The Girl in the Mist (Misted Pines 1)

How he managed the marvel of being a good father, a protective boyfriend-ish-type person and sexually charging one short speech, I did not know.

But he did it.

Regardless of the fact I was freaked out that I was moving in with my boyfriend-ish-type person I hadn’t even kissed yet, and mostly why I was, a mixture of euphoria and excitement and a deep-down warmth that couldn’t be denied filled me when I added my Volvo to their collection of vehicles.

Celeste, he also shared as we walked into the house, had been briefed.

As an aside, he’d commandeered my bag, which held a pair of pajamas, face cleanser, moisturizer, deodorant, a clean pair of panties, jeans and a sweater, so it probably weighed less than ten pounds. But he strong armed his way to it so I suspected his manhood got revived at least a little bit.

When we arrived, Celeste was in bed, so after Bohannan got me sorted, he hung out in my bedroom with me.

This being, we cuddled in the armchair across from the bed.

But I got to be in his lap.

He had a very comfortable lap and a long arm reach, so I also got to use him as a kind of cocoon.

It was lovely.

He shared I had not read it wrong.

For whatever reason, they were thinking Alice’s killer was prowling Bohannan land.

Which led to a more in-depth questioning for me.

What he looked like. Age. Height. Weight. Race.

(Dark hair. I couldn’t tell age or height, but at a guess, between twenty and forty, and average. He didn’t appear overweight, or under it. Last, white.)

What was he wearing?

(It looked like a light blue sweatshirt that was wet. No hat. No umbrella. No slicker. In the rain.)

Did he appear interested in my house?

(No, he didn’t even look up at my house, but I had him in my sights mere seconds.)

Did I get a look at his face?

(No, alas, I did not.)

It also led to more questioning for Bohannan.

He seemed hesitant, but in the end, he gave it to me.

“It isn’t unusual for someone like him to want to play with someone like me.”

This just kept getting worse.

He continued speaking.

“That said, it wasn’t yesterday we found Alice. With this kind of thing, there’s no telling what his actions might be. Some like him could take years to start playing games with investigators. Leaving a definitive trail the way he did says something, though he chose a day it was raining, and if you hadn’t seen him, that trail could have been gone before we saw it. And you said he didn’t look to your place to see if you saw him. But he could just know there’s activity at your house, and hope he was seen. That seems thin. So my read on that might be wrong. I would think there would be something. Something concrete. A sign. Him leaving a present. Something to announce he’s going to dick with me. So maybe I’m being hyper-sensitive.” He gave me a squeeze. “But we’re not taking any chances.”

“I’m guessing that with where I am,” I noted.

Another squeeze and, “We’ll be giving you some Taser lessons. Once we do, I’d like you to carry one with you. Hawk’s got your GPS fob still tracking. He’s sending one for Celeste with Billy. Billy is going to help us keep an eye on the property, you and Celeste. David has been briefed, and he’s going to go about his business at your place but keep an eye out. I also told Moran, but not Dern. He knows who the good deputies are, and who they aren’t, and he’s already formed a loose, unofficial team who are working this themselves, but we’re coordinating. He told me he’ll do what he can. As for you and Celeste, you live your lives. You do your thing. You do it knowing you’re covered, one way or another, though do that smart and watchful. But when we take downtime, I don’t want our resources scattered.”

“Circling the wagons,” I murmured.

“Precisely.”

“Can you tell me about the case?” I asked.

“I could, if I had anything to tell you.”

“But…” I started carefully. “You found her.”

“He wanted us to.”

“That easy?” I asked.

“For Dern? No. Even for Harry. Maybe not. For me. Yes, that easy.”

“And?”

This was when he finally allowed his frustration to come out.

Which meant I pressed closer.

“And, I’m running through every playbook I got, Larue. And there’s just not enough there to get a good read on him. I actually want whoever you saw to be him. I need more from him if I’m gonna catch him. What I don’t want is for that more to come in the form of bodies.”

I had agreed with him, and I would have liked to end the night with a make-out session, but I didn’t think that would help things for Bohannan.