by Kaylea Cross
If he ever worked up the balls to tell her, he would do it in person.
“I was thinking of it, yeah. Sounds like Rylee wants to stay here for the holidays rather than come home to Kelowna, so I thought I might come down here and train for a bit over the holidays.”
Biathlon. She’d picked it up late last year as a hobby and fallen in love with it. Now she was gunning for a shot at the Canadian Paralympic team. Braxton was so fucking proud of her for working so hard and going after her dreams. After overcoming all the obstacles life had thrown at her, she deserved every happiness she could find. “Good, hopefully I’ll get to see you then.”
Her smile made his whole chest tighten. “I hope so.”
He was totally gone over her, and he’d been careful to make sure she didn’t know. That no one knew. The truth was, she was way out of his league. He wasn’t near good enough for her. And she was also Tate’s sister, which meant she was off-limits. But if by some miracle she ever indicated that she wanted him, all bets were off.
That hadn’t stopped him from thinking about her, however. Or building up a database of sexual fantasies that had sustained him through several long and brutally demanding deployments in various hot zones overseas.
She didn’t know it, but she’d gotten him through a lot of tough times just by living in his head.
The blare of an alarm cut through the air. Aw, shit. Mortar or rocket attack, probably. “Sorry, gotta go.” Damn shit-tastic timing, as usual.
She nodded, a worried frown drawing her dark eyebrows together, and it didn’t take a genius to know the alarm had reminded her of the day she’d been wounded. “Stay safe.”
“Will do.”
She put on a smile for him. “Bye. Miss you.”
Shit. Hearing that made him ache inside. “Miss you too.” More than she’d ever know.
He ended the call and jumped from his bunk, still thinking about her as the alarm blared in the background. And that he’d give anything for the chance to make her his.
Chapter Twenty
Since the detective in charge of her case in Billings was currently swamped with higher priority cases, Avery had decided to continue investigating on her own for now and driven to Billings first thing this morning. Of the list of seven possible suspects she had to go on, she’d managed to narrow the field to three contenders as to who was stalking her.
The first two had been dead ends. The third…
A chiming through her vehicle’s speakers alerted her of a call. Mason’s name displayed on the dash. She smiled as she answered. “Hey.”
“Just checking in. How you making out?”
She smirked at his choice of words. “I’m not.”
“See? Shoulda waited and taken me with you. Then you’d be making out just fine.”
“Riiiight, and I’d be getting so much work done, too.” She turned right at the next intersection. “I’m close to my next stop. Call you later.”
“Okay, hurry home. Miss you.”
The sincerity and lack of teasing in his voice made her chest constrict. “Miss you too.” And tonight, they needed to finally hash out exactly where they were going and make sure they were both clear about it before things went any further.
Ending the call, she pushed Mason temporarily from her mind and focused on the task at hand. Shannon Torbert was the last of the suspects Avery wanted to check out in person. Interestingly, Shannon hadn’t been at work in the bank this past week. Something about a death in the family that Avery hadn’t been able to substantiate.
She pulled up to the curb in front of the house Shannon was supposedly renting a basement suite in. There were no cars parked out front or in the driveway.
Avery got out and walked up the sidewalk to investigate. No one answered the front door, and when she checked in the windows all the lights were off. She headed around back next and rang the bell for the suite.
No answer there either, and it was also dark inside. Someone had brought in the mail recently, however, because the mailbox was empty and there were no newspapers on the doorstep. “So where are you, Shannon?” she murmured.
There was one more obvious place Avery wanted to check before leaving town. Just in case.
She started around the walkway, putting the pieces together in her head. The prison holding Mike Radzat was only six miles away.
Avery turned the corner of the house and stepped onto the driveway. Her gaze fixed on a silver compact car as it slowed near the driveway. The driver was a woman. Young. Dark hair.
Avery stopped. Their gazes locked for an instant through the side window.
Before Avery could get a good look at the driver, the car took off down the street with a screech of its tires.
“Dammit.” She bolted for her vehicle, mentally cursing and wishing she had backup with her. She jumped behind the wheel and took off after the car, pulling onto the quiet street just as it turned the corner ahead.
Avery floored it and followed, doing everything in her power to keep the other car within sight. The traffic ahead picked up as the neighborhood transitioned into an area of higher density.
The suspect vehicle darted out to pass a slower-moving car, nearly collided head-on with a minivan before whipping back into the correct lane. Avery set her jaw and followed, but was forced to hit the brakes when someone turned onto the road in front of her.
She darted up a side street and turned an immediate left, hoping to catch up to the silver car, but she caught only a glimpse of it as it turned a sharp left and disappeared from view through the traffic.
Avery had no lights or sirens on her personal vehicle. Pursuing the vehicle in this kind of populated area was just going to get someone seriously hurt. So she pulled over, adrenaline still coursing through her, and dialed her contact at the Billings PD. “Hi, it’s Avery. Can you trace a plate for me? It’s in relation to Shannon Torbert.”
“Sure, gimme the number.”
