did mention that Tyler had a dog that died."

"Maybe Tyler got it into his head that Bear was the replacement."

She looked over at him. "Possibly. But Jessica said that she'd only had her dog around him once. That's pretty quick for Tyler to get attached."

His fingers now moved to scratch the area behind his ear, his eyes staying on hers. "She may have talked about the dog a lot, and with all her pictures of Bear...maybe Tyler began fixating on it, and then when she brought her dog camping a few weeks ago..."

Vic's lips twisted as she considered the possibility. "Maybe."

Dropping his hand and placing it on the steering wheel, he returned his focus to the road. "People also steal out of revenge."

"If that's the case, what has him so pissed with Jessica?"

He tapped his fingers against the wheel. "Jessica didn't share any incident that occurred, but she did say Tyler acted distant toward her this summer."

She nodded. "And she mentioned his strange behavior when he stopped by her dorm room two weeks back."

She lifted her right hand to count on her fingers. "So our options are that Tyler has an illegal dog trade business going. That he gets his kicks from stealing others' pets. That he's still obsessed with the loss of his childhood dog and took Bear to fill the void. Or he kidnapped the dog in retaliation for someone wronging him."

"And don't forgot my accomplice theory."

She laughed, rolling her eyes. "Forgot about that one. Oh...but wait. The dog has an alibi for the Saturday robberies."

Walt laughed. "Right. Tyler hadn't taken him yet. He was in Montana with Jessica's parents." Warm eyes landed on hers. "And he has the same alibi as Tyler for the Monday robberies, since the two were together that morning."

She grinned. "So we're still looking for someone else as the accomplice."

She suddenly realized she was still holding her phone. "Oh...hey, Tom. Sorry we've been rattling on and on."

Tom laughed. "That's ok. It's entertaining hearing your back and forth. You're not sick of each other after spending so much of the weekend together on the investigation?"

Vic barked out a laugh as she looked at the phone in her hand. "That's why we need to solve this case. So we can get some time off. Walt hides it well, but I'm sure he's looking forward to some alone time."

She looked over at Walt, whose fingers had stilled on the wheel as he glanced quickly over at her.

"I'm kidding," she mouthed.

His gaze returned to the road.

"Well you and Walt both deserve some time off when this case is closed."

She grinned. "I second that."

"Keep me updated on what you learn from the Matthews kid, and let me know if you need any help, or want me to come down to Durant."

"Sure. Keep your fingers crossed we can finally get some insights into what has been going on."

"Will do. Talk to you two later."

"Bye, Tom." She ended the call, lowered her hand, and let the phone slip into the cupholder, watching Walt stare out at the road.

She sat for a moment, trying to read his silence. "It was a joke Walt. I'm not sick of you."

He didn't respond and she decided not to push, and they were both saved by her phone ringing again.

She looked at the screen as she brought the phone to her ear. "Hey, Branch. Find Dylan yet?"

"I headed over to his parents' place after we talked earlier. No one was home, so I tried Dylan's phone, but he didn't answer. I waited and his parents eventually showed up. Dylan wasn't with them, but they said they'd just dropped him off at Durant High, so I'm headed that way now. How far out are you guys?"

"We crossed back into Wyoming a little while ago. We're probably about forty-five minutes away."

"I'll keep you posted, but hopefully I'm back at the office with the kid when you arrive."

"Thanks, Branch."

Walt once again was staring straight ahead as she slipped the phone back in her pocket. She directed her gaze out the windshield.

The clouds in front of them were a little bigger. A little more defined. But still out of reach.

Bending forward, she lowered her hand to the floor and felt around for the pen she had dropped, wondering, as she did so, if the possibility of the walls between them coming completely down was, like the clouds in the distance, something that would just remain on the horizon.

XX

She was positioned in front of their evidence wall with Walt standing, hands on hips, at her side. They'd arrived at the office a little while ago, and had apparently beaten Branch to the station. As it was late Sunday afternoon, the office had been dark and empty when they'd come through the front door, the phones forwarded until Ruby arrived Monday morning.

The silence that had enveloped parts of their return trip still lingered between them. As she began to pace, Walt walked over to the table and picked up a pen, but when he returned to his earlier spot by her side, he made no move to write any of their new findings down.

Frustrated because she couldn't come up with any useful conclusions, she huffed out a breath before glancing over at him. "Other than confirming that Tyler and Dylan know each other and are in the Outdoor Trailhead group together, we don't know much else. We have no proof of their collaboration, and both of them have alibis for three of the four robberies in Durant."

He nodded. "Yep."

"And we have absolutely no clue what their motive is, since we can only loosely connect them to some of the other kids."

She lifted her hand and removed the copy of the 'I owe you' post-it that Branch had found at Ace Hardware, along with the picture they'd printed of the masked individual looking at the video camera before leaving the hardware store. If Tyler had been parked out in front of the Busy Bee during the Ace robbery, and accounted for, and Dylan was in the back of the store, who is this individual? Who took only three roles of tape and left this note, after stealing hundreds, and in one case, thousands, of dollars from the other stores?

With both documents in hand, Vic walked over to the couch, collapsing into the cushions. She closed her eyes for a moment as she tried to make sense of the fragments of information they'd gathered. With a sigh, she opened her eyes, placed both pages to her left and lifted her laptop onto her thighs.

Launching the Ace Hardware recording from Monday, she once again began to review what had been captured by the camera that morning. Absorbed in watching the video, she hadn't noticed that Walt had made his way over to her side of the room until the cushion dipped beside her and he sank into the couch to her right.

She looked up at him, noticing the slightly haggard look on his face. "Tired?"

"Yep."

Tentatively she reached out, placing her hand on his thigh. "We're going to figure this out."

He stared down at her hand, before slipping his fingers on top of hers, his palm warm against her knuckles. "Yep."

She looked down at their joined hands. They couldn't seem to demolish their walls all at once, but maybe, just maybe, they could do it brick by brick.

She noticed a piece of paper in his right hand. "What'ya got there?"

He looked to the hand she was referring to as if he'd forgotten what he was holding. "It's the consolidated timeline of last weekend that we've been building. I'm going to add the new information we've learned talking to Tyler's friends."

He glanced over at her laptop. "What are you working on?"

With her right hand still covered by his left, she ran her other hand over the top of her head and down her ponytail. "I'm re-watching the recording from Ace Hardware to see if anything new jumps out at me now that I'm thinking of Dylan's involvement differently."

She let her head fall back against the cushion, her eyes lifting to the ceiling. "And something about the 'I owe you' note is still bothering me, but I can't put my finger on it."

Walt let his head roll back against the cushion beside her, giving her hand a slight squeeze before closing his eyes. They sat like that for a moment. It felt comfortable and familiar, as if this was their usual way of siting on his office couch together, even though it was far from it.

At the sound of the door in the other room opening and feet on the floor boards, Vic felt Walt tense. A moment passed, and then he released his hold on her hand, launched himself into a standing position and walked behind his desk.

She straightened just before Branch and Dylan Matthews appeared in the doorway. Dylan looked between all three of them, his eyes landing back on Branch, who removed his hat and stepped into the room. "I told Dylan here that you've been talking to all the cashiers from the stores that were robbed."

Walt took a step forward. "I'm Sheriff Longmire. I believe you already know Deputy Moretti."

Dylan briefly glanced over at Vic. "Yes, sir."

Walt gestured to the chairs in front of his desk. "Come in and take a seat."

With a glance around, as if he were trying to read the situation, Dylan pulled one of the two chairs out and sat down.

Walt slowly pulled back his own chair and took a seat. Folding his arms in front of him, he looked across the desk at Dylan, and leaned in.

"How have you been, since everything that happened on Monday? Are you doing ok?" Walt's voice was steady and didn't betray any level of suspicion.

"Yes, sir."

"And you're back in Durant this weekend." Walt said it as a statement, but he let it hang in the air until it felt like a question that needed to be answered.

"Yeah...I...I dunno...I guess I wanted to be back...home."

