Fugitive Trail

by Elizabeth Goddard

  Bryce nodded. “I can stay if you like.”

  “It’s okay.” Grief filled her eyes, concern for her father’s reaction obviously overshadowing any remnants of the terror her nightmare had ushered in.

  The bedroom door shut. Bryce stared down at Samson. The dog’s massive forehead was wrinkled as if he was worried about John’s reaction too. Bryce rubbed the dog behind the ears. “I know, boy, I know. Let’s go downstairs to make sure the bogeyman doesn’t get in.”

  He followed Samson as the big dog plodded down the steps. On the first floor, Bryce checked the windows and the doors to make sure all remained locked, then poured himself a glass of milk. Samson’s water bowl was filled with water, so Bryce poured milk in a separate small bowl for Samson too.

  While he finished off the milk and Samson lapped his up, Bryce thought back to the years Sierra spent raising and training Samson for work as a K-9. Strange how things had unfolded—that despite all of Samson’s training, she was afraid to put him in harm’s way.

  The milk finished, Bryce washed up the glass and bowl, and then he sat back on the sofa and gave Samson some more petting and attention. At the same time, he thought about the conversation Sierra was having with her father, and prayed for that discussion to go well. Her father had to realize as a police officer and then a detective, Sierra had faced some life-threatening situations. But how would he react to the severity of the danger facing her now?

  The big dog tried to sneak up onto the sofa with Bryce. His size wouldn’t allow for that. From the guilty look on the animal’s face, Bryce was sure that Sierra had trained him to stay off the furniture.

  “You think you can get away with it because I’m a softy?” Bryce rubbed Samson’s ears and prevented his slow climb onto the couch. Samson finally settled on the floor at Bryce’s feet.

  Bryce had almost nodded off when Sierra appeared at the bottom of the stairs and drew his attention.

  “You’re still up.” She came all the way into the small space. “The fire is almost out.”

  She bent to grab more logs.

  “Leave it. It’s fine. Tell me. How did it go?” He ran his hand through his hair.

  Samson was spread out on the floor now and sighed.

  She crossed her arms. Instead of moving closer or sitting on the sofa next to him or the chair, she kept her distance. “As you would expect. He was angry and hurt about the whole thing.”

  She swiped at her cheeks. “I’d wanted to protect him from all that. I’d wanted to escape to a more peaceful way of life and now Raul has brought the fear and chaos here to Crescent Springs.” Anger edged her tone.

  Bryce understood just how she felt. He hated that this had happened. It was why he’d wanted to catch up to Raul tonight. If he had, maybe this would all be over, and Sierra and John could get back to their lives. “Sierra, I need to talk to you about something. I don’t want to keep you up too late, but now seems like the right time.”

  “I don’t think I’m going to go to sleep anytime soon anyway.” She finally eased into the chair across from the sofa. “What’s wrong?”

  “It’s not so much that anything’s wrong, but tonight, when someone was shooting at us, you wanted to protect Samson. I understand that. But he’s a big dog. He’s trained to do many things—including protect. Remember you trained him to become part of the new BPD’s K-9 unit. Tonight you were afraid to let him protect you or to let him go after Raul.” He wasn’t telling her anything she didn’t already know.

  He wanted to better understand her reasons.

  Sierra stared into the dying embers as though gathering her thoughts, or softening angry words she might have said. “I just couldn’t put him in danger, Bryce. I know it sounds ludicrous. Maybe I should have let him go. I’m sorry. I put you in greater danger instead.”

  “It’s all right. That’s not why I’m bringing it up. I’d just like to understand.”

  “Samson and I trained with another dog—a German shepherd named Jackson—and his handler, Officer Kimmie Tombs. We worked hard with them and learned so much.” Then the tears came and she once again swiped at her face. “Jackson become a K-9. He and Kimmie were called upon that very first week that he was official. He... Jackson was shot and killed.”

  Sierra looked at him then.

