Riggs’s taste still lingered on Kate’s lips when she stirred from sleep the next morning, thankfully wiping away some of the bitter taste of the memories that had followed her to bed.
Between the shooting, the recent threats, that unsettling moment with Riggs, and knowing he was sleeping on her couch only a few feet away from her bed, she’d tossed and turned for hours. Finally, when she’d drifted to sleep, instead of nightmares of the shooting years ago, the car fire, or the fire in the woods, she’d dreamed of making love with Riggs.
Her body ached from unsated desire.
But she’d made the right choice by pulling away from Riggs. To her, making love meant more than a physical connection. She couldn’t get naked with Riggs without involving her heart. And no doubt Riggs would be turned off by a clingy woman.
Resolve set in. Today it was back to business. She had meetings about the plans for the memorial, and she didn’t intend to allow anyone to stand in the way.
She hurriedly showered and dressed in a loose skirt and blouse, then went into the kitchen to make coffee.
Riggs had beaten her to the task, though. He’d also used her guest bath to clean up and was wearing a fresh blue shirt and jeans that hugged his muscular butt and thighs.
A wave of longing washed over her. Lord help her, she had to get a grip.
Lifting her chin, she strode into the kitchen and poured herself a mug of coffee. For a second, she simply inhaled the aroma, allowing it to jump-start her brain. During the school year, she had to be up early and didn’t have time to linger over coffee. Although she still worked several weeks during the summer, she made it a point to savor the morning ritual.
Riggs stared out into the woods, as he had been doing the night before when she’d gone to bed. She realized he was on the phone when he lowered it from his ear and clipped it to his belt.
Curious to learn if he had news, she opened the sliders and stepped onto the deck. The temperature seemed warmer today, although a slight breeze stirred the trees and brought the acrid scent of burned leaves, trees and ash. Cloud cover cast shadows across the land, making it look eerie and desolate in the gray light.
Riggs’s big body stiffened as he slowly faced her. His dark brows were furrowed into a frown, his jaw tight. He took a long, slow sip of his coffee. His eyes were smoldering—with memories of the night before and...anger? Disappointment?
Kate swallowed hard to make her voice work and attempted to banish the memory of his lips on hers. “Good morning.”
A dark intensity radiated from him. “Morning, Kate.”
The gruff way he murmured her name made her touch her lips with her fingers. A mistake. Riggs’s eyes followed the movement.
Irritated with herself, she sank onto the glider to sip her coffee. “Did you sleep?” she asked.
“Some.”
“I’m sorry,” Kate said.
“No sweat. Odd hours go with my job. I’m used to it.” He leaned his back against the railing. “Stone called about the phone. Looks like the caller used a burner phone. Makes it damn near impossible to trace.”
“That figures.” Kate glanced out into the woods. Noises and voices broke the early morning serenity of the mountains.
“The crime techs came back at first light to search for forensics,” Riggs explained. “Stone said he stopped by the mayor’s house last night to get his son’s prints for comparison, but Don wasn’t home. I have an idea of how to obtain it. Do you keep a record of the students’ locker assignments?”
“Yes,” Kate said. “But dozens of kids touch the lockers when they’re hanging out between classes.”
“True. But he’s probably the only one who touched the interior space. Maybe we’ll get lucky and he left his prints or DNA inside somewhere.”
Kate hated to point suspicion toward Brynn’s brother. But if he had set that fire, someone could have been hurt, and she couldn’t bury her head in the sand.
A HALF HOUR LATER, Riggs followed Kate to the school. Stone had liked his plan for obtaining Don’s prints and agreed to meet them. Kate could hand off the list then.
Over a quick breakfast, Riggs had kept the conversation focused on the investigation and avoided discussing the evening before. Kate had made it perfectly clear she didn’t want him.
Still, the devil must be punishing him because he’d dreamed about her all night. Crazy dreams of cuddling on Sunday mornings. Watching the news together. Enjoying long walks and bike rides. Cooking dinner together. Making homemade pasta.
