by Stella Bixby
“That’s because the kids I was supervising found some tracks they thought were mountain lion tracks which led right to the arm,” I said. “But I’m almost positive they were just dog tracks.”
“We have had reports of a mountain lion over there,” Seamus said. “Do yeh think they could be related?”
“Doubt it,” I said.
“But if it was a mountain lion attack,” Garrett said, “it wouldn’t have eaten the prosthetic. Maybe that was all it left behind.”
I glanced over to determine if he was being serious, but he burst out laughing. The rest of us joined suit.
“What’s so funny?” Luke asked, walking into the dining room. He held a small bouquet of flowers and patted Fizzy on the head. “These are for you,” he said to Shayla. He was sucking up so she wouldn’t be mad at him for leaving the country for two years. Sometimes men were so stupid.
“Thank you,” she took the flowers to the kitchen to put them in a vase.
“Sounds like yeh had a busy day,” Seamus said.
“Just more of the same,” Luke said, brushing it off. “Dinner smells wonderful, Shay.”
She walked out, holding the flowers in one hand and a casserole dish in the other.
“Let me help yeh with that.” Seamus jumped up and took the casserole dish.
“Thanks,” she said with a smile and a kiss on his cheek. He blushed. They were way too cute together. It made me want to gag.
Garrett squeezed my hand before letting go and dishing us both up a helping of spaghetti, salad, and green bean casserole.
“You went all out tonight,” I said. “What’s the occasion?”
“I just felt like cooking,” she shrugged.
Luke glanced up at her as if he knew something more than she was saying. If anyone would, it was Luke since they both worked for the Prairie City Police Department.
Shayla was the epitome of a professional when it came to being a police officer. She hadn’t once talked about a case, a suspect, or a victim. If something had happened on the job, she would never disclose it.
I didn’t need to know the specifics to know something was wrong, though. Shayla always took her anxieties out in the kitchen. Not that I was complaining because she was amazingly talented with food, but it seemed she was making more and more casseroles these days.
“Well, it’s delicious,” Garrett said, wiping his mouth.
I took a swig of beer and did my best not to think about the conversation I’d had with Luke at the reservoir. He was leaving in a week, and here he was acting like nothing was wrong. The news would destroy Shayla. Who knew how many fancy dinners she’d cook up after finding out.
We finished dinner with basic small talk. Luke didn’t bring up his news, and we didn’t talk about the prosthetic case.
“I should go,” Luke said after we’d indulged on ice cream sundaes. “Shayla, could you walk me out?”
“Sure thing,” she said. Seamus didn’t seem to mind her spending time with Luke one-on-one. Garrett definitely wouldn’t have been so laid back.
Then again, Shayla hadn’t kissed any other men since she and Seamus started dating.
“What’s that all about?” Garrett asked when the two of them exited the apartment.
“Probably work stuff,” I said.
“Has she talked to yeh at all about what’s happenin’ at work?” Seamus asked.
I shook my head. “No. She keeps everything pretty quiet.”
“She won’t tell me either,” Seamus said. “I guess it’s a good thing she can talk to Luke. He’s a good lad.”
She wouldn’t have him to talk to for long. “Doesn’t she have a training officer?”
“Her TO’s not much of a talker from what I’ve gathered,” Seamus said. “He wants to check the boxes and get her out of his hair.”
“What about her mom?” Garrett asked. “She used to be a cop, right?”
“Her mom’s not the warm and fuzzy type. To anyone. I don’t think she’d be very open to listenin’ to Shayla complain about the job.” Seamus took a swig of beer. “Plus, Shayla is determined to prove herself to her mother.”
I didn’t envy Shayla’s position. Sure, my mom could be overbearing, but at least she didn’t expect me to be some sort of superhero.
“Hey.” I turned to Garrett. “Are you staying over tonight?” He typically didn’t stay over on weeknights, but I didn’t want to be rude and not invite him.
“Nah, I have an early day.” He glanced at the watch he’d worn since the day I met him. “I should get going. I’ll thank Shayla on the way out.”
He bent down and kissed me, making me both wish he was staying and blush because Seamus was sitting right there. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said before letting himself out.
I smiled and looked down at my hand. I could handle kisses like that every day of my life.
“I take it he’s gotten over the whole cheatin’ thing?” Seamus said when Garrett had gone.
“I didn’t really cheat. I mean, I kissed someone else, but it wasn’t like I was dating someone behind his back or anything.”
“That’s still cheating, Blondie,” Seamus said.
“Okay, fine. I cheated.” Ugh. I hated that I was now part of the cheaters club. If anyone knew how it felt to be cheated on, I did. I was as bad as my ex and giraffe girl. “But yes, he’s gotten over it. Or at least he’s getting over it.”
“I would hope so since he gave yeh that rock anyway.”
“It was one stupid moment in my life, but it won’t happen again. Heck, I’ve only seen Antonio a handful of times in group settings since Christmas Eve. It’s not like we’re even friends.”
“It surprises me that Antonio kissed yeh, and that was that,” Seamus said. He and Antonio had worked together for years. He knew Antonio better than most people.
