CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE

THURSDAY, 9:02 P.M.
CIRCLE S RANCH

What seemed like a lifetime later had been only a few hours. The sheriff asked that anyone who didn’t have to be out in public, remain at home. Law enforcement guarded the crime scene. The face of the small town of Grayback, the town Harper had known as a child growing up, had been changed forever.

With what had happened, everyone staying at Circle S Ranch had not made the move back to Emerald M yet. Liam had borrowed Heath’s truck and hadn’t returned with it, so Lori had brought Heath and Harper back to her ranch.

Just as well. With the day she’d had, Harper felt comfortable sleeping in the familiar bed in Lori’s guest room. After she washed away the grime and dressed in sweats and a hoodie, she stared in the mirror. Exhaustion closed in on her from all sides. She hadn’t been able to get rid of the tears or the anguish. A few bruises formed along her back and legs, adding to those still healing after her fall from the camper. At least she’d gotten the stitches removed. But all her injuries were a small nuisance compared to what she’d faced, what Grayback had faced today.

And Heath . . . Her heart bumped around inside her chest . . . Heath had been a defensive barrier, almost crushing her even as he saved her.

A memory, a brief moment destroyed by the explosion, coursed over the chaotic images pressing in on her.

“But don’t you see, Heath? I don’t need your help. I need—”

“What, Harper? What do you need?”

She’d been about to tell him what she needed.

And for the life of her, at this moment she couldn’t remember what she’d intended to say. She really was shell-shocked. She sat on the edge of the bed, her hands clasped in her lap.

If only she could quiet her mind and think of something peaceful, like the national park pictures she’d taken, and let them replace the blast of images from today that still tormented her. And that was just it—Harper always let the images of crime get to her.

Her earlier conversation with Heath hardly mattered in the face of the explosion, but she wanted to remember what she would have said to him, given the chance.

Harper pressed her fingers to her temples. Heath.

Had she really decided to stick around for him? All her life she’d been too broken, too afraid to put her heart out there, but for the first time she thought she might be willing to take a risk with someone—not just anyone, but Heath McKade.

Harper shouldn’t be thinking about that right now when people had been hurt and her thoughts and prayers needed to be with them.

But Heath could have been hurt too. He’d run into that burning building to save someone and could have died inside.

She had decided, despite it all, that she could risk loving him, but raw fear wouldn’t so easily let go and now Harper second-guessed her decision to take that risk. Her hands shook. She couldn’t get control of her breathing or her thoughts. Maybe it was simply the trauma of what she’d experienced today. Over the last several days.

A soft knock came at the door. “Harper? You okay in there?”

She lifted her head and walked to the door, the emotional pain so heavy, it felt physical. Rubbing her palms against her pants, she braced herself to face him. Opening the door, she looked into his concerned face. “I’ll survive.”

I usually do.

He frowned down at her as if trying to decipher her mood. Good luck with that. She wasn’t even sure about it. But he said nothing. Awkward. “Heath, I—”

“Sheriff Taggart is sending Detective Moffett out here to see the images you took so far.”

“All the way out here. Why don’t we—”

“I don’t know. And there’s something else.”

“What is it?”

“Evelyn is worried about you. Are you okay to come out to the kitchen and get something to eat? She and Lori made elk stew.”

Her stomach was queasy at the moment. Could she even pretend to eat it? “It’s kind of late. I’m not hungry, but I’ll come out so Evelyn will know I’m okay. What about Leroy? I thought he was coming home today.”

“Turns out he’s going to stay with his daughter in North Dakota until he’s completely recovered.”

“Is Evelyn going too?”

“She was going to go for a few days to get him settled, but with what’s happened, she wants to stay. Feels she needs to take care of us.”

“She doesn’t have to do that.” Harper shut the door behind her and slogged down the hall after Heath. The aches were starting to get to her.

“She considers us family too.”

Us? “Heath,” she said softly.

He turned before the hallway opened up to the great room.

“Do you hurt anywhere? You went into that burning building. Did you get bruised or injured? How did you keep from getting burned?”

“Don’t worry. I’ve been looked over by paramedics. I was in and out quickly and skirted the flames.” He stepped closer, an unreadable emotion in his eyes. “I could have lost someone today. Like Liam. I could have lost you.”

