A quiet snore rose from Sam.
Rae grabbed a soft throw and covered the sleeping woman.
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
5:45 p.m.
Emerald M Ranch
Liam shoved through the front door of the Emerald M and found it warm and inviting as always. He shrugged off his coat and hung it on the coatrack. He removed his gloves, hat, and boots too. Evelyn didn’t want boots leaving a trail of melted snow. He did all this while holding back his anger. Pushing down his temper.
When he’d left the meeting with the security guys he would be supervising, he couldn’t find Rae, who was supposed to stick around and complete whatever task Natalie gave her, anywhere at the resort. Liam panicked. Then Natalie reported that Rae insisted she had to leave and that if she wasn’t back by the time Liam returned, to reassure him that she was all right.
That hadn’t been their agreement. Liam texted her. She was about to head back to the resort, but Liam instructed her to go on to the ranch—she was closer, and he wanted to head that way as well. She shouldn’t have left the resort to begin with.
Berating her would get him nowhere. He wasn’t in charge. Only a hired hand—Rae’s PI guy and supposed protector. But he couldn’t protect her if she ran off to chase a lead while he was working at the resort. Going to work for Brad had been a mistake, after all, even if they’d meant to use that time to further their investigation.
He and Rae had a lot to think about.
And a lot to talk about.
Add to that, Heath had called him. The guy was on his honeymoon—and he hadn’t trusted Liam enough to run the ranch in his absence. Liam tried not to let that upset him. Heath needed time to focus on his new bride. He deserved happiness, so Liam had reassured his brother everything was fine.
As for love and happiness, Liam doubted he could ever have that with anyone. Rae had been the only person he’d pictured himself with, but that image had been destroyed before.
Rae emerged from the hallway, pulling him from his exasperation. A soft smile was on her lips as she approached. “I’m sorry, Liam. Please don’t be upset. Let me explain.”
His anger bled out. “I hope you know how worried I was.”
“It was a lead I needed to follow, and you were working. I didn’t want to mess that up for you.”
“You’re my priority. I shouldn’t have taken the job—it was a distraction. I thought it could help us.”
“I understand. I think we’re both tired, and there are no clear paths here.” She gestured to the living area, and he sat in a plush chair. She eased onto the sofa at the corner near him. So close, but he’d felt the distance between them today when she disappeared to explore a lead on her own. How did he hold her close, but not too close?
Liam listened as she explained everything that had happened.
“This Ivan. Are you sure he’s not the guy in the black mask?”
“Yes. He truly cares about Sam, and it seemed like he thought of himself as a father figure in Zoey’s life. I’m not suspicious of him. Sam is fragile right now, worried sick about her daughter. Ivan is covering for her, and he’s overwhelmed.”
Rae angled her head to look at him. “I thought she was much stronger than what I saw today. Seeing her like that left me hollowed out. But like any mother would be, Sam is grieving.” Rae shut her eyes. “God, please let someone find her, preferably alive and well.”
He watched Rae. Beautiful, ambitious, determined, and fearless. He lifted a hand, wanting to reach across the short distance to touch her cheek, her hand, anything, but he dropped it before he made contact. Someone important to her was out there.
Alive?
Dead?
He didn’t know. But the deeper they got into this, the stranger it became. Fear shot through him—the fear that he wouldn’t be there to save her this time.
“We need to stick together,” he said. “If you’re thinking of pursuing other leads without me like you did today, maybe I should call Brad and tell him it’s off for now.”
“I’ll be careful, Liam. This isn’t my first . . . um . . . rodeo. You know?”
“I do know.” Her last “rodeo” nearly killed them both. If none of that had happened, where would both of them be now? Would he still be working for the DEA? Doubtful. Would she still be unearthing injustices to prove she was worthy to a father who was no longer in this world?
Would Liam and Rae be together? He had no business thinking about that. None.
Rae stared at her phone. “I texted my brother to tell him I found those same books at Sam’s home. I hope he can figure out why they were so important to Zoey and if they mean anything in all this.”
Liam wasn’t sure the books had any significance. “My mom read a lot of novels. The shelves were stuffed with old paperbacks. They all burned in the fire.”
“What are you saying, Liam?”
“She shared them with friends. Got them at yard sales. But I would never say they were important to her. So what if Zoey liked that author and his books? So what if her mother had some too? Getting that novel in the mail might not mean anything.” He closed his eyes and sighed. “Listen, I don’t know, but I don’t want you to hold out hope that this is the clue to save the day.” He opened his eyes to find her staring at him. He hadn’t meant to strip her of her hope that she would find answers in the novels.
Liam swiped a hand down his face.
“I’ll be back,” she said. “Evelyn said dinner will be ready soon. I’ll see you then.”
“Fine.”
Rae headed for her room, and Liam got up and peered through the front window. For once he could be grateful for the treacherous roads leading to the ranch, more so in the winter. Heath had made progress on improving the drive up because he wanted to open the ranch for business next winter, but he hadn’t made that much progress. Rae wouldn’t be in danger here. He didn’t believe anyone would want to hassle with that drive. No one would make the hike through the deep snow of the Gros Ventre Wilderness to get to her. He was relieved that no one had tried anything this afternoon.
