Page 19 of Mystery at Rescue Ridge (Rescue Ridge #5)

E vie’s imagination ran wild with fears about what Size Eleven had intended to do with her on the rest of the trip to the small bungalow-style house out on the property.

Dual No Trespassing signs flanked the driveway, nailed to weather-worn posts and a barbed wire fence.

A rottweiler chained to a tree lunged toward them as they exited the SUV.

The chain around its neck tied it to a mesquite tree in the front yard, stopping the animal from reaching them.

The effort the movement took seemed to deplete the animal because he didn’t bark long.

Despite the fact this dog could take a hunk of flesh out of them if they got any closer, Evie felt sorry for the animal. As vicious as its barks were, it was way too thin. In addition to not having water available on a warm day, she saw no evidence of food either.

“We’re reporting this, correct?” Owen asked Travis. The sheriff had his cell out and tapped on the screen.

“Already done.”

Good. No animal should be chained to a tree all day. The area around the tree was nothing but dirt, and there was no water in sight. Evie’s hands fisted. Her nails dug into her palms.

This was exactly the kind of place she envisioned a stalker living. Owen was already searching the grounds. He located an empty gallon jug, before fashioning it into a makeshift dog bowl. “Do you have water in the vehicle?”

Travis nodded, then clicked a key fob to unlock the door. “Check in the back.”

Owen retrieved the water from the back as Travis rounded the side of the home to avoid the area reachable by the chained animal, which included the front door.

Evie waited at the front of the SUV after Travis motioned for her to stay put.

Owen barely had time to fix a water bowl for the dog and kick it toward the massive animal when Travis came bolting around the side of the home. Phone held high, he came toward them like a heat-seeking missile.

“Deputy Carter has a hit. We’re in the wrong location.”

Owen paused as he watched the animal lap up the water and then wheeze. He mumbled a curse underneath his breath that Evie barely heard. “Go on without me.”

“What?” Travis’s eyebrow shot up.

“I’m not leaving this guy alone. There are no tire tracks but ours, meaning he could have been left out here alone for days on end. I’m staying until the authorities show up.” He shifted his gaze to Evie and mouthed an apology. “I can’t in good conscience leave him alone in this condition.”

“Don’t worry about me. I’m good.” Evie touched his arm, and her understanding reached his heart. “I have to go with Travis.”

“I know.” As much as he wanted to hop into the SUV, he couldn’t leave this animal.

“Should I send someone to pick you up?” Travis asked.

“No. Everyone should stay focused on finding the bastard.” Owen was shaking his head. “I’ll figure out a way to catch up to you guys.”

“Your phone is out of battery,” Evie pointed out. She produced hers. “Take this instead.”

Owen took the offering and thanked her. She was better at keeping track of his phone than he was because he’d already forgotten about the dead battery. You’d think he would have learned his lesson about keeping his battery charged, but no.

The Rotty’s eyes were tired, and he lay down, panting. Owen cursed. He didn’t like being separated from Evie. Not even for an hour or two.

“I’ll meet up with you as soon as I can,” he promised.

As he stood and watched her climb into the passenger seat and then disappear, the knot tightened in his chest. Being away from her was going to be hard. She’s with Travis. He’s capable of keeping her safe. Those words turned into a mantra in his head.

The Rotty growled, low and deep. The effort caused it to cough again.

“You’re going to be all right, buddy,” Owen soothed. He filled another container with water and set it within reach. The Rotty lapped it up so fast, so eagerly, water sprayed everywhere. When it pulled its head up, water dripped from its jowls.

Owen sat down on a stump with his torso facing left of the dog so as not to be a threat. He’d always had a calming presence with the horses and other animals on the ranch. This animal was simply protecting his domain.

He tucked Evie’s cell in his pocket and waited.

She’s with Travis. He’s capable of keeping her safe.

