Chapter 24
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
B rock hunched into his jacket and hopped out of his truck just as David easily carried a giggling Monica over his shoulder out of Delores’s house.
“They got into the wine,” David said, opening the plow truck’s door and gently tucking in his fiancée. After securing her seatbelt, he shut the door and snorted. “A lot of wine.”
Shaking his head, Brock strode up the walkway and knocked on the door as the chilly air burned his skin, biting back a smile at the peals of laughter from inside. The plow truck ignited behind him and David drove off, leaving the surrounding area quiet.
The hair on Brock’s nape stood, and he went on full alert. He looked around the normally peaceful subdivision, seeing quiet houses surrounded by darkened trees. Somebody lurked out there. He didn’t know who, but every instinct he had told him somebody watched him right now.
It wasn’t Christian. He knew Christian. Oddly enough, he knew what it felt like to be hunted by C. It wasn’t his brother watching from the woods.
The door opened, and he pivoted as heat blew from the small home. Ophelia stumbled out with Flossy on her heels, both women laughing and already bundled up for the frigid night.
“Thanks for coming to get us.” Ophelia looked up, her cheeks rosy and her eyes bright. “We had a little bit of wine.”
Flossy snorted and nudged Ophelia aside with one skinny elbow. “We had a lot of wine.” Thick material tumbled out of her hands to land on her boots.
Brock leaned over and snagged the partially finished quilt before it could get too wet. “Flossy, be careful.” He lifted the squares, noting a large salmon taking center stage in one of the squares. “That’s a big fish.”
Flossy giggled. “Yeah, I know.” Then she looked around the darkened subdivision and up at the snowing sky. “Hey, we’ve got to get going. I have to work early in the morning.” The elderly woman slid her hand beneath his elbow. “Let’s go, Brock.”
He paused. “Who else needs a ride home?”
Flossy snorted. “Nobody. Loretta drank mostly water after just one glass of wine so she could drive home. Doc is sleeping on the couch right now, and Delores lives here. You should know that. Geez.”
Wow. Tons of wine. Brock reached for Ophelia’s elbow to assist both women down the stairs and toward the truck, which he’d left idling in the driveway. Even so, he scrutinized the forest on the other side of the subdivision to the north. The sense of somebody watching him had gone. Nobody was out there. Perhaps his imagination was fucking with him. “Let’s get you two in the truck,” he said calmly, hustling them both into the warm cab before looking again at the forest. Nothing moved.
They were halfway home before Flossy finally kicked her feet toward the heater. “Oh, man, Brock, you should have seen Olly interrogating Loretta. It was actually a lot of fun.”
Ophelia snorted from the back seat. “I did not interrogate anybody. I just asked her a couple of questions. Frankly, she volunteered a lot of information.”
Brock looked through the rearview mirror at Ophelia, who had settled in quite nicely. “What do you think? Do you believe she harmed Tammy?”
Ophelia shook her head. “No, not really. I can't say for certain, but she seemed to be telling the truth. Although...” She looked out into the darkened night. “I have to say, everyone seems to allow for odd happenings around here. What exactly are you people afraid lurks in the woods?”
Brock shrugged. “There's a lot of danger out there, but nothing supernatural. The cold will destroy you faster than anything else.” He turned off the river road and headed down Main Street, driving slowly to Flossy’s place. He jumped out and helped the elderly woman to the door as Ophelia brought all their quilting supplies.
Flossy moved inside and toed off her boots, her thin hand holding the material that showed a massive moose. “I stitched the owls and fish but didn’t get a chance to add the moose. Maybe I’ll only have one glass of wine next time.” She wavered slightly.
Brock turned toward Ophelia. “So. Are you staying here or with me?”
Ophelia handed the remaining quilting supplies to Flossy. “Oh, I’m staying with you, but first we’re going to have a drink at Sam’s.”
The woman wanted to grab a drink? “All right.” Then he grasped her arm to help her across the ice to the truck while scanning the surrounding area for threats. Soon they headed down Main Street again toward Sam’s. “It seems like you had a good time at your first quilting party.” He kept an eye on a strengthening storm, evidenced by the wind beating the trees down around them.
