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“Which episode ofThe Closerdid you watch?” Aiden breaks the silence in his truck, but his eyes don’t leave the road.
For a second, I’m confused. Is he joking? “I didn’t watch anything last night. I was a little preoccupied by all the things that happened yesterday.”
He glances at me, and my chest squeezes. I bite the inside of my cheek to make it stop.
“Anyway,” he continues, “Holly had several of her chickens stolen a few days before Terra’s farm was demolished. Figured it couldn’t hurt to let you check the place out, see if Edward picks up a scent.”
“It’s a great idea. I can’t imagine this guy’s motives, unless he was making chicken salad and needed pickle relish.”
Aiden exhales a laugh, and it breaks the tension between us. I’m glad, and a little proud I made him laugh after everything.
“Owen asked me a similar question. It’s hard to know why people do things these days.”
“Could be the next social media trend.”
“That’s all we need.” He turns the truck into the driveway of a small house close to town.
Most of the neighborhoods around Eureka are clustered close to Main Street, where the courthouse is located, where I live above Mom’s Star Parlor, where El Rio is located, and where most of the thrift stores and the one small grocery store are nearby on Beach Street, which is across the courthouse square.
Edward hops out of the bed of the truck, and Aiden leads us up the drive to the backyard, where a cute little henhouse is located behind a small fence made of chicken wire.
Slipping plastic gloves over my hands, I take the old boot out of a large plastic bag and hold it down for Edward to get a good sniff. At once, his nose is to the ground, and he’s running all around the yard, sniffing up close to the coop, going around a tall pine tree near the back fence.
I follow him, studying the soft ground around the chicken house, dropping to my knee and checking for prints or any sign of metal indentions. I don’t see anything.
“You said it’s been a week since the burglary?”
“A week today.”
Nodding, I walk to the fence at the back of the property and rise on my tiptoes to try and look over it. I’m too short.
“Is there an alley behind these houses?” I glance back at Aiden, and he’s watching me as intently as he did when we were at Terra’s.
“I think there is.” He goes to a door in the chain-link fence leading to the wooden barrier.
I follow him to a mostly grassy alley behind the fences. It’s large enough for walking or biking, but not big enough for a car or truck. Edward is right with me, furiously sniffing every blade of grass.
“He should be able to pick up week-old clues.” My heart jumps to my throat when Edward barks loudly at a corner of the gate. “Jesus, Ed, you nearly gave me a heart attack.”
I walk over to where he’s running up and down and drop to my knee again. The plastic gloves are still on my hands, and sure enough, just off the path in the soft mud near the fence, I spot two things.
Whipping out my camera and a card, I drop a number one and two and take several shots of what I’ve found.
“What is it?” Aiden is beside me, leaning close enough that I can smell his sexy, clean scent.
“Just what we need.” I hold the longer grasses to the side so he can see the boot print right next to a partial indentation of square-nubbed tire treads. “Same ATV tires, and I’m guessing this print will match our boot.”
“Amazing.” His voice is quiet admiration, and I can’t help a smile splitting my cheeks.
“Edward’s my not-so-secret weapon.” I stand, and we’re face to face for the first time all day. My voice is softer. “I probably wouldn’t have found that without his nose.”
Our eyes meet, and so much energy is in Aiden’s gaze, my stomach tightens. We’ve been in this position before, and I know where it can lead and how incredible it is. My bottom lip slips between my teeth, but he blinks and turns away.
“Good work.” He puts his hands on his waist and goes through the gate. “We’d better head over to the Jones’ unless you need to do more here?”
I remember to breathe and glance at my dog, who’s standing beside me waiting for his next orders. “I think Edward’s found everything we need.”
Back in the truck, we’re headed to the outskirts of town. The radio is playing the local country music station softly. Willie Nelson is singing about his heroes always being cowboys.
