Felicity spent the rest of the morning and the early part of the afternoon at The Coffee Spot. Immediately after getting her cell number, Callum had leaned over the counter to kiss Lou on the cheek and left, so Felicity only had one stone-faced giant to deal with. To her surprise, Bennett was an unexpectedly relaxing companion. Once he had Dino Fletcher’s details, he focused on researching on his own laptop while she studied maps of the town and surrounding areas.
When Felicity gave a little shiver, Bennett turned his head to look at her questioningly.
“It’s this.” She turned her laptop so he could see the topographic map she’d pulled up.
He frowned at the screen for a solid minute before giving her another look that clearly said he didn’t get it.
“All this.” She circled her hand over the map. “It’s so…mountainy.”
He still looked confused. “We’re…in the mountains?”
“I know.” She turned her computer so it faced her again. “But I’m a Front Range girl. I’m used to mountains being more of a pretty backdrop than a…”
When she paused, Lou stepped closer and filled in the blank. “A predator-filled, ice-coated, shifting rock pile of death?”
Felicity pointed at her. “Exactly.”
His snort sounded amused, making Felicity raise her eyebrows at him. “You disagree?”
“Nope.” He leaned back on his stool, his dark eyes gleaming at her in a way that made her want to smile back at him. “That’s actually a really good description.”
“I’m from the East Coast, so this”—Lou drew a circle over the map with her palm, imitating the motion Felicity had just made—“took a while to get used to. I love it out here, but it’ll never not be terrifying.”
For the first time since they’d hatched this plan, Felicity envied Charlie. Knowing Jane, she’d never venture out of civilization. At least Charlie wouldn’t have to chase her skip through snow-dusted cliffs littered with mountain lions.
Swallowing a sigh, Felicity made herself look on the bright side. At this altitude, she could test her lung capacity, plus she did love a good adrenaline rush. The extra helping of mountain danger would just add to her buzz.
“Find out anything useful?” she asked Bennett, deciding a subject change was in order.
He twitched his shoulders in an awkward shrug as he bent over his laptop again.
Something about him seemed so familiar, but Felicity couldn’t put her finger on what. She would’ve definitely remembered meeting—or even getting a glimpse of—Bennett, so he had to be reminding her of someone else. Pushing the thought to the side for the moment, she focused on what he was saying.
“I found a few names connected to the Freedom Survivors,” he said. “Clint Yarran seems to be the current guy in charge…at least for the past six months.”
“Yarran,” Lou repeated thoughtfully. Now that the lunch rush was over and everyone else except the three of them had left, she’d been chatting with Felicity while clearing tables. “That sounds familiar. Who was the boss before him?”
“I just have a nickname.” Bennett scrolled down as he peered at the screen. “Cobra Jones.”
“Hmm…” Felicity said. “Those are always the guys who started life with names like Eugene Balzac.”
Lou winced. “Oh, poor Eugene.”
Leaning over to get a better look at Bennett’s laptop, Felicity blinked and then turned to give him a condemning look even as she tried to hide her grin. “Field County Sheriff’s Department? Why, Mr. Bennett Green! Did you hack into the local sheriff’s records?”
Placing her hands over her ears, Lou called out, “La-la-la! My law enforcement–adjacent self can’t hear you talking about doing illegal stuff!”
“Maybe?” Bennett guiltily peeked at Felicity out of the corner of his eye, and she decided there should be a law against looking so adorable while also being such a big mountain of muscles and hard jawline. “Their security is terrible. It’s almost like they wanted me to access the records.”
“Norah!” Felicity said suddenly as the thing she’d been struggling to think of all day finally popped into her head. Bennett reminded her of Norah, which changed her entire perception of him. Maybe he wasn’t an ass—or at least as much of one as she first thought. Maybe, like Norah, he was just really socially awkward.
“What?” Lou asked.
“Your sister?” Bennett said at the same time.