"Was this a planned visit?"

"Not really. Just needed a break from school, I guess."

Vic watched Walt watch Dylan.

Walt finally leaned back in his chair, his elbows on the desktop and his hands clasped. "Well, we thought you'd like to know, we've got a suspect that we're looking into for the robberies."

Dylan blinked, but said nothing.

"Actually, we have multiple suspects."

She watched Dylan's face, but she could not detect a reaction of any kind. "And you're trying to figure out which one actually did it?"

"Well...no. We think more than one individual was involved. We're just trying to put the specifics together to figure who did what."

Again, she watched Walt watch Dylan.

After another moment of silence passed, Walt stood up. "One thing that will help us out is to get a better grasp of the details from Monday morning. Could you step over to this wall for a moment?"

Dylan paused and then rose, tugging on his belt to adjust his jeans. Walt walked over to their wall of notes and pictures, with Dylan right behind him. Branch pushed himself from the door jamb he'd been leaning against, walked into the other room to lay his hat down on his desk, and then returned and joined them. Vic decided to stay on the couch.

Walt pointed at the picture of the Exxon gas station. "We have the first robbery occurring between 6:15 and 6:30 at the Exxon near 90. There were about two hours between that robbery and the second one at The Filling Station around 8:15. Next, Ace Hardware was hit. We have an exact time for that robbery, due to the time stamps on the recording you gave us from the store's camera. The man in black entered the store at 8:33 and left at 8:37. And the last place that was robbed was AJ's Liquors, between 9:15 and 9:40."

Walt glanced over at Dylan, who was scanning the wall beside him, before continuing.

"On Friday morning, I decided to trace the path of the robberies, going store to store and timing things out. Do you know where I started?"

Dylan's gaze flicked to the left corner of their wall content. "Uh...the Exxon?"

"Actually, I started where it all began. At the Big Horn Motel, over on Main Street." Walt pointed to a picture of the motel. "You familiar with it?"

Dylan looked first at the picture and then back at him. "I've seen the sign."

Walt held his gaze for a moment. "Yeah, me too. I've never stayed there, being from Durant, but that sign is hard to miss."

Again he held Dylan's eyes before continuing. "Anyway, I headed over to the motel around 5:30 on Friday to talk to Paul, the guy at the front desk who had been on duty Monday morning. Actually, Branch..." Walt looked over his shoulder at the deputy. "You talked to Paul, too, didn't you?"

"Yep. I went over to the Big Horn on Tuesday morning."

"Did Paul show you their video feed, where they record the comings and goings from each of their rooms?"

Vic saw a look flash between Walt and Branch, unnoticed by Dylan who was still looking at the wall. Branch nodded. "He did."

Vic tried to hide her smile. She liked when Walt did this. Pretending to not already know what happened and that he was just now putting the pieces together as he talked to the suspect.

"So we know one of our suspects was staying in room 5."

Branch nodded again. "Yep. Not only was he on the video recording, but Paul ran in to him around 8:15 Monday morning."

Walt placed his right hand on his hip. "Which means our first suspect couldn't have robbed The Filling Station. And since I saw that same suspect driving in front of me on the road a little while later, he also couldn't have been the one to rob Ace Hardware."

Branch crossed his arms. "Nope. Couldn't have been him."

"Which means he wasn't the only one involved. In fact, when I talked to Paul, he informed me that the room next to our first suspect's room had also been rented out for the same time period. Between Sunday and Tuesday. And that the individuals left their room before seven am Monday morning, as captured by their video camera, which is in line with the timing of the first robbery."

Walt turned his head toward Dylan. "We're talking to each of the robbery victims about where they were throughout the morning to better understand the exact timing and details of the robberies." He turned toward the couch. "Vic, what time does the recording have Dylan arriving at the hardware store Monday?"

Vic bent her head to look down at her laptop screen. She moved the slider on the video file back until she landed on Dylan entering the store. Without looking up, she called out the answer. "7:29."

As Walt turned back toward Dylan, she moved the video slider back again, and re-watched Dylan's entrance into the store as Walt asked his next question. "Dylan, what were you doing before you arrived at the store that morning?"

"Uh...sleeping. And then getting ready for work."

"And when did you come back to Durant last weekend?"

"Saturday morning. I worked at the store Saturday afternoon."

"Do you remember what time you got to town that morning?"

"Uh. Not exactly."

Vic launched her browser, typed in a URL, and then entered the name of the hardware store into the search field, her focus pulling her away from the conversation occurring across from her.

After a few minutes she looked up. "Hey Dylan, did you know that the items stolen from Ace by the intruder on Monday were three rolls of duct tape?"

Dylan looked over to where she sat on the couch. "Duct tape?"

"Yeah. Duct tape."

He shook his head.

"Sheriff Longmire and I were at Ace on Friday, but I can't remember which aisle the tape is in."

Dylan looked between them. "Uh...aisle two."

"Oh...right. And the aisle is on your left if you're standing at the front door looking in to the store, correct?"

"Yes."

Her eyes back on the screen, she fast-forwarded and re-watched the recording. "As you likely know, the camera at the store only captures the front door and cashier area of the store, but it does look like the guy is veering to the left as he heads for the aisles." She looked back up, catching Walt looking at her before focusing again on Dylan. "Let's assume he went straight for aisle two. What do you think that means?"

Dylan shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans as he shifted his weight to his other leg. "Uh...I don't know."

"It means that he knew which aisle the tape was in. Which means he's familiar with the layout of the store, or at least scouted out the store in advance to know which aisle would have the tape."

Her gaze returned to the screen. "Ok. So he comes in the store, heads for the second aisle, pulls three rolls of tape off the wall, and leaves the note..." She looked up again. "Dylan, if you didn't know about the tape, you probably aren't aware that he left a note in the duct tape aisle?"

"A note?"

"Yeah. It was an 'I owe you' for the tape he stole."

"Uh...no. I didn't know about the tape or the note."

"Does the aisle with the duct tape have packs of post-its in it as well?"

Dylan paused and then shook his head. "No."

"Do you sell post-it notes in the store?"

"I don't think so. No."

"So that means the guy brought the post-it with him." She rewound again. "He likely had it in a pocket or tucked in somewhere. And..." Vic looked over to the copy of the 'I owe you' note lying on the couch to her left before looking up. "Branch do you still have the original note?"

Branch exited the room, returning with the plastic bag containing the post-it, which he handed to her.

Vic flipped the Ziploc bag over and peered at the back of the note. "There are no fuzzies or anything stuck to the adhesive. It's clean. And the paper doesn't have any creases. Which means he likely brought a pack of post-its in, not just a single note."

Placing the plastic bag down beside her, she looked back at her screen, clicked over to the browser window she had opened earlier, and sent the page to the printer. She stood, left the room, walked over to Ruby's desk, reached into the top right drawer to pull out a few items, grabbed her printout from the printer, and then returned to Walt's office.

Tearing a piece of tape from the dispenser on the table, she walked up to their collection of notes and pictures on the wall and stuck the sheet of paper on top, in front of them. "This is a printout from Google maps. It's the satellite view of Ace Hardware." She pointed toward the middle of the north side of the building. "This is the front door on the north side. From the recording we know the guy entered through this door at 8:33. Dylan, where in the building were you at this time?"

"I was in the back, doing inventory and getting ready to re-stock some items."

"Can you show me on the picture where approximately that was in the building?"

Dylan pointed to the south-west corner of the building.

"Where's the back door on this building?"

Dylan pointed to the middle of the south side of the building. "There's a door back here."

"And that's the one the guy tried to open when he was leaving and set off the alarm?"

"Yes."

Vic pointed to a spot next to the back door. "What's this? It kind of looks like another door."

"That's a garage style door that allows us to bring large items into and out of the store, but you need a code to open it."

"And are there any other entrances?"

"There isn't one on the west side, but on the east side, there is a large door that stays open during store hours, when the weather's not bad, so that customers can get to the lawn and garden center outside." Dylan pointed to the location on the printed picture.