After ending the call, she sat waiting, impatience pumping through her. She was ninety-five-percent certain it had been Torbert driving that car, and that she’d recognized Avery. There was no other explanation for why the driver would have taken off like that.
He called back a few minutes later. “Rental vehicle, from a local company. Name of the person on the rental agreement is Sharon Turner.”
Which was real damn close to Shannon Torbert.
“Nothing flagged in the system when I entered that name.”
Damn. “All right. Thanks. Will you try and contact her later?”
“Of course.”
She ended the call and immediately called Mason to tell him what had happened.
“What are you gonna do now?” he asked when she was done. “Go back to her place and wait?”
“No. She won’t go back there now.” Not unless she was stupid, although given that she’d linked up with Radzat and had targeted a cop, maybe she was. “And she’ll ditch the car.”
She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair, suddenly tired now that her adrenaline level had dropped. Mason had kept her up until midnight. She’d been up since three to get out here, and had a six-hour drive ahead of her to get home again. “Just frustrating that I can’t prove whether it’s her or not.”
“Sounds like it was. I’m just glad you’re okay.”
She smiled faintly, loving that he worried about her. “I’m fine. How are things there?”
“Great. Ric and I’ve been doing some work on the old barn on the property. Cleaning it out and getting it ready for demolition. You heading back now, then?”
“Yes. See you in just over six hours.”
“Can’t wait. Drive safe, and call me if you get tired. I’ll keep you awake.”
He was so damn sweet and caring underneath the bravado. “Thanks. See you soon.”
It wasn’t until she’d pulled onto the road that she realized her gut instinct had been to reach out to Mason rather than Tate, her fellow detective as well as trusted friend and partner.
That gave her a clear answer to everything she’d been questioning about her feelings for Mason.
She was in deep. Too deep to pull out of it now.
****
Shannon couldn’t get her heart to slow down. Even after she’d ditched Avery and driven a few miles north to put some space between them, it was still knocking against her ribs.
Her palms were damp and her breathing was erratic. That had been way too close.
Her fucking house. How had the bitch figured out she was the one behind all this? Shannon had been careful through every single step. She’d only come back to Billings today to regroup, see Mike and get fresh clothes.
Tears of frustration and rage burned her eyes. She dashed them away with the back of her hand and kept driving. She couldn’t go visit Mike now. Couldn’t go for the foreseeable future, either, since now Avery might have the cops looking for her and she didn’t have a solid alibi about where she’d been for the past week if anyone questioned her.
A road sign up ahead indicated the distance to the Interstate. East would take her toward the South Dakota border. South to Wyoming. Or west back toward Missoula, and Rifle Creek.
She pushed out a hard, shaky breath. Billings was no longer safe for her. Her instinct was to run. Get across the state line and find somewhere to lie low until she could make a decision about what to do next.
But if she did that, she would lose her man, and all the plans she’d made for their life together.
The tears came faster now, too fast to wipe away. She let them fall, let the rage inside her burst free, a scream tearing from her throat.
She wouldn’t let this bitch cost her everything. Not after all she’d risked and all that lay on the line.
Her only choice was to stay and finish this. Risk it all and let the chips fall where they may. Her life was nothing without Mike anyway.
Since the other night, she’d thought of killing Avery in so many different ways. Maybe making it look like an accident by cutting her brake lines. Ramming her vehicle off a cliff or high mountain road. But running her off the road wasn’t certain to kill her. Shooting her in the face was looking better and better. Getting that close without being noticed was the problem.
Shannon still had the can of gas, however. If she could trap Avery somewhere, she could burn her to death. If not, she had a backup plan.
She opened the armrest and curled her hand around the grip of her pistol, imagining the moment when she put a bullet through Avery’s head. If Shannon was going down, she was sending Avery to hell first. But she was going to need a new car, and help pulling the murder off.
Fortunately, she knew just where to look.
Resolved, she closed the armrest and turned left at the fork, heading for the highway going west to Rifle Creek.
Chapter Twenty-One
Mason pulled open the front door for Avery before she could put her key in the lock, and took her in with a single glance. She looked tired, but not upset. “Glad you’re back safe,” he said, enveloping her in a hug.
She slid her arms around his ribs and leaned into him. “This is a nice homecoming.”
Next to him, Ric was wiggling from the force of his tail wagging. “Hello, my sweet, furry prince,” she crooned, reaching down to pet him. Ric’s tail wagged even harder, knocking against the wall with rhythmic thuds.
“You’re making me jealous of my own beloved dog.” Mason curved a hand around the back of her neck and drew her in for a kiss. There was no stiffness or hesitation in her, she just melted into him, making his chest tighten. He wanted a future with her so bad.
When he ended the kiss, she inhaled and gave him a dreamy smile. “Did you cook again?”
“I did. You hungry?”
Her eyes gleamed. “Starving.”
He was, too. “I’ll feed you, and you can tell me all about this female suspect.” He led her into the kitchen and pulled the roasted chicken breasts and veggies out of the oven. “Go sit.”