  Bryce understood better now. He’d known about this, of course, but not how much it affected her. “It was that next week you resigned.”

  “And moved to Crescent Springs.”

  Samson stirred and sat up, then shifted his big head over to Sierra. She grabbed him around his neck to hug him. “Here he works as a SAR dog only and we train every day. Twice a month we get with other handlers and their mountain rescue dogs for training. It’s been good for both of us. He’s still useful, still helping people—just not in the way we thought he would back then.”

  She pulled Samson’s face up to look at her. His big tongue lolled as drool spilled out both sides of his mouth. Sierra wiped it away with one of the drool towels she kept on the side table. “He loves it here. You love it here, don’t you, boy?”

  He barked.

  Sierra chuckled. “Shh. Don’t wake Dad. I hope he could even fall asleep after what I told him. But now he’ll appreciate Samson that much more.”

  Not if Sierra didn’t allow the dog to protect her.

  Her gaze slid to Bryce. “We won’t let Raul come after us or cause us to live in fear, Bryce. We’re going to find him and bring him in.”

  “We are?”

  “Yes. You, me—and yes, Samson. We’ll go out and search for him. We know these mountains pretty well, don’t we, Samson?”

  “That could be dangerous, Sierra. Raul is after you. That might be just what he wants—for you to come out after him.”

  “Better than letting him come here and get me. We’ll have the element of surprise as our advantage.”

  While he liked the way she thought, it didn’t make his self-appointed task of protecting her easier.

  * * *

  The next morning Sierra struggled to stay alert as she helped her father get ready to open up the store. She set up the cash drawer in the register while he arranged building block sets from a shipment they’d received last week. They were so behind!

  She yawned and rubbed her eyes, unsure if they would ever catch up. But she could do only so much. What would have happened to the store if she hadn’t come to help Dad last year? He was too stubborn to hire more help than Jane, thinking he could do it all himself. When Sierra had come home for a week to visit him after the K-9 dog Jackson had been killed, she’d been devastated and brought Samson to Crescent Springs. When she got there, boxes of toys were actually in the aisles, left there to be dealt with who knew when. Add to that, Dad couldn’t seem to balance the drawer at the end of the day. He wasn’t worried about it, but Sierra had been. That week-long visit had been the nudging she’d needed to leave Boulder. Leave it all behind. That’s when she’d decided to stay.

  Save Samson from a similar fate to Jackson.

  Help Dad with the store.

  Dad needed help and Sierra had needed a big change.

  A grunt from the aisle brought her attention back to the present. She should finish up the drawer and help Dad with those boxes.

  This afternoon she was on deputy duty. What task would the sheriff assign her given the ongoing ice festival? She’d been here in Crescent Springs as a deputy during the last festival. A couple of guys had gotten rowdy after too much to drink—spectators rather than participants—but other than that one incident, things had gone smoothly.

  Sierra sighed and shoved the cash register closed. Her hands trembled. She stared at them. Squeezed them closed. Opened them. Squeezed. Opened.

  Still shaking.

  The nightmare last night had prevented much-needed sleep and set her on edge when she needed to stay sharp until Ra
ul was behind bars once again. Instead, she was irritable and cranky. And Dad had hardly spoken to her this morning.

  After all, she’d told him the whole story last night.

  She wasn’t sure if he was upset with her or just needed time to process what had happened in his own way. As for Bryce, he’d insisted on taking Samson for his morning walk, and had returned the dog already, before leaving her at the store with her father so he could head across the street to his hotel room to shower and dress.

  All of this before the store opened. Jane should be here at any moment to help.

  Sierra moved to the storage room to bring a few more boxes of toys out. She hefted a box and tried to maneuver through the door but failed and the box toppled, spilling fidget toys everywhere. Sierra pressed her forehead against the wall and groaned.

  The Novack brothers’ escape and plane crash had certainly turned her world upside down, and now she wasn’t sure which end was up.