"Was that door open at the time of the robbery?"

"No. It was locked."

"And which part of the building is the store, and which part is the back storage and office area?"

Dylan drew a horizontal line across the building with his finger. "Everything above this line is the store floor."

Vic visualized the second aisle and the path to the door that led to the back of the store based on their visit to Ace on Friday. Her focus returning to Walt's office, she paused, and then pivoted, looking around. Landing on the coat rack, she made her way to the opposite corner of the room, pulled Walt's coat off one of the arms and hung it on the back of his chair, and then removed his hat and placed it on the desk. She then picked up the empty rack, and brought it over to their wall of notes.

From her wrist she removed one roll of duct tape and two roles of masking tape that she'd procured from Ruby's desk. "Let's pretend that these are the three rolls of duct tape." She placed the rolls on the arm of the coat rack that was facing her. "And that the three rolls are hanging here on the shelf of aisle two at the store."

She looked over at Branch and then stepped toward him. "If I could have your help Branch..." When he nodded, she put her hand on his right shoulder, guiding him back to the open door to Walt's office, and then pulled a post-it note pack from her pocket and handed it to him. She glanced across the room and again found Walt's eyes on her. She pulled her attention back to Branch. "Ok. You're the intruder. You're about to enter the store and head to aisle two." She pointed to the coat rack. "The pad of post-its is in your coat pocket, which we'll pretend is your hoodie. The first sheet is already filled out with your 'I owe you' message. You're going to go to aisle two, remove three rolls of tape from the shelf, and slip them on to your right arm like he did."

She stepped back and gave Branch a nod. He stuffed the post-its in his left pocket and then made his way over to the coat rack, removed the three rolls of tape and slipped them on his arm.

Vic stepped closer. "And then you pull the pad of post-its from your pocket, tear off the top sheet and stick it to the shelf."

Branch removed the top sheet and stuck it to the rack.

"And now it's time to go. You could go back through the front door, which you know is unlocked, and which is less than a minute away. But you decide to go out the back door. Why?"

Branch paused and then looked at her over his shoulder. "Maybe he was parked out back, and he thought it would be quicker than going out the front and all the way around the building to get to his car."

Vic looked at the printout of the aerial view of the building. "But look at how much of the building he has to go through to get to the back door." She pointed at the picture. "Aisle two is around here, and all of this area here is the storage and back office area. That's a lot of building to go through compared to the way he came in. Plus, would he have known for sure there was a back door?"

Walt stared at the picture. "He would know there was if he parked out back, or at least canvassed the back of the building. He would have seen the door from the outside."

She began to pace. "Ok, let's assume he knows there is a door. But unlike the front door, which he knows exactly where it is, would he choose a door if he had to figure out how to navigate to it? It might not be a straight shot to the back door."

Walt continued to stare at the picture. "Maybe he's been in the back of the store."

She stopped and turned toward Dylan. "Who is allowed in the back?"

He blinked. "Just employees. For safety reasons."

Branch looked over at her. "So it's an employee who robbed the store?"

She pursed her lips in thought. "Or he got into the back unseen at an earlier time to scope things out."

Crossing his arms, Branch shifted his weight. "If he scoped things out at night, when no one's around, he'd need access to the building. The keys and the alarm codes. Which suggests that he's an employee. Or at least that he had help from an employee."

Walt looked between the two of them. "Or he snuck into the back during store hours."

"Which would be risky because employees go in and out of the back all day, and not always at set times." Vic looked over at Dylan. "Dylan, you said you were the only one working that morning. Is that typical? The store is not huge, but it's also not small. Aren't there usually people helping out on the floor, and not just at the registers?"

"I wasn't going to be by myself once it opened, I just had to get things ready to open by myself. Dawn and Maggie, two of the cashiers, were coming in at nine."

"They couldn't come in earlier and help you?"

"Their kids were home from school 'cause it was Columbus Day. Mike gave them extra time to deal with getting their kids where they needed to be before showing up. I only needed to prepare to open by myself. Dawn and Maggie were going to be on the registers while I manned the floor until Mike and Jeff showed up."

"Mike and Jeff, aren't they the brothers that own the store?"

He nodded.

"And they couldn't come in early to help you get ready to open?"

"They were both out of town on Sunday, and not returning until Monday morning. Normally the store opens at seven on Mondays, but since it was Columbus Day, and because they weren't going to be able to make it in until later in the morning, they decided to open at nine."

Vic stared at the wall thinking things through. "How far in advance did you learn the store was going to open at nine instead of seven, and about the fact that you would have to be there by yourself, before it opened?"

"I think Mike asked me about a month ago."

Again Vic looked at the printout of the building. "So there's a chance the guy who stole the duct tape picked this date because he knew that you would be the only one in the store, just like at the other locations that were hit."

She scanned the perimeter of the building and then turned again toward Dylan. "Where do employees park? In the main parking lot at the front of the building?"

"No, we park on the side. Here." He pointed to parking spots on the west side of the building.

"It doesn't look like it has parking out back."

"Yeah, there are no parking spots in the back. Only the trucks with shipments pull in there."

"If he parked in back, his car would stand out, and with the back door locked, he'd have to walk around the two sides of the building to get to the front entrance, creating a greater chance that he'd be seen. He could have parked in the front lot, where he would be very close to the front door, but since the store wasn't opening until nine, he'd be the only one in the lot, and again his car would stand out. Plus, if his car was out front, it wouldn't explain why he tried to leave through the back door."

She paused, her right boot tapping the floor as she continued to sift through her thoughts. "So maybe he parked on the side, where the employees park. His car wouldn't stand out, since the parking spots aren't on the main road and he'd blend in with the employees' cars, which are expected to be there before the store opens. And going in the front door and out the back door, with his car on the side, could make sense. Maybe."

She looked over toward her laptop on the couch, landing on the Ziploc containing the post-it note.

"Alright. I want to try this again. Walt, can you play the intruder this time?" She reached out and took the pad of post-its from Branch's hand, and then pulled down the post-it he'd stuck to the rack. "Branch, can you put the rolls of tape back on the arm of the coat rack?" She then turned and beckoned Walt to follow her to his office door. As she handed him the post-its, their fingers touched, and his eyes, conveying curiosity at what she was attempting to do, held hers. She was standing close, and when she didn't step back, he finally did, his eyes shifting off of her as he pulled his hand away. She dropped her gaze and then turned, remembering she needed a pen. She walked over to his desk to pick up the one he had used earlier, and then returned to the doorway to give it to him, this time keeping a little more distance between them.

"Ok. You're going to do what Branch did, but this time you're going to write the 'I owe you' message on the post-it after removing the rolls of tape, but before sticking the note to the rack."

Walt momentarily held her eyes again, and then nodded.

She followed him as he crossed the room, staying a few feet behind him when he stopped in front of the coat rack. Dylan stood to their left, near the private entrance, and Branch was leaning against the side of Walt's desk.

Walt pulled the three rolls of tape from the rack and slipped them onto his right arm, before digging into the pocket of his jeans and pulling out the pen and post-its. He quickly jotted down the message, and then stuck the sheet to the rack.

Vic stepped up to his side, pulling off the post-it, and staring down at it in her hands. "What if the guy didn't write the note in advance? Maybe leaving a note wasn't something he planned to do, but when he got to the shelf and took the tape, maybe in a moment of remorse, and remembering he had a pen and some post-its in his pockets, he decided to leave the 'I owe you' message. The question is, if he took the time to write the note at that point, did he have enough time to get all the way to the back door, and then to the front door? All of it occurred within a four-minute window."

She looked over at Walt. "We really should have gone to the hardware store to time this out."

A glint of a smile passed his lips. "Yep."

She paced across the floor, paused, and then walked over to the couch and sat down. Placing Walt's 'I owe you' post-it down on the pile beside her, she once again lifted her computer onto her lap and began re-watching the video.

