His heart reached out as if he could pull her back to him. She was so beautiful. In her element. Doing what she was meant to do. But he worried about her—this woman he was falling for.
“If the feds are coming, and everyone is taking pictures, what is Harper doing out there?”
The sheriff leveled his gaze at Heath and put a hand on his shoulder. “I’m betting you and I are on the same page. I want the person responsible in a bad way. I won’t be pushed out of the loop on the investigation. Harper is getting the images she can and giving them to me. I’ll share them with other agencies, but I want them first.”
“What you need is inside that burning building. Most of the evidence was probably destroyed in the fire.”
“You never know what can be recovered. What the blast pattern can tell us. There’s plenty laying around in the street and parking lot. We’ll do what we’ve been trained to do, even though we hope to never have to use the training.”
A few raindrops gave them warning. A guy rushed up with an umbrella to shield Harper’s camera, then the rain started coming down in sheets. The wind whipped around and nearly took the canopy away. Harper headed over, covering the camera as she jogged.
Heath wanted to pull her into his arms.
Soaked, her hair was plastered to her head, and droplets ran down her face. He thought some of them might have been tears. Heath grabbed a towel some thoughtful volunteer had stacked on a table and handed it to her. She traded the camera for the towel, her sad amber eyes boring into Heath.
“Thanks.” She wiped her face, dried her hair, then hung the towel around her neck. Her gaze shifted to Taggart, who studied her. “I need to go into that building when it’s safe.”
He nodded. “And I’d like you to do that. I doubt it will be safe enough for that to happen before other agencies get here. I’ll see what I can do to get you in.”
Moffett had lingered while others had gone to work. The detective’s face remained passive, but perhaps she thought Harper was encroaching onto her turf. She usually took the evidence photographs for Taggart. Or maybe she would be happy to have someone with Harper’s skills assist. Heath wished he could read her.
Harper gave a half smile. “Okay. Let me know if and when I can get inside. I missed my flight today, so I’m staying.”
Taggart nodded. “We’ll talk later about your proposition.”
Heath wrapped a blanket around her.
“Do you want the memory card now? I haven’t had a chance to document the images in a photo log yet, which would be important if you intend to use them as evidence later.”
“Keep the memory card safe and with you. Do what you need to do. If you get to take more pictures later, they’ll be together. I’ll be in touch to look at them later this evening. Understand?”
She nodded, a look of satisfaction on her face.
“You did good work, Harper,” the sheriff said.
“How do you know? You haven’t seen my pictures yet.”
“Oh, I’ve seen your pictures, all right.” The sheriff answered his cell, his brow furrowing.
Heath kissed the top of Harper’s wet head. He couldn’t help himself. As tragic as this was, at least there was something, some light to shine in the darkness.
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
THURSDAY, 9:02 P.M.
CIRCLE S RANCH
What seemed like a lifetime later had been only a few hours. The sheriff asked that anyone who didn’t have to be out in public, remain at home. Law enforcement guarded the crime scene. The face of the small town of Grayback, the town Harper had known as a child growing up, had been changed forever.
With what had happened, everyone staying at Circle S Ranch had not made the move back to Emerald M yet. Liam had borrowed Heath’s truck and hadn’t returned with it, so Lori had brought Heath and Harper back to her ranch.
Just as well. With the day she’d had, Harper felt comfortable sleeping in the familiar bed in Lori’s guest room. After she washed away the grime and dressed in sweats and a hoodie, she stared in the mirror. Exhaustion closed in on her from all sides. She hadn’t been able to get rid of the tears or the anguish. A few bruises formed along her back and legs, adding to those still healing after her fall from the camper. At least she’d gotten the stitches removed. But all her injuries were a small nuisance compared to what she’d faced, what Grayback had faced today.
And Heath . . . Her heart bumped around inside her chest . . . Heath had been a defensive barrier, almost crushing her even as he saved her.
A memory, a brief moment destroyed by the explosion, coursed over the chaotic images pressing in on her.
“But don’t you see, Heath? I don’t need your help. I need—”
“What, Harper? What do you need?”
She’d been about to tell him what she needed.
And for the life of her, at this moment she couldn’t remember what she’d intended to say. She really was shell-shocked. She sat on the edge of the bed, her hands clasped in her lap.
If only she could quiet her mind and think of something peaceful, like the national park pictures she’d taken, and let them replace the blast of images from today that still tormented her. And that was just it—Harper always let the images of crime get to her.
Her earlier conversation with Heath hardly mattered in the face of the explosion, but she wanted to remember what she would have said to him, given the chance.
Harper pressed her fingers to her temples. Heath.
Had she really decided to stick around for him? All her life she’d been too broken, too afraid to put her heart out there, but for the first time she thought she might be willing to take a risk with someone—not just anyone, but Heath McKade.
Harper shouldn’t be thinking about that right now when people had been hurt and her thoughts and prayers needed to be with them.
But Heath could have been hurt too. He’d run into that burning building to save someone and could have died inside.
