Page 9 of Silverstorm

The sheriff was constantly telling him that he needed to stop getting so involved with the people in his cases. A deputy sheriff needed to be unbiased and have solid boundaries. Hank prided himself on being able to make those distinctions, keep those margins between good and bad clear in his head, but sometimes Jude felt that the sheriff’s impartiality portrayed him come across as cold and unfeeling, which wasn’t Jude’s way. He couldn’t help it if he got suckered in to a person’s story. His mother had always told him he had too much empathy, that he had a kind soul, and he’d be welcomed into heaven with open arms when it was his time. Which’d freaked him out, but also resonated somewhere deep inside. Because he knew that sometimes to understand why a person committed a crime, you needed to understand their motivations and their hopes and dreams. Sometimes crimes weren’t always perpetrated out of malice or greed, but out of desperation or need.

If he hadn’t taken a personal interest in Clayton and Penny’s case, by taking them out to hide them in a small fishing cottage owned by a friend—going against his boss’s express command—they may well have been hunted down and killed by the murderous gang before the sheriff's office even had a chance to figure out who wanted them dead and why. Afterward, Hank had begrudgingly admitted Jude had been right to put them in a safe house, but only when they were alone, and certainly not through official channels.

Jude got into his cruiser. Where would Aria park her car if she was going to sleep in it tonight? She’d want somewhere private, away from prying eyes, and safe. Jude knew there were a few places he could start looking, and he had a hunch where she might be. Should he contact Iliana? Just to check that her sister wasn’t staying with her as she said? He decided that if he couldn’t find Aria in the next hour or so, he would give the Doncaster place a call, even though it was getting late.

And Aria hadn’t even mentioned her father, who lived over on the east side of town. Jude had heard speculation that Aria had left town because there was bad blood between them. So he discounted that idea for now. Tango was a crazy old coot. Jude had learned that from personal experience; the old man had come into the station rambling about a killer on the loose, sent to hunt him down, from some long ago feud in some long ago cult. Jude couldn’t, for the life of him, see Aria wanting to stay at the family house, which Tango had let fall into utter disrepair. Nope, he was pretty sure she was out there somewhere in her car.

First of all, he checked around the back of Butterby’s Building Company. There was a large area of unused land, surrounded by a line of trees on two sides, planted by a long ago rancher. The pine trees provided shelter from the worst of the weather, and homeless people sometimes gathered there at certain times of the year. Tonight, there were two vehicles parked up by the fence, and a couple of roughly constructed tent-style dwellings. But there was no sign of Aria’s car, so he kept moving, not wanting to disrupt the small homeless community for no reason. It was hard to turn around and drive away; it was one of the reasons Jude rarely visited these places. He knew some of these people’s stories, and most of them had a sad tale of loss or misadventure, and didn’t deserve to be sleeping on the streets. But he also knew he couldn’t help everyone. This homeless pandemic affected every town and every city in the US.

He thought a little harder. Where would Aria go? Then he stopped and laughed at himself. Who the hell was he to think he could possibly understand Aria’s motives? Just because she’d been an acquaintance back in his youth, didn’t make him an expert on how her mind worked now. And just because he was worried about her safety now, didn’t mean that he was attracted to her, either. Nope. That flash of magnetism when she’d smiled at him was nothing. He needed to keep reminding himself of that.

There were a couple of rest stops down by the river, where people could go to have a picnic or swim in the shallower pools of water. It was picturesque and charming, but camping wasn’t allowed overnight, and so most of the spots would be deserted by now. The closer he got to the river, the more certain he became that he was on the right track.

The first rest stop was indeed deserted. Less picturesque in the dark and even a tad spooky.

At the second one, a group of teenagers were sitting around a low campfire, smoking pot and drinking from box wine. When they saw the cruiser, they jumped up and scattered, stubbing out what remained of the joint. One tall boy hid the box behind his back as if Jude wouldn’t be able to see it. Jude wound down his window and said, “Make sure that fire is out properly, and don’t let me catch you down here again.” He gave a grim smile as he wound his window back up. The teenagers would just move somewhere else, but he had to be seen to be doing his job.

Finally, at the third rest spot, Jude spotted a gray vehicle tucked in behind the trunk of a large Douglas fir. Not wanting to startle her, he switched off his headlights and rolled to a stop.

It was dark without the lights of his car, almost pitch-black. Was Aria frightened by the dark? It certainly took some guts for a girl to stay out here completely alone. What if someone tried to break into her car? Attack her? A shiver of goose bumps ran over his skin at the thought. Flicking on his flashlight, he walked toward the car. It was completely silent. There was no movement from within. She was probably asleep already, even though it was just past nine. How was he going to do this? Normally, he’d just go up and rap on the window, not bothered if he scared whoever was inside. So why did he think this was any different?

