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She tapped on the photo. “This is him.”
When he didn’t respond, she looked to him, but his eyes were on the photo. For a second, she was taken aback by the hardness in his eyes.
“Are you sure?” he asked. “What about this guy?” He tapped on the face of the guy next to Brandon Ross.
Zoe took another look. “No, definitely not. This is Brandon.”
His jaw jutted.
“Who is this?” Zoe asked, tapping on the face that had captured his attention.
“I have no idea,” Mitch said in a low voice.
“Is he a person of interest?” Zoe asked, even though she didn’t think he would discuss the investigation with her—not regarding a possible suspect at least.
“I’m interested in talking with him,” he said vaguely, his eyes still on the photo. “May I borrow this?” he asked, looking up at her.
“Sure. There’s some more photos in here, but he’s not in any of them... I don’t think,” she said, shuffling them through her hands again. She paused on a face in the background, but upon closer inspection it wasn’t the man who had stolen Mitch’s interest. “No, I don’t think so.”
“This is very helpful, thank you,” he said.
His phone rang and he pulled it from his pocket.
“Mitch speaking,” he answered.
Zoe didn’t know if she should leave the room to give him privacy, or stay and listen to whatever he said. He didn’t look to get up or leave from the room, so she decided it couldn’t be that confidential. In the woods, he’d walked away and turned his back as he’d spoken in a low voice. He wasn’t doing that now, and seemed to just be listening to whatever was being said on the other end.
“That’s wonderful news. Thank you for letting me know,” he said before ending the call.
He looked to her. “Do you know your neighbor, Johnny Williams?”
Her eyebrows lifted. “No, I’ve never met him. Should I?”
He gave a lazy smile. “Not really, you haven’t been here long. Anyway, he’s a disabled veteran... a great guy. Anyway, he had a fall in his house, but that was the doctor letting me know he’s awake and well.”
Zoe’s eyebrow lifted. “He lives alone?”
Mitch nodded. “Yeah, his wife died some years ago.” He grabbed his phone and typed something, then looked back to her. “Sorry, I have to make a note about something before I forget.”
He gave her that handsome smile again, the kind of smile that made him look like a movie star—and it felt like the weight of her life, of Lana’s death, lifted from her shoulders. “It never stops for you, does it?” she asked with a sad smile.
He gave a small shrug. “Actually, it’s normally pretty quiet around here. Usually, my primary concern is keeping my guys motivated enough not to be bored and get lazy. The past few months have been different, though. Small towns aren’t immune to violence, but thankfully we don’t see it every day like they do in the big cities.”
“Did you always want to be a policeman?” she asked.
A smile lit up his face. “It’s the only thing I can remember ever wanting to do. My father was the sheriff in Redwater. I guess it’s safe to say I followed in his footsteps,” he said with a slight chuckle.
“I followed in my father’s footsteps too—he was a psychologist,” she said, fondly remembering sitting in his practice on the green carpet while he worked in the room next door. Without grandparents to look after them, Zoe and Lana had spent endless hours at the practice after school. They were supposed to have been doing homework. Zoe had been, but Lana had always been drawing or doing anything besides what she was supposed to be doing.
“Whatever that memory was, don’t bury it,” he said gently—knowingly.
She blinked, almost stunned. “My face was that obvious?”
He bit his lip. “Your eyes give you away. They sparkle when you’re happy.”
Her eyes welled and she fought back tears.
Mitch’s eyes widened. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you,” he said.
