Dinner had the same lackluster results. I tried not to feel defeated when I went to bed that night, though it was hard not to be down. It was a lonely place to be without Reeve, and it had only been one day. I slept in his room, even though I had one of my own. In the large house, his room was the only space that felt comfortable.
I spent the next morning in the library, first examining the shelves and then poking around on the computer. It was possible, I’d decided, that Amber might have used it when she’d been there. If she did, she could have saved a document or maybe the browser history had something of interest.
But I found nothing useful.
At lunch, I got lucky.
This time, instead of sitting with the masses, I picked out the man sitting by himself wearing a security uniform. Tabor and the men I’d seen carrying around the house wore slacks and button-downs, but the guards at the front gate wore uniforms like this one. I was interested in the unanswered question about the high level of security, and certain I wouldn’t get anything from the slacks.
“Mind if I sit, uh” – I bent to make out the name on his front pocket – “Cade?”
He appeared surprised to have anyone talk to him, looking around the room as if he didn’t think I’d ask unless there was nowhere else to sit. “Um. Sure.” Maybe there was a guideline about not talking to the uniforms, but since Reeve hadn’t included it in his expectations, I wasn’t too worried about breaking it.
“Great, thanks!” I sat and nibbled at my half-sandwich and salad while we made small talk about the weather and whether or not I’d ever been to Wyoming before.
Slowly I shifted the conversation to his job. “How long have you worked here, anyway, Cade?”
“Just hit ten years last month.”
I almost flipped my tray from leaning forward too excitedly. “That’s great. You must really like working here to have stayed this long. I bet you have great stories – like about the people who visit. The women that Reeve brings here.”
He laughed. “Ah, I see what you’re after. Sorry, sweetie, I’m not allowed to talk about Mr. Sallis’s… guests.” Dammit, Cade wasn’t an idiot. “But it was a good effort on your part. And for the record” – he bent in and hushed his voice – “there have only been a couple he’s brought here. So consider yourself special.”
Special. I doubted that since Reeve had told me specifically that I wasn’t. Yet, hadn’t he shown me many times that maybe I actually was?
“Well, worth a try,” I said with an authentic though exaggerated sigh. Still, the conversation didn’t have to be a total loss. “Tell me then instead, is it normal to have this level of security at a ranch?”
He wagged his head back and forth as he contemplated his answer. “Ranch, yes. There are always people out to steal your livestock. Cattle are big business. Probably not usually this much security at a main house. But the Sallis family is… private.”
Yeah, “private” was one way to put it. Or maybe in hiding, going so far as to bury Reeve’s mother’s real name from anyone who searched.
I deliberated what to ask next. “Does the ranch get many visitors? Not of the women variety. Just, you know, visitors.” Like Michelis. Or other family members.
“I’m not allowed to talk about the people who stay in the house, as I said before. As for other visitors, I wouldn’t really know. I’ve always worked the surveillance room here and never at the main gates.”
“There’s a surveillance room here as well? For just the house?” I expected a few cameras on the roof, but certainly not something that had to be manned.
“Yeah. There’s three of us that work an eight-hour shift each. I’m lucky because there are two guys on the house duty during the day so I grab one to cover while I’m at lunch. I should be getting back now, though.” He wiped his mouth with a napkin then threw it on his tray.
As he stood up, I asked, “Would you mind showing it to me? The surveillance room, I mean.” Reeve had said that nothing was off limits. “I get nervous out here in the wild when Reeve’s gone. I’m sure you understand.”
Cade shrugged. “I suppose there’s no harm in that. Security here is tight, though, I’m telling you. You’re safe here. But if seeing it will make you feel better, I get that. You finished with that?” He gestured to my food. When I nodded, he picked it up under his. “Follow me.”
The surveillance room was behind a heavy door on the first floor just inside the house. I’d seen it when I’d explored the day before, but it was locked and I’d assumed it was to the electrical room or furnace since it was the only metal door I’d found.
Cade, of course, had keys. He let us in, and while he chatted with the guy who’d covered his break, I took in the room. It wasn’t very large, about 150 square feet. A curved desk with three rolling chairs took up most of the space, wrapping around two entire walls. Above the desk were twenty-five or so monitors, several turned off. Another wall had two metal cabinets – both unlocked and opened so I could see they were filled with digital recorders, a key sticking out of each door. Finally, there was a gun rack with more than a dozen different types of artillery including assault weapons, rifles, handguns, and what I thought was a machine gun. Underneath this were drawers that I assumed were for ammunition.
“See?” Cade said, noticing my eyes on the guns. He’d dismissed his substitute and it was now just he and I in the room. “We’re damn prepared here. This isn’t even a third of what’s down at the surveillance room by the main gates.”