Page 128 of Rangers Unexpected Return

“You kept my old clothes?” Rylie asked.

“I kept everything.”

“Dad, you threw away my prom dress.”

“It was ugly.”

“It was expensive.”

“It was still ugly.”

Trigger coughed into his fist, but I saw the smile.

Rylie pointed at him. “Not one word.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Sheriff Tate looked pleased. “See? He can learn.”

Judy moved through the living room without touching anything. Her eyes went to the windows, the back door, then the hallway.

“Has anyone been inside the house recently?” she asked.

“No one but me,” Sheriff Tate said. “The cleaning lady comes every other Thursday, but she was here four days ago.”

“Any repairmen? Deliveries?”

“No.”

“Does anyone else have a key?”

“Rylie. My sister in Austin has one. Trigger has one.”

Trigger nodded. “Mine stays on my key ring.”

Judy looked at the lock on the front door, then at the windows again.

I knew what she was thinking.

A man who could place a camera close enough to photograph Trigger and Rylie sleeping might not need a key.

“I’ll check outside,” I said.

Judy turned toward me. “Alone?”

“I have Max.”

Her eyes narrowed.

There it was again. That look.

It wasn't a detective's look.

It was personal. Worried, maybe.

“I’ll be ten feet from the house,” I told her.

“I wasn’t worried.”