“Yes, sorry.” Flushing a bit, Felicity waved her hand in an attempt to dismiss it. “I was just reminded of my sister. Going back to the militia, what happened six months ago?”
“Six months ago?” Bennett repeated, still looking slightly abashed from being caught hacking.
“When management changed.” Filing her speculation about Bennett into a file marked Things to Think About Later, Felicity refocused on her current case. “Why did Yarran get promoted? Did the militia guys just take a vote?”
Looking thoughtful, Lou paused in stacking some used plates. “I’ve never thought about how a militia’s structured. Is it led by democratically elected officials? A board of directors? Do they fight for the alpha position like a pack of werewolves?”
The last suggestion made Felicity stare at her before looking back at Bennett, who was scrolling through the records on his screen, apparently unfazed. “I’m not seeing anything.”
“Hang on.” Felicity did an internet search on Cobra Jones from Simpson, Colorado, but nothing relevant came up. He hadn’t died, been arrested, or anything else newsworthy—at least according to the internet. Disappointed, she sat back, thinking for a moment before asking Lou, “You mentioned being law enforcement–adjacent? What’s up with that?”
“I’m on the county’s rescue dive team,” Lou explained. “Callum too—he’s our brave leader, in fact. On calls, we work with lots of different departments: fire, search and rescue, sheriff’s office, even the Colorado BCA—Bureau of Criminal Apprehension—occasionally.”
“Anyone discreet and willing to share info at the sheriff’s office?” Felicity asked, wishing she was back in Langston with all her and her sisters’ contacts.
“Hmm…maybe?” Lou already had her phone out and was texting someone. After a few minutes, she spoke again. “Okay, so Daisy has to work until four tonight, but she said we can use her office for a murder club meeting anytime after that.”
That made even stone-faced Bennett blink.
“She does know this is just a boring meth dealer, right?” Felicity was questioning the wisdom of building her bounty-hunting army. “I can’t promise any murders.”
Waving a dismissive hand, Lou went back to clearing tables. “Don’t worry about disappointing the crew. They’re so hungry for some excitement, any crime will do.”
“That’s…reassuring?” Felicity found herself seeking eye contact with Bennett yet again. She really couldn’t help herself. It appeared they were the only two semi-normal people in a town of rather odd ducks, and Felicity wasn’t used to that. She and her sisters—with their bond-recovery business and felonious mom—had always been the strange ones. It was disconcerting, to say the least.
Glancing at her phone, she cleared her laptop screen and powered down.
“Heading out?” Lou asked, looking a bit anxious, as if she was worried that Felicity would take her investigation—as tame as it was—and leave town altogether.
“It’s a little early to check in at the motel, but I’m going to try.” Felicity swallowed a yawn as she gathered her things, tucking everything neatly into her laptop bag. “My extremely early morning is catching up with me.”
“Callum has your number, right?” After Felicity nodded, Lou continued, “I’ll have him text you the address for Daisy’s gym. Not that you really need the address—it’s the only gym in town, and the town’s pretty small. Want to meet there around five? That way, we’ll be done before dinner. I highly recommend going to Levi’s after the murder club meeting.”
“Levi’s?” she asked.
“Barbecue place.” Lou clarified. “You’ll love it. Bring your stalker if you like.”
Felicity raised her eyebrows at him. “If I don’t, you’ll just show up anyway, won’t you?”
His shrug was definitely a yes.
The Black Bear Inn wasn’t much, but Felicity had seen a lot worse over the past couple weeks hunting for her mom. At least it was cheap and looked clean, plus not having to share with Charlie was a nice bonus. The security on the place was a joke though. The room key was an actual key, with the room number attached. In all her bounty-hunting travels, she’d never seen that before—except in horror movies.
She’d barely put her bag down when a heavy knock at the door made her jump. Blaming her atypical nerves on her earlier scary-movie thoughts, Felicity exhaled in a laugh and headed for the door. After checking the peephole, she rolled her eyes and unlatched the dead bolt.
