Page 30 of Mystery at Rescue Ridge

“I thought the lighting equipment was to take pictures of her samples to sell online.”This whole scenario was going to take some getting used to.

“The last thing Simone would’ve wanted to do would be to tell you what she was really doing.Admitting that would have been the worst, given her squeaky clean past,” he said.

“Do you know how many times my sister told me to get better grades so I wouldn’t rock the boat at home?”She blinked at him from deep in the closet.Feeling along the back wall, she searched for some kind of opening or trap door.The other items in the shoots had to be stored somewhere far out of reach from the littles, not to mention Ms.Bart.Speaking of Bart, she would have a conniption fit if she knew what her employer had really done for a living.

“I have to admit, I wouldn’t have expected anything like this from her.”

“Travis will probably want to interview Ms.Bart, too,” she said.How much gossip did she want to get out about her sister?Grapevines in small towns could damage a family’s reputation.Evie didn’t care so much about what folks thought of her, but the kids didn’t deserve the unwanted attention news like this would bring.“Is it wrong that I want to protect Simone?”

“I’d worry about you if you didn’t,” he said.His comment made a faint smile appear.She knew how close he was to Archer and how much he loved his siblings.“I still have guilt over leaving Chloe to fend for herself after escaping town.I think we all do.She was the youngest and needed our protection.We were too young to see past our own pain.”

“No one can fault you for getting as far away from Beaumont as quickly as you could, Owen.The man was a monster.”

“I just think it’s ironic that the minute we were old enough to defend ourselves, we took off rather than stayed and stood up for each other.”

“You did in your own way,” she said.

“Chloe has been to hell and back because we abandoned her.”

“It’s not fair to yourself to take on that responsibility.”She realized she was doing much the same.She exhaled a slow breath.“It would be one thing if Simone were here to defend herself.I’d still be protective, but she was a grown adult capable of handling the consequences of her own decisions.The kids, on the other hand, are innocent.They didn’t ask for any of this.”

“Travis will exercise discretion in the investigation.You can count on that.His deputies have proven trustworthy.I’m the only other person who knows what really went on here, and I’m not about to tell a soul.”He chuckled.It shouldn’t be sexy or stir up those feelings that made her want to kiss him again, but it did.“Besides, I’m half certain my family doesn’t think I talk much anyway.”

She shot him a look of disbelief.“You’re a regular chatterbox with me.”

“Funny.”

“You can’t shut up,” she quipped.He wasn’t a chatterbox, of course, but it broke some of the tension to jab at him and have a reason to laugh, even if it rang hollow.

“Have you tried masking tape over my mouth?”His smile faded like the memory of it actually happening to him had caught up with the quip.

“I’m sorry that happened to you, Owen.”

“I appreciate it, Evie.”

“No.Seriously.That must have been awful.You’re big and strong.Being caught unaware can happen to anyone, but it doesn’t usually happen to someone who can fight like you can.”

“There’s a first time for everything.”

“Believe me when I say those words have never been truer.”Her fingers landed on a loose vent.“I think I found something.”

Owen was at her side in seconds.He squeezed in next to her in the small closet.Old houses didn’t have the closet space she’d gotten used to in Dallas.

She tugged on the vent.It came out a little too easily to be an accident.“Who puts a vent in the bottom of a closet?”

“No one,” he confirmed.

“I’m not sticking my hand in there.”

“Scoot over.I’ll do it.”As it was, they sat so close their outer thighs touched.Heat swirled.

Owen repositioned and then reached in.“Found something.”

12

The long rectangular box filled with adult toys and feathery G-strings sat in the middle of the bedroom on the carpet.A creepy feeling overtook Owen, like he was peeking into someone’s very personal journal, where innermost, private thoughts were now on display.

He backed away, sat down, and stretched out his legs, unable to study the contents.

---