Page 49 of Long Pig
Willow: Tomorrow. I’ll meet you in Show Low.
Wallard: Little Mormon Lake Road that goes to Whipple Lake. We’ll take my truck from there. See you at 4.
Willow looked up the location on her phone. The turnoff was before the airport on Highway 60. She’d seen the road buthad never turned onto it. Her stomach clenched tightly, and she felt sick.
This was about control. Wallard knew it, and she knew it. Once he had her in his truck, he was the one in charge.
Sleep eluded her that night, but that was okay. If she didn’t fall asleep, the nightmares couldn’t haunt her.
“Sofia asked me to go to a movie with her in Show Low and then out to dinner tonight,” she told Dale while straightening the shelves that held her refinishing supplies.
He didn’t respond right away, and she finally looked at him.
“I think that’s great,” he said, though his voice sounded strange, and his eyes searched hers.
She was a horrible liar, and she quickly turned back to the shelves. She wasn’t sure why Wallard wanted to meet so early, but there was little she could do. She showered and began preparing an hour later. Dale would think it strange if she simply wore jeans and a T-shirt, but it was hard to get dressed in something nice for Wallard. She settled on jeans and a blouse. She used no makeup, but spent time in the bathroom so Dale would think she was doing something to make herself presentable.
With solar power, a blow dryer on the heat setting was out of the question. Using it simply as a blower meant it took longer, but she’d grown accustomed to living off grid. Once it was dry, she curled the ends with shaking hands and left it loose.
She said goodbye to Dale, barely glancing at him, and walked out to her truck. It was an hour’s drive to Show Low, after she left the ranch’s dirt road. Her hands shook on the wheel and turned white. Her fingers cramped before she loosened them. Tears threatened, but she refused to cry.
She’d made her decision, and she wasn’t turning back now.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Sniffing Out Lies
Dale
“Darned woman,” he muttered when the last of the dust settled from Willow’s tires. Something was seriously wrong, and she wouldn’t tell him what it was. He had half a mind to follow her and see what the hell was going on.
But what if she really was going to a movie with Sofia? It had taken time to build the trust he and Willow had. Their long visits in prison had been one thing; her asking him to move onto the property and into her home, another.
Her grandmother had been an ornery woman, and he saw Joan in Willow more and more. That made him smile. There was no one better that Willow could take after. He missed Joan, and Willow needed her, not an old man who brought on memories of prison.
He thought their relationship had progressed more, and maybe that’s what bothered him the most. His years as a deputy had taught him to sniff out lies. With Willow, it was different. He wanted her to turn to him if she was in trouble. Tomorrow,he would sit her down and get to the bottom of what was wrong. He’d waited long enough.
He walked back to the line of large boulders that were half-buried in dirt. The spring winds that seemed to stay at forty miles plus almost buried the rocks that were the barrier for the driveway that led onto the property. The spring had turned hot too soon, and he’d delayed digging them up and reseating them. Now it was slightly cooler, and with his current level of agitation, it was the perfect time for physical labor.
He worked for two hours before taking a break in the shade of a large shaggy bark tree. He put the water bottle to his mouth and took a long pull. He couldn’t help worrying about Willow. She needed someone to care for her, or maybe care about her was a better way to put it.
His life had changed for the better when she came into it. If he died today, he regretted nothing. She was the child and grandchild he’d never had. He loved her, but he hadn’t said the words. He wasn’t a man who talked a lot, and she drew more conversation out of him than anyone previously. He didn’t just love her; he was damned proud of her.
He’d never seen anyone so interested in learning about everything. Her years in prison had denied her so much. It still angered him that she was shafted by the justice system, and not even her grandmother could save her. How hard it must have been for Joan to see Willow in prison for ten years.
The two hadn’t known each other because Willow’s mother kept Joan out of their lives. But that didn’t stop her from wanting a relationship with her granddaughter. If only Joan had lived to guide Willow through the hard times.
Max, who had been sulking in the barn since Willow told him he couldn’t go with her, walked over and whined at his side. Daisy, who had laid down in the same shade where Dale stood,lifted her head and looked toward the east. Max turned at the same time.
Something caught their attention.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Blood Fate
Butch
Stalking the deputy had become one of Butch’s favorite pastimes. Using his camouflaged Ford truck, which was a hunter’s dream, he wasn’t noticed. He waited for the perfect opportunity to kill the man, and this was finally his chance. This was best for Willow, and he understood now that Willow was his future.