She had decided, despite it all, that she could risk loving him, but raw fear wouldn’t so easily let go and now Harper second-guessed her decision to take that risk. Her hands shook. She couldn’t get control of her breathing or her thoughts. Maybe it was simply the trauma of what she’d experienced today. Over the last several days.
A soft knock came at the door. “Harper? You okay in there?”
She lifted her head and walked to the door, the emotional pain so heavy, it felt physical. Rubbing her palms against her pants, she braced herself to face him. Opening the door, she looked into his concerned face. “I’ll survive.”
I usually do.
He frowned down at her as if trying to decipher her mood. Good luck with that. She wasn’t even sure about it. But he said nothing. Awkward. “Heath, I—”
“Sheriff Taggart is sending Detective Moffett out here to see the images you took so far.”
“All the way out here. Why don’t we—”
“I don’t know. And there’s something else.”
“What is it?”
“Evelyn is worried about you. Are you okay to come out to the kitchen and get something to eat? She and Lori made elk stew.”
Her stomach was queasy at the moment. Could she even pretend to eat it? “It’s kind of late. I’m not hungry, but I’ll come out so Evelyn will know I’m okay. What about Leroy? I thought he was coming home today.”
“Turns out he’s going to stay with his daughter in North Dakota until he’s completely recovered.”
“Is Evelyn going too?”
“She was going to go for a few days to get him settled, but with what’s happened, she wants to stay. Feels she needs to take care of us.”
“She doesn’t have to do that.” Harper shut the door behind her and slogged down the hall after Heath. The aches were starting to get to her.
“She considers us family too.”
Us? “Heath,” she said softly.
He turned before the hallway opened up to the great room.
“Do you h
urt anywhere? You went into that burning building. Did you get bruised or injured? How did you keep from getting burned?”
“Don’t worry. I’ve been looked over by paramedics. I was in and out quickly and skirted the flames.” He stepped closer, an unreadable emotion in his eyes. “I could have lost someone today. Like Liam. I could have lost you.”
He held her gaze, a question in his eyes. Her brain still swam around in her head, unsettled and chaotic. She had no answers to his unspoken question.
The doorbell rang. “That would be the detective. I’ll go let her in.”
“I’ll get the camera.” Harper headed back to the guest room, where she grabbed the camera case and her laptop.
In the kitchen, she booted up her laptop. Detective Moffett looked rough around the edges like they all did. Only Harper and Heath remained in the room with her. Evelyn’s stew warmed in the slow cooker.
“I told the sheriff I need to create the photo log. I usually do that at the scene and take my time,” Harper said, “but the situation didn’t allow for it.”
“I’m sure that’s fine. You know your stuff.”
Harper waited while the images loaded, but she would keep them on the memory card too because that’s what she would hand over along with the photo log.
“Where’s your brother?” Harper asked Heath.
“I haven’t seen him. He isn’t answering his phone again either.”
“Are you concerned?”
“I’m trying not to be. This is what he does. He could be following a lead and doesn’t want to talk about it yet.” Heath shrugged.
The memory card file came up. She clicked on the icon to open the file and let Moffett view the images on her laptop. The trauma of the day washed over her in the emotions on the faces of the men, women, and children of Grayback.
Moffett blew out a breath. “It’s going to take a long time to sort through it all. Too long.”
“What about security cameras?” Harper said. “They could reveal who was coming and going.”
“This isn’t Boston or New York.”
“So, what? You’ve got nothing?”
“I didn’t say that. A fed is already here looking at whatever footage he can get. My hands are kind of tied right now.”
“Is that why Taggart wanted you to look at the images here?”
Moffett nodded. “I’m going to need to take the memory card with me.”
“First, I need to document the images. I’ll work through them tonight. But Taggart wanted me to keep the card in case I’m allowed to take more pictures. He wants them all in one place.”
Heath edged closer behind her. “It’s true. I heard him.”
Moffett shrugged. “Make me a copy, then.”
Harper dug inside her gear bag, but this was her last memory card out of her camera pack. “I don’t have another memory card. I’ll come in tomorrow. Don’t worry, you’ll get the images.”
After Moffett was long gone, Harper clicked on the images and enlarged each one of them, reliving all of it as she worked on the photo log, wishing she could have taken her time. But then, she would still be there at the scene taking pictures and documenting them. On the other hand, many of the images were time sensitive. The fire and smoke. The people.
Heath paced back and forth in the kitchen, drinking coffee and calling his brother.
“Are you going to torture yourself all night with that?” Heath’s voice so near jarred her.
“Yes. I don’t know why I do it. I relive the pain. I need to feel it again. Have you heard anything about anyone who was injured?”
He nodded. “Sure. Lori went up to the hospital. She’s a volunteer. She texted me about the injured. It could have been so much worse. She took Evelyn with her to see Leroy.”
That reminded her that Emily had texted a few times. Harper had sent her sister a quick text letting her know she was okay and would call later. Emily would be worried until she did. But she had to finish the log. It seemed strange that she needed to call Emily when she was supposed to have been heading back home today.
With today’s incident, indecision paralyzed her. Now she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do—stay or go. And if she left, she wasn’t sure she would ever come back. She wanted to have made her decision before she talked to Emily, but she grabbed her phone and texted that she was all right. That she had taken pictures and would call later.