“I think he realized it was a mistake.” It didn’t feel great to know that someone thought kissing me was a mistake, but it was for the better. “No harm, no foul.”
“Mark my words, he’ll be back for more,” Seamus said in the most nonchalant voice I’ve ever heard from him.
“What do you mean he’ll be back for—”
The door banged open, interrupting my statement. Shayla stormed into the room, mascara tears running down her bright red face.
Seamus stood and took her into his arms. “What happened, love?”
Shayla didn’t say anything, she just sobbed. It had to be about Luke leaving for two years, but if it wasn’t, I didn’t want to let the cat out of the bag.
I rubbed her back. “What’s wrong?” I asked.
Finally, she pulled back and looked at me. “Luke’s leaving.”
I nodded.
“Luke’s leavin’?” Seamus asked.
Shayla burst back into tears and buried her face in his shoulder.
“Luke is going to the Middle East for two years to train people to be police officers,” I said.
“And he leaves next week,” Shayla said between sobs.
Seamus looked confused and angry. “But why?”
“So he can buy a stupid house,” Shayla said, throwing her arms in the air. “Like he needs a house more than he needs to be here for his friends.”
That confirmed my theory on Luke being her only source of release when it came to work issues.
“Rylie and I are here for yeh,” Seamus said. “I know we’re not cops, but we know how to listen too.”
His voice was completely free of jealousy. It was a wonder he wasn’t feeling a bit taken aback by his girlfriend being so upset over a guy she’d had a crush on for years.
“I know, but I can’t talk to you guys. I wish I could, but confidentiality and all,” Shayla said. “And my TO is awful.”
“Do you want some more ice cream?” I asked. “Or maybe a drink?”
“I made a cake,” Shayla said.
Not just any cake. It was a two-tiered chocolate-on-chocolate delight. It could have been in a bakery window.
Whatever was bothering her at work was way bigger than I had initially thought.
5
By the next morning, the news had picked up the information that the arm was from Selena Marquez. I sat in my comfiest yoga pants and sweatshirt eating a bowl of Lucky Charms as I watched the two news anchors discuss the break in the case.
“Though we’ve reached out to Jacob Marquez, owner of Marquez Manufacturing and Selena’s husband at the time of her disappearance, we have not gotten an official statement from him,” one of the anchors said.
My phone lit up with a text message.
Luke.
Please tell me you aren’t the leak.
It was too early for a riddle. My brain hadn’t even gotten its morning dose of sugar and caffeine yet.
What do you mean?
It’s all over the news. The arm belonging to Selena Marquez.
Anger crept into my chest. Why would he think I’d have leaked the information?
I’m not the leak.
I typed the words into my phone with more force than was necessary, hit send, and flung it to the other side of the couch.
I didn’t need his accusations. I was tired from listening to Shayla cry over him all night. Our apartment might have been nice, but the walls were paper thin.
I was looking forward to a quiet shift.
But the minute I pulled up to the gate, I knew that wouldn’t be the case.
Police cars were parked inside the fence while vans from the three major news stations waited for the gates to open.
“What the hell is going on?” one of the early-morning fishermen said when he pulled through the gate I had just unlocked.
“I’m not sure,” I said.
“Well, it damn well better not mess with my fishing.”
Heaven forbid. I smiled and told him to have a good day.
“Rylie Cooper?” a police officer I’d never seen before approached me as I opened the trunk of Cherry Anne, my red Ford Mustang. He was tall and skinny and looked to be in his mid-fifties. His uptight saunter and straight face made it seem like he had a chip on his shoulder.
“That’s me.” I pulled out my duty belt and affixed it to the inner Velcro belt I was already wearing. “What’s going on? Officer—”
“Detective Bryant,” he corrected. “We have half of the trail blocked from visitors so we can process the crime scene you found yesterday.”
Oh sure, now it was a crime scene.
“Okay,” I said. “Do you need anything from me? I can show you where I found the shoe.”
“No,” he said in an overly assertive voice. “I need you to stay in the office or on the other side of the reservoir.”
“But I—”
“No buts.” He frowned. “I know you have something of a friendship with Luke Hannah.”
“Luke and I go way back,” I said. “I’ve helped on several cases recently.”
He didn’t seem to hear my words. “But your assistance will not be needed on this case or any cases in the future. It is in your best interest to stick to what you’ve been hired to do. If you’d like to become an officer, you can go through the academy and make your way up the ranks like the rest of us.”
Ouch.
“Is that all?” I asked. “It looks like I have some park guests I need to attend to.”
He stared at me for a moment as if trying to determine whether his words had landed. “If you choose to interfere with this case, you will not only be arrested for impeding an investigation, I have it on good authority that you will be fired from your position as a ranger.”
His threat nearly made my jaw drop. “Am I excused?” I slammed the trunk lid and walked away without his permission.
“What was that all about?” Jacob said as I approached the office. “I’m usually good at reading body language. It looked like that guy really hates you.”
