Page 32 of Engaging the Deputy

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Olivia hadn’t been inside the hardware store in years. It had the same smell, the same narrow aisles between high shelves loaded with every household necessity she could name and many she couldn’t.

She wasn’t surprised to find Cody working. Apparently, he had the same schedule he’d had in high school. Just like he’d never missed a day of school or work, he hadn’t let a concussion keep him from his spot behind the counter.

The bandage on his head had been replaced with a smaller one. Like her, he still had the scrapes and scratches, the bruises and bumps on his face and arms. But unlike her, he looked pale.

“What are you doing working?” she demanded, unable to stop herself. She glanced around for his father and didn’t see him.

“Dad had to run an errand. I’m just filling in until he gets back,” Cody said. His voice softened as he asked, “How are you doing?”

“Fine.” She reminded herself that the reason she was there was that he’d lied to her. “You didn’t tell me you had a girlfriend.”

He reddened. “Krystal isn’t… We aren’t… That is, we—”

“She tried to run me off the road yesterday.”

“No. Seriously?” He shook his head. “I’m sorry. She’s a little hot-tempered and unpredictable sometimes, but she’s not dangerous.”

“Are you sure about that?” she said, noticing a basketful of screwdrivers on sale. “After that, someone flattened my tire with one of your sale items here.”

He swore. “I’ll talk to her.”

“The deputy already did. He didn’t think she’d give me any more trouble. Apparently, he was wrong.” She met his stare and felt her anger dissolve. This man had once been her best friend. She still cared about Cody. “Has your memory come back?”

“Bits and pieces. Nothing I can understand.”

“It does make me wonder what Krystal would have done if she’d caught you out in Starling with me.”

His hand went to his head and the dressing over the wound. “She wouldn’t…” His words dropped off as his father came in through the back to relieve him.

“I should get going. But one question before I go… Did Krystal have something against Rob or Dean?”

Cody made an impatient face. “I’m sorry the two of you got into it, but Krystal isn’t like that.”

“Keep telling yourself that,” she said and left.

* * *

Elden Rusk wasalive and staying in an assisted-living facility in Kalispell. Not that far from Starling, the deputy noted. It was a pleasant enough drive this morning, the sun sparkling on the dew in the thick pines that bordered each side of the road. The mountains shone against a cloudless blue sky. The air smelled of fall, just cool enough to remind him that winter wasn’t far behind. He didn’t want to even think about a long, cold winter in Fortune Creek after seeing Livie again.

He found the facility without any trouble. It was one level, brick, and on the edge of town. There were benches still outside under the pines. But they were all empty this morning.

Jaden pushed through the front door and into the lobby, heading for the reception desk. “Hello. I’m looking for Elden Rusk,” he said to the young dark-haired woman sitting there.

“Room 214,” she said without looking up from her paperwork.

“Thank you.”

He started to turn and head down the hallway in front of him when she called, “Other way.” He swiveled, passing a woman leaning on her walker. In a large room, he saw a few elderly people playing cards at a table. A television was on in the room. Several women were sitting in front of it but didn’t seem to be watching the game show that was playing.

He found Elden’s room at the end of another hallway. The door was closed. He knocked. Hearing no response, he knocked again, then looked down the empty hall before he tried the door.

Earlier, he’d seen a couple of women in scrubs he took for staff, but no one paid him any mind or asked where he was going. The knob turned in his hand. He pushed and the door swung open.

At first, all he saw was blinding brightness from the sun streaming through the large window. He’d expected to see the Elden Rusk he remembered from when he and his parents had lived in Starling. A large, gruff man with a tuft of dirty-blond hair and piercing blue eyes. The boogeyman.

But the man sitting in front of the window was shrunken and bald. Or maybe it was the wheelchair he was slumped in that made him look so small and harmless. The only thing that was the same were those ice-blue eyes when Rusk turned to look at him standing in the doorway.

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