Tattered Stars

by Catherine Cowles

  14

  Hayes

  I stared down at the report in front of me. I’d been poring over our cases from the past couple of months, and the closest thing we had to abduction was a botched mugging a few weeks ago that had left a female tourist with a shiner. I couldn’t help feeling like we were missing something. A piece of the puzzle that would at least give us a direction to go in. I scrubbed a hand over my face. Maybe it was because I’d slept like shit last night that things weren’t adding up in my mind.

  I’d tossed and turned and had finally given up sometime around three. The same image haunted me over and over. Everly curled over as she struggled to catch her breath, fear wafting off her.

  I didn’t know much, but something bad had happened with her family. Something beyond her father’s mental illness and him kidnapping Shiloh. I’d wanted to sit with her all afternoon, to pry every last secret out of her. But I’d barely gotten that fresh start. I didn’t want to ruin it with too many questions, too quickly.

  I had to hope that she’d open up with time. And I’d give her that time. I’d be helping her on my weekends off whether she wanted me to or not.

  My mouth curved at the memory of her calling me on my crap. I’d never thought I would be drawn to that, but somehow, I was. Maybe I’d been going after the wrong kinds of women all these years. Most of the ones I’d dated had been softer somehow, not willing to rock the boat. I liked that Everly didn’t back down.

  I blinked at the words on the paper as everything in me locked. Thinking about pursuing anything more than a friendship with Everly wasn’t in the cards. There was too much painful history there.

  A knock sounded on my open door, and I looked up to see Young. Grateful for the distraction from my spiraling thoughts, I motioned her in. “You’re early for your shift.”

  She came to a stop behind one of the chairs opposite my desk, shuffling her feet. “I wanted to run something by you.”

  “All right. Hit me with it.”

  “I went back out to the crime scene first thing this morning.”

  I straightened in my chair. “Alone?” She winced, and that was all the answer I needed. “I thought you were smarter than that. A woman a few years younger than you was taken from just that spot, and you thought it was a good idea to go out there alone?” Just saying the words made me realize I needed to have a conversation with both Hadley and Shiloh. Everly, too. None of them should be going off alone until we figured out who was responsible.

  “I have training.”

  “None of which protects you from a blitz attack.”

  Her shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry. You’re right, it was dumb. You’ve taught me better than that. But something was troubling me.”

  “Sit.” I pointed to the chair, and Young slid into it. “What doesn’t feel right?”

  “I don’t think he could’ve hiked out of there. We put officers at all the nearby trailheads, and he didn’t come out at any of them. He either lives out there, or he had another mode of transportation.”

  Her thoughts were exactly what my scattered brain had been struggling to put together. “I agree. So, what’d you find?”

  “Horse poop.”

  I raised a brow in question.

  “That, and some tracks. I think whoever did this got out there on horseback. Maybe he saw her, and it just flipped some switch.”

  “An opportunistic offender.”

  “Yes.”

  I’d been thinking the same thing. This didn’t fit the modus operandi of someone who stalked their victims. This was a crime of opportunity. It didn’t make it any less dangerous, but it was good news for Cammie. “So, where do we go from here?”

  Young blinked at me a few times. “Don’t you want to tell me?”

  “You’re the one who took the initiative to go out there on your own time to investigate. And even if you could’ve done it safer, I appreciate you going above and beyond.”

  She straightened in her chair a fraction. “Thank you. I really love this job, and I want to excel at it.”

  “You’re getting there.” I met her gaze to hammer my point home. “But that means you have to be responsible.”

  “I promise, no more going off on my own.”

  “Good. Now, tell me what’s next.”

  She was quiet for a moment, putting together pieces in her mind. “Two things: I’ll ask around on the reservation, see if anyone has seen a single guy that fits our description riding alone. We should do the same around town. But I also think we should head out to The Trading Post. It’s not too far down the highway from the lake, and they could’ve had someone come by who fits.”

  I pushed back from my desk. “I think we need to hold off on putting the word out in town or on the reservation. I don’t want to start a panic or people looking at everyone as potential violent attackers. But I think The Trading Post is a great idea.”

  “I didn’t think about the panic piece of things.”

  “Don’t be too hard on yourself. I’ve learned my lessons the hard way. A huge part of this job is making people feel safe. That means being careful about what we share and how we share it.”

  Young followed me out the door. “What about at The Trading Post? That’s gossip central.”

  She wasn’t wrong there. The Trading Post was just what it sounded like and more. It was a place where people could exchange goods, but there was also a general store of sorts inside, and a small bank of mailboxes for people who lived way out of town. Basic groceries and hardware supplies. There was even a small farmer’s market on the weekends during the spring and summer. It was so far out of town that it was frequented mostly by those who lived out that way. And it catered to those who liked to stay off the grid.

  “We’re going to tread carefully.” I led the way through the desks in the main room, passing the same bench my family had waited on all of those years ago. This time when I passed it, Everly’s eleven-year-old face flashed in my mind more clearly than it had in years. The pain ravaging it struck like a whip. God, I was an asshole. So focused on my family’s pain and mine, mixed with a healthy dose of guilt, that I couldn’t see her clearly.