  She knelt and reloaded the toys in the box as she thought about Bryce. She’d been stunned to see him in the store yesterday. His sudden reappearance in her life left her confused. After all, she’d put enough time and distance between them with her move from Boulder to Crescent Springs, she should have doused any remnants of feelings she had for him.

  Maybe if he’d stayed away, those feelings could have lain buried forever, but it was as though they had simply been dormant and all it had taken was his presence for them to stir back to life.

  For a few moments last night she’d watched him sitting on the sofa dozing, Samson at his feet, as the fire died. Warm sensations and longing had flooded her. She would be the first one to admit that she was definitely missing that kind of warmth in her everyday life, but she’d denied herself that relationship with him because of the danger. She wouldn’t love a cop or anyone in a dangerous line of work again.

  Sierra hefted the refilled box of fidget toys on her hip and lugged the merchandise through the store in search of Dad.

  The sound of boxes toppling caught her attention. “Dad?” she moved to the left of the store. Boxes had spilled into the main aisle. “Dad. You okay?”

  “Yep,” he grumbled from behind a display. “Sorry.”

  “No reason to be sorry. I dropped this box all over the floor just a minute ago. Looks like we’re both having the same kind of morning.” She set her box down and blew out a breath. “We could wait until Jane gets here. She can arrange the toys and stock the shelves.”

  “I can do it.” He didn’t even look at her. Just started picking up the toys. So he was upset with her after all.

  Sierra couldn’t take it. “Dad, I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I just wanted to spare you. Please don’t be mad at me. It just makes everything that much worse.”

  She helped him gather all the toys and stack the boxes in silence. Then Dad straightened to his full height, finally looking her in the eyes. “I’m not mad at you. Not anymore. I just wish I could help protect you. I feel...helpless.”

  Sierra started to reach for him, grab him up in a hug. She needed to know things were okay between them, but the door jingled, startling them both. Hadn’t he locked the door after Bryce left for his hotel earlier?

  Oh, Dad... She wanted to comfort him. “We’ll talk more about this later,” she whispered.

  She started to move, but he grabbed her arm. “Let me see who it is first.”

  Sierra frowned and shook her head. “You—” Then she caught herself. If this was what he needed to feel like he was protecting her, then she wouldn’t deny him.

  Dad stepped from the aisle as if he would defend her from an attacker. She told herself that there wasn’t really anything to worry about. Raul wouldn’t actually walk through the front door of a toy store to come for her... Would he?

  A chill ran over her. She heard the footfalls but could see Dad’s shoulders relax.

  “Who is it, Dad?” She hoped it wasn’t a customer. The store wasn’t due to open for another half an hour and she sure needed that to compose herself.

  “Morning, Sheriff.” Dad left her standing in the aisle while he stepped forward to greet her boss.

  “Morning. I need to see Sierra.”

  Dad turned to stare at her where she’d remained in the aisle. “Any news on that escaped convict?”

  “That’s what I came to talk about.”

  She spotted a fidget toy they’d missed, and grabbed it and held on to it. Maybe she could use it to keep herself awake, despite the fatigue digging deeper into her bones. Sierra moved to the counter. Sheriff Locke was making his way toward her.

  His gaze landed on her.

  He looked her up and down, taking her in, and she didn’t think he’d missed the look of a woman who hadn’t slept much. The sheriff frowned. “Where’s your bodyguard?”

  “Samson’s barking in the back, don’t you hear him?”

  “Samson should be up here with you. Wherever you are, keep the dog with you. But I wasn’t referring to Samson.”

  “Oh, you mean Bryce.” Had the sheriff figured she knew whom he’d meant to begin with? “Sheriff, I don’t need a bodyguard. I’m trained law enforcement, which you already know.”

  “Even a trained law enforcement officer is vulnerable with a target on her back. I don’t want to feel like I neglected one of my deputies, but you know the ice festival is our busy time so between you and me, I’m glad he’s here for you. Take advantage of that.”

