Page 19 of Engaging the Deputy (Silver Stars of Montana #3)

“I didn’t know then, but I do now,” Emery said and swore. “He was killing time with us, using his old friends to shield him from the scary people he owed money to. Then, after midnight, he was skipping town.”

“You know that for a fact?” Jaden asked, even though it certainly appeared that way.

Emery shook his head. But if right, Rob was leaving in the dead of night, running from debts and deceits, maybe even running for his life.

“Who are these scary people?” he asked Krystal.

“I heard him on the phone with them once,” she said after exchanging a look with Emery. “It sounded like they would be crossing the border the next day. From what I could tell, they were threatening him. After he hung up, he went in the bathroom and threw up. I didn’t ask.”

“It had to be drugs,” Emery said, pushing that theory. “I know he made a lot of trips up to the border.” It was only sixty-five miles from Libby to the Canadian border, nothing to drive when you lived in a state as large as Montana.

“You never asked him why he made so many trips to the border?” the deputy asked.

Emery shook his head. “He told me he had a girlfriend up there. I knew he was lying. But, like Krystal, I didn’t ask. I wanted nothing to do with it.”

* * *

Olivia had spent all morning trying to shake off the terrifying dream she’d had the night before.

She’d been back out at Starling. Only, this time, Cody had climbed out of the root cellar first, leaving her to die.

She’d screamed for help until her throat was raw before a dark shadow had fallen over her.

She’d looked up and Elden Rusk had been peering down at her.

But then she’d seen who’d been standing next to Rusk and she’d gasped.

Cody, smiling down at her, a rock in his hand.

She told herself it had just been a bad dream. It didn’t mean anything. It didn’t even make sense. Yet she found herself worrying about Cody. That really made no sense, given that she’d been the one in the hole, the one in danger, not Cody.

Still, she called his number. She’d tell him about the dream. They’d laugh about it. She’d put it behind her. His phone rang four times before voicemail picked up.

“You’ve reached Cody Ryan. Leave a message.”

Olivia hesitated as she heard the beep. “Cody, it’s Olivia.

I had this crazy dream last night. I just wanted to make sure you were all right.

” She recalled their talk the evening before by the river, his need to remember what had happened Halloween night.

He wouldn’t go out to Starling, thinking it might help him remember, would he? “Please call me.”

After she disconnected, she was more convinced than ever that he might have gone out there this morning. Hadn’t people in the area been warned to stay away? Been told how dangerous it was because of all the debris left by the tornado? Like that would stop Cody.

She paused only a moment before she called the deputy. He picked up at once. Just the sound of his voice steadied her. He’d always had that effect on her. “Is the crime team done out at Starling?”

He instantly sounded suspicious. “Why are you asking me that?”

“Cody is determined to remember who attacked him. I couldn’t reach him this morning. I think he might go out there.”

Jaden swore. “Don’t you go out there,” he ordered, making her bristle.

“I didn’t say I was going out there.”

“It would be just like you. Do I have to remind you that there is still a killer on the loose, not to mention how dangerous it is out there?”

She was sorry she’d called him and said as much before disconnecting.

“That man knows you,” her mother said from her bedroom doorway. “You’re thinking about going to Starling because of that boy.”

“Neither of you know me,” Olivia snapped. “But it doesn’t stop either of you from telling me what to do. Cody is my friend . He’s hurting right now. I had this dream last night…” She waved a hand through the air. “I wouldn’t expect either of you to understand.”

Her mother just shook her head, turned around and disappeared back into the kitchen. Olivia could smell bacon cooking, which she realized was probably why her mother had come to her room, to offer her breakfast.

In the kitchen, she hugged her mom with one arm and said, “I’d love some bacon. Oh, and pancakes too? You’re spoiling me.” When her mother didn’t respond, she added, “I’m sorry. I worry about my friends. Cody isn’t doing very well right now.”

“Cody’s a big boy. He can take care of himself.” Her mother plated bacon and pancakes and turned to hand it to her. “You chasin’ after him sends mixed signals to the deputy—the one you say you’re in love with.”

“I’m not chasing after Cody. I need this whole investigation over. If Jaden and I stand any chance, I can’t be one of the suspects.”

Her mother shook her head. “Listen to your mother for a change and let the man do his job. In the meantime, stay away from Cody Ryan.”

* * *

Jaden had been about to go inside Rob Perkins’s house when Livie had called. He swore. She wouldn’t go out to Starling looking for Cody, would she?

Probably, he thought with another curse.

He used Perkins’s keys to open the front door of the house.

Just as Emery had described to Olivia, the place had been cleaned out.

Only worn furniture remained and not a lot of that.

In the bedroom, he saw the mess the man had left.

Perkins had been in a hurry—just as Emery had thought.

Once Jaden stepped into the garage and saw the packed pickup, he had to agree. Definitely a man on the run. Perkins was leaving town.

He pulled on latex gloves and opened the passenger side of the vehicle.

The first thing he saw was the automatic rifle wedged into the space between the seats.

The serial number had been ground off. In the glove box, he found a handgun and ammunition.

At the back of the space, he found an envelope stuffed with hundred-dollar bills.

