Page 35 of High Country Escape

“I don’t know.” Dalton raked one hand through his hair. “I’m just trying to think of anyone else who would have done this. What about Debra Percy?”

“The woman who was flying the drone off County Road 3? What about her?”

“She’s been acting strange. Almost stalking Roxanne.”

Aaron nodded. “Roxanne hasn’t mentioned her—that I know of. But I can do a little checking.”

“Thanks.” Maybe it was time for Dalton to do some digging, too.

“I know you helped us out when you dug up background info on Mira’s stalker,” Aaron said. “But stay out of this. We’re doing everything we can to figure this out and protect Roxanne.”

“I believe you,” Dalton said. But the sheriff’s department had a whole town full of people to protect. He only had Roxanne. Thinking about her hurt wounded him. He wasn’t ready to examine those feelings too closely, but digging around on the computer didn’t require a lot of emotion. He had a talent and there was no reason he shouldn’t use it.

Roxanne spent herfirst morning with the Ameses focused on work. Concentrating on code kept her thoughts from the fear-induced spiral that had kept her tossing and turning all night. One of the many things she liked about her job was the distraction from her thoughts that it provided. What seemed tedious to some was a welcome escape to her.

But by four o’clock she was done for the day and stared aimlessly out the window at the sunny lawn and distant peaks. She kept replaying the events of yesterday evening. That horrible doll, and all the memories it had brought to the surface. Not that she would ever forget what had happened to her, but she had gotten good at not dwelling on that time. She would rather focus on the future, but whoever was tormenting her now—Ledger or someone who knew his secrets—kept dragging her back into the mire of her past.

A gentle tapping on the door interrupted her thoughts. She turned in her chair. “Come in.”

Diane eased open the door. “Are you busy working?” she asked.

“No, I’m done for the day. I didn’t realize you were home. I didn’t hear a car.”

“I walked to work today.” She patted her hips. “Trying to fight the middle-aged spread.”

Roxanne thought she hardly looked old enough to be the mother of four grown children, but she wasn’t good at flattery, so kept silent. “Would you like to come downstairs for a bit?” Diane asked. “I could use some help in the kitchen.”

“Of course.” Roxanne stood. “Mrs. Ames, I’m so sorry I didn’t offer.”

She waved away the apology. “Call me Diane. And really, I need the company more than the help.”

She led the way downstairs into a yellow-and-white kitchen. Sunlight spilled from windows on two sides across marbled tiles.Diane opened a cabinet and took out a basket of potatoes. She selected a paring knife from a block on the kitchen island, then pulled out a stool. “You can sit here and peel potatoes while I cut up chicken to grill.”

Roxanne slid onto the stool and picked up the knife. This scene felt familiar—when she was a young teen she had often helped her foster mom prepare meals. She hadn’t seen it then as anything more than a mostly pleasant chore, but now that she was grown she realized how many times she had poured out her heart to Mama Marjie, and how much good advice she had taken in.

“What brought you to Eagle Mountain, Roxanne?” Diane asked, as she cut open a package of chicken thighs.

“I wanted a fresh start, and this seemed like a good place for it.” Roxanne cut a long spiral of potato peel. “The mountains are so beautiful.”

“When young people tell me they want to make a fresh start, I always think of a broken relationship,” Diane said. “Is that what happened to you?”

“No. I just wasn’t happy where I was.”

“Where was that?”

“San Antonio. I thought it would be easier to get to know people in a small town like Eagle Mountain.” She had believed there would be safety in the anonymity of a city, but there was also loneliness.

“Small towns can be cliquish, but Eagle Mountain isn’t like that,” Diane said. “So many people here are from other places. Of course, it’s easy for us to fit in, since we have a business where we meet so many people.”

“How did you end up here?” Roxanne asked.

“Dalton didn’t tell you this story? We’re from Vermont originally.”

She shook her head. “We’ve never talked about it.” Probably because she was so reluctant to talk about her own past, she never asked other people about theirs.

“Oh, well, Bethany moved here first. She did have a bad relationship and wanted to get away. And I think she wanted to be on her own for a bit. She took a job working for the very Jeep business we now own. We came to visit, fell in love with the place, learned the business was for sale and here we are.”

“All of you? I mean, all your children, too?”