“It was nothing. He doesn’t even know me.” I steadied my nerves, trying to be as professional as I could after what Detective Bryant had said to me. “The trail is closed again today. I’m sorry.”
“No problem.” He smiled. “I can take another trail. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Hopefully, this will all be cleared up by then.” I unlocked the office and started opening procedures while replaying the conversation with Detective Bryant in my head.
How could he tell me I couldn’t help? I was the one who found the arm and the shoe after they’d written the case off. It would have been completely written off if the news hadn’t gotten wind of who the arm belonged to.
In some ways, it made me want to take credit for telling the news after all. Selena deserved justice. And the more people told me not to help, the more I wanted to.
“Um, hello?”
The voice startled me so badly I almost dropped the handful of passes I had been organizing.
“Can I help you?”
The man, likely in his forties, looked like a timid puppy. As if he might wet himself at the slightest raised voice. “I’m not sure. Maybe,” he said. “It was stupid to come here. Especially with all that going on out there.”
“If you’re looking to hike around the trail,” I said. “You might want to come back another day. The police have that half of the trail closed down. But I can redirect you to another walking trail.” I pulled out a trail map of the city.
“It’s because of Selena, right?” He didn’t seem to care about the trails.
“I can’t discuss that, I’m sorry.” The last thing I needed was for Detective Bryant to hear me telling park guests about the investigation.
His eyes now brimmed with tears.
“Are you all right?” I handed him a tissue. He blew his nose before throwing it in the garbage can.
“She’s my sister,” he said.
“Selena was your sister?” I refolded the map.
“Is my sister. She’s still alive, I know it. And they won’t tell me anything.” He motioned toward the window. “I’ve called a dozen times since I saw it on the news this morning, and they kept telling me they couldn’t disclose any details.”
“I’m sure they’re just keeping it to themselves so they don’t jeopardize the investigation.” Even I didn’t believe my own words.
“It’s because of that bastard husband of hers,” he said. “He’s responsible for her disappearance, and he’s paying them to keep me out of it. I’d finally made strides with my therapist. I was working through the grief. Through the disbelief that the police would so obviously take a bribe from that-that criminal.” He clenched and unclenched his fists. “But you know something, don’t you? You can tell me, right?”
My gut twisted. This man was obviously concerned for his sister. And was getting shut out because of someone with influence and power. Just like I’d been shut out this morning with Detective Bryant.
It wasn’t fair to keep information from her brother. Someone who seemed to care about her.
“I don’t mean to be rude, but how do I know you’re really her brother?”
“I have proof.” He pulled out a couple of wrinkled photographs of two kids that resembled younger versions of him and Selena—him being several years older than her. “And here’s my ID. Obviously, my last name doesn’t match, but . . .”
His name was Desmond Pratt. I didn’t know Selena’s maiden name.
“Do you have a photo of the two of you as adults?”
He looked down at his feet. “Selena didn’t like to have her picture taken.”
This seemed a bit too weird for me.
“If I tell you anything, my job could be on the line.”
“So you do know something. I won’t say anything. I swear. I just want to know what happened to Selena. She was the most important person in my life. And I wasn’t the best big brother. When she disappeared, it was like my world fell apart.”
He seemed desperate. “Look, all I know is that we found her arm and a shoe.”
“A red shoe?” His eyes lit up. “
The news didn’t say anything about a shoe.”
Shit.
I shouldn’t have mentioned the shoe. “It was red, yes. Does that mean something to you?” I shouldn’t have asked. It was way too close to trying to investigate. But I wasn’t necessarily interfering with anything. The police could just as easily talk to Desmond.
“The night she went missing, she was on her way to a fundraiser gala. She was wearing a black gown and red shoes.”
“How do you know this?” Something about this guy was freaking me out.
“It was part of the police description. They talked about it on the news every night. Black gown, red shoes.”
“If she was on her way to a gala, how did her arm and shoe end up here?” None of this made any sense.
“Your guess is as good as mine.” He didn’t look at me when he said this.
I glanced out the window just in time to see Detective Bryant approaching the office.
“Shit,” I said. “If he asks, you were asking about fishing. That’s it.”
Desmond’s eyes narrowed. “What’s in it for me?” His timid voice was sharp now.
Was he serious? “What do you mean, what’s in it for you?”
“I think you’ll owe me a favor.”
Detective Bryant was almost at the door now.
“Fine,” I agreed. “I’ll owe you one.”
Desmond smiled as if I just offered him my firstborn. “I won’t say anything.”
The door opened to an angry-looking detective. “Desmond Pratt,” he said. “What in the world might you be doing here?”
“I wanted information about Selena’s case,” he said, his timid voice returning. “I’ve tried to call the station a dozen times this morning, but they wouldn’t tell me anything.”
“So you thought you’d be able to get information out of a park ranger?” Detective Bryant raised one eyebrow. “How did that go for you?”
I held my breath. If Desmond didn’t pull through on this, I’d be screwed.
“She won’t tell me anything either,” Desmond said.
I glanced at Detective Bryant to see if he’d bought the lie.