“Can I help you?” Frank asked.
“I hope,” the other man said, pulling out a piece of paper. “I’m looking for this road,” he said. Dash had almost tuned the man out, but when he mentioned the name of the road, the same road Matty lived on, his ears perked up. He turned his eyes back toward the counter.
Dash saw Frank’s eyes glance briefly at him. “Can I ask why?” Frank said.
“I’ve been trying to reach my fiancée all day and I’m getting worried, she isn’t answering her cell. I live down in DC and she’s up here attending to some family business. I finally decided to drive up and check on her.”
Dash frowned.
“Did you try using a GPS?” Frank asked.
The man gave an annoyed sigh. “Of course I did, and my staff did, too, but we can’t seem to find this exact road.”
Dash knew it was because the road was technically private and not on most maps, but anyone who’d been in town for any length of time knew the road. There were a number of them like that in the area, along with several roads that had legal names, names required for 9-1-1 access, but that everyone referred to by a different, historic name. It was all part of the charm of living in a rural part of the country with a long memory.
Frank cast another glance at Dash. There were only two people who lived on that road, Elise, who was in her eighties, and, now, Matty. Chances were slim that Elise was engaged to this man, who couldn’t be more than forty, from DC.
“Doesn’t sound like much of a staff,” Frank replied gruffly, in true Frank style.
Dash saw the man’s eyes narrow. “Look, I just need to find this street. I’m a congressman and I don’t have much time to waste, I actually have work I need to do. But I’d like to find my fiancée first. So, can you help?”
Dash watched Frank eye the congressman and imagined a few choice words the café owner was probably biting back—Frank was not the kind of man to be impressed or swayed by a person’s position—especially not that of a federal official.
Frank picked up the dishcloth he’d laid on the counter and began wiping his hands again as he turned away. “Nope, good luck,” Frank said and walked away without looking back.
The man stood there for a moment, gawping as if he’d never had someone turn his back on him before. Since he was a congressman, Dash doubted that was actually the case.
Finally the stranger turned to Dash. “Do you know the road?” he asked.
Dash stared at him for a long time before shaking his head. Finally, he allowed the crush of emotion he’d been repressing since the man had first mentioned his fiancée to surface. His stomach fell and his heart thudded heavily in his chest. He managed to keep his emotions in check as the man left, then he let his head fall into his hands, too shocked to actually do or say anything. Or even think coherently.
“He might be lying,” Frank said, back at the counter.
Dash looked up.
“He’s a politician, every time he opens his mouth he’s probably lying,” Frank added.
Dash appreciated the support, but he didn’t know what to think. He rose from his seat, murmured a thank you as he placed his coffee cup on the counter, and walked out in to the clear, dark night.
On autopilot, he made it to the clinic, restocked his truck with the supplies that he needed, then headed home. After adding what he needed from the supplies he kept in his barn, he made his way into his dark house. Not bothering with the lights, he took a shower in the blackness, the moon providing enough light to see what he was doing, then crawled into bed. And lay awake for a very long time.
CHAPTER 20
MATTY AWOKE TO ANOTHER clear morning. She’d slept in enough that the sun was shining brightly in her room, causing her to squint when she finally opened her eyes and saw five sets of doggy eyes staring back at her. Her own eyes traveled to the clock and she sighed. Once again, it was long after their usual breakfast time.
A few minutes later, she padded downstairs, let the dogs out, and went through the morning routine of feeding all the animals, collecting eggs, and doing the myriad of chores that had become second nature to her over such a short time.
She texted Dash when she came back from the coop, letting him know she was up and asking him to call her when he had a chance. Then she called his mom to check in and see what needed to be done for the day. The cleanup was being handled and was under control, but Mary asked Matty if she would mind helping some of the locals get ready for the pancake breakfast that was scheduled for the following day. Power had been restored to most of the county, and given how hard the firefighters had been working over the past two days, everyone involved felt strongly that the event, which was a fundraiser for them, should go ahead as planned.
Matty readily agreed and even offered to bring more eggs, which Mary accepted. After getting the specifics of when and where she should show up to help, she hung up and, after eying her property, launched into some of her own cleanup.
The sun was hanging high in the sky several hours later when she stood on her patio, frowning to herself as she looked at the field behind the house. The gardens, those that were planned and planted by Brad, were mostly cleaned up now, but the field still looked somewhat sloppy and she wasn’t sure how to approach picking up the small branches and twigs strewn across the large area.
Lucy caught her eye as she came trotting down the left side of the hill, her tiny, almost non-existent tail wagging. Matty smiled at the sight then blinked as something reflected off the hill, casting a sharp light into her eye.
Surprised by the sudden flash of light, Matty stepped back. Glancing around the field where the light seemed to have come from, she scoured the area, looking for the source. When she saw nothing, and nothing flashed back at her, she took a step forward, back to her original position. Moving her head around, she caught the flash again.
Curious, she called Lucy to her side then headed in the direction of the object. The storm had turned up some soil and wind-blown branches had gouged small trenches in places. She carefully made her way to where she thought the light had come from, looking down, searching the whole way. And when she found it, when she found what she was looking for, a wave of unease swept over her.
