“Okay I guess.” She sniffed. “But my nose is stuffy and I can’t sleep. Mommy took a sleeping pill, and she’s snoring.”
“She’s really tired. None of us slept last night.”
“Uh-huh,” she said as if she already knew. She tried to suck her thumb, but her nose was too stuffy, so she pulled it out of her mouth. Cole decided that maybe that was a good thing.
“I keep thinking about that place,” she said.
Cole rolled to face her, putting his hand on her small shoulder. She stared at the ceiling, clutching the toy dog. Would she be traumatized for life?
“Do you want to talk about it?”
She shook her head in a small back and forth movement. “Mattie cried when she found me. I cried too.”
“You were both relieved.” Cole fought back his own tears. Relief probably didn’t even come close to describing how overcome they’d been. And Mattie . . . she wasn’t one to cry. His chest swelled as he thought of how much this woman seemed to love his kids. It touched him.
Another tap at the door made them both look, and the dogs raised their heads.
“Angie,” Sophie said, the word laden with pleasure. She scooted over to the middle, closer to Cole. “Come get in bed with us.” And then she pushed Belle. “Move over, Belle. Let Angie in.”
“Join us, Angel,” he said. “Can’t sleep?”
Angela climbed into bed on the other side of Sophie, and the two snuggled against each other. “No. I must’ve slept too much today.”
“Me too,” Sophie said. “Can we watch a movie, Dad?”
“Let’s see what we can find,” he said, deep contentment filling him as he flipped through the channels. They finally agreed on Sleepless in Seattle, and Cole turned the volume on low so they wouldn’t disturb the rest of the household. Yawning, he settled back on his pillow with his shoulder bumping against Sophie’s.
He would savor this moment, but once the girls fell asleep, he and Bruno would go back on guard duty.
Chapter 28
Saturday
Mattie covered her wet hair with a towel, giving her scalp a brisk massage to try to wake up. She took a moment to examine the ashen circles under her eyes before squeezing toothpaste onto her toothbrush.
No way around it. I look like shit this morning.
The search for evidence at the root cellar had turned up nothing, the Waverly interrogation hadn’t ended with satisfactory results, and Burt Banks was still missing when the sheriff had called it a day last night and told them all to go home and get some sleep. Instead of going home, Mattie had driven to Cole’s place to stand guard for a while outside his house, just in case the killer came back for Sophie. She might as well die if she let anything else happen to that dear girl.
After getting dressed, she went to the kitchen in search of something to eat when her cell phone rang.
Cole.
She connected the call. “How is Sophie this morning?”
“Much better. We’re at the clinic feeding her chicks, and she wanted to call to tell you good morning. Do you have time to talk to her?”
His words warmed her heart. “Sure. Put her on.”
There was a pause and a clatter as Cole shifted the phone to Sophie. “Good morning, Mattie. What are you doing today?”
Mattie closed her eyes as she savored hearing the child’s voice. “Good morning to you too, Sophie. I’m getting ready to go to work.”
“But it’s Saturday!”
Mattie smiled. “Police officers have to be on duty over the weekend too.”
“Can you come by today and see my baby chicks?”
“I’ll call later and see if we can work something out, okay?”
“Okay.” There was a pause before Sophie spoke again. “I really missed my babies.”
“I bet you did. You’d just brought them home, right?”
“Yeah. That guy said he was going to buy me some more chicks, but I wanted my own.”
Mattie straightened, all of her attention focused on Sophie. “Had you already told him about your new chickens, sweetheart?”
“No, I didn’t tell him anything about them. I didn’t want him to kidnap them too.”
“So did he use those words? Did he say, ‘I’m going to buy you some more chicks?’”
Sophie paused as if thinking. “Yeah, that’s what he said. I’m pretty sure.”
“Did you talk about your chickens with him then?”
“No, first he said he was going to take me away that night. Then he said once we got where we were going to live, he was going to buy me some more chicks. I was scared and trying not to cry.”
