42. forty
forty
. . .
ASPEN
“What’s the matter, dear?”
Birdie’s voice startled me enough that I yelped, then slapped my hand over my face in embarrassment. I’d been standing at the windows in the den, the ones that faced the driveway, willing Crew’s truck to come rolling down the gravel and ease the twisting in my gut.
“I’m so sorry,” I told her, then flicked my wrist to check my watch. “But…Crew should’ve been home by now. My calls are going straight to voicemail.”
Forty minutes had passed since he’d called to say he’d be home in twenty, and something about his tardiness wasn’t sitting right with me.
“I can feel it too,” Birdie whispered, gathering my hand in hers. “Something is wrong.”
“What makes you say that?”
She pressed her free palm to her heart. “A mother always knows.”
I sighed in relief that I wouldn’t have to try to explain this nagging sensation tugging at my heart. Birdie merely withdrew her phone from the pocket of the apron she perpetually wore and dialed a number. The ringing filled the silence between us, and a deep voice answered a moment later.
“Hey, Mama,” he said, and I recognized it instantly as Lane. “Sorry I’m not going to be able to make dinner. Things are moving on this case, and I’ll be stuck at the department until further notice.”
“Have you seen Crew?”
“Not since he left here about forty minutes or so ago.”
Birdie put the phone on speaker, and I said, “Hey, Lane? It’s Aspen. Look, it’s probably nothing, but he called me when he left there. Said he was going to get pizza from Mozzy’s and head home.”
“Fuck,” Lane breathed. “I’m assuming you tried calling him?”
“Yes. They’re going right to his voicemail.”
“Trey and I will go check it out.”
“Be careful, baby,” Birdie told her son, echoing the last words I’d spoken to Crew.
“I’ll call you when I know something.”
Aria entered the room as Birdie ended the call and said, “Was that Lane? Is he coming out for dinner? And speaking of, where the heck is Crew with the pizza?”
“Finn? West?” Birdie called, ignoring Aria’s questions.
The twins appeared in the den a moment later, and the training they received during years of active duty with the Rangers must’ve alerted them to the fact that something was wrong.
Finn opened his mouth, but Birdie shot him a pleading look, eyes bouncing from him to Aria, who missed the entire exchange thanks to something on her phone holding her attention.
“C’mon, Ari,” West said, placing his hands on his sister’s shoulders. “Let’s see if we can scrounge up a snack.”
“But…the pizza.”
“Crew is taking ages, and I’m starving. Aren’t you starving? ”
Her reply was lost to distance as he steered her toward the kitchen on the other side of the house.
“What’s going on?” Finn asked the second Aria was out of earshot.
“We don’t know yet,” Birdie answered honestly. “But Aspen and I both have a bad feeling something happened to Crew.”
“Did you call Lane?”
Birdie nodded. “He and Trey were still at the station, but they’re going to check it out.”
“Why would Trey be at the station?” Finn asked, looking at me.
“Your guess is as good as mine, but if I had to make one, I’d say something popped on the Prom Night Arsonist case. Trey’s been helping out on some surveillance matters, so maybe they decided to loop him in.”
“Okay, back up,” Finn said, taking my hands and leading me to the sectional, where he sat and pulled me down next to him. “I think it’s time to loop me in.”
“Me too,” West said, reappearing with a carton of yogurt in his hand.
“Where’s Aria?”
West shrugged. “Got a call, so she went upstairs.”
“Good,” Finn said, turning back to me. “Now spill.”
I told them everything I knew, everything I could remember, from the moment I arrived in town to the conversation with Crew after he’d left the station not an hour ago.
As soon as I finished my spiel, my phone rang with Lane’s name on the readout.
“Did you find him?”
“Is my mom with you?”
“Finn and West too.”
“Good then I only have to say this once.” His voice shook, and I braced for the impact of his news. I’d only known the sheriff a few short months, but he was unflappable. If he was worked up, the news was distressing.
“Crew is gone.”