Closing the glove box compartment, Jaden took a look in the backpack on the passenger seat.

Another handgun. More ammunition. In a side pocket, more money.

Zipping the pocket up, he closed the door and took a look in the back, not surprised to find more weapons and boxes of ammunition, as if expecting World War III.

Closing the door, he made the call to have the pickup taken into evidence by one of the state boys in the area. All his instincts told him this was bigger than some old friends getting in a drunken argument and one of them ending up dead and another injured.

He called Sheriff Brandt Parker and updated his boss on the investigation, even though there wasn’t much to tell.

Then he called DCI and requested help to find out if Rob Perkins had a job in Seattle or not.

“He’d allegedly purchased a condo out there and was going to work for a tech firm.

From what I can tell, the man didn’t even own a computer. ”

After hanging up, he locked the house and garage and waited for a state highway patrolman to arrive and secure the property until the pickup could be moved and the house processed.

He felt anxious, angry that all he could think about was Livie.

She was just fool enough to go out to Starling.

He tried Cody’s number. It went to voicemail.

He didn’t leave a message. What could the man hope to find out there?

All the evidence taken by the state boys had been bagged.

Or was there another reason Cody had told Olivia he’d wanted to go back out there?

Either way, Jaden had no choice but to go back to that place he’d hoped to never see again.

On the way out to Starling, he got a call from the coroner. The autopsy results were pretty much as expected. But given what the deputy had since learned about Rob Perkins, he was surprised that the man had had no drugs in his system. There was also no indication that he was a drug user.

That didn’t mean he hadn’t been involved in the selling end. Still, it seemed unusual. But then, where had Perkins gotten all that money he’d had in his pickup? And why all the guns and ammunition? He was involved in something suspect, no doubt about that, and it had probably gotten him killed.

Ahead, Jaden could see the turnoff to Starling and began to slow.

He told himself this was a wild-goose chase, driving out here.

He had better things to do than chase down his ex-fiancée.

It bothered him that she was so worried about Cody.

She’d said they weren’t together. All indications were that Cody was now dating Krystal.

Maybe they were just friends, as Livie’d kept saying.

Jaden knew how she could be like a mama bear with her friends who were in trouble. He’d seen that in college.

What was left of Starling loomed ahead. He hadn’t been out here since Halloween night. Driving up the road, he caught glimpses of the damage the tornado had done. Only a few structures remained standing against the skyline.

As he came over a rise, he saw Livie’s vehicle and swore. Hadn’t he known? He sighed as he pulled up next to her, cut his engine and got out. She had come alone, hadn’t she? Cody Ryan wasn’t with her, was he?

That was when he saw her trudging up the hill, avoiding the debris. He knew at once where she was headed and hurried after her. The dirt around the open root cellar was unstable. He hated to think what could happen to her.

He just hoped to get to her first. “Olivia!” he called. “Livie!”

* * *

Olivia stopped and turned at the sound of her nickname. Jaden was the only one who called her that. Just the sound of it sent her heart pounding.

She saw him climbing up the hillside toward her.

When she’d gotten here and seen all the destruction—and no Cody—she’d almost turned around and left.

She couldn’t imagine there was anything to find.

Yet she understood why Cody might want to come back out here.

It had been so dark and frightening Halloween night down in that hole with the house that had been over them ripped away.

Now, in broad daylight, she wanted to see it and possibly get a different perspective.

She knew it had something to do with her nightmare that had made her start up the hillside.

The wind had been blowing, so she hadn’t heard a vehicle approaching.

She’d only stopped when she’d heard Jaden call her “Livie.”

As he approached, winding a path through the destruction, she could tell he wasn’t happy with her. Yet she was glad to see him. Even in bright sunshine, this place gave her the willies. Even almost completely destroyed.

Jaden said nothing at first when he reached her. He only looked at her before shaking his head. “What are you doing, Livie?” His voice was soft, caring, maybe even loving.

“Looking for answers,” she said over the wind that whipped her hair. She started to brush it back, but Jaden was already reaching. He caught an errant lock and held it between his fingers. “You called me ‘Livie.’”

He nodded as he tucked the errant lock of hair behind her ear. His hand seemed to move of its own accord to the nape of her neck. He dug his fingers deeper into her hair as he drew her closer. “What am I going to do with you?”

She shook her head. She couldn’t speak. She could barely breathe. She looked into his eyes and saw desire burning there. He wanted her as much as she wanted him.

For a moment, she feared that he would draw away, release his hold on her and not go through with the kiss. She ached to feel his lips on hers. She could see him fighting a battle within himself. If he kissed her, he could no longer deny how he felt about her, about them.

The wind shrieked around them, whirling dust and dirt.

She’d never felt more alone with him, as if they were the only two people left on earth, than she did in this moment.

He pulled her closer. She leaned into him as they both fought the wind on the hillside, their lips only a breath away from touching.

“Livie,” he said, making her pulse spike, and then his mouth was on hers with an unbridled passion that made her weak with longing. He wrapped an arm around her, holding her up as the kiss deepened, and there was nothing but the two of them and their longing for each other.

Neither of them heard the sound of a vehicle approach, then turn around and leave. The wind was too loud, even if they hadn’t been so lost in each other.