GARY WATCHED AS Leann’s oldest boy downed three hamburgers, almost without pausing. Impressive. Good thing Gary had a dozen thawed.
“How can you be hungry?” Leann chided. “You just ate in town not an hour ago.”
“Leave a little room for ice cream,” Gary urged.
Aaron beamed at Gary. Ice cream obviously meant instant friendship. Timothy still didn’t look happy—maybe that was because the three hamburgers he’d devoured without chewing were lumped there in his stomach.
“Then we’ll have some.” Gary looked over at Leann, hoping for a permissive smile. Instead he was privy to watching a gorgeous woman and a well-behaved dog. Stupid dog never acted like that for Gary. Wilma fetched the ball and shook hands with her paw, as well as stayed. Wilma looked very much the way Peeve did going through the paces with Oscar. Except Leann was much cuter than Oscar in her blue skirt and a cute blue-and-white-striped shirt.
He looked closer.
And heels.
This was yet another side to the woman who occupied too many of his thoughts. Gary forced himself to look away and head for the trailer to fetch ice cream; he needed something cold. A few minutes later, he focused on dishing ice cream into bowls.
And realized that for the first time in a long time, he was truly happy. He had people to care for, a cabin to rebuild and three dogs who needed him. Well, maybe not Peeve the wonder dog, who seemed to know that his job was to watch Russell.
He’d bet Goober had never been happier. She’d spent the last half hour keeping the boys from going into the woods, not that they really wanted to. If Timothy or Aaron stopped petting her, she nudged their hands until they started again. Didn’t matter that one of them had hamburger grease on his fingers. That was a bonus.
Once the ice cream was devoured, a whole carton, the boys went walking toward a creek that ran the length of Guzman land.
Peeve sat his butt down on Russell’s foot and watched the other dogs. Wilma and Goober ran back and forth, circling in front of and behind them, hind feet skidding in the dirt and their barks complementing the boys’ laughter.
“Now’s as good a time as any,” Russell said to Gary. “You both want to talk about Jace, so go ahead.”
Leann pursed her lips. The relaxed stance she’d had just a moment ago morphed into cop professionalism. Didn’t take even a second. She shot Gary a look; one that clearly indicated she didn’t want to involve him in this conversation. Too bad, he was already involved—with both the case and her.
“Russell,” she said, “everyone I’ve spoken to thought highly of Jace.”
Except my father.
“He was an easy kid,” Russell said.
“Then why did he leave all those years ago?”
Russell frowned and stared out into the forest, not answering.
“Tell me about his friends,” she finally suggested.
“I know he set store by his ROTC teacher. Sometimes he worked for Ralph at the hardware store. He liked the kids in his shop class. Some of them came by. They helped build the shooting range in my backyard. I can’t remember their names.”
Leann didn’t hesitate. “There was Sam Balliard and his crew. They were all in ROTC.”
“Yeah, those boys. They came by fairly often. Then, there was your brother that once. Jace was already gone. Didn’t look happy. I don’t know what he wanted of Jace, but he sure expected to get it. Just like his old man, a Crabtree.”
“You’re not surprised,” Gary said to Leann.
“Nothing my family does surprises me.”
“Your father can be pretty heavy-handed,” Russell said. “He offered to buy the Guzman cabin decades ago and was sent packing. I half expected him to try to buy me out next. Couldn’t happen, of course. This is state land. The Guzmans and me are grandfathered in. Were we to sell, it would have to be to the government.”
Gary looked from Russell to Leann. She was walking away, shoulders straight, letting him know she didn’t need his help, didn’t want it. If he were smart, he’d chase her down, ask her about her family.
Gary had never been good at waiting—especially once he realized that he loved a woman. Not that he loved Leann. He only liked her. A lot.
And that scared him.
* * *
LEANN WALKED PAST the cabin, past the shed and into the forest. Her emotions were churning. How were Jace and her brother connected? And, why had her father wanted to buy the Guzman property? The only thing he did outdoors was play golf.
It made no sense.
Her foot snagged in a gnarled root and she hit the ground. A rookie mistake. She knew better than to ignore her surroundings. She stood, brushed off her knees, pretended the scratches on her palms didn’t exist and kept walking.
For a half hour, she walked, scolded herself for caring and mostly dredged up memories of a childhood she’d hated.
Clark had hated it, too.
Only her sister, Gail, had tried to embrace the lifestyle her parents dictated, but she couldn’t live up to her parents’ expectations and when she’d finally given up, she’d been the most lost.
Until recently. Leann had texted Gail last night and her sister had responded that she and Ray were spending the weekend in Santa Fe, going to a rodeo, having fun.
Having fun.
Leann would like to have fun.
She finally turned, vowing never to keep her church clothes on when she next took a walk through the woods, and headed back to Gary’s. Though she didn’t want to ask any more questions of Russell. And she certainly didn’t want to confide in Gary. Not at the moment. She wanted to talk to Clark first.