Homemade pasta for cripes’ sake. He’d seen Kate’s machine on the counter. But he was a meat-and-potatoes man.
Dammit.
He parked in front of the school and cursed at the sight of the graffiti on the wall. Vandalizing a building was a crime, but petty compared to arson or attempted murder. Were these crimes being committed by the same person?
The tone of the threats suggested they were.
Stone pulled in just after him. Riggs exited his truck and waited on Stone, giving Kate the space she needed. This was her work: the new school project, her baby.
He wanted to make it happen for her and for the town.
“Are you going to the picnic today?” Stone asked.
There were only a handful of former classmates Riggs gave one iota about seeing. “If Kate goes, I am.”
“Thanks for keeping an eye out for her,” Stone said.
Hell, he’d do it even if Stone hadn’t asked.
Stone scratched his chin as they walked up to the front of the building. “What if there’s more to the threats against Kate than just someone being upset about the demolition of the old school?”
“I’ve been thinking about that, too. If Ned had an accomplice, that person has gotten off scot-free for years.” Riggs opened the front door and stepped inside the school. “He or she sure as hell wouldn’t want to be exposed now. And with everyone rehashing what happened, it would make an accomplice afraid of being exposed.”
“Exactly.”
“Did you talk to Ned’s parents?”
“I spoke to Mr. Hodgkins. He and his wife are still out of town. And, no surprise, he’s bitter. I think they still blame themselves for what happened, too.”
Riggs made a low sound in his throat. “I can understand that.”
“He was adamant that he and his wife would never set foot back in Briar Ridge. They support the new building, though, said they wanted the place where their son murdered innocent kids to be wiped off the map.”
Who could blame them? “I can’t imagine living with the fact that your own child killed his classmates.”
“Yeah, another kind of hell.”
Hell was right. Riggs had watched Ned gun down another classmate before he’d shot him. Then he’d aimed his gun at Macy and at Kate. He’d never forget the terror on their faces or the screams that echoed up and down the halls. Doors slamming. Students running for their lives. Taking cover anywhere they could. Bashing windows just to jump outside and escape.
Then the gun firing again. He’d stared in helpless shock, blood soaking him, and expected Kate or Macy to fall beside him. But Mrs. McKendrick had stepped in the way and saved their lives.
Then the sirens, Ned running, the police storming in. Crying all around him, terrified screams and rescue workers rushing in to take care of the injured and dead.
“There’s Kate,” Stone said, pushing away Riggs’s thoughts of the painful past.
Kate motioned them over. When Riggs stepped further inside, it struck him how empty the building felt. Bare walls. Furniture and posters and billboards gone. No sounds of teens talking and laughing, or music, or the bell ringing.
Students wouldn’t be returning here in the fall or ever again.
Pleasant memories of his own years at Briar Ridge drifted back. Football rallies, soccer games, homecoming and prom.
His nervous stomach over tests he was afraid he wouldn’t pass.
Then that horrible day all over again.
“Here’s the list,” Kate said, interrupting his thoughts again.
Riggs was glad the building would be gone soon. Maybe one day they’d all begin to forget.
“Honestly, Stone, I can’t see any of these kids trying to kill me,” Kate said as she handed Stone an envelope. “None of the infractions were serious.”
“Maybe, maybe not. But I’ll check them out just in case.” He paused. “Is Don Gaines on the list?”
Kate shifted from one foot to the other, her fingers stroking the strap of her bag. “Yes. He was caught smoking in the bathroom and outside. But—”
“Just show me his locker,” Stone said flatly.
Kate gestured to the hall leading toward the science wing. “I don’t want to accuse Don of something unless you have definitive proof,” Kate said as they walked. “The Gaines family suffered enough after the shooting.”
A muscle twitched in Riggs’s jaw. So like Kate to think about helping the kid instead of being angry with him.
“Look at this way, Kate,” Stone said calmly. “Lifting his prints may clear him and we can cross him off the suspect list.”
