Page 77 of The Woman Left Behind

“What?” she asked.

He didn’t answer.

He said, “But you will.”

He gave her another kiss, then went to put on his boots. He grabbed his duffle. Returned for one last kiss and a “See you later.”

He waited for her eyes to warm at his words, and only then did he walk out the door.

He didn’t saunter to the station. In fact, it took effort to stop himself from jogging.

Polly met him at reception.

She handed him his coffee.

He handed her his duffle and requested, “Can you drop that in my office?”

“Sure thing, Harry. How is she?”

“Demolished, but getting on with it.”

“That’s Sonny and Avery,” Polly mumbled and bustled away.

Harry went direct to Rus’s desk, their eyes locked the short journey.

“Wanna take a field trip?” he asked his detective.

“Where we goin’?” Rus returned.

“I’m feeling a convo with Leland Dern.”

Slowly, Rus smiled.

NINETEEN

Messed-up Ways

Harry

It was a haul to Dern’s remote, tiny A-frame in the pines two counties away.

So when they parked outside of it, the first thing Harry did was pull out his phone and text Lillian.

Hanging in there?

“I think he likes you,” Rus noted.

Harry looked to Rus, then he followed the direction of Rus’s attention and saw, on the small front deck of the A-frame, Dern was now standing there, the barrel of a shotgun resting on his shoulder, in his other hand, the lead attached to the collar of a rottweiler.

Rus didn’t like to carry a gun, but he’d been doing this for a while, so he didn’t leave the station without one, at least one in his vehicle.

This meant when he got out of their cruiser, he swung his gun belt on.

Harry unsnapped the strap on his weapon before he got out, and he kept his hand resting on the butt as he waited for Rus to join him, and he kept it there as they started up the walk.

The dog barked and strained the leash.

Dern shouted, “You’re trespassing!”

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