by Terri Reed
Alex could see how the warmth and acceptance of the teens and children on the float touched Maya. Her eyes grew teary.
“Wait! Brady, your backpack,” Maya called and rushed to the front of the float. “You don’t need it. Let me hang on to it.”
Brady relinquished the blue backpack to Maya. She walked back to Alex’s side. “You’ll keep an eye on him?”
“Of course.” Alex wished he could alleviate her fears. “Nothing is going to happen to Brady.”
“Okay. Okay,” she said as if she was convincing herself that her little brother would indeed be okay.
Alex flagged down Deputy Chase Fredrick atop his own mount, a beautiful Arabian named Sanchez. “Hey, can you hang here for just a bit? Keep an eye on Brady while I get Maya and my dad settled in the announcers’ booth?”
Chase gave a slight tug at the brim of his Stetson. “Sure.”
“Thanks, man.” Alex handed Truman’s reins to Chase. “I’ll be right back.”
Alex drove Maya and his dad closer to the town center, where the announcers’ booth had been erected in the green space between the library and the pharmacy. They climbed the ladder to the raised platform. Sheriff Ryder and Mayor Yardlee were already in their chairs beneath the attached awning.
Alex introduced Frank to the sheriff and the mayor. Mayor Olivia Yardlee was a descendant of the founding family of Bristle Township. She was in her late sixties and was an attractive woman with silver hair held back at her nape by a fancy clip. She wore pearls around her neck and at her earlobes. She had sparkling green eyes and tan skin, which was a testament to her time spent outdoors.
She was no delicate flower. Olivia Yardlee was a woman who got things done. From what Alex had heard, since she’d come into office nearly twenty years earlier, she’d implemented the various festivals as a means to draw in more tourist trade. Her efforts had brought Bristle Township from the brink of bankruptcy to the thriving town it was today.
“I better head back,” Alex told Maya.
Sheriff Ryder pushed himself out of his chair and settled a big hand on Alex’s shoulder. “We’ll keep her safe, deputy.”
Clearly, the sheriff meant he would keep her safe so Alex could focus on Brady. He released the breath he’d been holding. Sheriff Ryder nodded in approval.
Maya stopped him with a touch on his sleeve. “Be careful.”
Her concern was nice, though not warranted. “It’s going to be a good day.” He winked at her before slipping down the ladder.
Secure in the knowledge that Maya and his father were safe in the sheriff’s care, he hustled back to the high school. He took the reins from Chase. After checking Truman’s saddle, he put his foot in the stirrup and pulled himself onto the seat.
He moved Truman into position alongside the church float. Brady waved, grinning from ear to ear.
The high school marching band began to play, indicating the start of the parade.
Alex smoothed a hand over the horse’s neck. “We’ve got this,” he murmured. And sent up a silent prayer that the dread gripping his gut wasn’t worth worrying about.
From the vantage point of the announcers’ booth, Maya could see all of downtown Bristle Township. Down at the far end of Main Street, the first of the floats were just starting to turn the corner as the parade began. Mayor Olivia Yardlee and Sheriff James Ryder began talking into the mic. Their voices boomed out of large speakers set up at strategic places along the parade route and the local radio station would broadcast their parade commentary.
A large crowd gathered along both sides of the main thoroughfare. Maya had heard that the Bristle Hotel and the many bed-and-breakfast inns around town were filled with people wanting to be a part of the Harvest Festival.
The coffee shop was operating a portable booth, and serving lattes and hot chocolate. The rotary club was selling helium balloons in fall colors. After the parade, the stores would open, welcoming the tourists and the locals in for special deals and sales.
She should have the hardware store open but had decided to close for the weekend. She wasn’t sure what the loss of income would be, but after the scare of yesterday, she wasn’t in a mood to put money over safety.
Later today, there would be a mini rodeo at the fairgrounds and other activities for young and old. Usually, she and Brady would attend. Leslie would be riding along with many other local favorites and out-of-town riders, as well.
Tomorrow, after church let out, there would be a huge pancake breakfast with more activities, like a pumpkin toss on Main Street and hayrides around the county to various farms and ranches for more merriment. All in an effort to boost the economy of the town.
Alex hadn’t mentioned if his ranch would be participating. She glanced at Frank. “Is this your first time at one of our parades?”
“Yep. I don’t think I’ve actually ever been to a parade.” A pained look crossed over his face. “One of many regrets I have from Alex’s childhood. I was too caught up in my own stuff to make good memories with him.”
Maya touched his arm as empathy bubbled within her chest. “You can’t live in the past. You have to look forward. You can make new memories with Alex and forge a new relationship.”
“That is my hope,” he said in a voice that broke. “I just don’t know how to break down the walls he’s put up. I don’t blame him. His mother and I were too young and too dysfunctional to be a couple.” There was shame in Frank’s tone. “Let alone good parents.”
“Alex is resilient.” She touched his arm, empathy flooding her. “He’ll come around. He just needs time.”
Frank smiled at her, his gaze warm and contemplative. “Maya, I appreciate your words of encouragement. Pastor Foster has said something along the same lines.”