Riggs touched Kate’s arm. “Besides, if the prints from the locker don’t match the one on the matchbook, Don and his family never have to know you did this.”
Kate waffled. “I suppose that’s true.”
Resigned, Kate stopped at a set of lockers near the exit to the breezeway that connected the main building to the gym. Don had been in the science lab—to retrieve his phone, he’d claimed—around the same time the threat had been graffitied on the outside wall. Don’s locker was near the exit closest to the gym.
Kate inserted a master key and opened the locker. Stone indicated for her not to touch anything while he yanked on latex gloves to search the interior.
No books. Trash from a candy bar wrapper. Two foil packs of condoms. A nude picture from a porn magazine.
Riggs shook his head, surprised the kid had left the picture behind. Then again, with his money, Don probably had a stash of girly magazines in his room. And internet porn was so easily accessible, he might have a mile-long list of sites he frequented.
Stone bagged each of the items. Just as he lifted the picture, Riggs spotted a matchbook on the bottom of the locker.
A matchbook from Smokehouse Barbecue.
KATE FOLDED HER ARMS. “The matches—”
“Are from the same place as the matchbook I found in the woods last night,” Riggs said.
She bit her bottom lip. “That doesn’t mean Don set the fire. Anyone could have picked up a book of matches from Smokehouse Barbecue.”
“True, but he still shouldn’t have matches at school,” Stone said. “Hopefully we can lift prints and compare.”
Footsteps echoed from down the hall, and Kate checked her watch as Jimmy appeared. His limp seemed more pronounced today and he looked tired, his wiry hair sticking out, the wrinkles around his eyes more prominent, as if he hadn’t been sleeping well. “Ms. McKendrick, there’s some folks here from the town council, say they’re supposed to meet with you. Amy Turner is already in your office.”
“Thanks, Jimmy. Tell them I’ll be right there.” She tilted her head at the two men. “I have to go. We need to finalize details for the memorial.”
“We’re right behind you,” Riggs said.
Kate headed down the hall, Riggs beside her, Stone on their heels.
“Are you going to the picnic?” Riggs asked.
They stopped in front of the door to her office. “I have to show up. I helped organize these events. I’d hoped a reunion might help mend friendships.” She wished she could mend her own with Macy and Brynn. If Don Gaines turned out to be the one threatening her, she would only drive a wedge deeper between her and Brynn.
“I’ll swing back by and pick you up after your meeting,” Riggs offered.
“Thanks, but I’ll drive. I have an errand to do on the way.”
“I could help.”
Kate shook her head. “The memorial is supposed to be a surprise. Besides, I’m just going to the frame shop in town. There will be dozens of people around.”
Stone cleared his throat. “I need to drop this stuff at the lab. You coming, Riggs?”
Riggs shrugged. “Yeah.”
Kate spotted the mayor entering the building. His gray eyes cut to Stone.
“Sheriff?” Mayor Gaines raised a brow. “What are you doing here?”
Kate tensed, but Stone didn’t miss a beat. “We’re investigating that graffiti outside. Someone also tampered with Kate’s car, so I have to take the threat against her seriously.”
“Last night, someone also set a fire in the woods behind her house,” Riggs added. “Kate may have been a target.”
The mayor coughed. “I’m well aware of the fire.” He pierced Stone with a disapproving look, although Stone let it roll off his back. Stone was not into politics—he was known for being fair and out for justice. He also wouldn’t let anyone push him around.
“I hope you find out who’s doing this,” the mayor continued. “Kate is a valuable member of the community.”
“Yes, she is,” Stone agreed.
“I can assure you my son was not involved.” The mayor’s cheeks turned ruddy. “I talked to him after you left, Sheriff. I’m not proud of it, but he and his friends were buying weed last night. That’s the reason he wasn’t home.” He made a guttural sound in his throat. “I intend to see that he gets the help he needs.”
“That’s wise,” Kate said, proud of the mayor for owning his son’s problem. Many parents lived in denial.