“Really, Mr. Green?” She swung open the door, revealing the man in all his mountain-size glory. “It’s been five minutes. Even real stalkers aren’t this dedicated.”
His frown appeared even more pronounced than usual as he peered over her shoulder into her room.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, following his gaze and not seeing anything except outdated furniture and her couple of bags.
“This place.”
She waited, but he didn’t seem inclined to elaborate.
“I mean, I’ve stayed in worse.” She gave a shrug as she leaned against the frame, holding the door open with her shoulder. When his frown deepened even more, she took a guess at what was bothering him. “Is it the furnishings from the seventies or the ancient plumbing that’s making you extra grumpy?”
“I’m not grumpy.” He had the gall to look surprised by that.
“Well, you give a really good impression of a Grumpy Gus then.” Her brain and body were protesting her early-morning wake-up, and she could feel her nap-time minutes slipping away. “What specifically is bothering you about this place?”
“The security.” He held up his key, dangling it between two fingers as if it were something nasty he didn’t want to touch. “This is a key.”
Amusement edged into Felicity’s tired impatience. “Very good,” she said in a slow, encouraging tone, one she would use when praising Warrant for retrieving his ball after she’d thrown it.
By the way Bennett’s eyes narrowed, he’d obviously caught her sarcasm. “This is my room number.” He gave the key still dangling from his fingers a shake, and the attached wooden piece—which indeed had #4 carved into it—rattled against the metal key and chain. “With the key.”
She sighed, resigning herself to the fact that she probably wasn’t getting any sleep until after the murder club meeting and dinner. “I need you to get to the point, B. Do you want to borrow my pepper spray?”
“What? No.” His hand holding his key dropped back to his side. “I’ll be okay.”
Felicity caught the slight emphasis he’d given the word I’ll and folded her arms across her chest. “Mm-hmm. So if you’ll be okay, what’s the problem?” She bared her teeth in something she knew looked nothing like an actual smile.
“You’re—” As oblivious to social cues as he seemed to be, he did catch himself after only one word. He studied her uncertainly before carefully rewording whatever he’d been about to say. “I wanted to make sure that you felt safe here.”
She couldn’t hold back an actual smile at that. As much as she wanted to keep him at arm’s length, the man could be obnoxiously sweet at times. “Thank you. I’ll be fine. I appreciate your concern, but I really need a nap.”
As she stepped back and moved to close the door, Bennett caught the edge to stop it. “Do you need any…protection?”
Her mind immediately went to condoms, and her face got fiery hot. “Umm…what?”
“Weapons?” he clarified, appearing to be thankfully unaware of her misunderstanding. “Trip wires? Small explosives?”
It was her turn to study him. She was too tired to determine whether he was joking or not, so she forced a polite smile and shook her head. “No, thank you. I’m all set with explosives and trip wires. Come back around quarter to five, and we’ll drive to the murder club meeting together.”
His eyebrows shot up underneath his shaggy black bangs. “Together? Really?”
“No sense in taking separate cars.” She tugged on the door handle, and he released his grip, allowing her to close the door almost all the way between them. At the last second, she leaned back out. “Besides, you’d just follow me anyway.” At his affirmative shrug, she snorted and closed the door with a firm click. “Stalker.”
She wasn’t sure what that said about her that she said it almost…fondly.
The gym was surprisingly new and expansive. Even though Simpson was a tiny place, the machines and weight room were much better than anything her hometown of Langston had to offer. Felicity was quickly learning that there were lots of hidden details in this quirky little mountain town, both nice and not so nice.
Just like a certain PI, she thought with a quick glance at Bennett. He’d offered to be the one to drive, and Felicity had agreed. Not only did she—probably unwisely—trust the guy for some reason, but she also knew that the motel was within a fairly reasonable walking distance if things went south and she had to find her own way back. Also, she may not carry small explosives, but she wasn’t completely defenseless.