“Pastor Foster is certainly a wise man. He’s counseled me much over the years as I’ve tried to raise Brady.”
“I’m amazed and in awe that you took on the challenge of your brother at such a young age. And the store on top of that.” He regarded her for a moment and then said, “I’m really glad Alex brought you and Brady home. I think you are good for him. He’s different when you’re around. Not so withdrawn. More open.”
His words both delighted and confused her. “We’re only there for the time being,” she said, careful to keep her voice low so that it wouldn’t be picked up by the announcers’ microphones.
“Is that what you want?” he asked.
That was a good question—one she didn’t have an answer for. Yes, she wanted things to be calm, she wanted to be able to move around freely and not worry that somebody was going to attack her or Brady. She wanted to not feel the need to look over her shoulder every time she went somewhere.
And to be honest, she liked being so close to Alex.
But once the danger was resolved, life would go back to normal.
Maybe they could be friends now, though? Friends who spent nonromantic time together. Like his teaching her about stock and bonds, and all that. Her gaze went to the street as the church’s youth group float rolled toward them. She stood up to wave. “Here come Brady and Alex.”
Brady grinned and waved.
Alex nodded at her and Frank, a very serious look on his handsome face as he and Truman trotted alongside the float.
The fine hairs on the back of her neck rose, sending a shiver of unease sliding down her spine. She wasn’t sure why. She scanned the crowd. Was her attacker out there somewhere? Watching her? Waiting?
For that brief moment of talking to Frank, she’d let her guard down. Now, standing up, waving to her brother, she realized she was also making herself a target. Abruptly, she sat down and watched as the church float rolled farther down the street, taking her brother and Alex with it.
A whisper of noise grabbed her attention. She swiveled in her seat to look at the back of the booth. A person dressed in black jeans, a black h
oodie with a strange-looking silver mask covering his face appeared over the top of the ladder. The same type of mask she’d seen on the guy who’d attacked her in the woods.
She took in a sharp breath and prepared to scream. The person put a gloved finger to the mask where lips should have been but weren’t, while making a grab for Brady’s backpack.
“Oh, no, you don’t!” she yelled. “Sheriff!”
The intruder snagged the strap of Brady’s backpack and raced down the ladder to the ground below.
The sheriff scrambled out of his chair to follow. Maya beat him to the ladder. She raced down the ladder rungs with the sheriff close behind her, talking into the radio at his shoulder. Maya chased after the masked thief along the back street behind the businesses of downtown Bristle Township. Why would he want Brady’s old and beat-up backpack?
The thief easily dodged the large metal garbage can and vaulted over a stack of empty pallets. This had to be the same person who’d attacked her on the trail, confronted her at her home and broken into the store.
When the thief reached the bank building, Maya skidded to a stop to watch the person shimmy up the downspout.
The thunder of a horse’s hooves alerted Maya seconds before Alex brought Truman to a halt beside her. “Where did he go?”
“Up.” She pointed to the roofline.
Alex spurred Truman forward. Maya raced behind them, keeping an eye on the masked thief. He had to come down at some point.
Her breath caught as the thief leaped from building to building. When he reached the end of the block, there was nowhere for the masked person to go. Maya paused to catch her breath. She saw the sheriff and other deputies filling the end of the street.
Unbelievably, the thief did an about-face and ran back the way he’d come. Did this maniac never tire out?
Alex pulled on the reins, turning Truman into a ninety-degree turn. Maya jumped out of the way as the horse raced past. Pushing her quivering legs to move, she ran in Truman’s wake, but stumbled to a stop as her attention snagged on the masked thief as he swung over the side of the brick building of the bakery and used the fire escape like a slide until his feet hit the ground.
“Alex!” Maya yelled, pointing down the alley between the bakery and the real estate office.
Truman and Alex galloped to the alley entrance.
The thief raced out onto the main street. People scattered as Alex and Truman gave chase. Though Maya couldn’t hope to catch up with Alex and his horse, she managed to keep an eye on the thief as he darted across the street in the middle of the junior high school marching band.
“He’s going into the park!” Maya called out to Alex, though she wasn’t sure he could hear her. She bolted across the street, nearly taking a tuba player down. “Sorry!”
The intruder veered toward the restrooms. A crowd of teens slowed the crook’s progress, allowing Maya to gain on him. She managed to grab the backpack, her fingers curling around the thick material. “Let go!”
The masked bandit spun toward her and growled. He must have seen Alex on Truman bearing down on them because in a quick movement, he shimmied out of Brady’s backpack before racing away, disappearing into the restrooms.
Alex brought Truman to a skidding halt, the horse’s hooves digging into the grass. Alex jumped off, dropped the reins and ran for the restrooms after the perp. Maya hugged Brady’s backpack to her chest. Truman snorted loudly. One look at the horse made the hairs on her arms raise. His head and his tail were held high and his feet pawed at the ground.
Then Truman let out a mighty bellow that sent a shiver down her spine. She turned away from Truman to see the masked thief coming straight at her. Confusion momentarily held her in place. How could...?
