Page 52 of The Woman Left Behind

Harry motioned for him to come in, Rus did and sat opposite Harry as Harry pulled out the file.

“At the time Ballard died, his mother came in and had a dustup with Dern. She left, shouting that he was a piece of dirt,” Harry told him, plopping the case file between them.

“You good with me poking around?”

Rus was ex-FBI, just like Cade. But whereas Cade was a profiler, Rus had been a field agent, and a celebrated one. He hunted down the Crystal Killer, aka Richard Sandusky, even if, in the end, the man had essentially turned himself in.

During this, Rus had fallen for a local, so he left that life and started a new one in MP.

One could say, even if there was always someone doing some punk-ass shit in every corner of the country, things were a good deal quieter and less challenging in Fret County than working for the FBI.

In other words, Rus needed something to sink his teeth into, and he was raring to do it with the Ballard case.

“I’d start with his mom and then retrace Dern’s steps with the friends who reported Ballard was showing signs of depression,” Harry suggested. “Those read hinky to me.”

Rus reached for the file. “They read the same to me.”

“Also, if you got time, sniff around the Dietrichs.”

Rus angled his head in question. “The Idaho bodies?”

“I don’t know, but my gut tells me yes, and if it is a yes, I want to hit the ground running.”

“’Spect you know, the station and the entire town are talking,” Rus reported, referring to Lillian.

And that was Rus.

He didn’t get up in Harry’s business. But he’d be right there if Harry needed to share that business.

“I know,” Harry sighed.

“Hear word she’s gorgeous, hard-working, no-nonsense, sweet,” Rus noted.

“Correct on all accounts.”

Rus’s gaze got intense. “Pleased for you, buddy.”

“Thanks, man,” Harry replied.

They both looked to the door when Polly filled it.

And neither of them liked the expression on her face.

“There’s someone here who would like to talk to you, sheriff,” she said.

She only called him sheriff if things needed to be official.

Rus immediately stood.

Harry nodded his head at Polly.

Rus left after exchanging a look with Harry, and he took the Ballard file with him.

Polly led an attractive woman in who Harry would peg being in her mid to late forties.

“I’ll just leave you two to talk,” Polly stated, surprisingly not introducing the woman.

She closed the door behind her.

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