“Felicity!” Lou called out from the other side of the space. When Felicity looked over, the blond woman waved them toward an open door in the corner behind a line of heavy bags. Just a couple people were using the equipment—a woman doing dead lifts in the weight room and a man running on a treadmill.
Felicity led the way toward Lou, sensing that Bennett was following behind her. It was strange how much it felt like he was watching her back.
Felicity paused in the doorway, taking in the three women already sitting around the office. She wasn’t shy in any way, but walking into something casually called a murder club was a bit disconcerting. Two of the women were smiling, however, and the other had a serious expression that seemed neutral rather than hostile. “Hello,” Felicity said.
“Daisy, Ellie, Rory,” Lou introduced quickly. “Where’s the peanut, Ellie?”
“Home with George.” Ellie had a sweet expression, big dark eyes, and long dark hair. “I figured she’s a little young to be an active murder club member.”
Although Lou looked disappointed, she said, “You’re probably right. Everyone, this is Felicity and Bennett.”
“No Callum?” Felicity asked, giving a general wave of greeting to the room before finding an empty seat between Ellie and Rory. Daisy sat behind the desk, leaning back in her chair and idly turning the seat back and forth. The movement made Felicity think that, had Daisy been alone, she would’ve been spinning the chair around.
“The fire chief grabbed him for an impromptu budget meeting,” Lou said, hopping up to sit on the corner of the desk. “I promised to tell him everything I learn tonight and also that I wouldn’t let anyone drag me to the militia compound—or drag anyone else there.”
“Knowing you,” Daisy said, “that promise isn’t nearly comprehensive enough.”
“I know, right?” Lou shook her head. “It’s like he doesn’t know me at all.”
Felicity glanced toward the doorway, where Bennett was leaning against the wall. “Daisy, is there another chair we can pull in here?”
“Right, sorry!” The woman was halfway to standing when Bennett shook his head.
“I’m fine here,” he said, back in poker-face mode.
Felicity studied him, wondering if he ever really left poker-face mode or if she was just getting better at reading his slight changes of expression.
Daisy remained hovering above her chair, half sitting and half standing. “You sure? It’s no problem to grab a chair from the front.”
Bennett gave a slight but firm affirmative dip of his head, and Daisy settled into her seat again.
“Pretty nice promotion,” Lou said to Bennett with just the slightest suspicious edge to her vivacious tone. “From stalker to partner.”
Felicity found herself inexplicably bristling. Pressing down the urge to defend the big guy, she managed to say mildly, “Not quite a partner. More of a lieutenant in my brand-new bounty-hunting army.”
“You’re a bounty hunter?” Ellie asked.
“Yes!” Lou answered excitedly before Felicity could say a word. “She’s after a meth dealer and needs our help finding him.”
“Just research help.” Felicity had a feeling she needed to slow the runaway train that was Lou before everyone in the room ended up breaking into the militia compound at two in the morning, rappelling down the walls in black catsuits like the mountain version of Charlie’s Angels. “And you’ll be researching somewhere safe and far away from the actual militia.”
Lou laughed, not appearing to take offense. “Callum will be relieved to hear that. Why don’t you tell us who and what you’re looking for, and we’ll share what we know?”
“Okay.” Felicity resisted the urge to clear her throat. With all the stares fixed on her, she felt like she was back in high school, about to give an oral report. “Before I do, I’d ask that you keep what I tell you to yourselves—”
“Callum and Chris, Daisy’s husband, already know,” Lou broke in. “And Ellie and Rory tell their husbands everything.”
“That’s fine.” It wasn’t really fine, but Felicity knew it was inevitable that they share the news with their respective partners. “If you can just limit it to the eight of you, I’d appreciate it.” She waited for nods all around before continuing. “My skip is a member of the Freedom Survivors…”
A groan from multiple people interrupted her.
“Do you think we could start a petition to change that name?” Daisy asked. “It’s so dumb that it’s embarrassing for everyone involved.”
