Page 135 of Rangers Unexpected Return

“I saw your vehicle out front,” Evan answered. “I wanted to make sure everything was all right.”

Sheriff Tate glanced at me.

I looked through the narrow window beside the door.

Evan stood on the porch with his hands visible. He wore jeans, a blue button-down shirt, and scuffed brown boots. His hair was more gray than brown, and his face had the tired, weathered look of a man who spent most of his life outdoors. He looked like Captain Mills but older.

My attention dropped to his boots.

Large.

The tread was too far away for me to compare it to the partial print beside the garage, but dirt clung to the soles.

Mace noticed it too.

His gaze shifted from Evan’s boots to mine.

Sheriff Tate opened the door but didn’t invite Evan inside.

“You were driving past my house?” he asked.

Evan looked over his shoulder toward the road. “I was on my way home.”

“Your house is in the other direction.”

Another pause.

This one was longer.

“I stopped by the feed store.”

“The feed store closed two hours ago.”

Evan smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “I didn’t say I stopped today.”

Sheriff Tate didn’t return the smile. “You drove past my house on your way home from a feed-store visit that didn’t happen today?”

Evan’s gaze moved past him.

He saw Trigger first.

Then Rylie.

Then Mace and me.

His expression changed when he recognized me, from a visit with his brother. I had forgotten all about that visit until now.

“Detective Langley.”

“Mr. Mills.”

“I heard you were in Eagle River.”

“From whom?”

He looked at Sheriff Tate. “People talk.”

“I’ve been here one day.”