Birdie sucked in a breath, and my heart dropped right to my feet. I was trembling so badly that I dropped my phone, and one of the twins scooped it up. I didn’t pay attention to which, not as my vision blurred with tears. Pain pricked the flesh of my arm, and looked down to find Birdie holding onto me for dear life.
“What do you mean, gone ?” Finn asked.
“I mean, his truck is parked behind Mozzy’s, still running, and there are three pizzas laying on the ground like they’d been dropped there. We spoke to the counter staff, and he was here probably twenty minutes ago. The place is crazy busy right now, so he must’ve had to wait in line for a while.”
“But he’s still gone.”
“No sign of him, Finny,” Lane confirmed, the pain and fear in his voice penetrating my own haze.
“West and I are on our way.”
“I’m pulling security footage from here and heading to Trey’s. He’s already there, so that’s where I need you.”
“Done,” Finn said. “See you soon.”
“Bring Aspen.”
“What? Why?”
“I don’t want her out of our sight. Hell, bring Mom and Aria too.”
“Absolutely not,” Birdie said, her tone waterlogged with unshed tears. “Send some ranch hands up here to keep an eye out, but I’m not dragging your sister into this. We’re as safe as can be here. This sicko isn’t after us.”
“Fine,” Lane conceded. “Only Aspen then.”
“Wouldn’t I be safe here?” I argued.
“I need your help with this,” the sheriff said, shocking the hell out of all of us .
We’d come so far since I first arrived in town, from Lane trying to drive me away to him folding me into the investigation. I had no idea what would happen with me and Crew in the future—the possibility that he wouldn’t return safely wasn’t one I would ever entertain—but somehow, I knew these people had made me part of their family. The type of family I’d so desperately craved, where every success and failure wasn’t measured against the accomplishments of a dead sister. Where I could live my life freely without someone hovering over my shoulder, attempting to dictate every move I made.
I loved these people, almost as much as I loved Crew.
We mobilized quickly after that, Finn and West both seemingly having plans in place for if they needed to be away from the ranch for any length of time. A couple phone calls had everything in motion. Several ranch hands came up to the house to hang out with Birdie, who immediately disappeared into the kitchen, saying cooking would soothe her, and Aria had yet to reappear.
Finn, West, and I piled into Finn’s dusty black ranch truck and headed toward Trey’s. I tried to distract myself on the drive there by taking in the scenery. This was a side of the ranch I’d never seen before, and it never ceased to amaze me exactly how much land the Lawless family owned. We were in mid-summer now, and everything was so lush and green, with pops of colors from the wildflowers that sprouted up all over the place. The distant craggy mountaintops were capped in white.
“This place is beautiful,” I said to the twins.
West turned to me and grinned. “Now you know why we all came back.”
“Except Owen.”
“Yeah, well…our biggest brother was always destined for more than this small town could provide. And after spending years providing for us, he deserved to carve out his own slice of happy. His wife is great, and so is her family. I doubt he misses us much. ”
Finn scoffed. “Speak for yourself. I know he misses me.”
“Maybe in your dreams,” West shot back, shoving his twin’s shoulder lightly.
I loved that they could joke and tease despite the high emotions obviously coursing through each of us. Somehow, it put me more at ease, like the situation wasn’t yet so dire that they became stoic and tense.
Fifteen minutes later, we pulled up to what could only be described as a compound. A wood and metal gate blocked the roadway, disappearing on either side into the trees. I had to assume it fenced in a sizable chunk of Trey’s property. After Finn sent Trey a text, it slid sideways to admit us.
Trey’s house was as gorgeous as Crew’s and the ranch, but vastly different in style. It looked like three wooden large rectangles stacked, one staggered on top of another, the walls long expanses of glass, likely the kind where outsiders couldn’t see in, but anyone inside could see out. Finn parked on the concrete pad in front of the garage door, which opened as we got out. The twins proceeded inside, me trailing along, turning my head to watch as we were closed inside. A door on the back wall stood open, and I followed Finn and West through it.
I didn’t have time to appreciate the interior architecture of Trey’s home as the twins disappeared through another doorway. I paused in the threshold, taking it all in.