A buzz sounded, and she looked up to find Branch taking his cell phone from his pocket. He looked down at the screen. "I left Ferg a message earlier, giving him an update. He's texted to let me know we can call him at home or on his cell if we need him to come in."

As Branch slipped the phone back into his pocket, she returned her attention to the laptop screen. As she went to rewind, something Branch said lingered in her thoughts. They could call Ferg at home or on his cell. At home or on his cell. Suddenly her eyes grew big in realization of what Ferg's text had reminded her of, and she stood. Walt's gaze connected with hers and his eyes followed her to the door.

"Be right back."

She walked over to her desk and slid the top drawer open. Moving the contents of the drawer around with her hand, her eyes landed on the note she'd been looking for. "Holy shit." Staring at it, she took a breath, and then reached down and picked it up before pushing the drawer closed with her hip. At the doorway to the office she stopped, taking in Walt, Branch and Dylan, who were turned back toward the wall, conversing. Or at least Walt and Branch appeared to be.

She stepped into the room, staring at the note, her lips pursing. "Dylan, can you walk me through what you did at the store after your arrival at 7:29?"

"Like, the details?"

"Yes. What was the first thing you did after arriving at the store?"

"Uh, I guess I turned on the lights."

"That sounds about right. Let me get my laptop, and we can watch the recording as you take us through that morning."

Vic went over to the couch, placed the note she'd pulled from her drawer face-down on top of the other items she'd placed in the pile, retrieved her computer and placed it on Walt's desk before gesturing to Dylan to come over. When he joined her side, with Walt and Branch at her back, she hit play. "There you are, coming in the front door at 7:29, and, as you mentioned to me on Monday, you don't lock the door behind you. You turn on the light at the front, near the registers...there...before you head into the store and disappear from the camera's view. A few moments later you must turn on the rest of the lights in the store because you can see it get brighter. And then...what came next? You're not on camera, so you didn't come back to the front. Did you stay on the floor, or go into the back?"

"Uh, I went to the staff room to take off my jacket, and to see if Mike or Jeff had left any specific instructions."

"And, had they? Left instructions?"

"Just a list of some inventory they wanted me to check, and the items they wanted me to re-stock."

"And did you complete everything on the list before they returned?"

"Uh...no. I was kind of...interrupted."

"By the intruder?"

He nodded.

"And you said you were in the back when the guy set off the alarm?"

"I was getting ready to bring out some boxes of trash bags."

"Customers been buying a lot of trash bags?"

He shrugged. "It's fall. People do a lot of raking."

"So the alarm suddenly goes off. What was your initial thought? Did you think the store was being robbed? You were, after all, manning the store on your own. No other employee was in there who could have accidentally opened the door forgetting the alarm hadn't been turned off yet."

"Uh...I wasn't thinking that a robbery was going on. I thought maybe the door had just gone off on its own."

"On its own? Is it a touchy door? Have you had problems with the alarm before?"

"Uh...not really. But I guess we haven't been robbed in the three years I've worked there, so I wasn't thinking that."

"So where did you run first? To the store floor, or to the back door?"

"Out on to the store floor."

"You went to the store floor, even though you thought it was just the alarm going off?"

"I wasn't sure, so I wanted to check the store out."

"And that's how you got a glimpse of the guy before he exited the store?"

"Yep."

"So that's when you started thinking it was a robbery?"

"Well...yeah, sort of. I didn't see him carrying anything, so I wasn't sure he actually stole something."

"You didn't see the duct tape rolls on his arm?"

"No."

"So, the alarm went off, and then you ran out on to the store floor in time to see him leave. But you didn't make it to the very front of the store right away." She clicked to pause the video. "Here's where you finally show up near the registers, and then make a call to our department."

Dylan bent over the screen. "Yep."

Walt stepped forward. "Doesn't the alarm going off trigger the alarm company? Shouldn't they have called you?"

Straightening, Dylan turned toward Walt. "I don't know why there's a separate alarm on the back door, but it's not linked up to anything. If the alarm on the front or side doors were to go off, it sends a signal to the alarm company, but the back door isn't set up that way. So I had to call it in, which is why I called your sheriff's department."

Walt looked over at Vic. "If the intruder knew that the back door alarm wasn't set up to notify anyone, then he would have continued going out the back door even when the alarm was triggered. So the guy didn't know about the alarm."

Branch stepped forward. "But the guy's already triggered the alarm. He's got the door open. Why not just keep going out the back door, if that's what he intended do? With the alarm going off, why go all the way across the store?"

She leveled a look at Dylan, her lips pursing. "Maybe he knew about the alarm situation, and opened the back door, not in an attempt to exit, but to intentionally trigger the alarm, knowing it would sound, but that it wouldn't actually trigger an official response."

Biting down on her lower lip, Vic crossed both arms, her focus returning to the screen. After a moment, she lifted her hand and pointed to the time stamp. "Dylan, you made the call seven minutes after the alarm went off. Can you walk me through those seven minutes, from the moment the alarm went off until the moment you showed up at the front of the store?"

"Well, it took me a couple minutes to get to the store floor after the alarm went off."

"Actually, it took you less than a minute." She dragged the slider of the video back. "Here. From the time the alarm goes off, until the guy shows up on camera at the front of the store is less than a minute. If you were to arrive on the store floor, in time to see him before he exited, you had to get from the back corner of the building and out onto the store floor in the same amount of time. Is that possible? To get all the way from the south-west corner of the storage area, out on to the main floor in less than a minute?"

"Yeah, I guess so, since I was able to do it."

"Ok, a minute passed. What happened next? From the recording, it's another three minutes before the alarm is turned off. What took so long?"

"Uh...I guess it took a little while to figure out how to turn the alarm off."

"And then what happened for the next three or so minutes, before you made the call?"

"I...I tried to figure out if anything had been taken."

"But you said you didn't see him carrying anything out."

"Yeah, but I thought that maybe he had something in his pockets?"

Her brow furrowed. "You did a three-minute search, and then gave up?"

"Yeah, I checked the safe and then walked around and I guess after a few minutes I realized it was pretty much impossible to determine if anything was gone."

"So you decided to go to the phone at one of the registers to report the situation?"

"Uh...yeah."

"Why'd you call in the break-in from a register at the front, and not from your cell phone, which you probably had on you, or a phone in the back?"

"Uh...I needed to be by the front door when you guys arrived, to let you in, so I...uh...I thought I'd just make the call from up there."

"You said you looked around to see if anything had been stolen. You didn't see the post-it in aisle two during your search?"

"No."

"When Deputy Connelly came to the store, did you run across the post-it when you took him down the aisles?"

Dylan looked over at Branch. "We talked about the registers, and that they were empty because it wasn't time to open yet. I took him to the back office, to where the safe is, to show him that it hadn't been broken into. After then we went to the door that had been triggered, and went outside to check out back. And then we walked around the store to confirm there wasn't anyone else still in the building, but I don't know if we specifically went down aisle two."

Vic straightened. "I want to try another scenario. Dylan, can I get you to play the role this time?"

Dylan looked at her, a little surprised. "Uh...sure."

Turning and opening her palm, she arched her eyebrow at Walt. "Can I have the tape, pen and post-its?"

He handed her the pen and notepad. "I'll set up the coat rack."

She gave him a quick smile and then joined Dylan in the doorway, holding out the items Walt had given her. "Dylan, you're going to do what Sheriff Longmire and Deputy Connelly both did, and remove the rolls of tape once you are in front of our makeshift shelf, and place them on your right arm. Put the post-its and pen in your pocket for now, and don't remove them until I say. Ok?"

"Uh...sure."

"Ok. Whenever you're ready."

Dylan made his way over to the coat rack, and like the others, removed the tape and slid the rolls over his wrist, before pausing and turning to look at Vic for the next prompt.

"Let's say the private entrance door to your left is the back door to the hardware store. Can you go over to the door and open it?"

He hesitated, and then nodded, walked over to the door and opened it. Looking over his shoulder he again waited for his next prompt.