Hopping off her perch on the desk, Lou grabbed a marker from the ledge of the whiteboard propped on an easel in the corner of the office. She wrote Create petition to change name from Freedom Survivors to something better on the bottom of the board. “Not a priority right now, but I agree it’s something we need to do as soon as Felicity gets her guy. A name that bad reflects poorly on the whole town.”
Bennett gave a soft cough, drawing Felicity’s attention. Although his expression hadn’t changed, she had a feeling he was amused.
She swallowed her own smile and asked, “Okay for me to continue?”
Lou waved a hand in an expansive gesture before lifting the marker to the top of the board and pausing there as if waiting to record whatever Felicity was about to say. All the focused attention was throwing her off a little, but she gamely plunged back in.
“Dino Fletcher is a meth dealer who was arrested in Langston.” She paused as Lou wrote Dino Fletcher—meth dealer, Langston, CO. “He was released on bail but never showed up to his first court date. Before he came to Langston two years ago, he was a member of the…Freedom Survivors.” After the previous discussions, she couldn’t help pausing before she said it.
Lou used her marker to tap the note about the petition.
“Do you have a picture?” asked the serious one of the four—Rory, Felicity remembered.
Felicity pulled up Dino’s mug shot on her phone and handed it to Rory. She studied the photo before passing it across Felicity to Ellie as Daisy and Lou moved to where they could see the screen over Ellie’s shoulder.
“Tall guy,” Ellie commented, and Felicity nodded. At six four, the guy should be easy to spot in a group. He could change his hair color or length, grow a beard, or even disguise his face, but he was stuck being tall.
“Have any of you seen him around Simpson before?” Felicity asked.
“Don’t think so,” Lou said, and the other three shook their heads.
Ellie handed Felicity’s phone back to her. “Sorry.”
Waving off the woman’s apology, Felicity gave her a small smile as she returned her phone to her pocket. “It was a long shot anyway. Since the guy just skipped bail, he’s going to be doing his best to stay out of sight.”
“What information do you need from us?” Rory asked.
“To start, where the militia compound is located.”
“I’ve got this.” Daisy sent a text, and her phone rang seconds later. “Hey, what’s up?” She paused and then answered whoever was on the other side of the call. “Because I figured you’d know where our Freedom Survivor friends hang out. Do you?” Smirking a little, she spoke again. “I don’t need to go there. My new friend, Felicity, needs to go there.”
Felicity was a little surprised she’d been elevated from brand-new acquaintance to friend so quickly.
“Because her bail jumper is there—well, it’s likely he’s there.” This time, the pause was shorter. “She’s a bounty hunter. How awesome is that?” Daisy smiled at Felicity, looking positively delighted. “Lou met her first, and then she got the murder club back together.”
Whatever the person on the other end of the call said made Daisy’s smile disappear.
“Oh, don’t worry,” she assured the person. “Dino isn’t a murderer. He’s just a meth dealer.” She sighed at the response. “That’s okay if you don’t want to tell us. Rory’s pretty sure she knows the general location. We’ll just go there and wander around a bit until we find it.”
Everyone looked at Rory, who looked mildly surprised at this news.
“Uh-huh.” Daisy’s grin was back, triumphant this time. She jumped up from her chair and hurried to the whiteboard, accepting the marker Lou offered her and scribbling directions on the empty top left corner of the board. “Uh-huh. Got it. Love you. I will. See you at home tonight. Bye.” As she ended the call, she looked proud. “Chris gave me the location.” After a glance at Felicity, she clarified, “My husband is a deputy for the Field County Sheriff’s Department.”
Felicity thanked her as she copied the notes from the whiteboard into her phone. Apparently, she’d picked the right murder club to ask for help.
“Does anyone know the new leader of the militia?” she asked. “Clint Yarran?”
Rory frowned. “What happened to Cobra?”
