Had Sadie heard the sheriff right? “Tom Connors is dead?”
“Yes. Did you know him?” Clay asked, starting to move toward the foyer.
Sadie followed with Bella and Brock. “He is—was—Katie’s supervisor at Mason and Fox Shipping. He oversaw the financial department. If the same two men are after my sister, then we have to find Katie before they do. There must be a connection somehow between Mr. Connors’ death and Katie’s intruders this morning.”
Clay opened the front door.
Brock hurried around Sadie and blocked the sheriff’s exit from the house. “We need to come with you. I know it isn’t kosher, but Bella can track a person. She might be able to follow the two men’s scent from the SUV and figure out how the guys got away from where they ditched the vehicle.”
Clay glanced at Bella then back at Brock. “Only if you do exactly what I tell you.”
“Of course, I will.” Brock opened the door. “We’ll follow you.”
“We?”
“Yes. Sadie and Bella.”
Clay frowned. “You should stay here, Sadie.”
She’d been friends with the sheriff as long as Brock had. She had no problem using that past friendship. “Clay, I’m coming with you two. I know you have a deputy here, but I can’t stay by myself. What if those men haven’t found Katie? I look exactly like her.” She grinned.
“But Simon will be here besides my deputy. That’s two guards.” Clay rubbed his hand along his chin.
“And don’t forget the help, Clay, I gave you when you wanted to ask Haley to the prom.”
The sheriff groaned. “Okay. But you’ll be in the back of my squad car if you don’t follow my directions.”
Her eyes widened. “You’d arrest me?”
Clay let Deputy Adams know where they were going and ordered the deputy and Simon to stay at the house.“Let’s go,” the sheriff said then left the house first.
“Thanks.” Sadie hurried to the driver’s side of her vehicle while Brock let Bella hop into the back then slid into the front passenger’s seat.
“I didn’t know you set Clay up with Haley.”
“It was easy. She’d been interested in him for weeks.”
Brock chuckled. “And now they’re married with two kids.”
“Matchmaking is one of my hidden talents.” Too bad her matchmaking skills hadn’t worked on herself. Sadie started her sports car. “I didn’t know Bella can track. Did you train her?”
“No. When I got her, she already knew how. I was lucky to find her. A veteran in a group I was in knew this guy who had several dogs he’d trained for service people who needed them. Bella had been well trained in search and rescues, but her instinct was also amazing as a companion. It was like she felt my internal pain. Whenever I was depressed or sad, she was right there to comfort me. In the past year, I continued Bella’s training in search and rescue. We’ve helped in nine searches. It’s a good feeling when you find the victim.”
Sadie’s grip on the steering wheel tightened. Brock never gave her a chance to be there for him. She would have been. She’d loved him and wanted to be his wife. As she pulled onto the highway behind Clay’s vehicle, she slid a glance at Brock. He stared at her. She quickly returned her attention to the road.
“I’m sorry,” Brock murmured in the thick silence.
“For what?”
“For not giving you a chance four years ago. I wasn’t in a good place for a long time.”
“But I could have helped you.” Finally, the words she’d wanted to say to him for years came out in a near whisper.
“I don’t know if I would have heard you. I wasn’t listening to anyone at that time. I didn’t get Bella until a year later when I hit rock bottom. In the firefight I was injured in, a lot of my buddies were hurt or killed. There was nothing I could do to change that outcome.”
Sadie had never been in a threatening situation until this morning in Katie’s bedroom. Her reaction had even taken her by surprise, but she was glad she had fought back. She hadn’t realized she had it in her. She parked on the side of the road behind the sheriff, at a loss as to what she should say to Brock. She parked and started to open the door but stopped and looked at him. “I wish that had never happened to you. I didn’t get to tell you that. I wanted to be there for you.”
“But I couldn’t deal with it. You didn’t deserve that from me.” He pushed his door open and climbed from her car.
He let Bella out.
Sadie exited, too, her emotions shut down. She couldn’t go back and change the past. Right now, all she could do was try to find her sister and pray she was still alive. Clay pointed in the direction where the SUV had been ditched on the highway about a fourth of a mile from Connors’ house. They walked to the abandoned black SUV.
“Do you two think this was the car?” the sheriff asked.
Sadie looked at it. “I didn’t pay attention, so I can’t say one way or another.”
Brock and Bella circled the vehicle with Brock pausing at the front of it. When he returned, he nodded. “There’s an indentation in the bumper that’s the same as the one I saw when I fired at the car.”
“Then that confirms the two intruders at Katie’s are persons of interest in the death of Tom Connors. According to the deputy at Connors’ house, there’s a blood trail up his steps to the porch and inside.” Clay gestured at his patrol car. “Let’s go to the crime scene then come back to see if we can track where the two suspects went. Most likely, they got into the car they used to drive to Connors’.”
