Page 37 of In Pursuit of the Truth

She wanted to go upstairs and escape the uncomfortableness between them, but if they were truly going to pretend the kiss hadn’t happened, she needed to make the first move. “I don’t think I’ll be able to go to sleep for a while. Why don’t I get my laptop so I can do some research while we watch TV?”

“That sounds like a great idea.”

Upstairs in her room, she crossed the space to look out the window again. There was no sign of the man who’d been watching them before, but a shiver still traveled up her spine. What was he waiting for?

Chapter Twenty-Three

From the look of exhaustion on Bailey’s face, Nate doubted she slept much at all last night. Was it because of the intruder outside? Or was it related to their conversation? Goodness knew both had kept him up much of the night as well.

What he’d said about not wanting to jeopardize their friendship was true. What he didn’t voice was that it’d been difficult to ignore his feelings before. Now that he knew what it felt like to hold and kiss her, pretending that it hadn’t happened was going to be torture.

He was relieved, however, when she’d come downstairs with a smile on her face as she’d greeted him this morning.

Now, she was making scrambled eggs and hash browns while Seth and Jordan waited patiently at the table for their breakfast.

“I heard from Rachel this morning,” she told Nate as she stirred the eggs. “She’s going to stop by later today to help out for a while.”

“That’s great.” He pulled two slices of bread from thetoaster and buttered them. “I can run the evidence over to the police department while she’s here.” He’d feel better knowing someone else was at the store with Bailey and the boys.

He got a stack of plates out of the cabinet while Bailey retrieved forks.

This was only their second morning in the same house, and he couldn’t ignore how well they worked together. He was going to miss spending so much time with her and the boys once everything got back to normal. It was going to be difficult going back to only seeing them a couple of times a month.

They ate breakfast in comfortable conversation, mostly revolving around looking for frogs after last night’s rain and cleaning up the store.

When they’d finished, Nate left Bailey to wash dishes and headed back out to the spot where the man had been watching last night. Now that it was daylight, maybe he’d be able to see more evidence. He took two baggies with him just in case.

The rain had washed away the footprints just as he’d feared it would. He was glad he’d taken photographs. There were still a few cigarette butts on the ground where he’d found the others. He took some more pictures and left them there just in case someone from the station wanted to see the location.

After that, he walked along the tree line all around the house and found two more places with discarded cigarette butts. Whoever that man was, he’d been watching the house for a while and from multiple vantage points. Anger burned, and concern flared. He was even more thankful she’d agreed to let him stay at the house.

He took photographs of each location as well as a photoof the house so that he’d have a record of what angles the guy was watching.

Back at the house, Bailey, Seth, and Jordan were getting ready to head out to check on animals and then go work on the store. While her sons were busy deciding which toys to take with them, Nate pulled her aside and told her what he’d found.

“I’d like to come with you guys to check on the animals. After that, please do me a favor and make sure you lock the doors while you’re working at the store. Until we catch this guy, don’t let the boys out to play by themselves. I’d rather be safe.”

Bailey nodded, her expression serious. “I agree on all counts. I’m not even sure we should be walking anywhere at this point.”

He’d been thinking along the same lines. He doubted the suspect had been watching them on the way to the old barn last night because Minnie would’ve noticed. Still, just the idea was disconcerting.

“If you’re okay with it, I’ll leave Minnie here at the house while we’re all gone. Trust me, no one will mess with it while she’s here.”

Nate was able to leave the farm early because Rachel was already waiting at the store when they arrived. Even knowing Bailey wasn’t there alone, he still hoped to get back as soon as possible.

Walking in the front door of the Destiny Police Department was somewhat surreal. He hadn’t been there since he’d taken his leave last February. To be honest, he’d avoided it. Part of him had worried that returning would stirup some of the anger and grief he’d experienced after Lana’s death. What he hadn’t expected was the strong sense of home that it elicited.

Tia was manning one of the windows and was helping someone who’d come in. She looked up and spotted him, giving him an enthusiastic wave. He grinned in response and pointed to the door that, when buzzed open, would lead to the bullpen beyond.

Tia nodded. A moment later, the lock clicked, and Nate pushed his way through. There were a lot of new faces, but plenty of officers he’d worked with before greeted him and shook his hand. It took ten minutes to make his way through to Detective Paris’s office. He knocked on the doorframe.

Paris stood and waved him in. “Hey, Walker. Good to see you. Glad you came in—it’s been too long.”

“Yeah, it has.” Nate shook the detective’s hand and took a seat across the desk from him. “We had some interesting developments last night, and I thought I’d come by and give a report personally. I’ve got some evidence to log in as well.”

Paris raised an eyebrow. “I can’t wait to hear about it.” He looked up as a shadow darkened the doorway.

Nate turned to find Chief Arnold Dolman standing there. Nate got to his feet and shook the chief’s hand. “Good to see you, sir.”

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