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Knox nodded. “I think Fox would be glad, too. If he’d read that notebook, he would have cuffed Jay on the head then hugged him.”

Everyone laughed at that. Rissa swallowed her own emotions. “There might have been a rift, but you’ve healed it. By solving the mystery and being here, you’ve healed them both.”

Burke brushed his lips over hers. “You’re right. Mystery solved.”

Amber nodded. “And now, we can use some things we’ve found to celebrate them both. We’ll get Ford to make some picture frames for the photos and the baseball card collage. It will be good to have even more memories to pass on.”

Gray rubbed her belly and kissed her hair. “Sprout will know all about Fox and Jay and how they brought us all together here on the farm.”

Burke nodded. The past generations weren’t lost. They’d tell their future generations about the rift and ensure it never happened again.

Chapter 18

Ducking The Question

Burke waited in the drive while Marcus pulled his cruiser into the lot by the barn. Levi, Oz to his army buddies, grinned from the passenger seat.

Burke hadn’t seen him since he’d moved to Phail, and he pulled his quiet friend into a hug. “Oz, so great to see you. I hear you’re a hops farmer now.”

Levi grinned. “Sure am. And you lot are apple farmers. Wonder what our colonels would think about that.”

Burke laughed. “I can see Major Lowry getting a kick out of it.” The Major had been in charge of their special forces unit. A huge, intimidating beast of a man, he always had plants in his office—succulents mostly, but blooming plants as well.

Levi grinned. “We should take some pictures in the summer and send them his way. He’d love knowing we’ve all found our places. I wonder if he’s retired yet.”

They chatted for a few minutes as they unloaded the cruiser. “Thanks for bringing all this out.”

Marcus shrugged. “Better for none of you to be vulnerable on the road until we figure out who this asshole is and what he wants. He knows where you live, and there are plenty of places along the roads for him to set up an ambush.”

The army had ingrained threat analysis into their brains. It still pissed Burke off that he hadn’t alerted to the threat of the gift-wrapped IED before he heard the click.

Instead of focusing on that, he kept his head firmly in the present, all senses alert.

Marcus and Levi had brought out the compost buckets to exchange. Thea had left clean compost buckets at the barn, so they put those in the cruiser after they removed the full ones.

Ginny and Branna collected coffee grounds and compost scraps at the diner and saloon. Thea had set up the bucket system even before she had the Worminator. Adding the town’s compost materials to the farm helped create more compost and kept garbage out of the local dump—a win for everyone. Townspeople were now collecting their own scraps and bringing them to the diner to add to the buckets. Phail was far more ecologically advanced than anywhere Burke had lived.

“Any news on the asshole front?”

Marcus shrugged again. “Dan Coulson hasn’t been located. He was fired from his last job. Neighbors assume he’s on a bender, as that’s what he’s done in the past. They say it’s not uncommon for him to disappear for weeks at a time.”

That didn’t sound great. “Could he have figured out Rissa’s location?”

Marcus shrugged. “I don’t see how. With her Q Lab, she can’t be tracked with rent or lease information. Her credit card company and bank say no one has hacked into her information. She’s careful with social media. She only posts for her business and hasn’t mentioned anything about Vermont. He never had access to her phone, so he’s not following her that way either. I’ll feel better once they locate him, but there’s no evidence to show he’s followed her.”

One of the knots in Burke’s stomach unclenched. “How about the man who delivered the package?”

“We’ve eliminated a lot, but haven’t found him yet. We’ve called around to delivery services in nearby cities, but haven’t had a hit. No one in town remembers seeing that particular truck.”

Which made Burke grin. In a town the size of Phail, people knew everyone’s vehicles in town and in the surrounding areas. It was a big deal when someone got a new ride. He’d learned that there were four black Ram trucks nearby, but they were all older, and none had chrome running boards. Not that they thought a local had anything to do with it.

Marcus crossed his arms over his chest. “Shanice Williams is using her connections in Albany and other area headquarters to check for any connections between Curt Anderson and local criminals. Nothing yet.”

Burke grimaced. “Same with Ichiro back in Boston. The Clancy family is completely pissed at Curt and none of them would help him out. His other connections to criminals come through his illegal gambling games. Ichiro thinks that’s our best link, but it’s difficult to get information as they’re pretty tight-lipped. He’s reaching out to the local cops to see if any of the vice squad works with a confidential informant that might get them information.”

“That’s good. It’s doubtful that a professional built the IED. I think we’re looking for someone who owes Curt a favor or someone he can use. I doubt that person has done this before.”

Levi sighed. “Which makes him more unpredictable.”