She grinned. “Oh, I had so much fun. Who knew quilting could be enjoyable? I don’t have a lot with friends, to be honest.” Her voice quieted at the end. “I guess I’ve been busy with work and haven’t really worked on forming good friendships.”
Yeah, she came off adorable when tipsy—and sounded a little lonely. He could relate, especially since he didn’t feel in sync with any of his brothers. He didn’t know how, but he needed to fix that. Somehow.
Before he knew it, they walked inside the bar. Heat slammed into him along with the din of noise. At this time of night, Sam’s only had a few regulars at the bar, along with a couple of people playing pool. Amka waved a greeting from behind the bar, and he waved back. Then he caught sight of Leo Randsom over in the corner and awareness dawned. “Ah, I get it. Leo Randsom is here. All right, let’s do this.”
Ophelia tromped toward Leo’s table.
He sat alone with a drink in front of him. As he looked up, his eyes stayed clear, his graying beard rugged and bushy. “Hey, what's up, Brock?”
Brock nodded his head toward Ophelia. “I think Olly has a couple of questions for you.”
Leo grinned. “Yeah. Loretta texted from the quilting party and said you'd probably be by.”
Ophelia took out a seat. “I already talked to Loretta, and I wanted to get your take on what happened to your ex-wife.”
Leo kept his hand flattened on the table with his beer to the right. “I wish I could tell you something or say I know anything. All I know is that Tammy was unhappy, wanted to leave, and took off. Before you ask, I do not think she would’ve left the kids. I think something happened to her, and we don’t know what.”
Amka hustled over with a pitcher of beer and ice-covered mugs. “Hey, you two. There’s a storm coming. What are you doing out right now?”
Brock gratefully took the mugs and poured two glasses. “We’re just working.” He looked around for Jarod. Ophelia had mentioned she wanted to interview him during the drive to the tavern. “Where’s your business partner?”
“Who knows?” Amka muttered.
Ophelia grasped her arm before she could leave. “I’m curious about the Tundra Complex. I heard Jarod owned it and that it burned down.”
Amka nodded. “Yes. The old place had faulty wiring, but at least nobody was hurt in the fire. I don’t know much more about it than that. Jarod owned it. If he comes back in, I’ll let you know.” She hustled off to bus another table.
Brock couldn’t figure Amka and Jarod out. Amka struck him as intelligent, and he trusted that she’d ask for help if necessary, but what if fear stopped her? She didn’t appear frightened, but something felt off, and he wanted to help. He handed one of the beers to Ophelia.
She took a sip, her gaze on Leo. “Okay, so your divorce from Tammy went through last March. When did you start dating Loretta?”
Leo nodded. “I started seeing Loretta that March and married her in July. She’s the one. Don’t look at me like I’m a jerk. Tammy cheated on me a good year before we even filed for divorce.”
Brock took a drink of his beer. He’d heard rumors but never paid attention to them.
“With whom?” Ophelia asked.
Leo tipped back his beer and swallowed several gulps. “The summer of last year, when we were still married, I followed her a few times and staked out the Tundra Complex.”
“What? I thought the Tundra served as an apartment complex,” Ophelia said, her brow furrowing.
Brock nodded. “The Tundra had about twenty suites and served as a long-stay motel. But Jarod rented rooms by the hour to make extra money.” He didn’t judge what others did, but the by-hour situation never made sense to him.
Leo looked down at the table. “That summer, I caught Tammy taking tourists there. You know. A guy from a fishing or hunting tour.” He moved uncomfortably. “I should’ve divorced her right there and then, but I worried about the kids. Then earlier this year she wanted a divorce, so I gave it to her.”
Ophelia narrowed her eyes. “What are you leaving out?”
The woman had excellent instincts. Brock enjoyed watching her work.
“Nothing that is relevant to your case,” Leo said.
Ophelia waited until he looked up at her. “That’s up to me, don’t you think?”
He glanced at Brock, who nodded at him.
“Fine, but it’s not relevant. Last year, during the summer when I was following my wife around, I saw Hank leaving that place a couple of times.”
“Hank?” Brock shook his head. He’d had no idea. “Why would he have been at the motel? The man had his own cabin.” As far as Brock knew, Hank hadn’t been romantically involved with anybody in eons.
