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I knew I needed to find out what I could do to get some help. Law-abiding help that would also not think twice about protecting my family. I called Dylan, and he came running. We’re pretty sure now that her attack and her father’s murder are connected. We have evidence that her father’s murder is also connected to the murder of a young runaway.
I haven’t seen Scout or Skyler since Sunday at her mother’s place. It’s now Friday and I’m jonesing to see them both. My body aches to hold them both. At night when I kiss Ryder goodnight, I think about kissing Sky too. I think about climbing into bed with Scout and having my family all together.
I’d called Scout earlier in the week, but she didn’t return my call. She texted, saying she’d call me when she could. I knew it was a way to avoid me. She thinks she’s protecting Ryder and me by keeping her distance.
“This place has built up a lot over the years,” Dylan says as we drop into Ptarmigan Falls.
“Yeah. Even in the two months since Scout came home. She’s done a lot. Her restoration business brings a lot of traffic this way,” I say, distracted as I watch a motorcycle coming down behind us.
I pull into the parking lot between the two businesses and through the gate that is open during business hours. It will be closing soon as I waited until the end of the day to come out here. I don’t see the motorcycle behind me any longer. I grab my hat as I exit my vehicle. We are here on official business, so both Dylan and I are in uniform.
His lieutenant didn’t make him take time off to come up and help me with this case because of the interconnection of cases. But Dylan would have taken the time off if he needed to. That’s how close of friends we are.
We step out and move toward the nearest bay, and Scout walks out. She’s not in her coveralls. Instead, she’s in tight leather pants and a blue slinky silky tank top under her cut. Her friend Rivet is standing there watching. She is also dressed similarly in sexy over-the-top leather.
“Sorry, we are closed.” Scout laughs and looks past us to the SUV. “Plus, I don’t see anything I can restore on your rig except maybe the logo.” Others laugh around us.
Several women move from the clubhouse toward us. I don’t recognize a couple of them. A shorter woman with dyed red hair and piercing eyes watches us approach. But the girl with black and white hair is the one I’m looking for.
“We’re here to speak to Avery Nickles and you.” I point to Scout.
“You can talk with all of us around. We have very few secrets,” Scout says, and I notice River moving out of the office to stand back with them. She too is dressed up instead of in her normal work attire.
“Are you sure?” I look directly at Avery when she steps into my line of sight, and she nods.
“I’m sorry to say we found a lot of blood in the back of a burned-out pickup. It’s taken a couple of weeks for the DNA results to come back to us, but it was your sister’s.” I pause, expecting her to start crying. What I don’t expect is for her to dive at me. She is punching and hitting me. I hold her back, knowing her hostility is not aimed at me, per se. Scout grabs her and pushes her back. The short redhead grabs her while Ginger holds her back too.
“If you had taken my report seriously, she wouldn’t be hurt.” She pauses in her rant, and I see the moment she realizes what I said. “Did you find a body? Was it just blood? How much? Where?” Her tears start immediately, and her friends wrap her up in their arms.
“It was a significant amount. We couldn’t find any more evidence regarding your sister other than that.” I take a deep breath. “I’m sorry your concerns weren’t taken seriously. But I assure you both Dylan and I are completely on this case.” I wave my hand toward Dylan.
“Why did you need to talk to me too?” Scout asks, and I look down at her. I don’t want to be here for this, but there is no stopping it now.
“We found a pair of nitrile gloves in the cab of the truck. They were turned inside out so the killer’s DNA was destroyed in the fire. But since the outside was turned in, we were able to find traces of your father’s DNA.” I watch the emotions play over her face.
“And?” She stands firm, putting on a front with her people behind her. But I see the pain and hurt in her eyes.
“Scout, it was the truck that we saw on the security feeds. Your father’s murder is connected to Avery’s sister’s death.”
“She’s dead? You said you didn’t find a body.”
I take another deep breath before I begin again. “We didn’t find a body, but based on the amount of blood that was in the bed, it’s very unlikely she survived. We are inspecting other parts of the truck now to see if we can tell where it’s been other than here and where it was found.”
“I also have reason to believe your attack in Palmer has a direct tie to these cases,” Dylan says.
Scouts shakes her head and stops. “Okay,” she says as she closes her eyes for a moment as she tries to shore up her emotions. I so want to pull her into my arms, but I can tell she won’t let me.
“We recovered a stolen vehicle a few feet off the trail where you were found. There was no DNA, not even a hair, but your mother’s address was found on a piece of paper,” Dylan continues.
She holds up a hand. “Wait. Stop. Why would they make sure none of their DNA was left behind, but they left a piece of paper to be found?”
“We confirmed a report of another vehicle stolen from the entrance to Jim Creek, not far from where you were running. We’re working the theory he took that after he attacked you and didn’t go back to this car. The note was under the seat where he would’ve had to lean down to look for it.” Dylan stops and changes course. “I asked you before if you had any enemies. We have not been able to confirm if Mr. Smith is still being detained.”
“He isn’t,” a deep voice says from behind us, and we all look. I hear a couple of gasps, but I don’t take my eyes off the intruder. Something tells me he’s extremely dangerous. It’s not all the tattoos, even on his face. It’s not the gun and knife strapped to his belt. It’s the way he carries himself.
“Reaper?” I turn as I see movement out of my peripheral. River walks up and smacks him full on the face. He doesn’t stop her. “What the fuck are you doing here?” she yells at him.
He rubs his cheek and chuckles. “Guess I deserved that.”