Luckily, while she was gone, Russell’s face had relaxed into some semblance of the man her boys knew and loved. He continued to doze in his favorite lawn chair with Aaron sitting next to him, chattering merrily, playing a game on his phone and seemingly unaware that he had no audience for his “Look! I just leveled up” and “Oh! No, no, no, I lost the tower!”
Timothy and Gary played horseshoes. Leann decided not to join them because it was more entertaining watching her son interact with Gary. Right now, he stood at Gary’s side, learning how to determine the weight of the horseshoe and the speed he needed to exert at release, as well as the best kind of arc. Timothy shed his goofy sixth-grade persona and was actually conversing in complete sentences.
Leann settled in one of the lawn chairs and pulled out her phone. She checked messages. She had an FYI from Zack, letting her know that someone had tried getting into Trudy Gilmore’s room at the hospital. Whoever it was had managed to sit Trudy up and get her shoes on. Why? Trudy wasn’t being detained and needed the care.
There was nothing from Clark. Leann responded to a funny video sent by Patsy and also clicked Confirm about an upcoming dentist appointment for Tim. Then, she snapped a few photos of her boys at play. Finally, she snagged a paperback from her purse and settled back to get some uninterrupted reading time. After ten minutes, she realized she’d turned the page only once and that her attention was on Gary and Tim.
Mostly Gary.
Oh, yeah. He was aware of her as a woman. She tried to pretend not to notice. And, she resisted feeling honored, attracted, interested.
She forced herself to return to her book and managed another page before her phone rang and Lucas ordered, “You need to get to Third and Main!”
“My day off,” Leann reminded him.
“The chief was helping with a fender bender when a white truck veered right into him and then—”
“Is he hurt?” Her words were loud enough to stop the horseshoe game.
“Yes, I just took the call. I need you out there right away. Third and Main. And, keep your eye out for a white Ford 250 truck with no back bumper.”
“How hurt is he?”
“I don’t know! Zack’s on his way there. But he’s never handled an accident. Go,” he barked. “Get out there.”
“I’m on my way.” She hung up.
“What happened?” Gary said, so loudly that Russell startled awake.
“A vehicle struck Chief Riley as he was helping with an accident. Hit-and-run. He’s hurt. I need to get there.”
Her mind started racing. The kids’ grandparents, Herb and Tamara, spent Sundays with their niece in Santa Fe. They’d come if she called them, but by the time they got here, she might already be done.
Chief Riley had to be all right.
Quickly, she tried for a second option, but her best friend, Patsy, and her husband were at a dive match over in Taber. No sitter there. For the first time she considered Gail and Ray, but they were gone, too. Stupid rodeo.
“Could you keep the boys for a while?” she asked Gary.
Russell spoke up, “I can help.”
“Sure,” Gary agreed.
“I’ll call as soon as I know something.” Leann waved to her boys and jumped in her car. She then stuck the siren on her hood, activated it and started the ignition.
As she hit the road, all thoughts of her brother and Jace Blackgoat disappeared. In all her years on the force, she didn’t remember any incident that had made her heart thud like this one.
Traffic was nonexistent. Good.
She slowed down only when she reached the main crossroads just outside Sarasota Falls. When she got to the bank, she turned left and quickly assessed the scene. A blue Chevy with a smashed-in door was parked by the curb. A teary Maya Gillespie leaned against it. A motorcycle lay on its side in front of the car. Its owner, Jimmy Weston, sat on the curb, head in his hands, shoulders shaking. It took only a few questions to ascertain the kid was distressed over the hurt chief of police. His bike, luckily, didn’t have a scratch.
Leann nodded at Maya, who worked for the dentist where Leann took both her boys, and joined Zack, who was in the middle of the road measuring skid marks.
“Did you see the chief? Talk to him?”
Zack looked up. His eyes were dim and red. He wouldn’t appreciate her noticing that he’d been fighting tears. Her own eyes grew hot. “Well?”
“I saw him. He was on the stretcher already and he wasn’t talking. He had a bandage over his skull.” Zack gulped.
Leann nodded and went to Maya. “You all right?”
“No, I’m freaked out,” Maya yelped. “I ran into the drugstore for just a minute. When I came out, of all things, Jimmy Weston ran right into the side of my car with his motorcycle. Didn’t hurt his bike but look at my door.”
The door was crumpled; the bike looked fine.
“I called the station,” Maya continued. “Sure surprised me when I got the chief.”
Leann didn’t mention how shorthanded they were without Oscar. She didn’t want to think about how shorthanded they’d be without Chief Riley.
“Go on.”
“The chief was bent over looking at my door. He straightened, took a step back. I swear there were no cars about. Then, this white truck came screaming around the corner. The side mirror got the chief and he went flying back. I still expected him to jump up and start chasing the guy.”
Leann waited.
“He didn’t get up. That’s when Jimmy and I saw the blood. Lots of it. All over his face.”
“Did you get a look at the plate?”