“Cobra?” Ellie repeated. “Someone’s trying a little too hard to compensate for something.”
Felicity snorted at the comment but focused on Rory. “Clint took over the position six months ago. You knew Cobra?”
“I don’t know him well.” Rory was beginning to look uncomfortable with everyone focused on her. Felicity could relate. “He just bought a couple of shotguns from me.” Her gaze moved to meet Felicity’s. “I own a gun store.”
“Gun store?” Felicity smiled in surprised delight. She knew she didn’t fit the bounty-hunting mold, and people were always shocked when she told them what she did for a living. She imagined this quiet, slight woman got a similar reaction.
Rory didn’t elaborate. She just watched Felicity with wary light eyes.
Letting her curiosity slide since she figured Lou would give her all the details later, Felicity asked instead, “Have you seen Cobra since Clint took over?”
Rory’s gaze turned thoughtful before she shook her head. “Not for almost a year.”
“Know what his legal name was?” Felicity asked.
“Cobra Jones.” As hard as it was to believe that any parent would name their child Cobra, Rory’s voice was confident. “That’s what he used for the background check, so if it’s a nickname, he had it legally changed to Cobra at some point.”
While they’d been talking, Lou had listed Cobra and Clint on the whiteboard, and she’d sketched out a timeline with Rory’s last sighting of Cobra on it.
“Are we going to be researching the Freedom Survivors’ leadership?” Ellie asked, sounding hopeful.
“Possibly.” Lou added Clint’s takeover of the militia to the timeline. “I’m curious now. Did Cobra willingly give up control, or did something more nefarious happen? Did Clint literally kill for his new position?”
“It’s more likely Cobra bought an RV and retired in Texas.” Bennett’s bass voice came unexpectedly from his spot by the door and made them all jump.
“Do you know something we don’t?” Felicity asked.
His eyebrows drew together. “No?”
“Your hypothetical was just very specific.” Turning back to the women, she said, “He’s right though.” She hated to ruin their fun, but she also felt responsible for her little bounty-hunting army, and she didn’t want them poking around in the local militia and making potentially dangerous enemies. “It’s most likely he’s safe somewhere else.”
The other four women exchanged a look with one another, but the only response was a half-hearted “maybe” from Lou.
“So what’s our next step?” Daisy asked, changing the subject with more enthusiasm than smoothness.
Felicity let it slide, reminding herself that she was not these women’s mother. If they were going to investigate the Freedom Survivors’ regime change, there was really nothing Felicity could do except warn them of the dangers. “I’m going to the address your husband gave us and poke around a little. If I’m lucky, Dino will be there, and I’ll nab him.”
“Is it usually that easy to find a bail jumper?” Ellie asked.
Turning her hand from side to side in a sort-of motion, Felicity said, “Sometimes. Most skips aren’t geniuses, so they’re pretty easy to track down. Others…” She trailed off as she thought about some of their harder, more dangerous cases. “Others are more work.” She didn’t elaborate more than that, not wanting to quash their enthusiasm with the less-fun reality.
“What can we do in the meantime?” Lou asked, capping her marker.
“Anything you can find out about Dino or the Freedom Survivors would be helpful.” Felicity hesitated, conscious of the possibility she might be leading these very nice ladies into trouble. “Try to be discreet, however. If Dino finds out we’re searching for him, he’ll be gone. You don’t want to rile up Clint and his buddies either. I have a feeling they’d make uncomfortable enemies.” All four women nodded their agreement, and Felicity stood. “You were all really helpful. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” Lou, who was apparently the group’s spokesperson, said. “Good luck out there.”
Felicity moved toward the door, but the other women stayed in place. “Well…bye,” she said a bit awkwardly before unlocking and opening the door. Bennett followed her out into the main gym, and Felicity realized that she was looking forward to discussing what they’d just learned with him.
She swallowed a groan. As much as she fought it, the guy continued inching his way closer to being her partner. Charlie was never going to let her forget this.