Page 32 of Earning Her Trust

“You don’t look fine.”

Ghost hovered just behind her shoulder, silent as always, but she felt his body heat. For a second, it actually made her want to lean back and let him take some of the weight crushing her shoulders.

Instead, she forced a smile. “I’m working, that’s all. You got a minute, or you busy bankrupting the tribe?”

“Aw, Nomi, don’t be like that.” Julius pulled her in tight for another hug, and warmth spread through her. It felt damn good to be home among her people, her family. “You know I’ve got all the time in the world for you.”

“Were you here on Tuesday?” Ghost asked, drawing Julius’s attention for the first time.

“You’re one of Walker Nash’s guys, aren’t you?” He turned back to her, brow furrowed. “What are you doing running around with a con? That can’t play well with your superiors at the Bureau.”

She dodged the question. “This is Owen.” She regretted using his real name the moment it left her lips. It felt strangely intimate. Should’ve stuck with Ghost. “He’s helping me run down leads on Leelee Padilla’s disappearance.”

The hair prickled on her arms as she watched the two men size each other up. Ghost just stood there, arms loose at his sides, not giving away a damn thing. The line of his jaw might have sharpened, but the rest of him was pure blank slate.

Julius broke first, letting out that bit-too-loud laugh of his. “Ah, well, sorry, I won’t be much help. I wasn’t here on Tuesday. I was handling a poaching case up by Kootenai Creek. Didn’t even get back until Wednesday morning. You can ask the Fish and Game dispatch. Or, better yet, ask Grandma Ava. She’ll tell you I’m her favorite and she always knows where I’m at.”

Naomi doubted that last part—their grandmother always complained that Julius was like the trickster Coyote, too smart for his own good, too slippery to ever pin down. But she didn’t call him out on that.

Instead, she asked, “Did you know Leelee at all?”

“Just by name. Never really talked to her, other than to order drinks.”

Yet another dead end.

He must have noticed her disappointment because he added, “If you want, I can ask around, see if any of my friends were here on Tuesday. Maybe someone saw something and they just don’t realize it.”

“I’d appreciate it.”

“Anything for my Little Rabbit.” One of the men at the roulette table called his name, and Julius flashed a two-fingered salute. “Duty calls. Try not to get into too much trouble, cuz. And Owen? Keep an eye on her, yeah? I joke, but she’s the actual favorite in our family.”

She scoffed. “Oh, shut up.”

“It’s true, which is fine by me. Frees me up to be the black sheep. Every family needs one.”

Naomi snorted. “Jules, you’re not any kind of sheep. You’re a raccoon in a human suit. Mostly out for yourself, occasionally cute, likely to bite if cornered.”

Julius pressed a hand to his chest and staggered like she’d shot him through the heart. “Love you, too, Nomi.”

“Oh, go on.”

Julius’s laugh boomed as he slipped back into the crowd, his laughter lingering long after he was gone.

ten

The driveback to town was quiet, but it wasn’t uncomfortable like the first time she’d ridden to town with Ghost. Now, the silence was almost companionable.

Naomi watched the world blur past her window, headlights chasing stripes down the blacktop as Ghost steered with one hand, knuckles pale against the wheel. His dog sat silently in the backseat, a shadow with amber eyes.

Four missing women, all vanished along this same stretch of road.

She found herself thinking about Leelee’s final night, the way the casino’s lights must’ve looked in her rearview, the unease that came from feeling a stranger’s eyes on your back. She shivered and rubbed at her arms.

Ghost glanced at her, then reached to turn up the heat without asking. And that was… kind of sweet. She hadn’t expected sweetness from a man who coated himself in ice.

“It was him,” she asked finally, breaking the silence. “The truck we saw in the security footage. That’s our guy.”

Ghost kept his eyes on the road. “It’s consistent with the other descriptions. Black pickup, tinted windows, following women from the casino. But without a plate...”