His jaw tightened. If Pete had gotten too close to the truth, maybe someone had silenced him.
“Nothing. He told me he’d call soon. Once he had more to tell me. He never made that call.” She blew out a shuddering sigh. “I think someone killed him before he could get to the truth about Abby’s disappearance. And I think they’re trying to frighten me off so that I can’t put the pieces together.”
Ryan’s breath quickened. He couldn’t voice his suspicions. But he should have known Charlie’s thoughts were right there with his.
A blast of freezing air blew past, chilling Ryan to the bone.
“Maybe you should head back to DC.”
She squared her shoulders. “I’m not leaving, Ryan. This is every bit my fight to finish as it was his.”
He closed his eyes briefly. “Charlie. . .”
“I’m not leaving until I know the truth. About what happened to Abby. And Pete.”
The steel resolve in her he’d seen many times. But now, it appeared to be forged with something darker.
Once again, Ryan knew better than to argue. Instead, he asked for her cell phone.
“Why?” The request clearly surprised her.
“Just give it to me. I want to put my cell number in it.” He’d called her initially from Pete’s and then later from the station.
She fished out the phone from her coat pocket and handed it to him.
Ryan typed in his number and gave it back. Their fingers brushed. The split-second contact hit harder than he expected. “Once the place is cleared and you’re allowed back here, I want you to call me any time. I’m just down the mountain. I can be here in minutes.”
Her eyes held his. “You think I shouldn’t have come back, don’t you?”
“No,” he said softly. “I think you should have come back sooner.”
She sucked in a breath when his expression gave too much away.
Neither spoke as they watched each other.
Ryan gave the window a final tap and stepped back. “Follow me down to Main Street. Then I’ll come back here and assist Doug.”
She gave him the smallest of nods before the window slid shut.
Ryan’s boots crunched over the ice-covered snow till he reached his truck. He climbed inside and fired the engine. As hestared up at the house, the tension inside continued to grow. The storm blowing through the mountains would pass soon enough just as the many that had come before it.
But the storm that Pete had stirred up wouldn’t go away so easily. That storm was about to blow through Pine Haven. And it was only getting started.
Chapter Three
Her headlights disappeared down the road after the deputy and I realized I’d underestimated her. I’d been so certain the moment she saw my message she’d do exactly what I wanted and run again. She hadn’t.
She was always stubborn. Just like her uncle.
My mouth thinned as I continued to observe the activity around Pete’s cabin. All they had to do was back off. That’s all I wanted. I’d warned the former sheriff to let the past go. Told him if he dug too deep he’d find something ugly. But the lawman refused to back down. He couldn’t accept defeat. Pete had failed to solve Abby’s case in the past and he was determined to do so before he died.
He had. Only I couldn’t let the world know that truth.
Now, Pete’s niece was here to take up the quest of her uncle.
They just wouldn’t letherrest in peace.
I watched the deputy and her talk without realizing how close I am. I have no doubt he’d called in the crime scene tech. Not that it mattered. They wouldn’t find anything to identify me. And I now had the journals. They would confirm what I knew inmy heart. Pete had figured out the truth. Getting rid of him had been the only answer.