The well-maintained house in a cul-de-sac neighborhood didn’t strike Evie as the place a stalker would live. Maybe she’d watched too many crime shows on TV, but a home with window boxes filled with flowers and a vegetable garden didn’t fit her mind’s mold.

Two deputy SUVs sat out front; the law enforcement officers already inside.

The door of the one-story home stood open.

Neighbors from the houses surrounding their target gathered in their front yards, concern on their faces.

One sat in a lawn chair to watch them like this was some kind of spectator sport.

Travis parked, and they exited the vehicle in unison. He glanced at her like he was about to warn her to stay put and decided against the idea when he seemed to note the look of determination on her face. There was no way she intended to sit idly by while he investigated.

She walked behind the sheriff after he announced himself before entering the home.

The living room they cut across looked something out of her grandmother’s playbook.

Doilies covered the tables. Flower patterns adorned heavy drapes.

The room was tidy, if too dark. It was the kind of place that made her want to tear down the curtains and open the windows to let some light in.

An elderly woman sat in a rocking chair, a crochet needle in her hand, working yarn. She glanced up with a scornful gaze, a warning. Did she know she was harboring a stalker?

Evie shifted her gaze away from the woman before turning to walk down a hallway. She and Travis were met by Deputy Carter, a tall guy in his mid-thirties with sandy hair and a runner’s build.

After greetings, Deputy Carter said, “Ms. Bowman said this hallway is off-limits. It’s her grandson’s personal space, and we shouldn’t be invading it without his knowledge or permission.”

“Is she aware that her grandson is suspected of committing a crime or we wouldn’t be here?” Travis said under his breath. “And that we wouldn’t ‘invade’ his space without probable cause or a search warrant?”

“Didn’t even have to wake the judge this time,” Deputy Carter said.

She could only imagine what some of their raids looked like in a remote county after seeing meth labs on those crime shows. Some of it had to be based in reality.

Deputy Carter leaned in to the sheriff, then said, “Wait until you see what her precious grandson has been up to. Lawrence Diebold has a fixation.”

Lawrence Diebold. The name didn’t ring any bells, not that Evie expected it to. Hoped maybe.

She took one step inside and froze. A deputy logged evidence, working his way through the room with a bed, a desk with a chair, and a dresser.

All surfaces were covered with printouts of various body parts of Simone.

Screenshots that had been printed. An entire wall behind his desk and dual monitors had been papered with various photos of Simone.

Bile burned the back of Evie’s throat. Waves of nausea rolled through her. Red marker mapped moles and the birthmark on Simone’s body. There were adult toys being logged that had been tucked away in the dresser.

The scene sickened and scared her.

Travis’s cell buzzed. He took the call, turning his back to the room’s occupants. “When did this happen?”

She pieced together the one-sided conversation.

“She disappeared while on duty?” he asked.

A lead ball dropped into the pit of Evie’s stomach.

“You said she’s been out of cell range for three hours?” A few uh-huhs were followed by an “I see.” A few beats of silence passed. Travis turned enough for his gaze to flick to Evie. “I’ll file a report and let my people know.”

He ended the call and then walked over to Deputy Carter, who was monitoring the screen on his cell.

“Game Warden Joann Garza is missing,” Travis said. “She’s on shift, and the last time any of her peers heard from her was three hours ago.”

“Do we know the area she was last seen in?” Deputy Carter asked.

“On the Ashworth property,” Deputy Travis said.

Evie suppressed a gasp. Thank the heavens the kids were at Ms. Bart’s. They needed to stay away from the farmhouse until this bastard was safely locked behind bars.

“We’re light on resources,” Deputy Carter said.

Travis nodded. “I’ll head that way. Why don’t you stay here and finish up? Let me know what you find.”

“You’re going to want to see this live drone footage.” Deputy Carter tilted his phone’s screen toward the sheriff.

“I need to know exactly where the drone is filming,” Travis said. The tension in his voice said they’d found something big.

Evie moved beside Travis to watch. From this house, the drone tracked north into the wooded area on the back of the lot where there was a badly neglected shed with a shiny lock bolting the door closed from the outside.