Not one to jump to conclusions, even though her gut was telling her something definitely wasn’t right, she knelt down to take a closer look. And when her eyes confirmed what she’d suspected, her stomach roiled.
Lying in the dirt, the textured handle caked in mud, was a switchblade. It lay open, the blade remarkably clean considering it had obviously been buried or, more likely, carried in the wind and rain and dumped near the house. Matty didn’t dare touch it, not because she was afraid of knives or unfamiliar with switchblades. But because in the hinge, right at the base of the blade, she could see fur. It was darkened with dirt, but there was no doubt in her mind that it was Bob’s fur she was seeing.
She looked up and glanced around her, as if she might see who had deposited the knife there a few weeks ago. Seeing nothing, she weighed what to do next. After a moment’s thought, she simply pulled out her cell and called Ian.
Ian was in the middle of dealing with an accident out on one of the busier state routes, but promised he would call Carly and Marcus and have them come over. So she found a stick, which wasn’t hard, and stuck it straight up in the ground near the knife to make it easier to find it again when the officers arrived.
It wasn’t too long before a car drove up, only it was just Marcus inside, without Carly.
“Everything okay?” Matty asked when he stepped out.
He inclined his head. “Carly’s out directing the cleanup of an old oak that fell across a road early this morning. Thankfully, no one was hurt. People were cautious yesterday, but now we’re going to see the weekenders coming up to check on their houses. Not that they’re bad drivers, it just puts more people on roads that aren’t completely functional yet,” he said. “So, what did you say you found?” he added.
She crossed he
r arms and a flicker of doubt crossed her mind. What were the odds she would find the knife that was used to hurt Bob? But if she had? Maybe it was related to Brad and maybe it might help give Vivi and her team at the lab something to go on.
“I think I found the knife used to cut off Bob’s toe,” she said.
Marcus gave her a flat look; one that was meant to hide his thoughts, but didn’t.
“I know, it seems weird to me too,” she said and then proceeded to tell him what she’d found and how she’d found it. He asked her to show him and, rather than walking back up, she pointed him to the stick, clearly visible from where they stood.
She watched Marcus make his way toward the marker. When he arrived at the spot, his hands went to his hips and his gaze dropped down to look at the switchblade. After a few minutes, he looked around at the ground and Matty suspected he was looking to see if there were any footprints or any other indication of how the knife ended up where it had. But with the storm, she knew he would find nothing and, after a moment, he fished something out of his pocket and dropped down closer to the ground.
About three minutes passed before he started walking back toward her, carrying the knife in a sealed evidence bag.
“I can’t say for certain that you’re right, but it would surprise me if you weren’t,” Marcus said when he stopped in front of her.
“I can’t decide whether I want to be right or not,” she answered.
One side of his mouth tilted up into a smile and it occurred to Matty that Marcus Brown was a good-looking guy. She’d put him at about her age, with dark brown hair, cut very short, that was offset by a pair of light brown eyes. She wasn’t attracted to him at all, but the fact that she hadn’t even really noticed until now that he looked like he could have just stepped out of a J.Crew catalog—if he were wearing something other than his uniform—was a bit befuddling and made her think about Dash.
“Have you seen Dash today?” she asked Marcus suddenly. She’d texted him twice but hadn’t heard back.
A shadow crossed the officer’s face.
“Marcus?” she pressed, her heart starting to race. Surely, if something had happened to Dash, Mary would have told her when they’d spoken earlier.
“It’s not that, Matty, he’s fine,” Marcus said, sensing her rising panic. “But,” he hesitated. She fixed him with her best Bronx-inspired stare and crossed her arms over her chest. He sighed.
“There was a congressman in town last night claiming to be your fiancé. He came into Frank’s, asked for directions to your house. Dash was there.”
Matty let the information sink in, and as it did, she gained new insight into the phrase “deflated.”“I see.”
“Most of us don’t believe the guy, but when a man hears another man say he’s engaged to the woman he loves, well, we men aren’t always as secure as we’d like to be.”
Matty’s eyes held Marcus’s and then she looked away. “How many people know?” she asked.
Marcus shrugged. “I only know because Dash stopped by the station this morning and mentioned it to Ian while I was there. Of course, Ian thought the guy was full of it,” he said, then added “and I do, too.”
Matty allowed herself a small smile at the loyalty of Marcus and Ian. “Thanks, Marcus. Thanks for telling me. And just so you know, I am not, nor have I ever been, engaged to Congressman Steven White.”
She saw Marcus lift a shoulder. “I didn’t doubt it for a second.”
But Dash had. And maybe still was—doubting it and doubting her.
“So, are you going to give that to Vivi?” she pointed to the bag Marcus held, needing to change the subject.
He opened his mouth, then shut it and nodded.
“How long do you think it will be before the lab will know anything?” she asked.
Again, Marcus shrugged. “Depends on their backlog, but given that it might be related to Brad’s death and the death of the man in the tree, I’m thinking it will get as much priority as they can give it. After Kristen’s horse was attacked, we had every intention of coming up here to see if we could find anything related to your dog’s toe, but then with everything already going on . . .” His voice trailed off.
