Page 77 of All the Missing Pieces

His eyes widened. “You’re going to stay on the case?”

“Of course she is,” a younger voice cut in. I looked up to find Dean grinning at me. But that smile died when he caught sight of the bruises around my neck. “Damn.”

“I’m okay. Promise. But I could use my trusty sidekick’s help with something.”

He instantly brightened at that. “Anything.”

“Do you know if there’s any other way to get ahold of another copy of those yearbooks?” I asked hopefully.

“Not for you,” a new voice growled.

31

COLT

Annoyance pulsedthrough me as I took in Ridley and her ragtag group of helpers, none of whom needed to get caught up in this. Especially Dean. The kid was barely sixteen. And this investigation had gone from cold case to open and potentially lethal last night.

Ridley beamed up at me, that smile tilting to the side slightly and making me want to trace it with my tongue. “Law Man. How’s it going?”

Ezra choked on a laugh, and I sent him a glare. “It was good until I got a call about a certain podcaster back in the throes of her investigation.”

She slumped back against her chair. “Who narced?”

“Trey.”

“That bartender needs to learn a little about confidentiality,” Ridley muttered.

“He wasworriedabout you. Because, oh, I don’t know…you almost gotdeadlast night.” A fresh wave of rage coursed through me at the reminder. And a healthy dose of anger on its heels at Ridley for being so careless. I knew she’d keep investigating, but she could’ve flown a little more under the radar.

My accusation had her straightening and leveling me with a glare of her own. “I know. I was there. But now is exactly when I should be pushing. And I can’t do that if I’m locked up in your cabin in the woods.”

Ezra started coughing again, and Dean grinned, extending his knuckles for a fist bump. “Nice move, dude. Real protective-like.” I just stared in return, and Dean slowly lowered his hand. “Or not.”

I turned back to Ridley. “Go back to the cabin. Please.” The last word was an add-on, but I knew it was my only prayer of getting Ridley to go along with the request.

She faltered for a moment, and I thought I had her, but then she shook her head. “I’m sorry. I can’t. I have things I need to do. But I’ll make you the same promise I made Trey, even though he’s a little traitor.”

I battled between laughter and frustration, finally going with a sigh. “And what was that?”

“I’ll be home before dark. Hell, before sunset, because I want to see the sun go down over that beautiful lake of yours. Might even grab a bottle of Ransom to share.”

Damn it. I was a sucker for a woman who appreciated a good sunset. Even more for a woman who had a taste formywhiskey. I stared at Ridley for a long moment, knowing there wasn’t a damn thing I could do to stop her unless I put her in a jail cell. Even then I wasn’t sure the bars would hold her. So I did the only thing I could.

“Be safe, Chaos. It’s going to piss me the hell off if you end up dead.”

She grinned up at me. “You say the sweetest things, Law Man.”

My feet rested against the railing of my back deck as the sun sank lower in the sky. Each millimeter it moved, my annoyance and worry ratcheted up a notch. Because Ridley still wasn’t back.

In the midst of my worry, I’d realized that I didn’t even have her damned phone number. But what I really needed was a tracker. One on that van and maybe one surgically implanted on her person.

As the logistics of that circled in my mind, Bowser’s head lifted and his ears twitched. Then I swore the damn dog grinned.

“It’s her, isn’t it?”

He lumbered to his feet and headed off the back deck without waiting for permission like he normally did.

I scowled after my dog. “Well, I’m not going to be quite that pathetic.” So I stayed right where I was. But my ears were trained for every little sound as I stared out at the lake’s glassy surface.

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