Adrenaline was pumping through Mattie. “Thanks for telling me about that, Sophie. It might help us find the guy. If you think of anything else, let me know. I’ll talk to you later today, but for now, could I talk to your dad again?”
“Sure.” There was a pause, and Mattie thought she’d hear Cole’s voice next, but Sophie evidently wasn’t through talking. “I love you, Mattie.”
Her breath caught. “I love you too, sweetheart.”
Now it was Cole’s voice she heard. “Mattie?”
“Did you hear that about the chicks, Cole?”
“I did.”
“Who knows? Who knows besides Gus Tilley?”
“He’s the one I was thinking of.”
“It’s not him. I’m sure of it. Think. Let’s make a list.”
“The family, Tess, Gus, all the kids in her class and their parents.”
“Do you know Brooks Waverly?”
“Sure.”
“Was he at the feed store when you went?”
“No, I’m sure he wasn’t.”
Her mind conjured an image of a tall, lanky young man with a friendly grin and scruffy brown facial hair. “Who sold you the chicks at the feed store?”
“Moses checked us out. A kid carried the box to the truck.” Cole paused, and when he spoke again, his voice was charged with intensity. “That’s the guy.”
“I’ll go right now and talk to him.”
“I’m coming too.”
“Cole, stay put. You have to stay out of this. I’ll call you back as soon as I know something.”
He made a sound that could be taken as agreement, and they disconnected the call. Mattie headed to her closet to retrieve her service weapon, dialing Stella as she went.
When Stella didn’t answer, Mattie left her a message summarizing Cole’s information and their conclusion. “The feed store opens at six, and I think this kid works the morning shift. I’m going over there now. If he’s there, I’ll take him to the station for you to question.”
Robo hopped into the back of the Explorer, and she drove across town. When she parked in front of the store, no other vehicles were around. Releasing the holster strap on her Glock, Mattie opened the cage door, and Robo followed her out of the car. The sweet scent of grain wafted out and around her when she stepped inside the feed store.
Moses Randall, looking like Santa with his white whiskers, sat on a stool behind the counter, and his eyes lit when they zeroed in on Mattie. “Our local hero! And Robo! To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?”
Mattie leaned against the counter, turning to scan the store. “I want to talk to one of your employees. Not Juanita, but the young man. What’s his name?”
“That’s Jed. Jed Franklin. You’re lucky to catch him. He’s leaving me today.” Randall smiled. “Came in for his last paycheck, but I needed his young back to unload and stack some feed out in the yard before I give it to him. I’ll call him in.”
“No, let me go out there to talk to him,” Mattie said, heading toward the back room. “Is there a door that leads out to the yard here?”
“Yeah, just go through there and out the back.”
She hastened down a narrow aisle in between stacks of feed and stepped out the door into a large area surrounded by solid board fencing. She scanned the space, taking in the packed dirt dotted with stacks of lumber,
barrels, fence posts, and fencing. Her gaze paused on two vehicles—Randall’s white Toyota, loaded with feedbags and parked by a shed, and across the way, a silver Jeep Liberty, an older model.
As she focused back on Randall’s truck, Jed Franklin sauntered out of the shed, spotting her at the same time she did him. Without hesitation, he broke into a run, charging toward the Jeep.
Mattie sprinted toward him as she shouted, “Stop! Stop or I’ll send the dog!”
He ran even faster.
“Robo! Take him!”
Robo streaked ahead, arriving at the Jeep as Franklin opened the door and jumped inside. Robo grabbed his pants leg and tugged. Franklin held onto the steering wheel as he started the engine, jerking his leg to free his pants, but succeeded only in hauling Robo partway into the vehicle.
He slammed the door on Robo’s chest and tried to kick him off. Robo hung on, growling and shaking his head. Franklin pushed the door wide, getting ready to slam it on Robo again. But her dog wrenched hard and pulled the man’s leg out of the Jeep at the exact moment the door swung in. There was a crack, and Franklin howled in pain.