Truman shoved his way in front of her, lowering his head as he snorted and stamped his foot, clearly not about to let the oncoming threat near Maya. The masked man spun and raced away.
“Alex!” Maya screamed. They couldn’t let him get away.
Alex ran out of the restroom building holding a dark hoodie and a silver mask.
Maya’s breath caught in her throat.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
Maya’s gaze bounced between the items in his hands and the direction her would-be attacker had disappeared. A terrifying realization washed over her. She lifted her gaze to Alex. “There’s two of them.”
ELEVEN
Alex’s chest tightened. While he’d been chasing the masked assailant into the men’s restroom, another man in black had come after Maya. “I never considered partners in crime.”
He’d thought he’d had the assailant trapped in the restroom, but not so. His quarry had escaped through the high window and disappeared before Alex could identify him. A simmering anger made Alex’s hands tremble as he pulled an evidence bag from a pouch on his utility belt and slipped the discarded mask he’d found on the restroom floor inside it.
“I can’t believe Truman protected me,” Maya said, her gaze soft on the horse.
“All those hours of training,” Alex told her. “Plus, he likes you.” He would give the horse some extra carrots for a job well-done.
“Apparently, they wanted Brady’s backpack.” Still clutching the backpack to her chest, Maya dropped to her knees in the grass and unzipped the front pouch. A set of keys tumbled out with a small square tracking device. She held it up. “I hadn’t thought of this before, but do you think you could track Brady’s movement and see where he actually went on the trail through this?”
“That’s a smart question.” From a smart lady. “I’ll give it to Hannah Nelson. If it can be done, she’ll figure it out.”
Maya opened up the main part of the backpack and pulled out a safety blanket, a lunch bag and a small emergency kit containing Band-Aids and antibacterial ointment. She froze. “Oh, no.”
Alex squatted next to her. Anticipation revved through his veins. “What is it?”
Truman shifted his feet as if he, too, sensed the tension radiating off Maya.
Slowly, she withdrew a black leather-bound journal, the edges of the pages smeared in dried blood. It had to be the same journal the treasure hunters had described the deceased dentist keeping his notes in. Her hands trembled. “Why would Brady have this?”
Stunned for a moment by the unexpected find, Alex struggled to believe what he was seeing. Could sweet Brady be a murderer?
Forcing himself to push aside his reaction, Alex said, “Lay that on the grass.” He dug through the pouch on his utility belt for another evidence bag.
Tears gathered in her eyes as she did as he instructed. “You can’t think... Brady wouldn’t have hurt anyone.”
A knot formed in Alex’s gut. He carefully slid the notebook into the bag and stood. “Maya, we need to get you back to the podium, where you’ll be safe with my dad. And then I need to find Brady.”
She rose to her feet and put her hand on his arm. “What are you going to do?”
“I have to bring Brady in for questioning.” As much as he didn’t like the idea of detaining Brady as a suspect, his job required him to be impartial and follow procedure.
“He didn’t do anything,” she pleaded with Alex. “Brady did not kill that man. You heard him. He ran away when the man yelled at him.”
“Then how did the dentist’s notebook end up in Brady’s backpack?”
Maya dropped her hand and stepped back. The devastation in her pretty eyes punched him in the midsection. “I don’t know. There has to be a logical explanation.”
Alex prayed she was right. “I have no choice, Maya. I have to take your brother into custody.”
* * *
Maya couldn’t believe this. Brady was a suspect in a murder. It just didn’t make any sense.
She paced the length of the outer reception area inside the station. Brady would never hurt anyone. And no matter how much sh
e had tried to convince Alex, he insisted on bringing Brady to the sheriff’s station and putting him in an interrogation room. They wouldn’t even let her see him.
She didn’t know how the dead man’s notebook had found its way into her brother’s backpack, but she was going to find out.
Brady hadn’t been the only one on the hiking trails that day. There were five people who had known the victim. Though Alex had told her the five treasure hunters claimed to have not seen the victim, that didn’t mean they weren’t lying. An image of the masked ninja-like thief—make that thieves—appeared in her mind and she shuddered.
But right now, her focus had to be on Brady. As soon as Alex and the sheriff stepped out of the sheriff’s office, she rushed forward and blocked their path. “Let me talk to my brother,” she said, her voice thick with frustration. “He’s scared. He doesn’t understand what is happening.”
The compassion on Alex’s face scraped her emotions raw. “Maya, he’s safe. No one can hurt him while he’s in our custody. You need to stay here. I can’t have you interfering.”
Desperation clamped a steely hand around her heart. Anxiety twisted in her tummy. How could they possibly believe Brady was capable of such a horrendous crime? “I watch enough crime dramas to know he needs a lawyer.”
“That is certainly your choice, Maya,” Sheriff Ryder stated.
“It is my choice.” She glared at Alex. “You know he didn’t hurt that man.”
Alex’s expression held empathy and sorrow. “Maya, maybe he didn’t mean to.”
“No,” she insisted. “He wouldn’t do anything that would hurt someone else. You said you don’t even know how that man died.”
“We do know the cause of death.” Alex glanced at the sheriff, as if asking permission to proceed. The sheriff nodded.