TUESDAY, 1:00 P.M.
BRIDGER COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE
This was taking much too long. Harper sat in the stuffy meeting room again. Heath and his brother stood behind her against the wall, along with Sheriff Taggart, waiting for the computer tech.
At least she wasn’t sitting in this room alone with Heath after the fiasco last night. At least his brother had shown up to keep him company, but if she remembered correctly, he and Liam fought a lot. By the looks of them together now, neither of them was happy.
Harper rubbed the tight muscles in her neck. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could wait for an explanation as to why the sheriff had asked her to come in. Had they found Sophie’s body? She didn’t get the feeling it was that. Maybe a piece of evidence. Something they needed Harper to see and confirm.
Heath didn’t know what was going on either. She suspected that was because he would only share the information with her. Taggart likely wanted be the one to deliver the news so he could see her reaction.
Maybe Taggart had grown tired of waiting as well because he moved to stand in front of her and crossed his arms. “A tourist found a memory card. Looked at the contents and then turned it over to us.”
Her chest constricted. “You found the pictures I took.”
“We don’t know that yet. You tell us.”
“What are we waiting for?”
He paced the small space. “The computer tech transferred the photos and will be here to pull them up in a minute.”
Seconds ticked by on the wall clock.
Heath moved to stand against the opposite wall, his expression unreadable. Why had she given in to her ridiculous desire to kiss him? Because being near him drove her to do stupid things like lean closer for a kiss. Because they’d connected before as kids, and for some inexplicable reason it was as if they’d picked up where they had left off and deepened their connection.
Except given the traumatic events of her childhood, and the scenes she’d witnessed each week at her job, she knew that the worst kind of tragedy could steal a loved one away. So Harper long ago resolved she would never leave herself vulnerable to that kind of pain. Kissing him had been a huge mistake.
The door swung open.
“Sorry about that.” A short-haired brunette woman, young and lively, rushed to the table.
Harper had half expected a stereotypical nerdy guy.
The girl sat next to her. “I’m Meghan.”
“Nice to meet you, Meghan.”
But Meghan’s focus had tunneled in on the computer. She glanced at Sheriff Taggart.
“Go ahead, Meghan. Let’s see what we’ve got. Moffett will join us soon.”
Harper held her breath, uncertain of her reaction to the images, if they were hers.
Meghan typed on the keyboard and the dark screen lit up. She opened up a digital photo album.
Though Harper had braced herself, the breath whooshed from her.
“Are these your images?” the sheriff asked.
“Yes.”
“I thought so. Though you aren’t the only one to photograph thousands of pictures of Yellowstone National Park, the bear and then the victim and her shooter were as you described.”
“The other images are still on the camera—if only I hadn’t dropped it.” She averted her gaze from the images before her. In the past, she’d failed to look. This time, she’d failed to retrieve her documentation of the scene. At least they had found this card.
It was something.
It was everything.
“We learned of the missing woman and know what happened to her, thanks to your efforts,” Sheriff Taggart said.
“No one could have done better,” Heath added.
“We’ll see if we can get someone on this to enlarge the images,” Meghan said. “Find some detail to help us identify this man. Great photography, by the way. You got some great close-ups with the telephoto. Too bad about your equipment.”
“Are you going to be okay?” Sheriff Taggart asked. “I know these images must bring back those traumatic moments . . . Witnessing a murder is hard.”
“You’re right. It’s hard to see them again.” Heart pounding, she kept her composure. “Will I get the pictures back? I mean, at least the thousands of images of the national parks? I’ve already uploaded most of them to the cloud, but those of Yellowstone haven’t been transferred yet.”
“We’ll see what we can do,” Taggart said, “but for now, these images stay with us.”
“Sheriff?” Liam spoke up now.
“You’re only here to observe because of your law enforcement experience. I thought we could use a fresh set of eyes on this case.”
“And that’s what you’ve got. A fresh set of eyes,” Liam said. “Let’s see about magnifying the images of that rifle. From this angle and the way he’s positioned, I don’t think we’ll be able to see the serial number. But maybe there’s another way to identify who made it and who bought it.”
“Are you kidding me? Wyoming is hunting paradise. You’d be looking for a needle in a haystack. The possibilities are infinite. He could have bought it online or anywhere in the country and brought it with him.”
“Except this guy is local.” Heath sounded sure of himself.
“How do you figure?” Taggart asked.
“Someone coming in from another state to hunt? This isn’t the season for that. I’d say it’s more likely that he’s from around here.” Heath continued to study the image. “This rifle is also custom made. I mean, look at the scope alone. Long range. The scope could be worth, at a minimum, three or four thousand dollars. And the rifle. Definitely not a factory rifle. Someone spent thousands of dollars on a rifle that can take up to a year to make, it’s that custom.”
Liam leaned in for a closer look. “Magnify that rifle, and we’ll see if there’s anything else special about it. The checkering or patterns. I could check out the local custom shops. See if I can learn anything. Unless it’s a ghost gun—one he made himself. Still, he could have gotten the parts locally. If this guy is a felon, he’d get it on the black market or definitely make it himself. It’s a direction. A lead I can follow.”
“You’re not on the county payroll.”
“Exactly. I’m just a guy interested in getting a rifle exactly like my friend’s there.”
Sheriff Taggart nodded. “I appreciate the assistance, Liam. I’ll consider you a consultant on this case.”
Heath smiled. Harper watched the three men. Respect for both Liam and Heath shined in Sheriff Taggart’s eyes.
Then Heath looked at her. He kept his smile in place, but somehow, she knew it was for her. They were okay again, despite the attraction between them.
Her heart sang.
Not good.