Clay drove to Katie’s supervisor’s house, set back from the road, and parked in front. When Brock and she climbed from the sheriff’s vehicle, Clay pointed to the blood-stained steps and the wooden planks near the door on the porch. “Tom Connors might have interrupted the two men stealing his SUV, and they killed him, or it’s something much more complicated.”
“Like they were sent to kill him. If that were the case, then why?” Brock stared at the blood drops. “However it happened, Connors and Katie are connected. Why did they kill him then go after Katie?”
Clay mounted the four steps and stared through the screen door. “I wonder if Connors called Katie somehow and warned her. He wouldn’t have necessarily died right away from his wound. It looks like he dragged himself inside. He wasn’t far from his house phone.”
When the sheriff opened the door to go inside, Brock glimpsed through the front entrance to where Connors’ body laid with the deputy nearby. “If he didn’t call 9-1-1, then who did he call? Katie?”
Sadie shook her head. “If he had called Katie, she would have said something to me when she left me the message, and she would have phoned 9-1-1 to report what happened to Connors. No. It was someone else.”
“I’ll be contacting the phone company to see what numbers Connors called this morning.” Clay paused in the doorway. “While I walk through the crime scene, I need you to see if Bella can pick up the driver’s scent in the SUV. Deputy Olson is processing the driver’s side door for fingerprints before he opens it for Bella to smell. I don’t want any possible evidence disturbed.”
As Sadie walked with Brock to the black SUV near her car along the highway, more deputies arrived to process the crime scene at the house. The thought of the horrific scene described brought back her worry about her sister. Where was she? Had the two men found her and taken her out like her supervisor? Why? What was the connection? Tension pounded against her temples. The unknown was adding to her anxiety.
You aren’t alone. I’m with you. Worrying is useless. It won’t change anything. Keep your focus on Me.
She knew she shouldn’t worry like she was. It wasn’t helping the situation. But, Lord, it’s hard not to in this situation.
While Bella smelled the driver’s seat then began moving away from the SUV parked off the highway, Sadie paused for a moment, closed her eyes, and recited part of Psalm 23. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.
She repeated those lines as she covered the space between her and Brock with Bella in thick brush and trees at the edge of the highway.
Brock glanced toward her. “There are tire tracks here and two faint sets of footprints, most likely two men. They must have gotten into another car.” He backed away from the area. “I need to tell Clay. Then we should leave. It’ll take a while to process the murder scene.”
Murder scene. The thought there could be one for her sister shivered down her spine. “I don’t know what to do next. I should stay at Katie’s in case she calls or comes back.”
“No, you can’t!”
“You can’t tell me what I should do.” She lifted her chin and narrowed her eyes. “You lost that privilege four years ago.”
“You think that’s what I’m doing?” He closed the space between them. “I’m trying to protect you. If you stay at Katie’s house, you’re putting yourself in danger. She didn’t even want to stay. She left because she thought staying was dangerous. Whoever is after her, could think you’re her. If something happened to you, how will that help Katie?”
* * *
In Brock’s garage an hour later, he followed Simon and Sadie into his home—a furious Sadie who didn’t like the question he’d asked about Katie or the fact they couldn’t stay at her sister’s house. Sadie charged through the kitchen and into the dining room to the window that faced Katie’s place. He leaned down and stroked Bella. As much as he loved his dog, right now Sadie needed her more than he did.
“Guard,” he whispered close to his golden retriever then pointed at Sadie.
As Bella trotted to her, Brock dragged a chair from the table to where Sadie stood. “At least you can sit while you keep an eye on your family home.”
She glanced at Bella, her expression softening a bit. His dog sat next to Sadie who laid a hand on top of her head while she kept her gaze trained on the house a hundred yards away.
He stood behind her, looking out the window over her shoulder. All he saw was semi-darkness as the dusk settled over the terrain. “Are you going to stay there all night?”
“Yes. I’m glad the deputy turned all the lights off when he left. If the assailants come back to Katie’s, I might see a light in the house. They can’t search in the dark.” She sat in the chair. “I have to do something to find my sister. Tonight, this is it.”
“And tomorrow?”
“I’ll do what I can. I can’t sit around doing nothing. I know Katie’s in danger. I can feel it.”
“I asked Clay to search for Katie’s car. Hopefully, something will help us there.”
She looked over her shoulder. “Thanks for thinking of that.” She massaged her temple. “I should have thought about that.”
“You’ve been focused on Katie. A lot has happened today.”