As Mattie reached the Jeep, Franklin jammed it into reverse. He spun out backward, billowing a cloud of dust and dragging her dog. Still Robo wouldn’t release his grip, and he skidded along, braced, his paws digging into the dirt. The front tire narrowly missed him as the Jeep yanked him along.
There was no way Robo could win this battle. She pulled her weapon, planning to call him off.
A pickup truck with a vet unit in back screeched to a stop across the open gate that led into the alleyway, blocking the exit.
Cole.
“Robo, out!” she shouted, training her weapon on the Jeep’s windshield, even though she knew she couldn’t risk a shot. Not with Cole parked behind.
Robo released Franklin’s leg and ran back toward her. Franklin poured on the gas, revving the engine as he stared at Mattie, not turning to watch where he was going. Speeding backward, he was giving her a sardonic smile when the sound of metal crunching on metal resounded through the yard. The Jeep crashed into the passenger side of Cole’s truck, snapping Franklin’s head back before throwing him forward into the steering wheel. The vehicle stalled, and he rolled out the open front door, landing on his shoulder in the dirt. He lay there, stunned.
What about Cole?
Mattie couldn’t check on him now. She raced forward, her weapon trained on Franklin, Robo forging ahead in attack mode. “Robo, guard! Don’t move, Franklin! Do not move, or this dog will attack!”
Franklin groaned as he blinked at her and then stared at her Glock, four feet away from his face. His eyes widened when they went to Robo, crouched merely inches away, his sharp teeth glistening.
“Hands on your head,” she told him. As he complied, she added, “Roll to your stomach. Move slowly.”
Within seconds, she caught his hands behind his back and cuffed him. Robo waved his tail as she called him off, looking like he’d survived the ordeal without major injury. She glanced up to find Cole standing beside the wrecked Jeep, squinting in the sun.
“You got him!” Cole headed her way.
She narrowed her eyes at him. “I thought I told you to stay home.”
Cole smiled. “And miss all the fun? I wouldn’t have missed getting to see you and Robo take this guy down for anything.” Then he sobered. “He’s the one, Mattie.”
“Are you all right?”
“I bailed out before he hit. I’m fine.”
“But he wrecked your truck.”
He shrugged. “That’s what insurance is for.”
Chapter 29
Stella and Sheriff McCoy shut themselves away in the interrogation room with Jed Franklin. Mattie finished writing her report and decided to check in with Brody. Followed by Robo, she tapped on Brody’s office door, and he called to her to come in.
“Have a seat,” he said when she entered.
His office could have been decorated by the government. Photos of the Colorado state governor and the United States president were mounted on the wall behind him, the room anchored by a utilitarian metal desk with two standard-issue plastic-covered chairs stationed in front. State and federal flags hung in each corner. There were no personal items on his desk, except for an attractive wooden pen and pencil holder. Otherwise, the desktop held a computer, in and out baskets, and a rack of file folders.
Mattie sat in one of the hard-backed chairs. “I want to thank you for helping me with Robo the last few days. I appreciate your support.”
Brody waved away her words with his hand. “You work real hard with that dog, Cobb. And good job on the scent lineup. No telling how we can use that skill in the future.”
“I know it. Scent identification is a huge step up in his training. I’m pretty proud of him.”
“You should be.” Brody cleared his throat and shifted in his chair. “But I need to tell you that I’ve been concerned about you lately.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“You’re looking pretty strung out, and you’re not acting like yourself.”
Once, Mattie could’ve described his own behavior that way; she avoided his gaze by looking at the desktop. “Are you concerned about my performance?”
He paused, and she raised her eyes to look into his intense blue stare. “You’re doing okay. It’s hard to pinpoint. Maybe you’re not as tuned in as you once were.”
Mattie nodded. “I understand. I’ll remedy that.”
“And you can take a lesson from LoSasso about weighing the evidence before jumping to a conclusion. We could all do that.”
Brody used to be the worst offender, but she agreed that she’d been the one this time. “Noted.”