  She sighed. “With law enforcement coming down around these mountains to look for Raul, surely he’ll be caught soon.”

  “For all our sakes I hope you’re right.”

  “Where could he possibly hide?” The question sounded ridiculous. She risked a look at the sheriff.

  He’d arched a brow and she sent him a wry grin. The San Juan Mountains region was filled with millions of acres of forest, old mining camps and probably a few deserted cabins. No one knew that better than her and Samson. But Raul didn’t know this area. Could he find his way around that and hide well? She doubted it.

  “You said you’d come by to talk about Raul. Do you have any news?”

  “Only that the dogs are here.” He frowned and scraped his hand over his mouth. “That is, dogs to track the fugitive. In the meantime, I had hoped I could convince you to take some time off. Go on vacation. Leave Crescent Springs.”

  Sierra couldn’t withhold her stunned look.

  “At least until this is over, of course.”

  “You can’t be serious.” Samson nearly knocked her over as the dog rushed from their private apartment in back. Dad closed the door and gave the sheriff a smile and a nod. He’d let the dog up into the store. Sierra groaned. Samson was massive and the shelves were heavily stocked. Just one walk down the aisle could end in disaster.

  Giving herself a reprieve from the two sets of human eyes pinned on her, she squatted to rub Samson’s head and behind his soft floppy ears, focusing her attention on him. Was the sheriff right? Should she leave town? She didn’t want to bring danger here to Crescent Springs.

  Frustration boiled to the surface, but before hot tears could spill out Samson licked her. She wiped her face with her sleeve. Then finally she stood to face the two men who seemed to be staring her down.

  “Look. Maybe I ran from Boulder.” Sure she’d used the store and her father’s need of help as her excuse, but she knew the real reason. “I’m here now. And I’m not running again. Staying here is the right thing to do. I can’t let Raul think he has me running scared.” She hoped the men understood. “I won’t let what happened in Boulder force me from Crescent Springs as well. You’ve got my back, Sheriff.”

  “And the people of this town have got your back too,” Dad said. She appreciated his support. At the very least, he understood.

  Concern for the tourist population that came for the snow sports and ice
climbing competition skittered through her, but Raul was here for her. Not them.

  “Good. That settles it then. I’m staying here in Crescent Springs. For the short-term and the long haul.”

  “Fine, but you’re off duty until this is over and Raul is caught. I don’t want you facing off with him under any circumstance if that can be avoided.”

  Her jaw dropped. A few breaths passed before she composed herself. “Why, Sheriff? You said yourself that we’re stretched thin with the festival. You need me to help you. You need me.”

  “I need you to be safe. This is me, protecting you. Since you won’t take a few days away from here, I’ll do my best to help in other ways and maybe even find this jerk too.” He stared at her. “Don’t look so surprised, or so grim. It isn’t the end of the world, Sierra. Stay safe. Let Bryce help protect you, along with your father, and maybe you’ll even consider letting your K-9–trained dog protect you.”

  “What about... What about SAR? If someone needs—”

  “That’s different. If someone needs to be found, you and Samson are close. But deputy duties are on hold for now.”

  Sierra wanted to protest, but she recognized the hard set of Sheriff Locke’s jaw and knew he’d made up his mind. She almost wished she was still in Boulder because maybe there, she would be allowed to keep working.

  Still, coming back here had been the best decision. The only thing she’d missed about Boulder was Bryce.

  She hadn’t realized how much until he’d walked back into her life yesterday.

  And that kind of thinking would lead nowhere.

  The door jingled, startling all three of them—the store wasn’t open yet. She or Dad should have locked the front door after the sheriff came in. But they were both much too distracted.

  Bryce stood at the entrance for a moment as if to let his vision adjust, then his gaze found hers and seemed to drill through her. With a somber expression he made his way toward her.

  Her heart pounded. Why did she react this way the moment he walked into the room?