Page 9

NINE

P enny wasn’t sure what was more battered: her body or her heart. Every muscle movement and bump in the road brought more pain. But to have Bryce back in the passenger seat of her car again was a different kind of torture.

And yet part of her soaked it in, begging for more. More of the way he protected her from bullets and shrapnel with his own body. More of the dark chocolate-brown stare that pulled her in. More of the way he focused so intently on her when she had something to say.

“Hey, is that the penny I gave you?” He pointed at the one dangling from her keychain. Yes, the very one he’d pulled out of his pocket when he’d taken her up in the mountains to watch the stars. They’d lain on a sleeping bag in the bed of his truck, a velvet night sky and the Milky Way stretching above them with stars so bright she could almost touch them.

“Penny for your thoughts,” he’d said as he’d handed over the copper coin.

“I think this is about as close to heaven on earth as a person can get.” Even her voice had sounded small in the vastness and glory displayed in that sky. And she remembered the contentment of that moment. Her mother had felt close. The ache of missing her dulled to almost nothing.

Almost.

Bryce had looked at her then. She could’ve sworn he saw all of her, down to her soul. And he’d smiled, happy with whatever it was he’d found. “I think you’re right.”

But he wasn’t looking up at the stars or the tiny sliver of a moon.

He was looking at her.

And she’d kept the penny to remember that feeling. She wanted to get back to that place of contentment. Of feeling close to her mom. Of feeling seen.

She hadn’t found it yet, but surely she would eventually. She just had to keep searching.

Instead of answering Bryce’s question, she looked at the navigation screen on her dashboard. “Looks like we’re here.”

They pulled up to an old farmhouse with a sagging porch. The yellow paint was peeling away from the siding. Weeds grew in the flower beds that lined the front. Two cop cars took up the short driveway, but no one was in the front yard. They followed the pavers around to the side of the house. Bryce hung behind to take a phone call while Penny continued to the backyard. An old red shed meant to look like a miniature barn stood in one corner against a tree line. One of the officers she hadn’t met was studying it. She heard Tony’s voice and turned to look for him.

Her gaze locked on to the little ramp against the back wall of the house and the gaping doors opening up to cement stairs.

A cellar.

The smell of damp, musty earth hit her.

Penny stood frozen halfway across the yard. Despite the hot sun beating down on them, she shivered.

She didn’t move. She couldn’t. Her breathing was too fast, but it wasn’t nearly enough oxygen. What was happening? A shadow came up the steps toward her.

The voices she’d heard so clearly now sounded muffled and far away. Her vision blurred.

“Penny?”

Bryce touched her arm. “Pen?”

She tried to speak but couldn’t.

“Hey, maybe you should sit down. You’re white as a ghost.” He looked worried, but all she could focus on was pulling enough air into her suddenly shrunken lungs.

He helped her sit in the grass. “Try resting your head on your knees.”

The warmth of his hand helped ground her.

She couldn’t tell if it had been a few seconds or hours, but eventually her lungs cooperated and relaxed enough to get a full breath.

“That’s right. Take it nice and slow.” Bryce knelt in front of her, rubbing her arms, fighting off the chill that overtook her.

The spotty vision cleared. It wasn’t just Bryce with her. Tony and Olivia stood behind him, obvious concern in their gazes.

“Hey, girl, are you okay?” Olivia squatted down. She handed Penny a bottle of water.

Was she? Penny tried to open the cap, but her hand was too weak. Bryce opened it, even held the bottle to her lips. After a few sips, the fuzzy thoughts sharpened back into words.

“I’m sorry. I’m fine now. I just…spaced out or something.”

Bryce searched her face. “Is it the concussion? Do you feel like you’re going to black out?”

She shook her head. Slowly. “I don’t know. This has never happened before. But I’m okay now.” But something inside told her it wasn’t the head injury throwing her into a tailspin.

She started to stand. He was right there, gently pulling her to her feet but not letting go of her arms until she stepped away. Even then his brow furrowed.

“I’m fine, Bryce. I promise.”

Tony and Olivia stared too. “So, where were we?” she asked them. “We have investigating to do.”

“You wanna check out this storm cellar with me?” Tony asked.

Absolutely not. Her lungs seized again at the thought. She backed away. “How about I check another part of the house?”

“We already checked everything else,” Olivia said. “There’s nothing here. There’s evidence of boxes of some sort in that shed, dust patterns on the floor, but they’re gone now. We’ll wait for the lab guys to collect samples and see if they can find anything, but our initial sweep is almost done.”