  I hadn’t wanted to if I were honest. I hadn’t wanted to think about what she and her family might have been going through. I’d wanted to cast them all into the darkness along with her father.

  I beeped the locks on my SUV, and Young and I climbed in. On the thirty-minute drive out to The Trading Post, I updated her on the latest reports. There hadn’t been a hell of a lot so far. Unfortunately, Cammie hadn’t scratched her attacker, so there was no DNA under her nails. And there simply hadn’t been much forensic evidence to find.

  I pulled into the dusty lot of The Post. There was an older truck parked behind the store and a few other vehicles in front, but it looked quiet enough that we might have a shot at real conversation with the owner. I glanced over at Young. “We go in easy. Friendly.”

  She gave me a sharkish grin. “I can be friendly.”

  “God help us,” I muttered.

  “What? I can.”

  I slid out of the SUV, Young following suit, and headed towards the store. I passed a couple of trucks with stickers showing intertwined snakes. One with a makeshift license plate that claimed the vehicle belonged to a Sovereign Citizen. Young’s brows rose. I shook my head. We weren’t after traffic violations today.

  I held the door open for Young. She passed, giving me a smirk. “Such a gentleman.”

  “What can I say? My mama taught me right.”

  The store was a bit rundown but it had character. The aisles were arranged in a way that only made sense to Sue, the owner. A handful of tables were gathered in a corner where folks could sit and eat the food that was prepared in a small kitchen in the back. One of those tables had three grizzled men sitting at it. They eyed us warily as we walked by, one outright glaring as we passed.

  I ignored them and headed for the counter. Sue looked up from her book. A woman in her seventies, he
r long, salt-and-pepper hair was woven into a braid that hung down her back. She wore jeans, a t-shirt, and perfectly worn boots. “Sheriff. Deputy. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

  I gave her my most charming smile. “Can’t I just come for a visit? Maybe I missed you, Sue.”

  “I wish you missed me.” She gave Young a wink. “This one is nothing but trouble, but he’s pretty to look at, so I don’t mind.”

  Young tried in vain to hold back her laugh. “All the most dangerous ones are that way, don’t you think?”

  “Truer words have never been spoken.” Sue’s expression sobered a touch as her gaze drifted to the men assembled at the table. “But since you’re both in uniform, I’m guessing you don’t need a quart of milk.”

  I leaned a hip against the counter, shifting my body so I had a side-eye view of the men at the table. All three were carrying, and I had a feeling if I asked them for permits, we’d have a problem. “You hear about the young woman who was attacked at the lake?”

  “The Sweeney girl, right?”

  I nodded.

  “She’s okay, isn’t she? I heard she got away.”

  The men at the table seemed to shift with the conversation’s focus, stopping their card-playing altogether. I drummed my fingers against my thigh, my hand itching to rest on the butt of my gun. “She’s going to be just fine, thanks to the self-defense class her dad made her take.”

  “Smart man. Brave girl.”

  “That they are.” I focused in on Sue. “You see anyone come through here on horseback that day? Lone rider. Man. Over six feet.”

  Her face carefully blanked. “You know if I start answering questions about who comes through here, I’m going to lose more than half my business.”

  I raised my voice so the men at the table could easily hear. “Do you really think your customers want to protect a kidnapper? Probably a rapist?”

  The largest man at the table, one who looked vaguely familiar, stood. “This about that girl?”

  “It is.” My hand itched and strained, but I forced it to stay loose at my side.

  “You find who did this, and we’ll be happy to take care of it for you.”

  I gave him an easy smile. “I appreciate that, but I think we’re gonna do this one by the book.”

  He shrugged. “Those books don’t work for a lot of folks.”

  “You’re not wrong there. But I do my best to make them do their job.”

  The man studied me for a moment, seeming to take my measure. “What do you want to know?”

  “Looking for a lone man on horseback, around this area or the lake. You guys see anyone?”

  A slender man, still sitting, snickered. “I see them all the time. Lots of folks around here prefer horseback to a car or truck.”

  He was right. It was far from abnormal for someone to ride to The Post for a few groceries. Or just take off into the national forest for some time alone in nature. I scanned the men’s faces. “What about anyone who seemed off to you?”

  The third man, who hadn’t said a word yet, sneered. “You seem pretty damn off to me. Sticking your nose in where it don’t belong.”

  My fingers twitched. “Well, that’s a matter of opinion, isn’t it?”

  “My opinion is that pigs aren’t wanted here.”

  Young stiffened next to me, her hand going to the butt of her gun. The third man’s hand did the same with his. Just as I was afraid things might take a turn we couldn’t come back from, the saloon doors to the kitchen swung open.

  A young woman with her blond hair dreaded and wrapped in a scarf appeared with two plates in hand, oblivious to what was going on around her. “I’ve got that breakfast burrito, extra steak, and the special. Who’s winning this morning?”

  The appearance of the woman seemed to take the tension down more than a step immediately. The surliest of the men smiled at her. “You know I’m kicking their asses.”

  She beamed at him. “It might be nice to let someone else win once in a while.”

  “Don’t listen to him, Dahlia. I’m cleaning up,” the skinny man said.