She did without arguing, watching him with a little smile on her face. “I feel so pampered.”
He grinned. “Well, that was easy.”
He dished up their dinner and carried it to the table, where Ric was already camped out, lying beneath it like a good boy. His chin was on his paws, but his eyes were trained on Avery in case she decided to sneak him something. “This is another one of my mom’s recipes.”
“It smells amazing.” She took a bite, hummed in pleasure in a way that sent heat shooting into his gut. “Mmm, and it tastes even better. Is there lemon zest in it?”
“A bit. So, tell me about this suspect you went to find today.”
“Shannon Torbert. Twenty-six, works as a bank teller in Billings. Never been married. Lives alone in the basement suite I checked out today.”
“Ah, a fellow basement dweller with issues.”
Her lips quirked. “Well, her issues have turned her into a psycho. I didn’t know much about her background until this afternoon, but most of what Tate and my Billings contact found only substantiates what I’d thought. She came from a broken, abusive home. No father in the picture. Was taken into foster care when she was four, and got involved with petty crime in her teens, but probably before that.”
Mason shook his head. “She sounds like me, except for the crime bit. That would have been me if it hadn’t been for my mom.”
Avery gave him a sympathetic smile. “But look what you’ve done with your life. You have so much to be proud of. I’m proud that you didn’t let yourself become a statistic, when you were a kid, and after you were injured.”
He squirmed a bit at the praise, but it also sent warmth through his whole body. “Thanks. Anyway, what else did you guys find out?”
“She met Mike Radzat online early this year, and she goes to visit him regularly. We think she’s in love with him, and that him being denied parole might have set her off. She’s looking for a target to hit back, and I’m it.”
“Did you put out an alert for her?”
“Yes, but she’s got at least one alias, and probably others we don’t know about. If she’s smart, she’s already found another vehicle and maybe put on a disguise. And her crimes are such small potatoes compared to what’s going on out there, the Billings P.D. can’t devote much time or manpower to look for her. Right now, our best chance of locating her is when she messes up and uses a credit card we can track her with, or gets in contact with Radzat.”
“She works at a bank, so we’ll assume she’s smarter than that. She’ll make a cash withdrawal and use it sparingly.”
“Right. She’ll probably leave town now that she knows I saw her. Maybe try to go to another state for a while. But if she’s in love with Radzat, she won’t be able to stay away from him forever. So it’s a waiting game.”
“I feel better knowing she’s probably running in the opposite direction from you.”
“Me too.” She finished her dinner a minute after him and pushed her plate away. “That was fantastic, thank you. Didn’t realize how hungry I was.” She stood with her plate, arching her back to stretch. “Or stiff from being in the car so long today.”
He took the plate from her and ignored her protests as he carried the dishes to the sink. “Ric and I didn’t get out for our usual hike today.” He shifted his gaze to her. “Wanna go check out the property with me?”
“I’ve already seen it.”
“Not with me.”
A slow smile tugged at her lips. “You want to show me something up there?”
He smiled back, already planning it in his mind. “I do.”
****
Not surprisingly, Rifle Creek wasn’t busy tonight. A handful of people were out walking in the historic downtown district, exercising their dogs.
It had taken her a while to get everything organized, but Shannon was finally here. The bar parking lot only had a few vehicles in it. One of them was Ray’s.
She reversed into a spot near his old truck and tugged the brim of
her cap lower over her forehead. She hadn’t bothered with a wig, instead tucking her hair up in a bun, and the cap covered it. Nobody here knew her except Ray.
Her eyes adjusted quickly to the dim interior. As expected, Ray was seated at the bar with a half-finished glass of beer. He had both forearms on it, his head and shoulders bent in a picture of dejection.
She slid onto the stool beside him. “Hey, Ray.”
He lifted his head, blinked at her a couple of times. He was drunk already. She’d bet money he wouldn’t remember her name even if he’d been sober. “Oh. Hi. Thought you left town?”
“Car broke down a few miles down the highway, so I came back here for the night.” She ordered herself a double whiskey. It would help settle her nerves.
Shannon had barely resisted the urge to drive past Avery’s house and check if she was home, wanting to wait for the best opportunity. Targeting her there was the most dangerous, because of that nosy neighbor and the probability that Avery’s man would be there. Shannon wanted to be able to shoot her and get away.
“Ah.” Ray took a sip of his beer as the bartender handed Shannon her glass. “You getting it fixed now?”
“Yes. I’ll be gone for good as of tomorrow.” She tossed back half the whiskey, wincing at the burn, but she needed some liquid courage right now. She also needed more intel. “So, Ray, you look upset about something. What’s wrong?” Not that she cared, she just needed information about Avery and her man.
Ray sighed and set down his glass, shaking his head. “The property I told you about. Deal closed last night.”
“Oh, no, I’m so sorry. Your family wouldn’t listen to you?”
“No.” He choked up, struggled to regain his composure before continuing. “Don’t have any family left, now. They’ve all cut me off. ‘Cept for Catherine, but she probably will soon too.”