“Okay if I poke around the main level?” Penny asked.

“Go for it.” Tony turned toward the cellar doors. “If this place is as empty as the rest of it, this won’t take us long. Tazwell, why don’t you come with me?”

Penny couldn’t watch as he and Olivia started down the stairs.

Bryce didn’t say anything, but he stuck close to her side as she walked to the back door that was still propped open. The kitchen was straight out of the eighties with almond-colored appliances and a dusty blue-and-pink wallpaper border. An old farmhouse table stood off to the side. The honey-oak cabinets were open, revealing bare shelves. They walked into the equally empty living room and followed the blue shag carpet down the hall to the bedrooms and bathroom. Nothing but an old bed in one room and a big table lamp on the floor in the other. So much for this lead.

Tony and Olivia found them as they walked back to the kitchen.

“Nothing in the storm cellar either, but like that shed, there had been something recently moved. The dust pattern suggests more boxes.” Olivia leaned against the counter.

“Guess this place is a bust.” Tony led them all back outside.

“They might find trace evidence we can use.” Olivia held the door open. Once Bryce and Penny walked through, she closed it up. “But for now, we’ll have to wait. I’ll go back to the station and start digging into Gomez and Hernandez more.”

“I’ll see what I can get from my sources too,” Penny said. She gave the storm cellar a wide berth as they passed it to walk around to the front of the house.

“Do you want me to drive?” Bryce asked as they approached her car.

He asked it so gently, not demanding or fussy, no implication that she couldn’t do it herself. Just a simple request. And as drained as her body was from whatever that had been on the back lawn and the beginning of what was sure to be a major headache, she couldn’t deny the relief of letting someone else take the wheel.

“Sure.” She dug the keys out of her pocket and handed them over.

Penny sank into her own passenger seat. A residue of unease she couldn’t shake still filled her. Bryce pulled out of the driveway and back onto the road.

She closed her eyes.

Suddenly, she was there. That horrible musty place. The cold floor seeping through her clothes and turning her bones to ice. The spiders. The smell.

Nope! Better to keep her eyes wide open.

It had been years.

So why was it all coming back now?

Sure, she avoided basements at all costs, but she’d never had an episode like whatever had just happened on the Van Kerk back lawn. She forced steadiness into her fingers as she pulled out her phone and swiped across the screen. Anything to look busy and focused so Bryce wouldn’t ask her more questions. Or stare at her with those all-too-knowing eyes. And since when did he have that kind of power over her? He was Fun Bryce. A good time. Nothing more.

But it’d been his steady gaze, helping her slow down her breathing, that’d brought her out of that darkness that’d almost swallowed her.

And sure, on the lonely nights, he was her favorite thing to reminisce about. The nights they’d gone out dancing. Of course, it’d been country music, but the man had looked good in those tight Levis and cowboy boots. And he sure could two-step. They’d always agreed to keep it light. Casual.

And that was over. Now it was time to stay professional. No more personal moments or emotional breakdowns.

Pull it together, Pen.

Shaking off the chill, she breathed in deep and concentrated on reading her email. Nothing super important.

“Here we are,” he said.

Looking up, she caught sight of the Crawford home.

“What are we doing here?”

“Mom heard you were here. She invited us over for coffee. And dinner. And I don’t know if you noticed, but our lunch was cut short.”

“Really, Bryce, you don’t need to bug your family. I’m sure they’re all busy. I have plenty?—”

He didn’t let her finish. Instead he got out of the car and walked around to open her door. Infuriating man!

“You gotta try my mom’s coffee cake. She’s been taking more time to be at home with Dad and took some baking classes.”

“I have so much to do right now. I can’t be taking hour-long coffee breaks.”

He held out his hand to her. “Andi wants to see you. And I happen to know she’s here.” He gave her that “come on” gesture and didn’t move.

She shook her head. “I have work. You stay. I’ll go.”

He leaned in closer—close enough she could smell his aftershave. The one that reminded her of rugged coastlines of a wild sea. “You missed her wedding. You can come have dinner with my sister and the family.” He wiggled the penny keychain with her fob on it. “Besides, I have your keys.”

His pointed look, that hint of a smirk. He was relentless.

“Fine. But I’m warning you now. I can’t stay long.”

She ignored his hand as she hopped out of the passenger side of her SUV, but the warmth on the small of her back as he guided her inside was equally as powerful. Why couldn’t she pull away?