Stone gave the mayor a deadpan look. “I’m not pointing a finger at anyone yet,” Stone said. “Just gathering evidence to see where it leads us.”
Amy poked her head into the hallway from Kate’s office. “I’m here, Kate.”
“We should get started on the meeting.” Kate gestured toward the mayor. “Are you ready?”
He nodded and followed Amy as she retreated to Kate’s office. Riggs caught Kate’s arm before she left. “Don’t let him intimidate you.”
“Don’t worry. I don’t intend to.”
He squeezed her arm. “Call me if you need me.”
Nerves gathered in her stomach. She wouldn’t call. She couldn’t afford to need him. She had to stand on her own, just as she always had.
TWO HOURS LATER, storm clouds hovered over the park, threatening to ruin the reunion picnic. To Riggs’s surprise, though, the inclement weather hadn’t deterred the Briar Ridge High graduates from showing up. In fact, some former classmates seemed to be excited over reconnecting with past alumni. Even now, old friends were introducing their families and kids were running and playing on the playground.
Without realizing it, Kate’s efforts might already be working its healing magic. Their senior year had been so fraught with tension and grief that perhaps everyone had needed to come back together to prove they’d survived.
Although with the threats against Kate, Riggs’s senses were honed. Anyone at the reunion could have information about Ned’s accomplice. Hell, the accomplice could be hiding in plain sight.
Billy Hodgkins ranked at the top of his suspect list. He could have helped his brother and was now panicked that his part in the mass shooting might be revealed.
Don Gaines couldn’t have been an accomplice fifteen years ago, but he might be traumatized enough by what had happened to his sister to threaten Kate now.
Riggs stood at the edge of the pavilion, scrutinizing the group. Some faces he recognized instantly. Others had changed or were only blips in his memory because they’d run in different circles.
His two friends, Jay Lakewood and Duke Eastman, were talking to Ellie Kane and Vera Long, former cheerleaders. Stone’s brother Mickey was sitting on a park bench with Cassidy Fulton.
That was odd. He didn’t think the two were friendly. Cassidy certainly wasn’t romantically interested in a man with a disability—as she’d stressed when Riggs had been in rehab for his leg.
But...a thought suddenly occurred to him. Cassidy had never revealed the name of her baby’s father. What if Mickey was Roy’s father? Before the shooting, Mickey had been a wild party guy.
Losing his sight had shattered his dreams of playing football in college, although he seemed to have found his artistic side. Now he played the guitar and sang in a local honky-tonk. From what Riggs had heard, Mickey was talented and was beginning to write his own music.
Cara Winthrop’s little sister Evie was in deep conversation with Rae Lynn Porter. Cara had been Ned’s third victim; he’d shot her five times.
He didn’t remember much about Rae Lynn, except she’d been a Goth girl. She’d lost the dramatic look of the Goth attire now, but her jet-black hair still contrasted sharply with her milky-white skin, and tattoos snaked up and down her arms.
Gretta sauntered through the park, stopping to chat as she worked the crowd. Although, judging from the way classmates cut her out of their conversations, no one trusted her. Hell, how could they forget how sneaky she’d been? How she’d blurted out personal secrets to the entire school?
A van pulled up and parked, and he recognized Brynn’s vehicle, which had been adapted to accommodate her wheelchair. A driver got out, went around to the side, opened the door, retrieved Brynn’s chair and helped her into it.
Riggs made himself look away and not stare. He was one of the lucky ones. PT had restored his ability to walk so he hadn’t been left permanently disabled. Mrs. Gaines, he knew, had always been overbearing and smothering. He couldn’t imagine what Brynn’s life was like under her roof.
The wind picked up, hurling leaves across the park. Another car sounded, and Kate drove up in her rental SUV. Just as she got out, Billy Hodgkins jumped from a red sports car and cornered her by the Escape. Billy looked upset, his hands swinging wildly, his hair stringy and matted with sweat.
Anger knotted Riggs’s stomach and he sprinted toward them.