He pushed back his chair and stood. Brody wasn’t as polished as the sheriff, but Mattie took it as a sign of dismissal and rose from her chair as well.
“That said, I want to add that I think you and Robo are the best K-9 team I’ve ever come across, and I’m proud that you serve in this department.” Not used to giving out compliments, he looked embarrassed as he extended his hand.
Mattie shook hands, squeezing hard to match his grip. “Thanks, Brody. It means a lot to have you say that.”
“Don’t let it go to your head.” He frowned, looking more like the Brody she knew. “Now clock out and go home. Overtime is through the roof.”
“All right, but can one of you call and update me when Stella and the sheriff are done with Franklin?”
“Sure thing.”
Mattie left his office and went directly to the time clock. After punching out, she went back to say good-bye to Rainbow and ask her something she’d been too busy to address. “I’m getting ready to go home, but I have a question for you,” she said.
“Shoot.” Rainbow giggled. “I guess I shouldn’t say that to an officer of the law.”
Mattie smiled and then felt her cheeks warm. There was no reason to be embarrassed, but the topic she was about to bring up felt loaded. “I was wondering if you knew about any yoga classes nearby.”
“Oh, my gosh! I can’t believe you just asked me that!”
Mattie braced herself. “Oh?”
“Anya and I have been talking about this for weeks. They want to start community yoga with a night class and a weekend class at the hot springs, and guess who they’re going to hire to teach it!”
“Who?”
“Me! Did you know I’m a certified yoga instructor?”
“I didn’t know that.”
“Do you want to join a class?”
This was going too fast. “I don’t know, but I’ll think about it.”
Rainbow examined her with a steady gaze. “If you want, I’ll give you some private lessons first. Then you can decide about joining a class.”
Her friend seemed to know her so well. “I’d love that. I need to learn the breathing stuff.”
Rainbow grinned. “I’ll teach you that and some of the basic poses. Want to start tonight?”
She couldn’t help but feel lighter as she returned Rainbow’s smile. “I’m beat. I need to take a night off. But how about sometime tomorrow?”
“Done. We’ll set something up.”
They ended their conversation, and there was nothing more for Mattie to do but go home. After loading up Robo, she began to drive, her emotions turbulent. She’d like to go see Sophie’s chicks as promised, but she couldn’t. Not with Olivia still there. As long as she could stay at work, she could avoid getting caught up in her thoughts, but now that she was heading home, they started to siphon her into a downward spiral. She struggled to remain objective.
She strived for perfection in every undertaking, and it smarted to know that others had found her performance lacking. Brody typically threw out sarcastic comments or sardonic observations while coaching his subordinates, and his conversation with her had hit home as both concerned and considerate. Something she wasn’t used to. It made her feel even worse, and it undermined his praise. She winced, knowing she needed to get back on track.
When she’d been in the cellar with Sophie, memories had surfaced. Solid memories from her childhood rather than the amorphous hints she’d remembered earlier. And the good news was—it hadn’t killed her. She’d handled it, just as her therapist had suggested she would. She needed to discuss it with Lisa Callahan during their next session, but she could already feel her intense anxiety starting to dissipate.
It would take longer to deal with the anger, but at least she could set up the right targets to shoot at. And maybe Willie and her mother didn’t belong among them. Maybe it was time to get back in touch with Willie. Mama T had been nagging her to do it. Maybe she should.
Once home, she fed Robo, took a shower, and dressed in sweats. She unwrapped a large pressed-rawhide bone and gave it to her dog. He tossed it and play posed around it, making her laugh, before he settled down with it for a chew. Realizing she felt hungry, she made a turkey sandwich from lunch meat she thawed in the microwave, grabbed an apple, and took her plate out to the porch to eat. Robo trotted outside to the yard, carrying his rawhide by one end, the other dangling downward from his mouth. He placed it in the weedy grass, putting a paw on it to hold it still while he gnawed. She watched him while she ate.
Hunting Hour Page 27