Maybe Astor had left and taken the danger to Rae with him. At least Liam could relax for a few moments.
He made his way to the kitchen, following the heavenly aroma that filled the house. Evelyn must have been cooking a stew. She stepped from the walk-in pantry. “Liam. Thought I heard you come in. I hope you’re hungry.”
“Sure am.”
Evelyn smiled.
“How was your date last night?” he asked.
She chuckled and waved him off. “Let’s just say I won’t be taking Leroy with me next week when we go to dinner in town.”
“Oh, that smells amazing.” Rae entered the kitchen.
“You have a seat.” Evelyn gestured to the counter. She seemed happy in the kitchen, and Liam was glad for it.
Hands thrust into his pockets, he leaned near Rae. “Get some grub while I find Pete and Leroy to see how everything is going here. I’m supposed to supervise while Heath is gone.” He hadn’t exactly had a lot to report when Heath had called because he’d been preoccupied with Rae and left the ranch to run itself—with Pete’s and Leroy’s help, of course.
Rae’s eyes were a soft blue tonight and pinned him. “And you took two other jobs? Helping me investigate and working security at the resort? Liam, what are you thinking?” Her smile twisted.
His gaze stayed on her lips longer than it should have, but he liked her smile. The way she’d teased him. “I’m some kind of crazy.”
Hadn’t he prayed for doors to open? The trouble was that he’d had no idea which was the right one to walk through. But he’d fixed that and walked through three of them.
He left Rae and Evelyn, grabbed his coat and boots, and tromped down to the barn to check on the horses in their stables. The cold air slapped him in the face. As much as he struggled with feeling at home—anywhere—he could never
get this place out of his blood.
When he’d needed to flee from what had happened, Emerald M and Heath had been waiting for him, and he couldn’t have been happier to stay.
For a while.
Admittedly, he could think a lot clearer here in Wyoming, and even more so on this ranch. That was, without Heath around. They loved each other, but their personalities clashed too much for comfort. Liam had hoped they could find a way to get along.
Maybe the security job would work out and he could move closer to town or the resort. But all that would have to come after Zoey’s disappearance had been resolved.
God, please let her still be alive somewhere.
While he would want that for anyone—life over death—he had a personal stake in this disappearance because of how it would affect Rae. He couldn’t bear to see her lose her sister-in-law.
If Zoey was still alive, he could think of a few terrible reasons why she would have disappeared, and he wasn’t sure they were better alternatives to death. Still, after what she’d already been through, Zoey sounded like a true survivor.
Like Rae.
As he approached the barn, he heard raised voices. Now he understood the real reason Heath valued Liam’s supervision. He wouldn’t bother eavesdropping. He pushed the door open and walked in on Leroy and Pete exchanging heated words.
“Hey,” he said. “What’s this about?”
They stopped and stared at Liam. Hands on his hips, Pete looked away. Neither of them appeared willing to tell him what was going on.
“In case you weren’t aware, Heath left me in charge while he’s gone.” He wished he hadn’t said that. He could sense resentment from both men. He could understand their perspectives. Liam showed up just a few months ago and now was suddenly in charge? What did he know? How would Heath want him to handle this? He held out his palms. “Look, I know I’m the new guy, and you both know more about the inner workings of this place than I do, but we’re not exactly guest-ranching at the moment. I’m happy to help resolve any issues if you want to share them.”
“All due respect, Liam,” Pete said, “you’re not around enough to help.”
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
5:56 p.m.
Evelyn encouraged Rae to go ahead and eat because the stew was best eaten hot, and Liam could be a while. So Rae sat at the table with the older woman and enjoyed the most amazing venison stew. It warmed her up inside.
“Any news on your missing sister-in-law?”
“We still don’t know where she is.” Rae lifted a spoonful of stew to her mouth.
“I’m so sorry. The only thing I know to do is pray, so I’ll keep praying for her and for your family.”
“Thank you.” Rae took another bite of stew, though her appetite was quickly disappearing. After her visit with Sam and learning that she had been in contact with Zoey recently and also had a stash of those thriller novels, Rae had the strong sense that she was closing in on the truth.
God, where is Zoey? Help me find her.
The front door slammed. Rae heard Liam removing his coat and boots. Then he entered the kitchen, his expression hard. He approached the counter and his eyes grew wide. “You didn’t wait for me?”
“You told me to eat,” Rae said. “Evelyn did too.”
He laughed. “I did. You’re right. I’m just surprised, that’s all.”
Oh, now he was just teasing. But behind his smile, he seemed upset.
Evelyn had gotten up from the table to ladle stew into a bowl for Liam. “There’s corn bread too.”
She set the stew and corn bread in front of Liam. He started in immediately.
He finally slowed long enough to notice she was watching him. “What?”
“Is everything okay?” she asked.
“Sure. Just peachy.” He focused on his meal.
Was he still upset with her for leaving the resort? Nothing she could do about that now.
“I can see something’s on your mind, Rae,” he said. “Why don’t you tell me?”