“I think I’ll have some stew, after all. I need fuel to get me through this.” When Harper settled back at the table with a bowl of stew, she focused on documenting the best she could while she ate. The stew was rich and warmed her insides, even after she finished.
Heath pulled out the chair next to her, sat, then urged it closer. He grabbed her hands and held them between his bigger, callused ones. “I’m worried about you.”
She tried to gently free her hands, but he wouldn’t let go. And maybe his holding on was what she needed at the moment. She was floating around and needed Heath to ground her.
One of the images caught her attention, drawing her thoughts away from Heath. She freed herself from him to focus on her laptop.
“What is it?”
“I don’t know,” she said, magnifying the image. “Some of the photos remind me of my mother.”
“What? How so?”
“She kept articles on a bomb. I think it killed someone close to her. Right before Dad died, they fought about it. Mom was upset. We were kids, and the only thing that bothered me was their fighting. I didn’t even think about the bomb. But now I see how devastating this is to a community. Even if no one dies.” She looked at Heath. “He’s going to do it again, isn’t he?”
CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
FRIDAY, 1:30 A.M.
CIRCLE S RANCH
Driving Heath’s truck, Liam parked in front of Lori’s chalet—the only way Liam could think of it—and tried to slip inside without disturbing anyone. His boots—yeah, he’d given in and gotten a pair to replace his sneakers so he could fit in—creaked across the wooden slats of the porch. Something caught the corner of his vision.
Heath was sitting on the front porch.
In the dark.
Rocking.
Liam chuckled. “You really should get married and have kids.” He sat in the rocking chair next to Heath and rocked too. Good memories flooded him for a change. He’d always loved rockers when he was a kid. “That way, you’ll have someone else to sit up and wait for instead of me.”
His brother released a heavy sigh. “There was a bomb today. You disappeared. Can’t blame me for being worried, can you? And what do you think they make cell phones for? Why do you even carry one if you’re not going to answer it?”
“I was in the hospital. The signs say not to use your cell.” It was a good enough excuse.
“What? Why were you there?”
“Well, first, I was checking the perimeter of the bomb scene with other deputies. They shooed me away—official business and all that—but I canvassed the area. Looking. Watching. Sometimes those responsible will hang around to watch.”
“See anyone suspicious?”
“Not that I noticed, but I did see Pete in the hospital. He was being treated for an injury related to the bomb.”
“What? Why didn’t you call me? I would have come up to see him.”
“I offered, but he didn’t want me to call anyone. Besides, I was sitting in the truck when I saw him leave the hospital. He isn’t there anymore. We should head back to Emerald M as soon as possible.”
“I don’t know. The state came back to look more closely before the bomb in Grayback, and now the feds are going to want to look at my cabin.”
“How’s Harper?” He was surprised she wasn’t up with Heath, still looking at the images she’d taken. Or maybe she had already handed those over to the sheriff.
“Exhausted. She finally went to bed a few minutes ago. She’s been up working on documenting the images from today.”
“So what happens now, Heat
h? She was taking pictures today. Offered to stay and work as a crime scene photographer. Kind of eerie that all that happened right before the bomb.”
He scowled. “Make your point.”
“I thought she was leaving. Is she staying or going?”
“I’m not exactly sure what’s going on in her head.”
“What do you want, Heath? Do you want to make a life with her?”
“I thought I wanted her to stay, which, on the one hand, is selfish of me. She acted like she wanted to stay . . . for us. But that was before the bomb today. And I think she let the pictures get to her, so I don’t know where her head is. Or her heart.” Heath sighed. “She’s a natural, Liam. You should have seen the pictures she took.”
“Did you?”
“Yeah. Moffett came out to look at them. It’s too chaotic out there now, and Taggart wants to hold these close for some reason. But Harper”—Heath stared off in the distance and shook his head—“she kept looking at pictures. She let the scenes, the tragedy, get to her. It tore me up seeing her like that.”
“Maybe she’s too sensitive. Isn’t calloused enough for a job like that.”
“I understand now why the events of her childhood, along with years on the job, brought her down. If she insists on working as a crime scene photographer, I don’t know if I’m the one to ride those waves with her.”
And that’s exactly why Liam stayed away. He was more like Harper than he wanted to admit. Working for the DEA had hardened him in some ways and left him broken in places he’d prefer remain intact.
“She wants to go back to take more pictures tomorrow,” he said.
“That’s not happening. I saw the ATF and FBI Mobile Command vans. They’re already here. Seems like someone put a rush on it.”
“Wow. Didn’t take them long to decide this wasn’t merely a gas explosion.” Heath blew out a long breath again. “In that case, she might very well head back to Missouri. She has some big event she had hoped to attend with Emily. I’ll encourage her to go.”
“Go with her.”
“What? I can’t do that. I’m needed here.”
“I’m telling you that you should go to the event with her, Heath. Whisk her off her feet. Be her prince charming. I’m the last one to offer romantic advice, but you’re my brother. I love you and I want to see you happy. It’s . . . I have a feeling about this girl for you. Don’t you?”
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