“Sorry, I just don’t do well without my coffee,” she said, and then continued. “The bullets came from a .460 Magnum, which is arguably the most powerful handgun made. But it’s not the gun that is of interest. The bullets were armor piercing, prohibited by federal law, which is why they did the damage they did. I believe, and Dane is starting to lean toward agreeing with me, that whatever is going on up on that mountain has to be running illegal guns and/or ammunition. The ranger was either involved, or he stumbled upon the operation, and Tyler probably died because of it, too. I always thought it had to do with drugs, and it might, because Tyler wasn’t into anything else, but we now have proof that there is at least one gun in our country that is shooting ammunition not legally sold here.”
“Kerry...”
“I’m heading into the office as soon as Lizzie gets here. I want to follow up with Dane on everything he’s doing, and then I have other work to do.”
So Payne’s shooting was “other work” to her now?
She could have more than one official case on her docket. There were only two full-time detectives in the Mustang Valley police department.
“I’d appreciate it if you get a chance to get up in the attic and look through that trunk, if you’ll let me know what you find...”
Other work... Wait.
“You’re going up Mustang Mountain to look for abandoned mines.”
She wouldn’t look at him.
“Kerry, you said we’d do this together.” But maybe she had no choice. “Is Dane going with you?”
Silence was her only answer.
“Don’t shut me out, Ker, please. Not now.”
When she looked over at him, when he read in her eyes all the things she wasn’t saying, he breathed a sigh of relief.
“I’ll look at the trunk when I’m home showering,” he said. “I’ve work to do at the office, but can be available to head up there by noon. Is that good enough?”
If it wasn’t, he’d negotiate.
“I’ll pick you up at Colton Oil at noon,” she said.
You’d have thought she’d just told him she loved him.
* * *
Rafe went to the attic first. He passed Grayson on his way up the stairs. They nodded and moved on. Ace wasn’t at the mansion. He didn’t figure Marlowe was there, either. Genevieve had been staying at the hospital. And staff wouldn’t be upstairs cleaning that early—best chance of getting up to the attic and out without having to see anyone.
He cared about them all. Generally, wasn’t averse to conversation. But these days with Kerry—they were messing with him.
Something he’d like to sort out for himself, before the siblings got wind of anything.
Ace’s trunk was a lot fuller than Rafe’s. Made sense. He’d been at the mansion since birth, and had been Payne’s firstborn. They’d seemingly saved everything. Booties. A huge folder of pictures. Dumping them on the attic floor, he spread them out with his palm, not stopping to look at the woman who’d been the only true mother figure in his life. Tessa Colton. He’d loved her more than she’d ever known. Even before Payne adopted him.
Second only to Kerry, back then.
He was looking for birth pictures. Hospital photos. There were none. No doctors at all. Moving through school records, an early reading award, he found out that Ace had been in Scouting. None of the others of them had had the opportunity to join in community circles. They’d been held apart. Special.
By the time he reached the bottom of the trunk, he was drained. And not at all happy with the idea of calling Kerry and telling her he had nothing. She’d be disappointed.
It seemed like that’s all he ever did—disappoint her.
Not that she said so. Or would ever call him on it. But it was there in her avoided glances. And in her eyes when she looked at him sometimes, too.
So his confession the night before had obviously given her the closure he’d known he had to offer. He’d given her that.
And even that had fallen flat, somehow.
He was losing her.