Rae had not gotten an answer about the Zane Williams books, but she’d known by the look in Sam’s eyes that Sam had in fact sent them to Zoey. “Don’t so quickly discount the books, Liam. Hear me out. Alan told me that Zoey had received one book per week for a month. Sam had sent them one at a time. Why? I’m thinking Zoey suspected something was going to happen to her,” Rae said. “The books. They were there before in college. They’re here now, and Zoey’s gone again. What do the books have to do with anything? Why did Sam send them? What does she know that she’s not telling me?”
Liam chewed on a piece of corn bread. “So how can we find out more?” he asked.
Good. At least he was willing to listen to her about the books. Rae hopped off the stool, moved to the coatrack, and then tugged the novel from her oversized pocket. She made her way back to the kitchen and held up the book. The cover featured a scuba diver in a bright blue sea. “I just happen to have gotten my hands on one. Lost Gold by Zane Williams.”
“Did you buy it?”
“No. I snagged it from Sam’s bookshelf. She shut down on me before I could ask. I’ll return it, but if she isn’t willing to be forthcoming, then I feel like it’s okay that I borrowed the book from her.”
“What about fingerprints? You’re getting yours all over it.”
“Sam has more on her shelf. I need to see what this is about. And I’d like to talk to Ivan more too.”
“When are you going to do all this? You have a job at the resort to see if you can find any suspicious activity there, remember?”
“Right. I’m only working part-time, remember?” She skimmed through a few pages of Lost Gold.
Liam swallowed a spoonful of stew. “Okay. I admit that I may have been wrong about the books, and you could be onto something. Why does Sam have the books that Zoey kept in college? Why did Zoey suddenly want the books sent back to her?”
“And why these books? I mean, why Zane Williams? Is there some significance to the author, the titles, or the series?”
Liam had that uncertain look in his eyes again.
“What are you thinking?” she asked.
He frowned. “While there could be something to find here, I’d like to have something real to go on. This feels like we’re sticking our hands in a sandbox, lifting them out only to have the sand pouring through our fingers because everything is circumstantial. Loose connections that slide through our fingers because there’s nothing hard to grab on to. And your thoughts on the books seem very loose, if you ask me.”
Why couldn’t he see what she saw? She tamped down her disappointment. Rae wouldn’t be deterred. “We keep digging in that sandbox then until we grab on to something solid.” She turned her attention to her laptop and did a web search for Zane Williams. Once she found him, she said, “He writes thriller novels mostly about underwater shipwrecks. Treasure. That sort of thing.”
Liam’s cell rang. He glanced at the screen and frowned. “Excuse me.” He rose from the table and left her there with Evelyn.
“He’s such an intense man,” Evelyn said. “But he has a heart of gold.”
Rae had seen that heart of gold. She’d shattered it all by herself. Did Evelyn know that story? Rae didn’t feel like revealing too much of the past.
Evelyn got up and started clearing the dishes, so Rae did as well.
“The two of us can work faster.” Rae helped Evelyn finish up the dishes. Sometimes a mundane task would spark ideas as her brain continued to work.
And she got one.
After putting the few dishes away, Rae got back on her laptop and found the news story about Simon Astor’s remains being discovered.
Air whooshed from her lungs.
Journalism 101. Check the facts. Then recheck them.
She reread the date. Forensic anthropologist Susan Geiger had assisted in identifying the remains and the cause of deat
h. The date Simon’s remains were identified, and Enzo would have been notified, happened after Zoey’s abduction.
Rae hadn’t considered this before.
Zoey had disappeared before the body was identified. Was her disappearance even related? It had to be. There weren’t any coincidences. But this didn’t make sense.
She pressed her head into her hands. Maybe she wasn’t the person to figure this out.
Even though Dad was gone, she couldn’t help but think about him—her Pulitzer Prize–winning, war zone–journalist father. Could she ever live up to his name?
Oh, Dad, I think I might just let you down.
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
Liam stood on the porch in the cold, wishing he’d pulled on a coat. He didn’t know what to make of those thriller novels, or for that matter, Pete’s story that someone had stopped by the ranch and claimed they’d rented a cabin. Leroy had taken Evelyn out earlier today, so they hadn’t been there. Pete had sent the potential clients away but questioned Leroy when he returned—and Leroy wasn’t having it.
Liam’s cell rang, interrupting his thoughts. Kelvin had needed to call him back, so Liam had waited on the porch. “Glad you didn’t forget me.”
“My apologies. I’ll get right to it, then. Fox’s lawyer got him out of prison.”
A few heartbeats later, Liam still hadn’t comprehended Kelvin’s words. “What do you mean his lawyer got him out of prison?” Where Malcom had been waiting for his trial.
The prosecution had convinced the judge that the guy was a flight risk. All that money and those international connections, he could disappear for good. No bail for him.
“I mean what I said. He’s free to walk the streets. The case was dismissed pre-trial. His defense attorney found some evidentiary problem.”
Nausea erupted in Liam’s gut. How could this happen? “Care to share the details? I don’t want to hear that I spent two years working this case and now he’s walking free. What happened?”
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