Page 43 of Mystery at Rescue Ridge

“Is there a shed on your property, ma’am?”he asked the woman, who was still crocheting.

She looked unbothered.“Haven’t been much beyond the yard these last few years.”She looked Travis dead in the eyes.Bullets shot from her hard gaze.“Don’t reckon I remember anything that I haven’t seen in more years than I care to count.”Her lips thinned in a sneer.“Couldn’t tell you what’s on the property that I can’t touch from the back porch.”

The question most likely had to be asked, if only to gauge the response.Based on the way this older woman looked at Travis with spite, she was lying or covering up for someone else.

“Don’t you have anything better to do than bother tax-paying citizens?”she asked, picking up the remote and then blasting the TV speaker so loud Travis would have to shout over the noise if he wanted to keep questioning her.

He turned to the door and walked out with Evie on his heels.

To her estimation, the game warden could be in trouble because of Evie.Her mind raced.Had Joann gotten caught in Lawrence Diebold’s web?Was she out there in the woods somewhere?Face down?In a ditch?Or bleeding out?

Ice trickled down Evie’s spine as she thought about Lawrence’s fixation on Simone and his obsession with finding out why she’d stopped talking to him in the chat room.Was he taking his frustration out on Joann?

Or had Joann misjudged the mountain lion and ended up clawed, bitten, or dead?Was she somewhere out on her property clinging to life?

With a headshake, Evie ran behind Travis as he bolted toward the shed.The need to check on the kids just to make sure they were fine struck.But that wasn’t possible now that she’d handed over her cell phone.Speaking of which, she wished there was a discreet way to let Owen know what was happening.

Another dark thought struck.

Was Lawrence planning to use Joann as bait to draw Simone out?Of course, he believed Evie to be Simone.But that wasn’t the point.Could the bastard have surprised Joann in the same manner in which Owen had been caught off guard?

Joann had a son who needed her.She had a family.

The weight of the last thought hit Evie with the force of an F4 tornado because she had a family now, too.One she intended to do right by no matter how little sleep she got or how difficult raising kids might be.Evie had always figured out a way when life kicked her.This would be no different.

For the first time since finding out Simone was gone and being called to step in to raise her children, Evie knew in her heart that she could and would do this.And she was going to make a damn fine mother because she also realized she would do anything to ensure the safety of those little ones.

Owen had a lot to do with her newfound confidence.Being around him again had reminded her that she was a bad-ass and could do anything she set her mind to.

Travis’s fast walk turned into a jog as they zigzagged through the trees toward the shed.A stench like nothing she’d ever smelled before smacked her as the building came into view.Travis slowed down.

He put his hand out like a barrier between her and the building.“You should stay back.”

For a split second, she opened her mouth to argue, then decided not to.He was doing his job.Keeping her safe.

She took a step back and braced herself against a tree.From this angle, she could see the front door of the shed.The metallic scent reminded her of something…she just couldn’t place what.

And then it dawned on her.She remembered the time she’d forgotten to take the trash out after throwing away a hamburger that had gone bad in her fridge.

Panic gripped her.Her mind started churning on all the horrific outcomes it could muster.She lifted her cotton shirt to filter some of the smell.

Travis pulled a bandana out of his pocket and covered his nose and mouth.She feared the worst as he stood in front of the door, sizing up the lock.

A muffled scream got him kicking at the door.The wood splintered.Travis went to work pulling split boards and kicking until he’d made enough progress for light to fill the space.There, scooting forward with a panicked look in her eyes, was Joann.She tilted her chin down.

Evie dropped her gaze to the woman’s chest where a makeshift bomb was duct-taped.

A hand came over Evie’s mouth.She didn’t hear the bastard walk up behind her.Instinct had her trying to shout to Travis.

“Do it, and she goes boom,” an unfamiliar voice said into her ear.

16

Owen wouldn’t normally answer the buzzing cell in his hand.The call from Travis meant an update.“What did you find?”

“We have a name now along with an address,” Travis said.Owen didn’t like the tension in his brother-in-law’s voice.This news could have been sent via text.“This is a case of fixation that runs deep.”

Owen didn’t like the sound of that.“Do you have an arrest?”

---