  “Let’s get to cleaning up these breakfasts. I’ll be back with yours, Jim.”

  The men went back to ignoring me and started shoveling in their breakfasts. Sue snorted a laugh. “Hippies. They save my ass every time. And they grow the best herb.”

  I ran a hand through my hair. “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.”

  Sue leaned back on her stool. “I’m sure they have a license.” She was quiet for a moment. “I didn’t see anyone like you described the day the Sweeney girl was attacked.”

  “What about before or after?”

  “Too many to count.”

  I muttered a curse. “Thanks, Sue.”

  “Don’t go spreading around that I answered your questions.”

  “Your secret’s safe with me.” I inclined my head towards the door, and Young and I headed out as Dahlia appeared with the last plate.

  She smiled at us. “Have a beautifully blessed day.”

  Young’s lips pressed together to keep from laughing. She held it together until we made it outside. “What was that?”

  “This county is full of interesting characters.”

  “I thought for a minute it was going to go bad in there.”

  “It could’ve. Don’t place your hand on your weapon in a situation like that unless you’re ready to use it.”

  Young flushed. “Sorry.”

  “You don’t have to be sorry. Just learn with each callout.” I sent her a grin. “Maybe I should think about hiring Dahlia as a crisis negotiator.”

  “Wouldn’t be a bad idea.” She glanced over her shoulder. “I just don’t get guys like that.”

  I beeped the locks on the SUV, and we climbed inside. “They don’t think rules and laws apply to them.”

  “Think they could have something to do with what happened to Cammie?”

  “Honestly, no. But there are bad apples everywhere. We just might have to turn over the whole barrel to find what we’re looking for.”

  15

  Everly

  I shut the door of my SUV with my hip and pressed the button on my key fob to lock it. It was a habit after living so long in the city. But given the latest run-in with my brother, it was probably a good idea to keep it up. I wouldn’t put it past Ian to rig my SUV to blow.

  I trudged across the gravel drive, my boots almost dragging through the dirt. The day had been nonstop from beginning to end. A full roster of appointments and then a handful of emergencies. Luckily, all of them had a happy ending.

  I pulled my keys from my purse and found the one I was looking for. Shiny new silver for my brand-new lock. It was one of the first things I’d done after moving. You never knew how many old spare keys were floating around.

  Sliding the new key into the slot, I listened for a moment before heading inside. As soon as the door shut behind me, Chip skittered out of his hidey-hole, chattering away. I grinned down at the chipmunk. “Good to know you missed me.” He kept right on talking as if I could understand every word. “Or maybe you’re just hungry.”

  I hung my purse on a peg I’d put by the door and moved towards the kitchen. Opening a cabinet, I poured a small amount of the nut mix into a little dish. I sat it on the floor, and Chip pounced. I couldn’t help but laugh.

  Letting the sound free released some of the tension in my muscles. I rolled my shoulders back and turned the oven on to four hundred. Tonight was a frozen-pizza kind of night. I moved to the window to peek outside.

  It looked like Shiloh had been here today. The remaining dilapidated fencing had been taken down and arranged in piles: keep and use for firewood. At least, I wouldn’t have to split logs anytime soon. I really should’ve gone out to get a few hours of work in—the summer light would last until after eight—but I just didn’t have it in me.

  Instead, I opted for the hottest shower known to man while my pizza cooked and then climbed into bed with a book it
was taking me far too long to work my way through. The long days I’d pulled lately meant I nodded off before I’d read more than a few pages.

  I looked around the room before I switched off the light. It was starting to feel more like home. In the last week, I’d made it more mine—a purplish-gray paint on the walls and gauzy white curtains that lifted in the breeze. I took a deep breath as I switched off the light, letting the fresh mountain air soothe me—hoping it would keep the nightmares away.

  It certainly helped me fall asleep faster. It seemed like moments after my head hit the pillow, I was slipping under.

  A foreign smell tickled my nose. It was the fact that my nose scrunched in repulsion, the scent invading the calm of my pine air, that woke me. I lay in bed for a moment, blinking awake into the darkness. As I inhaled again, I jolted upright. Smoke.

  I flew out of bed, grabbing my phone on the way. I ran down the hall and out into the living room. I slipped my feet into muck boots and threw open the front door. Flames greeted me in the distance, fully engulfing the barn.

  I dialed nine-one-one in a haze.

  “Sheriff’s Department. What’s your emergency?”

  My voice cracked as I struggled to get the words out. “My barn is on fire.”

  “What’s your address?”

  I listed it off as a particularly violent gust of flames surged.

  “Are you in a safe place away from the fire?”

  I looked at the distance between the barn and the cabin. The flames could easily catch on the trees and then jump to my cabin. “Safe enough. I have to go.” I hung up without another word, running for the hose. The barn was a lost cause, but my cabin wasn’t.

  I turned on the water as far as it would go, thankful I’d picked up the hose and spray nozzle at the hardware store. I aimed the stream of water at the cabin’s roof, coating the side closest to the blaze as much as possible. When it was thoroughly doused, I moved around to the front and aimed for the opposite side as I heard sirens in the distance.