A week later he was dead.
Burned in a horrid fire.
And she’d been accused of his murder.
Now, as she wandered the grounds with the dog, she thought about the weird symbols that Detective Paterno had shown her and of course she thought of Mary Beth and Dani.
Headlights flashed along the drive.
Her heart sank.
“Oh, no,” she whispered, believing the two detectives had returned. But the rumble of the engine sounded deeper than that of the cops’ sedan and within seconds she spotted Travis Settler’s truck roll up the drive.
Relief, a refreshing wave, washed over her and she actually allowed herself a smile. However, as he climbed out of the truck and her stupid heart skipped a beat, she caught herself. She recognized trouble when she saw it. And Travis Settler in his faded jeans, leather jacket and grim, don’t-give-me-any-bullshit expression was pure trouble.
A couple of days’ worth of beard darkened his jaw and whatever was on his mind wasn’t good. “I saw Paterno leaving,” he said, nodding toward the lane. When his eyes found hers again, they were dark, filled with concern. He touched her good shoulder, the pads of his fingers warm through her sleeve. “Are you okay?”
She felt something break inside her, some tiny piece of resistance that she’d kept around her heart. “Are you?” she asked and he almost smiled.
“Don’t know if I’ll ever be.” He ran his free hand around his neck but his other still touched her in that fragile connection. “They told you about Dani’s backpack?”
“Yeah.”
He closed his eyes. The pressure on her arm increased. “If that son of a bitch has done anything to her, I swear, I’ll kill him with my bare hands.”
“Only if you beat me to him,” she said. Their eyes met in the gathering darkness, only the eerie light from the security lamp offering any illumination. She thought of her dream, of nearly making love to a man she thought was this one and though she knew it was silly, felt a little thrill rush through her.
“Who’s this?” he asked, glancing down at the puppy.
“The newest member of my family. Recently dubbed Marilyn.”
Travis almost smiled as he glanced down at the pup.
“Come in and I’ll buy you a beer,” she said.
The almost smile became a partial grin. “You’ve got yourself a deal.”
Once they were inside with the kitchen lights blazing, some of the intimacy of their meeting outside faded. She handed him a beer, and, because of the aspirin she’d taken, just sipped one of her own as they sat at the table. She chided herself for being such a romantic ninny, and then forgot about her fantasies altogether as he explained about his phone call from Oregon and the discovery of the van in which, it was theorized, Dani had been abducted. In turn, she told him about her recent meeting with Paterno and Rossi and about Oliver thinking he’d seen Brendan Giles in town, and showed him the weird sketches, which he already knew about. She then told him about Molly and what Nate Santana thought.
Travis frowned at the mention of Santana, but drained his beer and asked to see the horse. Once again, this time with Khan leading the way, she headed outside, across the lot and into the horse barn. A few snorts and whinnies greeted her and several of the animals, ears cocked, swung their heads over the stall doors.
“It seems like forever since that night,” he said, his eyes drawn to the spot where she’d been attacked. Bloodstains still marked the floor.
“A lot has happened.” She unlatched the stall door. “Poor Molly, here, was a victim, too.” Carefully she reached for the buckskin’s halter and showed Travis the mare’s muzzle with its charred whiskers.
Travis’s eyes darkened. His lips compressed. “Bastard,” he whispered. “Damned son of a bitching perverted bastard!” His fists closed for a second and he looked as if he wanted to strike something or someone. She didn’t blame him. They left the stable together. “And you said Giles is back in town?”
“No. I said Oliver thought he saw Brendan. When I pressed him, he backed off. I’ve phoned Brendan’s parents and, big surprise, they haven’t returned the call. I did mention to Paterno that Oliver thought he saw him.”
“Good,” he bit out, but was obviously agitated at the thought of Dani’s biological father being anywhere nearby.
“There’s something else,” she said as they headed across the parking lot to the house. A hint of a breeze slipped through the night, stirring dry leaves and dust in its path. “I found my cell phone. In the truck.” She explained about the calls to Mary Beth and Paterno taking the phone as evidence.
“When did the cell phone get put there?”
“I don’t know. It could have happened when the pickup was parked down by Robert’s house during the fire. There were tons of people around and then, as you know, I had to leave the truck on the street.”
Travis turned to look at her vehicle sitting in its usual spot. “Where exactly did you find the phone? Show me.”