He held her gaze, a question in his eyes. Her brain still swam around in her head, unsettled and chaotic. She had no answers to his unspoken question.

The doorbell rang. “That would be the detective. I’ll go let her in.”

“I’ll get the camera.” Harper headed back to the guest room, where she grabbed the camera case and her laptop.

In the kitchen, she booted up her laptop. Detective Moffett looked rough around the edges like they all did. Only Harper and Heath remained in the room with her. Evelyn’s stew warmed in the slow cooker.

“I told the sheriff I need to create the photo log. I usually do that at the scene and take my time,” Harper said, “but the situation didn’t allow for it.”

“I’m sure that’s fine. You know your stuff.”

Harper waited while the images loaded, but she would keep them on the memory card too because that’s what she would hand over along with the photo log.

“Where’s your brother?” Harper asked Heath.

“I haven’t seen him. He isn’t answering his phone again either.”

“Are you concerned?”

“I’m trying not to be. This is what he does. He could be following a lead and doesn’t want to talk about it yet.” Heath shrugged.

The memory card file came up. She clicked on the icon to open the file and let Moffett view the images on her laptop. The trauma of the day washed over her in the emotions on the faces of the men, women, and children of Grayback.

Moffett blew out a breath. “It’s going to take a long time to sort through it all. Too long.”

“What about security cameras?” Harper said. “They could reveal who was coming and going.”

“This isn’t Boston or New York.”

“So, what? You’ve got nothing?”

“I didn’t say that. A fed is already here looking at whatever footage he can get. My hands are kind of tied right now.”

“Is that why Taggart wanted you to look at the images here?”

Moffett nodded. “I’m going to need to take the memory card with me.”

“First, I need to document the images. I’ll work through them tonight. But Taggart wanted me to keep the card in case I’m allowed to take more pictures. He wants them all in one place.”

Heath edged closer behind her. “It’s true. I heard him.”

Moffett shrugged. “Make me a copy, then.”

Harper dug inside her gear bag, but this was her last memory card out of her camera pack. “I don’t have another memory card. I’ll come in tomorrow. Don’t worry, you’ll get the images.”

After Moffett was long gone, Harper clicked on the images and enlarged each one of them, reliving all of it as she worked on the photo log, wishing she could have taken her time. But then, she would still be there at the scene taking pictures and documenting them. On the other hand, many of the images were time sensitive. The fire and smoke. The people.

Heath paced back and forth in the kitchen, drinking coffee and calling his brother.

“Are you going to torture yourself all night with that?” Heath’s voice so near jarred her.

“Yes. I don’t know why I do it. I relive the pain. I need to feel it again. Have you heard anything about anyone who was injured?”

He nodded. “Sure. Lori went up to the hospital. She’s a volunteer. She texted me about the injured. It could have been so much worse. She took Evelyn with her to see Leroy.”

That reminded her that Emily had texted a few times. Harper had sent her sister a quick text letting her know she was okay and would call later. Emily would be worried until she did. But she had to finish the log. It seemed strange that she needed to call Emily when she was supposed to have been heading back home today.

With today’s incident, indecision paralyzed her. Now she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do—stay or go. And if she left, she wasn’t sure she would ever come back. She wanted to have made her decision before she talked to Emily, but she grabbed her phone and texted that she was all right. That she had taken pictures and would call later.

“I think I’ll have some stew, after all. I need fuel to get me through this.” When Harper settled back at the table with a bowl of stew, she focused on documenting the best she could while she ate. The stew was rich and warmed her insides, even after she finished.

Heath pulled out the chair next to her, sat, then urged it closer. He grabbed her hands and held them between his bigger, callused ones. “I’m worried about you.”

She tried to gently free her hands, but he wouldn’t let go. And maybe his holding on was what she needed at the moment. She was floating around and needed Heath to ground her.

One of the images caught her attention, drawing her thoughts away from Heath. She freed herself from him to focus on her laptop.

“What is it?”

“I don’t know,” she said, magnifying the image. “Some of the photos remind me of my mother.”

“What? How so?”

“She kept articles on a bomb. I think it killed someone close to her. Right before Dad died, they fought about it. Mom was upset. We were kids, and the only thing that bothered me was their fighting. I didn’t even think about the bomb. But now I see how devastating this is to a community. Even if no one dies.” She looked at Heath. “He’s going to do it again, isn’t he?”