"Ok. The alarm is going off. Leave the door open, and come back to this door, as if you are leaving through the front door of the store."

Dylan came back to where she was standing in the doorway.

"Now, return to aisle two, write the 'I owe you' message on a post-it and stick it to the coat rack."

Again Dylan paused, but then he walked over to the coat rack, pulled the pack of post-its from the pocket of his jacket, wrote out the message and stuck the sheet to the rack.

Vic walked over to the coat rack and pulled off the sticky note.

With her eyes on the note she began to pace. "Dylan, we've confirmed that you arrived at the store at 7:29, and that you came to the front of the store at 8:43, after the robbery, to call the Sheriff's Department, because you're captured on camera at both of those times." She lifted her head. "What we can't confirm, because there is no recorded evidence, is what you were doing during those two times."

"I was checking inventory and re-stocking. Like I told you."

"Yeah, that's what you told us, but we have no recorded evidence that you were. What if..." She stopped pacing, looking squarely at him. "What if it was you who took the tape and left the note?"

"What?"

"What if you turned off the alarm and slipped out the back door. Maybe you changed your clothes in the back before leaving. Maybe you changed them in your car. But what if you came around the side of the building, and entered the front door at 8:33, dressed all in black and wearing a mask? The front door that you accidentally left open. What if, after taking the tape, you went to the back door, turned the alarm back on, and then opened the door to intentionally set off the alarm as a way to make you look like a victim and reduce the chance of you being considered a suspect since you made it appear like you were in the store the whole time? And then, when you left the store via the front door, what if you ran around the side of the building, re-entered through the back door, which you'd left open, turned off the alarm, and then changed back into your clothes in time to go to the front of the store to call us to report the break-in, from a spot where you knew you'd be captured on camera?"

"What? No. That's not what happen—"

"And what if later you felt a little bad for what you'd done? And since you are an employee, and therefore were still in the store, and Mike and Jeff weren't back yet...what if you decided to write the 'I owe you' note? And then later in the week, you made good on that promise and slid an envelope with the money under the front door."

Dylan sank into one of the chairs in front of Walt's desk. "I didn't..."

"What if you and Tyler Daniels partnered up to pull all of this off, but created ways to make it look like you weren't involved?"

Walt's eyes had been flashing back and forth between Vic and Dylan during the interrogation, but now they were squarely on the boy. "Dylan, we know you're friends with Tyler. We know that he attended MSUB with you last year and that you're in the Outdoor Trailhead club together."

"Just because he went to the same school as me, and we're in the same club doesn't mean we're friends. It's a big group, and an even bigger school."

"We have confirmation from others that you're friends. That you were planning to be roommates sophomore year until he dropped out." Walt stared down at the top of Dylan's head. "And the fact that you just said that Tyler went to the same school means you know he no longer goes there, which means you know him."

Rubbing the back of his neck, Dylan looked away.

Vic walked over to the couch and picked up the items she'd placed in a pile before sitting down in the chair next to Dylan. "When I asked Walt to write out the 'I owe you' message during the role play a little while ago, this is what he wrote."

She held up Walt's post-it, which contained the words 'I owe you twelve dollars.'

"He wrote the message that way, even though he'd seen the message that was actually written, because that's the way Walt writes. He doesn't shorten his words. He writes them fully out. But you do. You have a habit of writing 'U' instead of 'you.' And since it's not a text message, it kind of stands out. And I didn't realize it until I remembered you'd written your contact information on a post-it last Monday before you left the office. I had the note in my desk, and had forgotten about it, until just now, when one of our deputies texted Deputy Connelly about how we could reach him."

She held up the post-it from her desk drawer, that had the message 'U can call my cell 307-245-1226 or dorm room 406-652-7633.'

She watched him as he looked at the note. "And I guess it could just be a coincidence, that both you and the intruder shorten your 'you' to 'U,' but then I got a look at the 'I owe you' message you just wrote during the role play."

This time she held up the post-it note he'd filled out and stuck to the coat rack. It bore the words 'I owe U $12.'

"We never showed you the original note, Dylan. We never said that the amount was twelve dollars, or even that he'd listed the amount in his message. We didn't indicate that the 'you' had been written as 'U.' And yet, here is a note that looks remarkably like the one that had been left on the shelf on Monday."

As she held up the Ziploc bag containing the post-it note that Branch had retrieved from Ace Hardware, Dylan once again averted his eyes.

"As an employee, and because you were already in the store, you would have been able to put up the post-it note later, after the robbery, but before the store owners returned. And it makes sense why you would feel guilty about taking something from the store. You had nothing against Mike or Jeff."

Dylan remained silent.

"Why did you do the rest? Why did you steal the money and hurt the other cashiers?"

His silence continued.

"Dylan, you have an alibi for the final robbery because you were captured on camera at Ace multiple times during the time AJ's Liquors was being robbed, but you don't have alibis for the other robberies. Tyler has alibis for all but one of them. They're going to be pinned on you if you don't tell us what happened."

Dylan's silence continued, but Vic saw his lip quiver.

"They are going to think you're the mastermind behind the plan because we can't tie Tyler directly to the acts. Do you—"

"We didn't come up with the plan. That was all Tyler."

"We?"

"He said...he said he needed our help."

"Dylan, who else was involved?"

"He said they were all assholes. For what they'd done to us. That they needed to pay."

Her eyes flicked briefly over to Walt before returning to Dylan. "Dylan, what did the assholes do to you?"

Dylan's lip trembled again, and he wiped the back of his hand across his eyes, before bowing his head.

"I haven't...I haven't been able to sleep this week. I didn't mean for things to get so out of hand."

Walt stepped toward the desk. "Dylan. Who was the third person involved?"

Dylan looked up at Walt as he approached. "I...I can't."

Walt leaned against the side edge of the desk and looked down at the boy. "Why can't you tell us?"

"I swore I wouldn't."

"Did Tyler make you swear to secrecy?"

"We promised not to say anything. We all promised."

"You seem like a good kid. You left the note and repaid the owners for the tape you took. Tell us what happened. We want to stop anything further from happening. Stop anyone else from getting hurt.

Dylan looked down at his hands in his lap.

"You lied, Dylan, about not knowing the individuals from Sheridan. You said you didn't know who Tyler is, but we know you are friends. Even if you never met Rich Sollinger, you would surely know who he is given your friendship with Tyler and his well-known strained relationship with his mother's boyfriend. And you claimed not to know Evan or Nick either, but you met them at the bike clinic they ran for your Trailhead group back in May."

Dylan suddenly looked up.

Walt blinked. "Dylan, did something happen at the bike clinic?"

Dylan looked back at his hands.

"Did Evan or Nick do something to you?"

"No."

"Did they do something to Tyler?"

Dylan didn't respond.

"What happened at the clinic, Dylan?"

This time Walt let his question sit there, and he waited, never moving his gaze off Dylan.

Dylan seemed to squirm a little under the scrutiny. "Tyler was pissed about something, pretty much from the start of the clinic, but he wouldn't tell me what."

"Did it have to do with Evan and Nick?"

"He was acting kind of weird around them. He wouldn't tell me how he knew them or what he had against them, but he couldn't take his eyes off of them the entire session."

Walt stayed focused on Dylan, waiting for him to continue.

"He kept volunteering when they'd ask for someone to be the first to try something out. I don't know if he was trying to test out whether they recognized him, but neither of them acted like they knew him."

"And did something end up happening between him and the other boys?"

"When we were finishing up, and loading our bikes and gear into our cars, he just stood there, staring at Evan Brandt. He finally said that he was going to go over there and talk to him. I didn't see the conversation...I'm not even sure there was a conversation, but when Tyler returned, he was angry and wanted to get out of there immediately, but no matter how much I tried I could not get him to tell me what happened."

"Did anything occur after the clinic?"

Dylan shifted in his chair.

"Jessica told us that Tyler grew a little distant much of this summer. Did he do that just with her?"

"He avoided everyone for a while."

