Page 42 of Engaging the Deputy

“You’re sure?” Her mother had insisted on making her lunch when she’d returned to the house. Beanie weenies, her mother’s specialty.

“If I’m acting strangely, it’s because I had an odd morning,” she said, her gaze on the last few bites of her lunch. She could feel her mother waiting. Eventually, the woman would get it out of her. “I went out to Starling.”

“Why would you do that?” Sharon demanded, making her wish she hadn’t told her.

“I wanted to see the root cellar where we were trapped during the tornado.” She shrugged. “I had a nightmare about it.”

“I can’t believe you’d go out there again and alone. What were you thinking?”

“I didn’t go alone. Jaden followed me out there. He made sure it was safe.” She could feel her mother’s eyes on her. The woman knew her too well. “He kissed me.” She smiled and felt her face light up. “It was…amazing.”

“I guess that answers all your doubts,” her mother said and rose from the table to start clearing away the dishes.

“He’s the one who had doubts,” Olivia corrected her, only to have her mother huff. “I love Jaden. I want to marry him.”

“And how does he feel about it?” her mother asked, turning to look at her daughter. “This kiss have the same effect on him?”

“Yes, I think so.”

“You think so.” She turned back to her dishes. “You think you’re ready to marry a deputy sheriff and live in Fortune Creek, huh. What about Cody?”

“I told you. He’s just a friend.”

Her mother kept hand-washing the dishes in the sink.

Olivia rose to carry her dishes over. “Why don’t you let me do that?” With a shock, she realized that her mother was crying.

“Mother?” No response. “Mom, what is it?”

Shaking the water off her hands, her mother reached for the dish towel and dried her hands before she looked at her. “Will I see more of you if you’re living closer?”

“Yes, of course.” She saw how much she’d hurt her mother the years she’d stayed away. “I’m so sorry that I didn’t come home. It wasn’t you.” She reached out and her mother stepped into her arms. She held her close as her mom cried, reminded of all the times her mother had held her when she was growing up. It had just been the two of them. They’d been close. She hated how much she’d hurt her mother.

Her cell phone rang from where she’d left it on the table. She ignored it.

“You should get that,” Sharon said, stepping from her arms to reach for a paper towel to wipe her face. “It might be important. Go ahead.”

Olivia picked up the phone, saw it was Cody and hesitated. Turning around, she saw that her mother was busy finishing up the dishes. “I need to take this,” she said and stepped into the other room. “Hello?”

* * *

Jaden drove outof town on a road with no traffic, toward the mountains. Dean had said the barn where his wife and Rob worked together was out there.

He hadn’t been driving long before a barn shape appeared ahead. The structure was small by barn standards, more like a large shed and surrounded by a barbed-wire fence. As he pulled off the road, stopping at the barbed-wire gate, he climbed out. He’d opened his share of Montana ranch gates. Shoving it aside, he drove in, pretty sure of what he was going to find.

The door to the small barn-shaped building had a large padlock on it. Jaden walked around the side to look for a window. He found one covered with what appeared to be black tar paper. Angie really didn’t want anyone to see what she was working on with Rob, he thought as he circled the building to find all the windows blacked out.

Walking to his patrol SUV, he opened the rear and dug out what he needed from the tools he carried. Hesitating, he pulled out his phone and called Judge Nicholas Grand back upstate. “I’m going to need a warrant,” he said.

“Heard you were working on a murder investigation down there.”

“I’m pretty sure I’m about to find out why the victim was killed. But it means getting into a structure where he worked. The owner has left town in a rush.”

The judge chuckled. “Could be a body in that structure. Who knows what you’ll find. You’ll get your warrant.”

“Thanks, Judge.” He disconnected, picked up his hacksaw and headed for the front door again. It took a few minutes to cut through the padlock. Leaning his hacksaw against the outside of the building, he started to open the door but stopped. He knew that if he was right, the place could be booby-trapped.

Picking up the saw again, he stepped back and pushed the door open with the blade end. Nothing happened. He looked past the doorway into the room, seeing pretty much what he’d expected. Several large tables. Scales. Baggies.

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