The new lock was out of place with the broken-down four-by-four building. Travis turned and walked straight into the living room.

“Is there a shed on your property, ma’am?” he asked the woman, who was still crocheting.

She looked unbothered. “Haven’t been much beyond the yard these last few years.

” She looked Travis dead in the eyes. Bullets shot from her hard gaze.

“Don’t reckon I remember anything that I haven’t seen in more years than I care to count.

” Her lips thinned in a sneer. “Couldn’t tell you what’s on the property that I can’t touch from the back porch. ”

The question most likely had to be asked, if only to gauge the response. Based on the way this older woman looked at Travis with spite, she was lying or covering up for someone else.

“Don’t you have anything better to do than bother tax-paying citizens?” she asked, picking up the remote and then blasting the TV speaker so loud Travis would have to shout over the noise if he wanted to keep questioning her.

He turned to the door and walked out with Evie on his heels.

To her estimation, the game warden could be in trouble because of Evie. Her mind raced. Had Joann gotten caught in Lawrence Diebold’s web? Was she out there in the woods somewhere? Face down? In a ditch? Or bleeding out?

Ice trickled down Evie’s spine as she thought about Lawrence’s fixation on Simone and his obsession with finding out why she’d stopped talking to him in the chat room. Was he taking his frustration out on Joann?

Or had Joann misjudged the mountain lion and ended up clawed, bitten, or dead? Was she somewhere out on her property clinging to life?

With a headshake, Evie ran behind Travis as he bolted toward the shed.

The need to check on the kids just to make sure they were fine struck.

But that wasn’t possible now that she’d handed over her cell phone.

Speaking of which, she wished there was a discreet way to let Owen know what was happening.

Another dark thought struck.

Was Lawrence planning to use Joann as bait to draw Simone out? Of course, he believed Evie to be Simone. But that wasn’t the point. Could the bastard have surprised Joann in the same manner in which Owen had been caught off guard?

Joann had a son who needed her. She had a family.

The weight of the last thought hit Evie with the force of an F4 tornado because she had a family now, too. One she intended to do right by no matter how little sleep she got or how difficult raising kids might be. Evie had always figured out a way when life kicked her. This would be no different.

For the first time since finding out Simone was gone and being called to step in to raise her children, Evie knew in her heart that she could and would do this. And she was going to make a damn fine mother because she also realized she would do anything to ensure the safety of those little ones.

Owen had a lot to do with her newfound confidence. Being around him again had reminded her that she was a bad-ass and could do anything she set her mind to.

Travis’s fast walk turned into a jog as they zigzagged through the trees toward the shed. A stench like nothing she’d ever smelled before smacked her as the building came into view. Travis slowed down.

He put his hand out like a barrier between her and the building. “You should stay back.”

For a split second, she opened her mouth to argue, then decided not to. He was doing his job. Keeping her safe.

She took a step back and braced herself against a tree. From this angle, she could see the front door of the shed. The metallic scent reminded her of something…she just couldn’t place what.

And then it dawned on her. She remembered the time she’d forgotten to take the trash out after throwing away a hamburger that had gone bad in her fridge.

Panic gripped her. Her mind started churning on all the horrific outcomes it could muster. She lifted her cotton shirt to filter some of the smell.

Travis pulled a bandana out of his pocket and covered his nose and mouth. She feared the worst as he stood in front of the door, sizing up the lock.

A muffled scream got him kicking at the door. The wood splintered. Travis went to work pulling split boards and kicking until he’d made enough progress for light to fill the space. There, scooting forward with a panicked look in her eyes, was Joann. She tilted her chin down.

Evie dropped her gaze to the woman’s chest where a makeshift bomb was duct-taped.

A hand came over Evie’s mouth. She didn’t hear the bastard walk up behind her. Instinct had her trying to shout to Travis.

“Do it, and she goes boom,” an unfamiliar voice said into her ear.