Her shoulders sagged. “I still don’t know why anyone would want to come after my sister.”
“Same here but someone is.”
“Sadie?” Simon asked behind Brock.
She leaned to the left. “I appreciate you helping Deputy Adams.”
Simon looked at Sadie. “I’m sorry we couldn’t find anything in the house to indicate where your sister could be. I’m glad you’re staying here.”
She smiled at Simon. “It’s been a long time since I saw you last. At Katie’s we didn’t have a chance to talk.”
“Good. We can catch up on the past four years.” Simon headed for the kitchen. “I’ll fix something for dinner. Unless something has happened in the past couple of months, my big brother doesn’t cook beyond making sandwiches or heating up a microwave dinner. I brought a few food items, so we won’t starve.”
Brock frowned. “On your motorcycle?”
At the entrance into the kitchen, Simon chuckled. “My motorcycle has a storage compartment I can use for groceries or anything I want to transport.” He disappeared into the room.
“I see nothing has changed between you two.” Sadie kept her gaze trained on her sister’s house.
“Simon and I have our differences. Every few months, he invades my space. His reason is he has to escape the grind of getting his master’s degree.” Brock leaned toward Sadie and lowered his voice as he said, “But I know he was really worried about me those first two years when I returned to live here after my hospital and rehab stay. He wants to make sure I don’t backslide.”
Simon came to the doorway with a spatula in his hand. “And my big brother has been doing great even if he loves living by himself in the woods. Like a hermit.”
Brock shook his head. “I like the quiet, the peace.” He started toward Simon. “I hope you aren’t fixing anything fancy. The last time you prepared some French dish that was way too rich for my palate.”
“Unless it’s meat and potatoes just about everything is too rich for you, so I’m making fried chicken with mashed potatoes and green beans to add a little color to your food.”
Sadie gasped. She shot up to a standing position, leaned closer to the window, then pivoted so fast the chair she’d sat in toppled over. “Someone’s at Katie’s.”
Brock flipped off the overhead light and came to Sadie’s side. “Where?”
She tapped the glass, pointing to the rear of the house. “It’s not totally dark yet, and I’m sure I saw a shadow move toward Katie’s place. I’m going over there whether you come or not.” She turned and took several steps. “It could be Katie.”
“Or one of the intruders since the deputy’s gone.” Brock grasped her arm. “No. I won’t let you. I’ll go by myself.”
Her steel-hard gaze met his. “I’m going with or without you.”
He released a long breath. He wasn’t going to change her mind. “Then wait until I can get my rifle and a flashlight in case we need either one.”
Relief flickered in her eyes. “Thanks. I would feel safer if you did come.”
When he’d come into his house, he’d left his rifle in the kitchen. “Let’s go out the garage. Come, Bella.” His dog, who had stayed at Sadie’s side, barked. “We’re going to Katie’s.” Another yelp accompanied that announcement.
“She understands where she’s going?”
“Yes. We usually visit Katie once or twice a week.” Brock withdrew a set of night vision binoculars and a flashlight from a kitchen drawer near the door to the garage.
“And yet Katie never gave you a clue to what could have caused this?”
“No, but then I haven’t talked to her in several days.”
“So, something could have happened during that time.”
“Maybe.” Brock looked at the counter by the stove. “Simon, we’re going to Katie’s to check out the place. You might wait before frying that chicken.”
“Do you need me to come?” His brother turned off the burner and removed a frying pan full of cooking oil.
“No. Make sure all the doors stay locked.” Brock picked up his rifle and opened the door. As he and Sadie stepped into the garage, he added, “Please stay behind me no matter what you see. Okay?”
“Yes,” she answered after a slight hesitation. “We should call Clay.”
“Simon, if we aren’t back in twenty minutes, call the sheriff and let him know what we’re doing. I know right now he has his hands full. I want to make sure there’s a reason for him to come.”
He crossed to the back exit from the garage and went through it first, scanning the terrain around him. There was still a faint light in the sky, but dusk would soon totally disappear. “Bella, heel and guard Sadie.” He didn’t want his dog to leave Sadie’s side even if Bella sensed danger.
A path cut through the woods from the rear of his yard to Katie’s. He wanted to use the cover of the trees as he scouted out whatever Sadie thought she saw. It could be a neighbor heading home after a hike, an animal, the intruders, or a figment of her imagination.
He stopped halfway across the back of Katie’s property, planting himself behind a large pine tree. With Sadie and Bella behind him, Brock lifted the binoculars as a bank of clouds obscured the faint light remaining. He slowly swept the panorama of the backyard from the right. The tense set of his shoulders ached.
Sadie gripped his arm. “I see something on the left side of the house.”