The brothers joked about Trey’s “little” private security firm, but there was nothing small about the operation taking up the room. Innumerable monitors blanketed one wall, servers beeped and blinked, and in the center of it all sat Trey, rapidly typing away at a keyboard.
Lane stood off to one side and, to my surprise, Wyatt Saunders hovered on a stool in the corner, her shoulders curved inward, hair hanging limply around her face.
“What the fuck is going on?” I blurted.
Neither Trey nor Wyatt moved, but Lane pushed off the wall and ushered me and the twins back out of the room, closing the door behind him. He led us down a short hall into Trey’s kitchen. Finn and West made themselves comfortable at two of the six stools that bellied up to the massive white granite island, so I followed their lead and sat down.
“It appears as though Kelly Saunders is the Prom Night Arsonist,” Lane said without preamble.
The twins silently cursed, and I asked, “Wyatt’s mother?”
Lane nodded. “It makes sense now why we both thought she wasn’t telling us everything in that interview with Ward. Right family, wrong parent.”
“But…how?”
Lane shook his head. “Obviously, we’re not in possession of all the details, but I had an FBI friend in Boise look over the cases. Her team came up with a profile that fits Kelly perfectly. It seems Kelly’s senior prom was the trigger, and she’s been reenacting that night for four decades.”
My mind spun with the possibilities. What could have happened that night to drive a woman—a seemingly normal woman with a beautiful family and home, and a community who greatly respected her—to kill twelve people?
I hadn’t realized I’d asked the question out loud until West said, “The human mind is a funny thing.”
“I doubt we’ll get the answers we’re after until we bring her in for questioning.”
“And Crew?” I asked, voice catching on his name.
“We think she has him.”
“And I repeat… how ? He’s a tall, athletic man in the prime of his life. There’s no way she could’ve knocked him out and muscled him into a vehicle the way she did me.”
“You were tased,” Lane reminded me. “That’s likely what happened here.”
“I—fuck,” I breathed, pulling on my hair .
A warm hand settled on my shoulder, and I turned my head to look at West.
“We’ll find him, little one. He’s our baby brother. I promise you we’ll stop at nothing to bring him home safe and sound.”
The smile I gave him was quick and didn’t reach my eyes, but I was trying. It wouldn’t do Crew any good if I fell apart. For his sake, I needed to keep a clear head and my eyes on the prize.
“Where do we start?” I asked the three of them.
“Trey is running some things down for us, but so far nothing actionable has come up.”
I rose from my seat and shuffled back toward Trey’s command center. When we entered, Trey and Wyatt had their heads bent together, speaking in hushed tones that cut off abruptly at our appearance.
Lane wasn’t about to let that slide.
“In case you’ve forgotten, big brother,” he said to Trey, “I’m the only one of us in this room with a badge and authority to take legal action to get Crew back. If either of you know something, I suggest you tell me now.”
“He was just consoling me,” Wyatt said quickly. “This is…a lot.”
Lane’s shoulders relaxed a fraction.
“For what it’s worth, Wy, I really am sorry.”
Her cheeks twitched at the edges of her smile. “Me too.”
Lane pulled up an extra chair and sat. “Is there anything you can tell us about her and her movements? Does she own any vehicles besides the Jeep? Any vacation properties where she could be holding Crew?”
Wyatt shook her head. “Not that I’m aware of.”
“I’ve run her name through all the databases,” Trey supplied. “There’s nothing registered or titled to her.”
“What about Wyatt or Ward?”
“Again, nothing. ”
“None of your dad’s work vehicles are missing, are they?” Lane asked her.
“Not that I’m aware of, but Dad would know better.”
“You haven’t looped him in?”
“I didn’t want to worry him.”
“Wy,” Trey said softly. “I hate to break it to you, but…there’s a lot to worry about. And we need to know if he can provide any information you haven’t been able to.”
She nodded as though Trey’s words made perfect sense. I supposed, to her, from the mouth of her best friend, they did. The blow was softened because he cared about her, and he knew how badly this was hurting her.