“And the department being relatively small, I know—priorities and resources don’t always let us do everything we want,” Matty finished.
Marcus gave her a half smile, acknowledging the truth of her words. “Well, this is one good thing that’s come from the storm, I guess,” he said, holding up the bag with the switchblade. “Maybe this will give us something. Thanks for being so quick about recognizing it.”
She nodded. “Of course, and thank you, Marcus.” She meant for more than just coming over, and by the look he gave her, he knew it.
He started back to his car but before he climbed in, he paused. “I know Dash is being a jerk about this right now, but don’t be too hard on him. It’s not always easy being a guy in love.”
She didn’t want to touch that comment so she laughed. “You speaking from experience?”
He mock shuddered, “No way, no how,” he said. Then, with a smile and a jaunty salute, he slid into the driver’s seat and drove away. Leaving her to ponder just how betrayal felt.
Hours later, Matty was still contemplating the emotion. She’d spent most of the afternoon helping Mary and some of the other locals prepare for the pancake breakfast, but the entire time she’d felt like little more than a hollow robot. Now, as she sat alone at her kitchen island absently swirling a gin and tonic, she let her mind wander not just to the past afternoon but to the last several years of her life. Her lack of trust in humanity in general wasn’t something she held up as a badge of honor, as some people did. In fact, it was such an ingrained part of her that it wasn’t something she’d really even noticed about herself.
Until she’d met Dash. In those dark hours in the basement she had talked about things she’d never spoken about out loud—things she’d barely acknowledged in her own mind. She had trusted him enough, and trusted herself enough with him, to venture into new territory—new emotional territory.
And he had repaid her by doubting her. By doubting her fidelity and honesty. By betraying that trust.
A sad smile touched her lips as the sound of a voice floated through the screen door. Matty looked up and watched as Elise’s figure appeared in the frame.
Not bothering to ask for an invite, the older woman stepped in, swept off her sunglasses, glanced around, then let her eyes land on Matty and the drink she held in her hand.
“I’d say something witty, but really I think I should just make a drink and join you,” Elise said, already moving into the kitchen.
Matty motioned to the drink ingredients she’d pulled from the liquor cabinet and placed on the counter.
“What did Dash do this time?” Elise asked as she started measuring and pouring.
“This time?” Matty repeated.
“I’ve seen him come and go, young lady. I can tell by the way he drives up or down our road if he’s content or agitated. And there have been a few times it’s been clear he hasn’t gotten his way. Not that that’s a bad thing, necessarily,” she added as she slid onto a stool next to Matty and looked at her expectantly.
Matty dropped her eyes to study the mint leaf she had added to her drink, noting that it was almost the exact same shade of green as the slice of lime.
“Well?” Elise prompted.
“It’s a long story,” Matty answered, taking a sip.
“It always is. Or we always think it is, even if it’s not.” Elise countered.
Matty contemplated this for a moment before realizing Elise was right. It wasn’t really a long story, it just felt that way.
“How much do you know about my relationship with Brad and the Brooks family?” Matty asked.
Elise lifted a shoulder then took a long sip from her drink. “I know the basics. You and Brad share a father. You and your mom lived in the Bronx while Brad grew up in Greenwich. When you were twel
ve, your grandmother, Brad’s grandmother, moved you to DC. From there you flourished into the woman you are now.”
Matty managed to smile at that. “You make it sound so easy.”
Elise let out a bark of a laugh that suggested she’d been a smoker back in the day. “It’s never easy. Life is never easy. It’s complicated and messy and chaotic. For some more so than others.” She finished off her drink with a long draw then stood to make another. “Of course, life is all those things, but that doesn’t mean we don’t often make it more complicated than it needs to be. So, let me make us both a fresh drink and you can tell me all about what Dr. Hubba Hubba did to make life messy.”
Matty smiled at Elise’s assumption it was all Dash’s fault and handed the woman her now empty glass. In silence, Elise mixed the two drinks, using more gin than tonic, then handed one over as she returned to her seat.
“Now that you’ve got a little liquid courage in your system, tell me all about it,” Elise said.
Matty took a deep breath and let it out. “The night of the storm we camped out in the basement,” she started then paused. For a moment she debated whether to repeat some of the things she’d told Dash, things she never even talked about with her mother. But then, in a rush of awareness, she realized that the stories themselves weren’t what had brought her closer to Dash. No, what had brought her closer to Dash, what was the true sign of the trust she had placed in him, was him being the first person with whom she’d shared that part of her. The first person with whom she’d walked an unknown path, with whom she’d held open her own vulnerability.
She recognized that the stories themselves no longer held any power over her now that she’d shared them and survived. Not that they didn’t affect her—they did and probably always would—but they’d been brought out into the light, losing the power to haunt her from the shadows.
“We talked. A lot,” Matty continued. “I told him things about my childhood that I’ve never told anyone else. Never actually even talked about before. Horrible things, of course. Stories about drive-by shootings, rapes, murders, drug dealing. Everything you’ve ever read about the projects pales in comparison to what it’s like to live there.”
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