Leo shrugged. “I don't know. Maybe one or more of you guys came home for leave that summer, but I don’t remember. Maybe that’s why Hank kept any liaisons away from his place. Or he just wanted privacy. Who knows? I don’t know, and I don’t care. Frankly, I wouldn’t know if I hadn’t been staking out the Tundra to see who my wife was fucking.”
Ophelia cast Brock a look and then refocused on Leo. “Is there any chance Hank and Tammy had relations?”
Heat flushed down Brock’s back. “Hank would never have slept with Tammy since he considered Leo a friend.”
Leo nodded. “Totally agree. They weren’t there together.”
Ophelia put her palm to her forehead. “Okay. So what? Eighteen months ago, in the summer, Tammy had liaisons with tourists, none of whom you know.”
“Not just in the summer,” Leo groused. “She kept it up until we got divorced. But at least her taste improved after that.”
Warning ticked down Brock’s back. Why? He didn’t know. “What are you saying?”
Leo looked miserable. “This May, after you left town, Tammy and Ace had a thing. It might’ve only been one night or weekend. She was now living at the Tundra, and I dropped by the kids’ spring soccer schedule and found him coming out of her place. He still had bruises from the plane wreck and wouldn’t meet my eyes.” Leo glanced up, sweeping his hands wide. “I didn’t give a shit. Felt bad for the guy, to be honest.”
Brock’s eyebrows lifted. Ace had slept with Tammy? That didn’t sound like Ace, since he and Leo were friends, but he had gone through a rough time after the plane wreck, which they still hadn’t discussed in any detail. “What the hell?”
Ophelia sat back, looking like her nice buzz disappeared. “Brock?”
“I didn’t know that,” he said.
Ophelia focused on Brock. “When did Ace return to town after his plane wreck?”
Brock crossed his arms. “I left on the first of May, and apparently my brother came home on the fifth. Obviously, if I knew he was coming home, I would’ve stayed. I didn’t know, and I went off the grid until last week.”
Leo nodded. “Don’t blame you. Walkabout is a good way to handle stress, and getting out of the service seems stressful. My brother was a Marine, and he went through the same thing.”
Brock didn’t regret his time wandering the wilds, but he wished he could’ve been there for Ace.
Ophelia lowered her chin. “Leo? What’s the timeframe between when you caught Ace with Tammy and the Tundra burning down?”
Leo shrugged. “Maybe a week? Shit, I don’t remember. I didn’t torch the place because my ex-wife had sex there, and I can’t even pinpoint when she disappeared since she refused to agree to any sort of custody schedule. May was a rough month for Knife’s Edge. I guess Tammy disappeared, the sheriff keeled over in the middle of church, and then the Tundra burned down. We were all scrambling, I guess.”
Brock glanced at Ophelia. “I heard that everybody got out and nobody died in the fire, so that’s good.”
“Leo? While you staked out the Tundra, did you see anybody else of interest?” Ophelia asked.
Good question. Brock sat back to watch her work.
Leo finished his beer. “No. After we divorced, I saw her with Ace, with Fred Jeronimish, and still with Jarod.” He glanced under his lashes at Amka behind the bar. “Fred moved down to the lower forty-eight, but if you want more info, I’d talk with both Jarod and Ace. Sorry, Brock.”
A stone dropped into Brock’s gut. He really didn’t like this.
Leo kicked back his chair and stood. “All right, I’m done with this interview. If you want to ask me anything else, talk to my lawyer. All I’ll tell you is that I have no clue where Tammy is, and considering she hasn’t tried to contact the kids in any way, she’s probably dead. That’s it. Sorry. I truly am.” He turned and lumbered toward the bar to pay his bill.
Ophelia took another sip of beer. “You know, every time I think I have a line on either of these cases, they go in the opposite direction of what I expect.” She gently placed the mug back on the table. “Well, let's go talk to Ace.”
The door opened, and Christian walked in, snow in his hair.
Brock instinctively stood.
Christian moved toward him. “I was out night hunting once it got dark and I think I found Tamara Randsom’s body up by Gravewatch Peak in an old warming hut.” He glanced at Ophelia, keeping his voice to a low whisper. “It looked like something clawed her to death…and gouged out her eyes.”