“Mom, we’re here,” Bryce called out from the entryway.

“Penny!” Before she could come up with another excuse to leave, she was engulfed in a hug by Elizabeth Crawford.

As soon as she was released, Andi claimed her own embrace. “It’s about time!”

Jude lifted his can in greeting as he walked into the entry. The smell of savory meat wafted in from deeper in the house.

“I thought you were leaving town,” Penny said.

“I was. Just got back and leaving again tonight.”

Andi claimed Penny’s arm and dragged her through, into the kitchen.

She was as relentless as her brother. Poor Jude never had a chance. Not that it looked like he cared as he stared adoringly at his bride from across the room.

It was sickening and…sweet. Maybe the sooner they finished the meal, the sooner she could make her excuses to leave. Someone else could take Bryce to get his truck.

“So, did you finish your big case?” Andi asked.

Cases. Yes! That, she could talk about and keep it professional.

“Yeah, what case was that again?” Jude lifted one dark brow. “The one that kept you busy last month.”

The one that’d kept her away from their wedding was what he meant. “It wasn’t big as much as it was time sensitive.”

“Did you have to find a missing kid or something?” Andi asked as she set a tall glass of iced tea in front of Penny on the granite countertop.

“Uh, no.” She didn’t take those kinds of cases anymore. “Just tracking down a suspect. So, tell me, how was the wedding?”

Bryce hung his head back and moaned. “Don’t get her started. Next thing you know, we’ll be forced to watch the wedding video. Again.”

Elizabeth laughed and steered Bryce away. “Go get your father and let him know it’s time for dinner.”

Bryce left, which somehow made the room feel a little bigger. But she couldn’t decide if that was a good thing or not. Jude grabbed the stack of plates on the counter and started setting the table.

Good idea. Stay busy. “Can I help?” She reached for the pile of silverware someone had set on the counter.

“Oh no you don’t.” Bryce’s mother scooped the utensils up and handed them to her daughter. “That’s Andi’s job.”

“Surely there’s something I can do.” She always hated not doing her share.

“Do you mind slicing a few veggies for our salad?”

“Not at all.” Penny settled at the counter, where Elizabeth passed over a cutting board with some tomatoes and cucumbers. They all settled into an easy rhythm as they prepped for the meal. Elizabeth went on about the governor’s family, his wife and son who were arriving in a couple days. Apparently, she was part of the welcoming committee.

Soon they were seated together, Bryce’s father at one end, Elizabeth at the other, with Andi and Jude across the table from Penny and Bryce.

Before she realized what was happening, Bryce and Elizabeth both grabbed her hands, and they were joined in a circle. Elizabeth asked Jude to pray.

Penny tried not to squirm as everyone bowed their heads. Bryce sent her a playful shrug, like he played along but didn’t necessarily put a lot of stock in what they were doing.

“Lord, thank You for Your provision and protection. Bless us as we gather here. May this meal bring nourishment to our bodies, and may the conversation be encouraging and uplifting. Amen.”

Elizabeth gave Penny’s hand a light squeeze before letting go. “It’s so nice to have a full table again.”

“A full table?”

Andi speared her salad. “You’re sitting in Logan’s spot. It’s been vacant since he left for Montana last year.”

“Oh, right. How does he like it out there?”

“He seems to enjoy it. And with the dry spring they had, it sounds like their fire season is supposed to be a bad one.” One didn’t have to be an observant PI to recognize the lines of worry in his mother’s eyes. “So, dear, tell us what you’ve been up to.”

“Oh, not much. Tracking down bad guys. You’ll never guess how I found the last one.”

“How?” Bryce asked.

“I did a face search and found him on a dating app.”

Everyone laughed.

Andi batted her eyes at Jude. “I guess even criminals are looking for love.”

Bryce leaned into Penny’s side. “I told you not to bring it up. Now they’ll be staring moon-eyed at each other over the rest of dinner.”

“Oh, let them be, Bryce.” Elizabeth stared him down for a moment, then turned her blue eyes Penny’s direction. “Don’t you have a sister in Last Chance now?”

Elizabeth probably meant to steer the conversation to safer waters. But the only thing more personal than romance was family.

Penny nodded as she took a sip of her tea. “Yeah, Libby and her husband moved out here over a year ago.”

“Is it just the two of them?”

“They have two kids too.”

“Is your sister Libby Lawson?” Elizabeth tilted her head.

Penny’s fork froze, the cucumber on it hanging in the air. “Yes. How did you know?”