"Cody said that you and Tyler were planning to be roommates sophomore year, but that all changed when Tyler left school."

Dylan nodded.

"Did Tyler's decision to take some time off have to do with Evan and Nick, and whatever happened between them?"

Dylan stilled.

"Did he tell you why he dropped out?"

"One day this summer, he was waiting for me by my car, outside the store when I finished up after work. We went for a drive, and after a while he asked me to pull over. He sat there without saying anything. When he finally started talking, he said that he knew Evan and Nick in high school. That they had been an ass to him, and one day they'd pulled a terrible prank on him."

"Was it his freshman year?"

"When they pulled the prank? Uh...yeah, I guess so. They're a few years older than us."

"Tyler's mother said he came back from school one day freshman year, and locked himself in his room for a few days. What was the prank?"

Dylan shook his head. "He wouldn't tell me what it was, only that it was awful. Whatever it was, he never got over it, and seeing them at the clinic brought it all back."

"What happened next?"

"He said he wanted to get back at them. He didn't have a plan yet, but he said he would come up with one."

"And then?"

"Things seemed to go back to normal for a while. He started participating in our Trailhead activities again, and never mentioned either the clinic or his plan, but he also didn't talk about coming back to school and I know he doesn't let things go, so I knew that he was still thinking about it."

"When did he finally come up with the plan?"

"One day, later this summer, he was standing by my car outside Ace again. He said he'd been following Evan and Nick trying to get some ideas, and he had seen a guy following Evan around every Sunday. He discovered that the guy was from Durant. Tuck Jensen. He wanted to know if I knew him. He said he'd had some ideas about what we could do to get back at Evan and Nick, but that we'd need a third person, and he wanted to know if Tuck might be interested."

"You guys asked Tuck to be your third person?"

"No. I told Tyler that I didn't want Tuck involved."

"Why not?"

Dylan looked to the side.

Walt's gaze stayed steady. "You told us that you knew who Tuck was because everyone knew who he was, but you made it seem you didn't really know him."

"I...I knew him."

"How did you know him?"

"I...uh...I tried out for the football team my freshman year."

"When Tuck was a sophomore?"

"Yeah."

Walt's blinked, pausing. "Did you make the team?" Vic thought back to their search through the yearbooks, but couldn't remember Dylan in any of the football pictures.

"Yes."

"Did Tuck do something to you when you were trying out for the team?"

"They...they call it hazing. Most of it's not a big deal."

"But some of it was?"

Dylan half-nodded as he dropped his chin.

"Did Tuck do something to you?"

"Not directly...but he...there was a day when I walked into the locker room and someone threw me to the ground. I never saw who it was. Or who kicked me. Repeatedly. But I heard someone laugh from across the room and when I looked over..."

Walt paused again. "It was Tuck?"

Dylan nodded. "He didn't do anything to stop it. He was this huge deal, a star player, and they would have listened to him. But he just stood there and laughed."

"You quit the team because of what happened?"

"Yes."

"And you told Tyler all this when he was interested in having Tuck get involved in his payback plan?"

Dylan nodded.

Walt started to stand up, and then stopped, sinking back into the edge of the desk. He stared in front of him, pulling in his lower lip. Vic waited for him to continue but when he didn't she slid forward in her seat to lean in closer to Dylan. "Was it Tyler who suggested adding Tuck to the plan as a target instead?"

"Yeah."

"And was it always the plan to hurt the boys?"

"At first it was about scaring them. With the gun. The robbery. Stealing some money. They each worked at a family business. We never meant to steal a lot, but it would still hurt some."

"And when did the plan change?"

"The week before, Tyler decided that scaring them and stealing a few hundred dollars wasn't enough to pay them back...for what they did. That we needed to do more to really have an impact."

"And you were ok with the new plan?"

"Not really, but...Tyler can be convincing...and they'd been assholes. And so...for the one in Sheridan...when I had him taped up, I closed my eyes and kicked him like I had been kicked that day in the locker room."

Walt looked up. "You were the one who robbed Artie's Food Depot? Where Nick works."

Dylan nodded his head.

"And afterward. What happened?"

"I didn't want to continue. But Tyler wouldn't let us stop what we'd started. He said we had to see it through. That they deserved it. I was going to bail, on Monday. I wasn't going to do it...but when I got to the gas station and saw Kyle through the window and thought about what he'd done to—" Dylan suddenly stopped.

Vic sat forward in her chair. "When you left Ace through the back door, before appearing as the intruder at the hardware store, you first went and robbed The Filling Station?"

Dylan nodded.

Walt stood and walked over to the wall, before looking over his shoulder. "Why was Kyle selected as a target? He was trying out for the football team the same year as you, so he wouldn't have been the one to attack you in the locker room."

"It wasn't me he did something to."

"Who was the third person involved in your plan, Dylan?"

Again Dylan looked down at his hands. Vic watched as he played with the cuff of his sleeve.

Walt returned to scanning their notes on the evidence wall, before turning slowly toward them.

"It was Andy, wasn't it?"

Vic whipped her head up to look over at Walt before she looked back at Dylan, whose head was still bowed.

Walt stepped forward. "Andy was the only other victim who wasn't injured during the robbery. And he told us that he quit being a manager for the football team because he wasn't interested in it anymore, but he also mentioned that the team had a number of assholes on it. Was Kyle one of those assholes. Did his hazing of Andy get out of hand?"

Dylan looked up, his eyes moist. "Yes."

XX

Leaning back in her chair, Vic stared out the window at the streetlight illuminating the sidewalk and parked cars across from the station. It was quiet out on the street, and if it weren't for the day's events, it would have been a peaceful evening. She pulled her thoughts and her focus back into the room, turning her head to look across her desk to the holding cell. Through the bars she could see both boys. Dylan was sitting on the cot, but Andy had opted to sit on the floor, his back against the wall, one leg stretched out before him, his gaze looking forward. Both had been silent since being put in the cell together.

When Branch had returned to the station with Andy, Andy's story had matched Dylan's. The plan had been Tyler's, but to keep suspicion away from Tyler, who would likely be considered a suspect because Rich was one of the victims, the other two boys had committed the robberies while Tyler created alibis for himself. Dylan was the one responsible for robbing Artie's Food Depot and The Filling Station, and Andy had robbed the Brandts' bicycle shop, Rich's Auto repair shop, and AJ's Liquors. Dylan, of course, had also acted as the intruder at Ace to help his chances that he wouldn't be considered a suspect. And Andy had staged a robbery at Exxon, with Dylan and Tyler's help, to add himself to the victim list instead of the suspect list. He'd applied for a job at the gas station specifically for this purpose. The two had even checked into the motel room next to Tyler's to give Tyler a way to come and go without it looking like he was leaving room 5. Hooded sweatshirts had kept the boys' identities hidden.

They'd also learned how Dylan and Andy had become friends. The two boys had met not at Durant High, like she and Walt had initially assumed, but through their work. It was Branch who'd put the connection together as he'd driven over to the Bowmans' to pick up Andy. He had been the one on Friday to look into Cressida, where Andy had worked, and as he had driven through the streets of Durant toward the Bowman home, he'd wondered if there was a partnership between the garden center and the hardware store that would have enabled the two to cross paths. The boys had started their jobs at both locations around the same time a few years ago, so it seemed to him like a possibility. When asked about the origin of their relationship in Walt's office, Andy admitted that he had gotten to know Dylan when he had been tasked with picking up a new mower from Ace after the one he'd been using had broken down, and was determined to be beyond repair.

The bond the boys had developed over the past few years was partly due to the bitterness they both shared toward their school's football program, and after some time they came to the realization that they'd each endured some form of bullying during their involvement with the team. When Tyler had asked Dylan to suggest a third person for their plan, Dylan had immediately thought of Andy. After sharing Andy's story with Tyler, and indicating that Kyle Walton had been the chief bully in Andy's case, Tyler decided to include Kyle as one the targets, in addition to Tuck. Once Andy had agreed to participate, Tyler had spent much of September following Kyle and Tuck around on their college campuses, and in Durant on the weekends.