Jimmy walked up then and said, “No. It all happened so fast.”
“Did the driver slow down at all?”
“Just a nano. That’s when I saw his face. He had to have seen what happened to Chief Riley. Maybe even pedestrians should wear helmets.”
Maya choked, stopped crying and just stared at Jimmy.
Jimmy shrugged. “Can’t tell you much what he looked like though. It all happened so fast.” Leann nodded and followed up with a question about the description of the truck, which Jimmy gave expertly, better than he had the driver, and then called Lucas to see if he had all the details.
“They found the truck already,” Lucas said, “at least, if a damaged side-view mirror is a tell. It was abandoned out toward Springer. And, we already traced the owner.”
Before Leann could do more than feel a moment’s satisfaction, Lucas added, “Guy didn’t even realize it had been stolen.”
“Another coincidence that maybe isn’t. Springer’s where Jace Blackgoat was,” Leann said.
“I’d forgotten that,” Lucas admitted.
Leann hadn’t. Lately, except for when she was thinking about Gary, most of her thoughts and deeds went back to Jace.
Didn’t matter right now. Leann knew they’d be here for hours because not only did they have to ascertain the details concerning Tom’s hit-and-run, but there was the accident between Maya and Jimmy.
Zack, the rookie, handed over the ST-3 Accident Form that the chief had started. Leann bit her lip as she noticed a drop of blood and the place on the form where Tom’s handwriting had switched from actual words to just a jagged pen mark that fell off the page.
“I found it on the ground,” Zack admitted.
“Good work.” After that, Leann drew a detailed diagram gaining input from both Maya and Jimmy, who—no surprise—didn’t agree on anything. After that, she approached each witness and took as many notes as she could.
It did indeed take Zack and Leann hours to accomplish all they needed to do at the crime scene. When they finished, Leann checked the time—almost ten on a school night—and headed back to the station.
With the station’s emergency calls rerouting to Lucas at home, on call, Leann turned on the lights, checked for notes or instructions at the front desk and then headed for her cubicle. She had reports to complete and needed to connect with Lucas and get an update on Chief Riley.
First, she’d check on her boys.
She reached for her cell phone just as the front door opened. Had she locked it? Leann stood: instinct had her hand going to the handle of her gun. Lucas stuck his head through the doorway. “Highway patrol found Jace Blackgoat.”
“How’s he—”
“Not talking. Won’t talk, not a word, and he wouldn’t even give his name.”
“Nothing about hitting the chief?”
“Nothing. He’ll be wanting a lawyer. He’ll stay at the Springer station tonight—it’s closer—and they’ll drop him off here first thing in the morning.”
Leann nodded, glad they caught up to Jace, but wishing that Russell wasn’t going to have to deal with the repercussions.
“I’ll call the hospital again and let you know what they say.”
Settling in her chair, with a bulk of paperwork in front of her, Leann tugged her cell phone from the belt clip and punched in Gary’s number. Gary…the day had started out so differently from how it was ending.
“Hey,” came his voice, sounding more awake than she did.
“I’m so sorry. This took longer than I expected.”
“Don’t be,” he said, sounding reassuring. “How’s the chief?”
“Lucas is calling the hospital for an update. We know he has a head injury, but nothing else.”
“Any idea who did this?”
She hesitated only a moment. Gary had befriended Russell, and it would be better if he knew. “It might have been Jace. He’s been located by the highway patrol.”
Gary gave a whistle.
“We’ll know more tomorrow,” Leann said. “Thanks so much for watching my boys.”
“We had a great time. We went up to Russell’s for board games and sleeping bags. Then came back here. Right now, they’re sacked out around the fire. Aaron was out at eight.”
“He’s my sleeper,” Leann said.
“Tim held out until ten. He was so enthralled by some of Russell’s stories about the Santa Clara Pueblo Indians that I didn’t have the heart to tell him to go to bed. By the way, he wants to move out here. He finally nodded off when Russell got a call from his granddaughter,” Gary explained.
“Did she have anything important to share?”
“I didn’t catch much of the conversation, but I got enough to know they’re worried about Jace.”
They needed to be worried about Jace, Leann thought. “I have my paperwork to finish and then I’ll come get Aaron and Tim. That okay?”
“The boys and Russell are asleep. How about I wake them and bring them to you. You gotta be dying for some sleep.”
“Russell’s there?”
“He’s sleeping on the cold, hard ground in a bag that’s been gathering dust for a decade.”
Leann wondered if there was evidence out there they may have missed. Jace could have been at Russell’s place while everyone was at Gary’s. She’d have to turn off her lights and drive slow, or Gary had want to go with her.
“No, I’ll come get them. I want to check up on Russell. I’ll see you in an hour or more,” she said.
“Looking forward to it.”
She disconnected. Her common sense told her to consider him a good friend and ignore his “looking forward” to seeing her comment. What she couldn’t ignore was her looking forward to seeing him, too.