“I just met her at the women’s Bible study at our church. What a small world!”

Some might say too small. She still couldn’t get over the fact that her sister darkened the doors of a church in the first place. Of course it would be the one Jude and Andi attended, and apparently Elizabeth too. At least she didn’t have to worry about Bryce joining the club. He’d never had much time for church.

“Does this mean you’ll settle down here in Last Chance too?” Elizabeth’s face brightened up way too much. “That would be nice, Bryce, wouldn’t it?”

He tried to hide his surprise behind his too-handsome grin. “Sure.”

“You could join us for Sunday dinners! You know you’re always welcome. You saved our lives bringing down Diego Ruiz Sosa, so like it or not, you’re one of us.”

One of us.

It sounded a lot like belonging.

Elizabeth’s warm smile bored a small but piercing hole straight to Penny’s heart—a motherly gesture that Penny hadn’t experienced in so long. That was the only reason she’d reacted so strongly, right?

But as nice as belonging sounded, it came with entanglements, expectations.

And it made her vulnerable.

Vulnerability could be exploited. She’d seen it with the Sosa case. Diego Ruiz Sosa had used Elizabeth’s own family, caused a car accident that had forever altered her husband’s brain and personality, another car accident that’d injured Logan, and Andi had almost been killed too. All so he could force Elizabeth to give up the identity of Izan Collins, who he’d thought was his son. And he’d probably wanted the millions of dollars his accountant—Izan’s true father—had stolen. Evil people went to a lot of trouble to get what they wanted, and they didn’t tend to care who they hurt to get it.

And Penny tracked down such people.

Could she really bring danger to the doorstep of nice people who had already been through so much?

Penny had already lost her mother. How in the world would she handle it if anything happened to someone else she loved? She needed to settle this now.

“I’m not much of one for settling down. Anywhere. Ask my sister.” Penny chuckled. “She blames our dad for my wanderlust.”

“Oh? And where do your parents live?” Elizabeth took a sip from her glass.

Penny could’ve smacked herself on the forehead. “Uh, my mom died when I was young, and Dad passed away a few years ago.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” The compassion welling in Elizabeth’s eyes had Penny squirming.

“I’m fine. It’s been a while.”

“Well, please know you have a standing invitation. And we have a guest room if you ever need it. Do you have any other family?”

“My sister, Tori. She’s been out in Alaska as part of a hotshot crew the last few years. She’s hoping to be a smokejumper this year. Speaking of which, how is Logan liking being a smokejumper in Montana?” She stuffed her mouth with a big bite of pasta.

Anything to get the attention off her fractured family.

“He loves it. I shouldn’t be surprised he stayed. I don’t know where his thirst for adventure comes from. I wish he could’ve found it closer to home though.”

“Aw, Mom, don’t be too down on him. He needed a change of scenery.” Bryce grabbed a roll from the basket in the middle of the table. “At least it’s not Australia.”

“I know. I just miss him.”

Andi smirked. “Don’t pretend like you don’t miss him too, Bryce. You two talk all the time.”

Penny looked over at Bryce. How could he not miss his brother? His twin brother, no less. Didn’t twins have special bonds?

“It’s not like I’m crying over him or anything. But Mom here is practically tearing up just talking about it.”

“Oh, just wait till you have your own children. Let’s see how you like it when you do everything you can to give them the world and then they up and leave you to live their own lives!” Elizabeth speared her two kids with a pointed look.

“Mom, we’ve already talked about this. You’re not going to pressure us for grandkids. We just got married.” Andi put her fork down, ready for battle.

“Who said I was pressuring?”

Probably no one at the table believed the innocent look on Elizabeth’s face. The familial banter made Penny want to laugh and run away at the same time. It would be so easy to be swept up in the love and loyalty around this table. The way they enveloped her so easily, talked to her like she was one of them.

But she wasn’t. She couldn’t be. She was already committed to taking this case, but she’d need to stay focused or she’d find herself putting down roots where she had no business doing so. Last time she was here, Bryce had too easily slid past her guarded heart.

The scene with Ashlee had made it obvious. Deep down, it wasn’t the idea of Bryce cheating on her that shook her to the core. It was how much it hurt that clued her in she was already in too deep. Once she’d realized what was happening, she’d hightailed it out of there so fast she’d left pieces of herself behind.

He was easy to be with. Easy to fall for. But they both knew how it would end. Bryce was only a coworker now. No more family dinners. The lines too easily blurred.

She’d better get out while she could and solve this case quickly.