Page 54 of Refuge for Cherilyn

“What about one for Candace?”

“She’s got one. Of course, I’m wondering what will happen when Morgan and Austin quit paying for it. That’ll be a blowup for sure.”

“You know it. But yeah, we’ll do that. I’ll let you know if I have to set her straight. We need to be on the same page. You know, a unified front.”

“I couldn’t agree more, Mom. Love you.”

“Love you too, son. I’ll talk to you later. Bye.” And the phone went silent.

Cherilyn and the girls would get to meet his parents, they’d have a good hot dinner, and she’d have a phone before the end of the night so she could feel safer. It would make him feel a lot better too.

He was headed to Somerset to check on an injured hawk someone had found in their yard when his phone rang, and he didn’t even look at the screen. “Harrison here.”

“Shaw, it’s Aaron. You in the middle of something?”

“Got a run to make, but it shouldn’t take too long. What’s up?”

“We’ve got company at the sheriff’s office.”

“Frymire?”

“No. Texas. An FBI agent and a Texas Ranger.”

“Ah. Yeah. Let me see to this and I’ll come back. I’m just over in PulaskiCounty. It won’t take long.”

“Okay. See you then.” As the call ended, Shaw thought of all the possibilities. Maybe they were bringing some information that was useful. But if so, why were they there? They could’ve done that over the phone. And he understood the Texas Rangers being involved, but why was the FBI all up in the situation? That really made no sense.

Sure enough, the hawk had a broken wing and broken leg. After calling a veterinarian in Corbin, he immobilized the animal with some bubble wrap taped around it, then drove it to the veterinary clinic. The homeowners lived out on Sears Road near the national forest, so he had to make the trek back through the Big South Fork, but it didn’t take too long. By the time he got to the Whitley County Sheriff Department, an hour had passed, and he hoped the visitors weren’t too pissed. He had a job to do too, after all.

The daylight was waning as he pulled into a parking spot and made his way into the building. They buzzed him in at the door, and before he’d taken five steps in, Aaron was there. “We may have a lead.”

“That would be good, seeing as how we’ve had nothing so far.”

“Medical examiner called.”

“Yeah?”

“Just wait ’til you hear.” He followed Aaron as they wandered through the darkened and almost-empty hallways until Shaw saw light in a room up ahead. Aaron turned to step in, with Shaw right behind him. “AgentLivingston, RangerChambers, this is Conservation Officer ShawHarrison. Shaw, FBI Agent CruzLivingston and Texas Ranger DaxtonChambers. Cruz is FBI field office and Daxton is a Texas Ranger, both out of San Antonio.”

Both men shook his hand. “Just call me Dax. Everybody else does,” the tall ranger said with a smile and a Texas drawl.

“Thanks. So Aaron says you may have something, but I have to ask?”

Cruz interrupted. “Why is the FBI involved?”

Shaw stared straight into his eyes. “Yep.”

“In one of the murders we found, the one in Arkansas, we have every reason to believe the woman came from Texas.”

That made it crystal clear. Once the crime crossed state lines, it became a federal investigation, if they believed the woman was alive when she crossed. “So do you think he took her to Arkansas?”

“That, or he made arrangements to meet her there. We’re really not sure, but it pays to have all hands on deck,” Cruz answered.

“Gotcha.”

“So…” Dax spread out about a dozen sheets of paper on the table. They were all photos from case files. “We’ve narrowed it down to these thirteen. Some are a stretch, but some could very easily be the right guy. Recognize any of these?”

Shaw shook his head without even looking at them. “No. I never saw Frymire or whatever his name really is.”

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