Free Gem Stone by Dale Mayer Page A

but valiant smile. "She's reacted to the drugs in a bad way. She's going to be okay, but it's a good thing you found her when you did. And I doubt that she's going to be released today or tomorrow."
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    "Oh, wow. That's scary." And it was. Then again, as much as she hated the thought of Misty still suffering, she might be safer in the hospital than here. And was it safe for any of them here if people were searching their rooms and taking belongings?
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    "Why the frown? Everything's good." Mark seemed to love to tease her. Then again, he teased everyone. She never knew how to take his remarks. Neither did she know how he regarded her. It occurred to her that the sheriff should have asked her about the possibility that Mark kidnapped Misty. Mark was big enough. She knew he'd had nothing to do with it, but they hadn't even put two and two together and gone there.
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    Mark didn't have that kind of behavior in him. In another life, where juvie didn't play a part in creating their character, he'd have made a great teddy bear. Gem rolled her stiff neck. What a crappy night.
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    "Get some coffee. It might make you feel a little more human this morning," Mark suggested.
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    "Might?" She poured coffee and sat down. The house was quiet for this time of day. She glanced at the clock. It was only seven am. After noting the sleepy looks on the faces around her, she stood up and excused herself to return to her room.
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    She dressed while her laptop booted up then checked her photos again to make sure they were still there. She brought them up on the screen, one at a time, using her generic imaging program. She enlarged and cropped, then enlarged again. She split each picture into eight pictures and enlarged each to the point they showed details she wouldn't see otherwise. As she made each one full screen, she used the magnifying tool and went over them inch by inch.
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    The only interesting picture was of Dumpty holding a tube or small kit of some kind. Chemicals? Water treatment stuff? Who knew? But the pictures were so blurry she didn't see anything new.
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    Were the men allowed to be there with that stuff? And why would they care if they'd been seen? Or had they kidnapped Misty for an entirely different reason? Maybe they were just tying up loose ends – as a precaution, so to speak.
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    A knock sounded on her door. Gem turned around. "Come in."
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    The door opened and Mark walked in. "Hey. How are you today?"
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    "Now that I know Misty's safe…" She shrugged. "Fine, I guess. You?"
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    "Tired, but otherwise okay." He leaned against the window sill. "My room was searched. Was yours?"
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    "Yes," she said, so angry it came out in a hiss. "My flash drive is missing. The one with all the photos I took out there last night."
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    "What?" He straightened. "Are you sure? Did you check everywhere? What about the USB port in the laptop? The camera case? Maybe it's loose somewhere in your room?"
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    "I've checked everywhere. Not only did they take that but they deleted all the photos in my desktop folder."
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    He stared at her, his shock clear on his face. "Are you serious? It's one thing to lift a card or flash drive but another thing altogether to turn on someone's laptop, check it over and delete stuff."
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    "I know. The folder isn't even there," she explained.
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    "How many pictures did you lose?"
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    "None that were important." She gave him an evil grin. "I always do a new folder when I download the card. Then sort them and only keep the ones I want. Then I send a backup by emailing them to myself. The creeps didn't find those."
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    " Shit. Let me see them."
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    "That's what I'm working on. Here." She showed him the line of thumbnail images open at the bottom of her screen. "I've just gone through them all. This one is the most interesting."
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    Standing at the bedroom window, she studied the terrain outside. Last night's fiasco had started over the right side of the