Unlike Dylan, Andy's eyes had not welled up when they talked to him about what he'd done. He'd remained calm, almost detached, during their conversation, and she'd wondered if he truly didn't care that he'd hurt others or if the situation hadn't fully sunken in yet. Remembering the moment the two boys had run into each other at the station on Monday, when Andy had been coming in and Dylan had been leaving, she realized now that they'd both been pretending like they didn't know each other. She thought again about how shaken Andy had appeared at the scene of the crime, and how believable he'd been as a victim when they'd talked to him on Friday, and couldn't decide if his behavior this evening was just an act or the result of the bullying he'd endured. It was a complex situation.

"Hey, catch."

Vic turned just in time, as a white paper bag crashed into her chest, her arms automatically folding over it.

Branch leaned into the door jamb near her chair as he took a bite of the sandwich in his hand. His mouth full, he grinned at her. "Pick whichever one you want and give the other two to the boys."

The delicious smells and her rumbling stomach were too hard to ignore and she stood and opened the take-out bag. After checking her options, she selected the turkey club, and then walked across to the cell with the other sandwiches.

"Here you go. Eat up."

Neither boy rose. Vic glanced between them as she held up the bag, finally settling on Dylan, who was at least looking at her. "Come on Dylan, you both must be hungry."

After a moment Dylan lifted himself off the cot. Vic pulled the two sandwiches out of the bag so she could hand them separately to him through the bars

She glanced over at Andy, who hadn't moved, before looking back at Dylan. "Please get him to eat something. You guys have a lot ahead of you."

Dylan looked down at the sandwiches in his hands. "I'll try."

Vic watched them both for a moment longer, and then returned to her desk to claim her own sandwich. She nodded toward Branch, who was almost finished devouring his. "What did you choose?"

"Buffalo chicken."

His words came out a little distorted since his mouth was full, but she got enough to understand his answer. "Did you pick these up?"

He shook his head and swallowed. "Nope. Henry personally delivered them."

Henry had been here? She hadn't noticed him walk into the building even though she'd been staring down at the street, but she admitted she'd been a little lost in her thoughts. And he must have used Walt's private entrance, because surely she would have noticed him walking by.

Branch rolled up the wrapper from his sandwich and aimed it at the nearby garbage can. It hit the rim, and successfully dropped into the receptacle. "Henry's still here." He jabbed a thumb in the direction of Walt's office. "They're both in there huddling over a map. And they had Tom Haskill on the phone for a bit."

She absent-mindedly bit into her sandwich as she looked at the closed door. They must be discussing where Tyler might be. She took a few more bites as she wondered why Walt hadn't brought her into the conversation. Swallowing, she wrapped up the remainder of her sandwich and dropped it on her desk before heading for his office.

"Walt asked me to t—"

But she cut off Branch's sentence with a wave of her hand as she neared the door. "I'm going to talk to him for a sec."

She knocked, and when she didn't receive an answer, turned the knob and stepped in. Walt and Henry were indeed leaning over a map, quietly conversing, and neither looked up at the sound of the door opening. Feeling like an outsider to their two-person huddle, she wasn't sure how to interject.

"Uh...hey Walt. Just seeing if you need my help with anything."

Henry turned toward her as Walt looked up. "Oh...Vic..." Walt's eyes then slid to the windows. "Uh...it's getting late, and you've had a long day." His gaze returned to hers. "Branch is going to stay here and watch over the boys until midnight, and then Ferg will replace him, so you can call it a day."

"I can help with the search for Tyler."

"There's...uh...there's nothing we can really do tonight...other than calling the sheriff departments in the surrounding counties with an APB on Tyler and his truck. Branch is going to be calling the ones in the counties in Wyoming and Tom is going to call the ones just over the border in Montana. And, if Branch or Ferg learn anything at any point tonight they are going to call us. So...uh...you can head home."

"What about you? You've had a long weekend too, and should get some sleep." She noticed Henry turn to look back down at the map.

Resting his hands on his hips, Walt shifted his stance. "I will. There are a couple of sheriffs I want to call directly, and then I'm going to hand over the rest to Branch. And...uh...Branch is going to give you a ride home, since you don't have your truck."

As if on cue, Branch appeared in the doorway holding his keys. "Ready to go?"

She glanced back at Walt, who had already joined Henry in leaning over the map again, before looking back at Branch. "Um. Ok."

She gave a final look over at the desk. "Goodnight."

But they were back to their hushed talking and didn't seem to notice her slip out the door.

XX

Having really pushed herself the last fifteen minutes of her run, she bent over, hands on hips, breathing hard. She took a few steadying breaths and then straightened. Wiping the sweat from her brow, she stepped on to the road, stopping suddenly as the Bronco came into view.

Walt was parked on the street, at the end of her driveway. In the fading light, she was able to see him, even at this distance. He was looking up at her house, but making no move to get out of his truck, and she wondered how long he'd been sitting there.

She approached, studying him from the safety of the shadows. Not until she was a few yards away from his front bumper did he turn his head, his eyes landing on hers, his expression unreadable. They stayed like that, staring at each other for a moment or two, until she broke eye contact to glance down at her feet. Another pause, and then she lifted her head and walked up to the passenger side of the vehicle. When she tested the handle, she found the door unlocked, and she slid into the seat while he continued to stare out the windshield.

"Hey."

He ran his right hand along his thigh. "Hey."

Still feeling heated from her run, she began to unzip her jacket, and then thought better of it and re-zipped it. She should be stretching on the front lawn right now, as part of her cool-down routine, and was probably going to pay for it later, given the intensity of the exercise, but she stayed rooted to her seat. Running her hand across her still damp forehead, she joined him in staring out the windshield.

"You and Henry get everything figured out?" She didn't mean for her question to come out harshly. Or maybe she did a bit.

"Yeah...sorry about that."

"I felt like you were kicking me out...of our case."

"I...I didn't mean to exclude you. Henry and I were just going through the trails and climbs that might be good for soloing, to see if we could narrow down the places Tyler might be."

"I know you didn't mean to exclude me. But you also didn't try to include me. You're so used to going it alone. Or turning to your old pal, Henry. And this not a slight on Henry. I'd include him too. But I could have helped out. I want to be someone you turn to as well."

"I had Branch drive you home because I really do think we both need some rest before we begin our search."

Her eyes flashed over to him. "But maybe you could have included me in that decision, instead of sending me home."

He ran his hand under his chin. "You're right."

Looking up at her house, she realized that she had forgotten to turn her outside light on before her run. She turned back toward him.

"You and Henry narrow in on anything?"

"We identified some potential trails and climbing locations Tyler might have gone, but it's all a guess. He could be anywhere. Tom Haskill is going to put someone outside Joanne Daniels' house in case he comes home tonight, but we really have nothing to go on."

She watched as he removed his hat and leaned back into his seat, exhaling deeply. He sucked in his lower lip and then closed his eyes.

"You ok?"

When his eyes met hers, she saw the weariness in his gaze. "Hmm...oh...um, yeah. I...I was just thinking about the boys. About..." He shook his head. "About what they must have gone through that led them to this."

"Yeah. You were right, earlier, about perpetrators sometimes also being the victims. Bullying is such a complicated situation."

He half-nodded as he ran his fingers across his lower lip.

"You aren't blaming yourself, are you?"

He shrugged. "It's my town. My school. My football program. I can't not feel somewhat responsible."

"It was your school...and it was your football program. Years ago. And it's my town too. We can't take on the burden for everything bad that happens here."

He turned his head, still leaning against the back of his seat, and looked over at her.

She arched an eyebrow. "What? You're not going to tell me I'm right about this as well? Because I am. Right."

His slow smile was a welcome sight.

She leaned her shoulder back into her own seat and held his gaze. "Did you go home or come straight here?"

"Sort of both."

Her eyebrows arched higher. "I don't think it's physically possible to be in two places at once."

"I drove home but didn't quite make it out of my truck."