But still…

He approached the car carefully and peered in, but it was too dark to make out much of anything. He knocked his knuckle gently against the rear window and waited. But there was nothing. If she was asleep in there, she was a heavy sleeper. He knocked again a little louder and called out her name. Still nothing. Was anyone in there? A little perturbed now, he stood tall and knocked even louder, then shone the light into the rear seat.

The pale oval of Aria’s face appeared in the window, mouth forming a grimace of fear, sleepy eyes wide in the beam of light, a small scream erupting from her open mouth.

“It’s me, Aria. Deputy Wilder.”

“Holy mother of God, Jude. You scared the crap out of me,” she yelled through the glass. Ducking her head, she shaded her eyes from the bright light, and he quickly lowered it. There was a scuffling sound from inside the car, and then the door opened and Aria stepped out, standing onto the gravel in only her socks, wearing sweats and a T-shirt, her hair all mussed. In the illumination from his flashlight, she looked warm and heavy-lidded from sleep. And inviting. He caught a whiff of roses as she pushed her hair back from her face.

She cast him a guilty look, but said nothing, waiting for him to be the first to speak. What should he say? It was clear he’d caught her out in a lie, so what next? She wasn’t even trying to deny it, because there was no point. He stared down at her, suddenly aware of her luscious mouth as she pouted at him from beneath lowered brows, and he was suddenly lost for words.

When he didn’t speak, she finally said, “Where else am I going to go?” Her soft eyes turned hard. “I don’t have enough money for a hotel room. That’s why I needed the job so badly.” She shivered and wrapped her arms around her body. “It’s cold out here. Can I go back to bed?” Her tone turned slightly piteous.

But he couldn’t let her sleep in her car overnight. Not out here, alone, where anyone could approach the car, and do…just about anything to her. She was too vulnerable. Too isolated.

It was the same question he’d been turning over in his head ever since he’d first decided to come looking for her. He wanted to ask why she wasn’t staying with her sister as she’d insisted earlier on. But for whatever reason, she clearly didn’t want to, or couldn’t, go there, and the last thing he wanted to do was get involved in her family politics at nine pm on a cold, dark night.

“Look, I have a place you can stay.”

“What?” Her head shot up. “I’m not staying with you. I’m fine right here. Leave me alone.” She took a step backward.

He’d been debating the idea back and forth in his mind for the past hour while he’d been looking for her. But he hadn’t truly known the answer until he’d seen her standing there in her socks, vulnerable and isolated.

“You wouldn’t be staying in my house,” he quickly amended, not wanting her to get the wrong idea. “I have a mother-in-law apartment out the back, which is vacant at the moment. You can use that for the next little while. It’s completely separate accommodation, with its own kitchenette and bathroom.”

Technically, he was staying in his mother’s house, but she was now living full-time in the aged home because he could no longer care for her himself. Alzheimer’s was a terrible disease, taking away a person’s ability and character, leaving a mere husk of a body behind. His mother, Annie, wouldn’t mind. In fact, she’d probably encourage him to take Aria in. She always told him he had a heart of gold, but then, so did she. She’d never told him that he couldn’t bring that half-drowned feral cat he found down by the river into her house. Tabby had ended up living five more years, fat and happy in their house. And she’d even stayed up to help him with the night feeds when he brought the baby bird home that time. Even with all their attention, the poor little thing had died. But Annie had helped to dig a small grave and say a few prayers over the tiny body. She was just as much of a sucker for the destitute and needy as he was. Was Aria just another one of these lame ducks he was bringing home?

“I can’t pay you. At least, not until I start getting a salary.”

“I know that. I can’t in good conscience leave you here. It’s either that or I take you to the woman’s shelter downtown.” Her face blanched at the mention of the shelter.

“I don’t need your pity. I’m fine by myself. And I’m not some charity case, I won’t go to some refuge. I’d rather stay out here.”

It was what he thought she’d say.

“Well, it’s not safe, and you’re not staying here.” He wasn’t going to let her win. She wasn’t staying out here alone, end of story. He was offering her a way out, and it was just her stubborn pride that was stopping her from accepting. He was used to dealing with hardened criminals, teenage petty thieves, and everything in between, and he certainly wasn’t going to let one petite woman get away with giving him no for an answer. He wasn’t leaving until she agreed to go with him.

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