Page 53 of Flashback

Allie sat straight in her chair. “So you’re just going to let him get away with this? You can run forensics on the bandana.”

There she was, finally coming out of whatever funk she’d been in.

“And you have two eyewitnesses. Ethan and Nolan. They’ll need protection.” Dakota would do it himself if need be.

“I tried talking to the boys, but Jen refused to let me. She also refused to tell me how she was injured or anything about the fire.”

“And you just dropped it?” Dakota tried not to sound accusing, but come on.

“I’m not giving up on anything, but I told you already, leave the investigating to me. You two could’ve gotten killed out there.”

Dakota almost jumped from his seat. “But we didn’t. We can help.”

“You wanna help? Go do your job. Protect this town from the fire that’s out of control on that mountain. I don’t need any more victims.”

“And what are you going to do?”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but I will personally track down Earl. You, however, need to stay out of it. You don’t want to mess with those Blackwell brothers. Their father was Russian military. They’re dangerous. So please do us all a favor and stick to firefighting. Let me do my job.”

Good thing danger didn’t scare him, then. But obviously, they weren’t going to get any further here. And the sad stare in Allie’s eyes was back. Was she even paying attention, picking at the loose strings from her cutoffs?

“Let’s go, Allie.”

They ignored Ray as they walked past the holding cell and all the others in the open office area. They stepped out into the hazy sunshine, but he couldn’t keep going like this. As soon as they hit the sidewalk, he grabbed her hand and pulled her aside.

“Hey, are you okay?”

Her eyes filled, but for the first time since the river rescue, she really looked at him.

“Please, Allie. Talk to me. What did I do?”

One tear fell to her cheek before she wiped it away. “It’s not about you, Dakota. And…I just can’t. This is my problem. Not yours.”

“C’mon. I’ll feed you. Will that help? You’ve got to be starving.”

“Maybe.” She gave him a half-hearted smile. “But I’d rather get a new phone. What if someone tries calling about Scout?”

He might not be able to fix everything, but he could at least get her set up with a new cell and feed her. He could be a safe place for her. Maybe then she’d admit what was really eating her up inside.

They stopped for the replacement phones and found a little Mexican restaurant not too far from the store. Within minutes they had a basket of warm chips and bowls of salsa in front of them.

Dakota dunked his chip in salsa and bit into it. The fresh flavors of tomato, onion, and cilantro reminded him of his favorite restaurant in Benson. He and the SWAT guys would often meet up there after a long day. “This is almost as good as Lucita’s Taqueria back in Benson. I miss those enchiladas.”

“I always liked the chimichangas there.” Her dim smile didn’t come close to convincing him that she was okay, but it was a start. “Why didn’t you go back to Benson after rehab?”

Ah, back to deflecting, turning the questions on him. He’d play this for a while, but he’d been a decent cop for a lot of years. He knew when someone was hiding something.

“I dunno. Guess I wasn’t quite ready to face everyone I let down. I was pretty messed up. Needed a new start.”

“So where did you go when you finished at the Ridgeman Center?”

“I worked with a construction company called Workmen Not Ashamed. It’s like a halfway house. They hire addicts and we livetogether, work together on building projects, and have a lot of accountability as we get our feet back under us again.”

“Sounds like a really cool company. You didn’t want to stay?”

“I always knew it was a temporary gig. The work, the Bible study, the crew leaders…it was all good. Maybe even necessary for a while. But I needed to see how I could handle life when I didn’t have those accommodations. And because our room and board were included in this program, we didn’t make a whole lot. So I figured a year was a good run and it was time to move on. One of the crew leaders was a hotshot and said they were hurting for workers this year and even offering a significant sign-on bonus for new hires that lasted the first ninety days. It will help me pay back Will for the rehab.” He took a sip from his water. “What about you? What are you doing so far from home? There’s lots of places closer to Benson you could train Scout.”

“Yeah, but this was a good excuse to see Belle. We picked a park neither of us had been to, and I knew if it was closer to her place than mine, she would be more likely to come.”

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