Page 39 of Engaging the Deputy

She was sorry she’d called him and said as much before disconnecting.

“That man knows you,” her mother said from her bedroom doorway. “You’re thinking about going to Starling because of that boy.”

“Neither of you know me,” Olivia snapped. “But it doesn’t stop either of you from telling me what to do. Cody is myfriend. He’s hurting right now. I had this dream last night…” She waved a hand through the air. “I wouldn’t expect either of you to understand.”

Her mother just shook her head, turned around and disappeared back into the kitchen. Olivia could smell bacon cooking, which she realized was probably why her mother had come to her room, to offer her breakfast.

In the kitchen, she hugged her mom with one arm and said, “I’d love some bacon. Oh, and pancakes too? You’re spoiling me.” When her mother didn’t respond, she added, “I’m sorry. I worry about my friends. Cody isn’t doing very well right now.”

“Cody’s a big boy. He can take care of himself.” Her mother plated bacon and pancakes and turned to hand it to her. “You chasin’ after him sends mixed signals to the deputy—the one you say you’re in love with.”

“I’m not chasing after Cody. I need this whole investigation over. If Jaden and I stand any chance, I can’t be one of the suspects.”

Her mother shook her head. “Listen to your mother for a change and let the man do his job. In the meantime, stay away from Cody Ryan.”

* * *

Jaden had beenabout to go inside Rob Perkins’s house when Livie had called. He swore. She wouldn’t go out to Starling looking for Cody, would she?

Probably, he thought with another curse. He used Perkins’s keys to open the front door of the house. Just as Emery had described to Olivia, the place had been cleaned out. Only worn furniture remained and not a lot of that. In the bedroom, he saw the mess the man had left. Perkins had been in a hurry—just as Emery had thought.

Once Jaden stepped into the garage and saw the packed pickup, he had to agree. Definitely a man on the run. Perkins was leaving town.

He pulled on latex gloves and opened the passenger side of the vehicle. The first thing he saw was the automatic rifle wedged into the space between the seats. The serial number had been ground off. In the glove box, he found a handgun and ammunition. At the back of the space, he found an envelope stuffed with hundred-dollar bills.

Closing the glove box compartment, Jaden took a look in the backpack on the passenger seat. Another handgun. More ammunition. In a side pocket, more money. Zipping the pocket up, he closed the door and took a look in the back, not surprised to find more weapons and boxes of ammunition, as if expecting World War III.

Closing the door, he made the call to have the pickup taken into evidence by one of the state boys in the area. All his instincts told him this was bigger than some old friends getting in a drunken argument and one of them ending up dead and another injured.

He called Sheriff Brandt Parker and updated his boss on the investigation, even though there wasn’t much to tell. Then he called DCI and requested help to find out if Rob Perkins had a job in Seattle or not. “He’d allegedly purchased a condo out there and was going to work for a tech firm. From what I can tell, the man didn’t even own a computer.”

After hanging up, he locked the house and garage and waited for a state highway patrolman to arrive and secure the property until the pickup could be moved and the house processed.

He felt anxious, angry that all he could think about was Livie. She was just fool enough to go out to Starling. He tried Cody’s number. It went to voicemail. He didn’t leave a message. What could the man hope to find out there? All the evidence taken by the state boys had been bagged. Or was there another reason Cody had told Olivia he’d wanted to go back out there?

Either way, Jaden had no choice but to go back to that place he’d hoped to never see again.

On the way out to Starling, he got a call from the coroner. The autopsy results were pretty much as expected. But given what the deputy had since learned about Rob Perkins, he was surprised that the man had had no drugs in his system. There was also no indication that he was a drug user.

That didn’t mean he hadn’t been involved in the selling end. Still, it seemed unusual. But then, where had Perkins gotten all that money he’d had in his pickup? And why all the guns and ammunition? He was involved in something suspect, no doubt about that, and it had probably gotten him killed.

Ahead, Jaden could see the turnoff to Starling and began to slow. He told himself this was a wild-goose chase, driving out here. He had better things to do than chase down his ex-fiancée. It bothered him that she was so worried about Cody. She’d said they weren’t together. All indications were that Cody was now dating Krystal. Maybe they were just friends, as Livie’d kept saying. Jaden knew how she could be like a mama bear with her friends who were in trouble. He’d seen that in college.

What was left of Starling loomed ahead. He hadn’t been out here since Halloween night. Driving up the road, he caught glimpses of the damage the tornado had done. Only a few structures remained standing against the skyline.

As he came over a rise, he saw Livie’s vehicle and swore. Hadn’t he known? He sighed as he pulled up next to her, cut his engine and got out. She had come alone, hadn’t she? Cody Ryan wasn’t with her, was he?

That was when he saw her trudging up the hill, avoiding the debris. He knew at once where she was headed and hurried after her. The dirt around the open root cellar was unstable. He hated to think what could happen to her.

He just hoped to get to her first. “Olivia!” he called. “Livie!”

* * *

Olivia stoppedandturned at the sound of her nickname. Jaden was the only one who called her that. Just the sound of it sent her heart pounding.

She saw him climbing up the hillside toward her. When she’d gotten here and seen all the destruction—and no Cody—she’d almost turned around and left. She couldn’t imagine there was anything to find. Yet she understood why Cody might want to come back out here. It had been so dark and frightening Halloween night down in that hole with the house that had been over them ripped away.

Now, in broad daylight, she wanted to see it and possibly get a different perspective. She knew it had something to do with her nightmare that had made her start up the hillside. The wind had been blowing, so she hadn’t heard a vehicle approaching. She’d only stopped when she’d heard Jaden call her “Livie.”

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