“I’ll go call him,” she said, rising from her stool and waving her phone around.
When she disappeared, Lane shot West a look, and he slipped out after her.
“There has to be something we’re missing,” Finn said, leaning over Trey’s shoulder to study the monitors. They displayed a dizzying amount of information, from camera feeds and building schematics to open documents and a large photograph of who I assumed was Kelly Saunders.
“Holy shit.”
“Aspen?” Lane asked when I didn’t elaborate.
“I’ve seen her before. Quite a few times. She was…they were there that night.”
“Gonna need more than that.”
Wild horses couldn’t have dragged my gaze away from that screen, away from the face of the woman who I knew deep in my bones had tried to kill me and spent the better part of the last few months tormenting me.
“She and Wyatt were at the Swallow the night I was abducted,” I said numbly. “I bumped into her. That’s how I ended up wearing my beer. They disappeared into the crowd, and I left not long after. I was almost to my car in the parking lot when I was taken.”
“When else?” Lane prompted.
“The day I picked up Black Betty from impound, when I found that note under the windshield. I had a bit of a breakdown right there in the middle of their neighborhood.” I glanced up at Lane. “I recognized it that day we went to interview Ward. She was out walking the dog and stopped to check on me. I thought…”
I shook my head. I thought she was a kind citizen making sure I was okay and keeping her neighborhood free of any creeps. After all, I’d been a stranger around here back then.
“It doesn’t matter what I thought.”
“Did you see her anymore after that?”
“The day on the street when I got that email about someone watching me. She and Wyatt were coming out of the diner.”
“I remember that,” a voice said from the doorway, and we turned to find Wyatt and West had returned. “She was so distracted by something on her phone. We stood in the middle of the sidewalk for like five minutes while I tried to nudge her toward the car.”
Before I could blink, Wyatt approached me, wrapping her tall frame around my much smaller one and pulling me into a hug. I stiffened slightly against the uninvited contact, but eventually relaxed and slipped my arms around her waist. I figured she needed it more than I did. I’d had plenty of time to come to terms with what happened to me. Giving a face to my attacker didn’t change the work I’d done to restore my mental health since then—work only accomplished with the help of Crew.
But I felt for Wyatt, whose nightmare was only beginning.
“I am so fucking sorry, Aspen,” she murmured. “If I had known?—”
I cut her off by pulling away, shaking my head. “There’s nothing you could’ve done. She fooled everyone, including her own family. Don’t beat yourself up about it.”
Though tears continued to track down her pretty face, she nodded once.
“Did you get in touch with your dad?” Lane asked.
“I did. He said all the company vehicles are accounted for.” The sheriff cursed, but Wyatt continued. “He did, however, remind me that when my grandma passed, she left Mom a cabin out in the woods. We stopped going there when I was younger, so we both assumed she’d sold it. But…”
“But what if she hadn’t,” I finished, grinning, and Trey’s fingers were already going to town on his keyboard.
“Grandma McAllister, right?”
“Yes,” Wyatt said. “Susan McAllister.”
A few more keystrokes then: “Bingo.”
Lane approached his older brother and the wall of screens. “You got something?”
“I checked through county records,” Trey said, speaking quickly. “The last deed of record is old as shit. There haven’t been any changes since 1985, when Susan added Kelly to the title.”
“Mom couldn’t have been more than eighteen,” Wyatt said.
Trey hummed in agreement. “And your grandma died in…”
Wyatt screwed her face up, thinking. “It had to have been the early nineties. I remember her, but not well.”
“Where the hell is this place?” West piped up.
“Moss Township,” Trey said.
“Northwest corner of the county,” Finn supplied before Trey could pull up a map. “There’s nothing out there as far as I know.”
“Good,” West grinned. “That’ll make it easy for us to sneak in and get Crew back.”
My own smile unfurled, matching the energy of his .
Nearly three months ago, Crew Lawless had saved my life and turned it upside in the best way possible.
Now, it was my turn to save his.