"Wanted to check up on me?"

He blinked as another slow smile lit his lips. "Yep."

"You want to come in?"

He continued to hold her gaze for a moment, before suddenly turning his head and sitting up straight. "I...I should get going. We're both tired and I..." Lifting his hat to his head, he looked over at her. "I don't want to wear out my welcome."

"I told you before that I'm not sick of you."

"Yet."

"I'm not even close to it."

"I don't want to risk it."

"I don't think it's a risk."

"You say that now."

'We've been around each other quite a bit these last few years, Walt. I think we've proven we can handle it."

"But now things are different."

She grinned. "Yes. They are. Which is why you should come in."

He leaned back into his seat, but stared out the windshield.

She decided to change the topic. "I didn't think you knew where I live. I was wondering that last Saturday when you drove me home, but that wasn't really the time to ask, given...well...you know."

"Uh..." He sat up and gripped the steering wheel with both hands. "When...uh...when you had the issue with Gorski, and stayed at my place for a night...I was...I was worried about you when you changed your mind and decided to go back to sleeping at your place. Gorski was still out there, and Sean was out of town, and I felt responsible for you not being comfortable at my place, with Lizzie showing up and everything, so I...I looked up where you live in your file, and I...uh...I drove over here...and parked outside and...just...sat here for a while."

When he turned toward her, her eyes must have grown big, because he rushed to continue his explanation.

"I know you are capable of taking care of yourself, but Gorski wasn't to be trusted, and I...I knew I wasn't going to be able to sleep unless I knew you were safe."

"Was it just that once?"

"Well...uh...no. It was more than once. Only when Sean was out of town. And not every day. I switched up the days, and the times, in case Gorski was watching, so that he couldn't predict when you'd be alone."

He bowed his head slightly.

"Saying all this out loud, it sounds like I was just adding myself as another stalker to your list, but I wasn't...I wasn't watching you. I was just watching over you. I assumed you didn't know I was out here, and I didn't mean to intrude or make you feel uncomfortable."

He ran both hands along his thighs.

"And after Sean left for Australia...I was worried about you again...with you being out here by yourself. But it was also...it was also because I was thinking about you. And I'd sometimes drive over and just...sit."

"And you never thought about coming in?"

He briefly cupped the back of his neck. "I did. Especially these last months. But..."

"You had your concerns. About us...being together."

He nodded, and then slowly turned his head her way.

Reaching out, she grasped some of the fabric of his sleeve between her fingers and lightly pulled. "I think you should come in."

"I just told you of my stalker-like behavior, and you want me to come in?"

"You're not a stalker if I invite you in."

He scratched at his neck. "It's late."

"It's like eight o'clock."

"We need some rest."

"We can get some rest together."

He raised an eyebrow.

She smiled. "I'm tired too. Just come in, and we'll get a good night's sleep...together."

He blinked.

"And you can watch over me...directly. Much more comfortable than sitting out here in your truck."

She tugged on his sleeve again. "Come on." And without giving him a chance to turn down her offer again, she pulled the door handle, stepped out of the Bronco, and waited in front of the vehicle for him. She felt a surge of relief when she finally saw him pull himself out of the driver's side of the truck.

The crunch of the gravel was the only sound as they made their way up the driveway. Twice she felt his fingers graze hers as their arms swung at their sides while they walked.

In her darkened doorway, he stood close as she reached into the hidden pocket inside the band of her shorts for the key. She could tell he was looking down at her from the angle of his hat, but it was too dark to actually see his face. She could hear his soft breathing, as he took a step toward her, and then felt his pinky wrapping around hers. And then just as quickly he released her hand and stepped back to give her space to open the door.

Once inside, she fumbled for the switch, and they both blinked as light flooded the room. He removed his hat, which she took from his hand and placed, rim side up, on the nearby end table. Pulling her phone from her pocket, she hung up her coat. He copied her action, hanging his coat on the hook next to hers.

"You want a tour?"

"Uh...sure."

She waved around the room. "This is the front room. Kitchen is through there. Ready to see the upstairs?"

He smiled at her brevity.

"Yep."

She turned the downstairs light off, and guided him up the stairway. "Don't get too attached to this place. It's leased only through the end of the year. We got the house through Sean's company, so I'll need to find another place in a couple months."

"You'll be moving?"

"Yep."

They arrived at the top of the stairs, and again she ran her hand along the wall to find the light switch.

They both glanced around the room.

She pointed to the bathroom. "I'm going to take a quick shower, 'cause I'm kind of gross after my run. You can get settled."

He nodded.

She placed her phone down on the nearest side table, and then walked over to the dresser, and pulled some clothes to wear to bed from the second drawer. She turned to find Walt still rooted in the spot they'd been standing in.

"You ok?"

He blinked. "Yep."

She watched as he walked over to the end of the bed, sat down and began to pull off his boots, before heading for the shower.

When she returned to the bedroom, wearing a t-shirt and a pair of shorts, and running a towel through her wet hair, she found Walt still sitting in the same position.

She walked around the bed and stepped in front of him. "Are you going to sleep fully clothed, here, at the end of the bed?"

"What? Oh, uh, no. I was just...I didn't know what side of the bed was yours."

Her eyes fell on the comforter, and then slid up to the headboard. "I haven't really had a side for a while. I'm kind of sleeping in the middle these days. I moved the bed against a different wall, and bought a new mattress and bedding. I guess I've just been changing thing up since..."

She paused, dropping her eyes.

"Since Sean left?"

She nodded. "Yep."

Her eyes still on the bed, she could tell his gaze was still directed up at her. She felt his hands slide to the back of her legs, as he lightly pulled her toward him. "I can sleep on whatever side you want me to sleep on."

She unsnapped the top snap of his shirt. "I know you sleep on the right side of your bed, so I'll take the left."

"Ok." He looked down as his fingers pulled at the hem of her shorts. "What are these?"

Her forehead creased in confusion. "Shorts."

"No they're not."

"Uh, yeah they are."

He laughed. "Well, they're extremely short shorts. Just barely shorts is more like it."

She grinned. "But they're still shorts. They may not be suitable for public consumption, but they're perfectly fine for sleeping in."

His hands climbed further up the back of her legs. "Trying to get me to change my mind about going to sleep right away?"

She grinned again. "Is it working?"

He stared up at her. "Yes."

She stepped back and away from his grasp. "Well I promised you that we'd get some rest."

She heard his soft chuckle as she made her way back to the bathroom.

Hanging her damp towel over the bar, she picked up her brush and then called out over her shoulder. "I found a new toothbrush for you, if you're interested."

Walt appeared in the doorway, wearing only his button-down and boxer shorts.

She handed him the toothbrush and toothpaste, and then leaned across the sink to rub some condensation off the mirror so she could see. With a pause, Walt looked down at the items in his hand, before moving to the end of the counter, closing the lid of the toilet and sitting down. She could feel him watching her as she brushed her hair, but when she turned toward him he dropped his chin and looked away.

"It smells good in here. You smell good."

She smiled at his words as she picked up her toothbrush and walked over to him. When she held it out in front of him he looked up.

"Can I get some of that?"

He blinked, and then seemed to remember he had the toothpaste in his hand. Unscrewing the cap, he squeezed some out for her.

"Thanks."

She returned to her spot in front of the sink, and a moment later he stepped in beside her, his toothbrush in hand.

When they both finished up, she turned off the faucet, and led the way back into the bedroom.

Slipping under the covers, she waited until he arrived at his side of the bed before turning off the lamp. Walt removed his shirt, turned off the other lamp, and slid in next to her. The dark swallowed them both up, and she listened to him get settled on his side of the mattress. A few minutes of stillness passed, and she began to wonder if he'd fallen asleep, when she was surprised by his arm suddenly sliding across her waist.

He leaned in, his lips grazing her ear. "You were amazing today."

She turned into him, and they shifted together, her head finally coming to rest on his chest near his shoulder, as his arm pulled her close.

"We were amazing."