Page 34 of Hunting the Crossbow Killer

As soon as that thought occurred to him, he rejected it. In the long run, he might leave Mystic Lake. But not yet, not until he discovered who had risked the lives of everyone living in this town by setting the fire. A few days ago, he’d have had no idea who that person might be. But when Grace had asked him about hate mail he’d received in prison, a name had popped into his head. He’d rejected it at first, but the more he’d thought about itthe more it made sense. He’d called his lawyer the other night to ask him to hire an investigator to look into that possibility. If it panned out, Aidan didn’t know what he was going to do about it. He just prayed to God that his suspicions were wrong.

He shoved his hand in his jeans pocket for his truck keys, then frowned. He didn’t have them. But he’d driven up here by himself…no, with Grace. Did she take the keys and forget to give them to him before she left with the police?

He headed for the truck to see if maybe she’d left the keys in the ignition. But when he opened the driver’s door, he stopped in surprise. In the passenger seat, Grace was curled up like a cat, asleep. And in her arms, snugged up against her chest, was the one picture of his family that he’d managed to save from the fire. He didn’t even remember her taking it from him. And yet here she was, keeping it safe.

His throat tightened and he crossed to the passenger side of his truck. Careful to open the door as quietly as he could, he eased the picture out of her grasp and slid it under the seat. As he clicked her seat belt in place, she grumbled in her sleep and swatted at his hand, making him smile. Good grief, this woman had a hold on his heart. He didn’t want to care about her. It made no sense in such an incredibly short amount of time. But he did care. Not that it mattered. There wasn’t any way that he could be with her without ruining her life as she knew it.

Even if she was willing to give up her career, she shouldn’t have to. And being with him would set her up for ridicule and strangers judging her and slighting her. She didn’t deserve that. She deserved so much better.

She grumbled in her sleep again, hugging her arms against her chest. With the fire out, the chilly mountain air was moving in. Grace had likely retreated to the truck to keep warm, and here he was standing with the door open making her cold. He eased it shut until it clicked, then crossed to the driver’s side. After onelast look at what used to be his home, he started his truck and began the slow descent down the mountain.

It turned out that Grace was an incredibly deep sleeper. In spite of all the bumps and turns, she didn’t wake up during the drive back to town. She didn’t even awaken when Aidan parked his truck behind the B and B. If he didn’t have to worry about her reputation and how people would judge her, he’d scoop her up into his arms and carry her to her room. But peoplewouldjudge her. So he leaned into the passenger side of the truck and gently shook her.

She swatted at him again and said a few salty phrases, making him laugh. She might look like an angel, but there was a bit of a devil in her, too. In other words, she was pretty darn perfect.

“Grace,” he whispered, not wanting to startle her. “Wake up, Grace. Come on. You can’t sleep all night in the truck.” He shook her again, harder this time, and her eyes finally fluttered open.

As soon as she saw him, she blinked, then looked around in confusion. “Aidan? What…where…” Her eyes widened. “We’re at the B and B? I don’t—”

“The fire was out. You were already in the truck so I buckled your seat belt and drove you home, or, well, to the B and B. Come on. Let’s get inside. We both need a shower and some sleep. The sun will be up in a handful of hours. I’m sure it’s going to be a long day for both of us.”

She nodded, still not seemingly firing on all cylinders. But as she got down from his truck, she suddenly grabbed his arm. “Wait. The picture, it’s—”

“Right here.” He pulled it out from beneath the seat. “Thanks to you it’s safe and sound. I guess I was kind of out of it up on the mountain. You must have realized I was going to drop the frame and you took it to make sure it didn’t get broken. Thank you for that. It means a lot. That’s the only picture of Elly and Niall that I have. Most of the others burned up in the first fire, twelve yearsago. And now, well, that’s it unless I can find something in the ruins when I head up later today.” He locked the truck. “Do you think you can walk inside on your own?”

She blinked again and shook herself. “Yes, yes. I’m fine. Sorry. Once I get in a deep sleep it’s hard for me to wake up. My mom is the same way. I have to put my alarm clock on the other side of my room or I’ll turn it off in my sleep. Once I’m on my feet, I’m okay.”

“If you say so.” He grinned as he followed her inside. She was wobbling like a drunk.

Luckily, there was no one around to see her as they went inside or rumors might have started about her being out late drinking with the town ex-con. But the danger was still very real to her reputation. The reporter was likely in her room. The two of them had to be very quiet as they headed upstairs.

Once Grace’s door was open and she stepped inside, he nodded good-night. He was about to turn away when she pressed a hand to his chest, stopping him.

She glanced toward the reporter’s room, then leaned in toward him. “Aidan, I’m so sorry for your loss tonight,” she whispered. “I know a house can be rebuilt. But the personal items you had can’t be replaced. I promise that I’ll do everything I can to find out who did this and bring them to justice.” She motioned toward the frame he was holding down at his side. “Remember that it’s the pictures in your mind, the feelings in your heart, that no one can destroy. The love you have for your family can never be taken away, no matter what anyone says or does.”

She started to close the door, but this time he was the one who stopped her.

“Grace,” he whispered, his throat tight with emotion. “Thank you for tonight. You were there for me at my darkest, with no concern for what it might cost you. I don’t ever want to be the cause of anything bad happening to you. But it means more thanyou’ll ever realize that you were there for me.” Unable to resist the impulse, he leaned down and pressed a soft kiss against her lips.

When he pulled back, the melting look she gave him had his body instantly hardening. It was all he could do to leave before he did something they’d both regret.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

While Chief Dawson, Ortiz and Collier spent the morning at the top of the mountain with Aidan searching for anything salvageable from the fire—or evidence pointing to who may have set it—Fletcher stayed at the police station with Grace. They’d spread all of the reports, interviews and pictures from the physical files out on the conference room table as they brainstormed what they had, and didn’t have, to prove who was responsible for the bad things happening in Mystic Lake. They also used their laptops to perform searches on law enforcement websites, trying to identify any similar types of recent crimes.

Fletcher sighed and sat back, shaking her head. “I literally have no leads. I mean, we have fingerprints but no match to any known person. Have you gotten any DNA results back from the FBI lab yet?”

“Not yet, but when I spoke to my boss earlier he said he’d call the lab and push them. They should have had enough time to process any DNA profiles by now. I have a feeling they moved other high-priority evidence ahead of mine.”

“How can anything possibly be more important than getting DNA to match against your known Crossbow cases? That will tell you right there whether this killer is operating in our town.”

Grace smiled. “That’s pretty much what I told my boss. That’s why he’s calling to put the fear of thespecial agent in chargeinto the lab. I really do think we’ll get something soon.”

“I sure hope so. I’d like to know for myself whether we’ve got a deadly serial killer around here or just some dumb teenager doing stupid stuff. The first one is scary. The second one just makes me mad.”

“What exactly do you have against teenagers? You seem to want to blame them for everything that happens around here.”

Fletcher snorted. “That’s because they generally are. I’m half convinced that most of the spooky, unexplainable things that happen in our town are the result of an evil group of teens on the loose.”

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