Chapter 7
McCrae
Later that evening, I showed up for the extra security detail at the high school. I was grateful to be in my uniform so I didn’t have the weird social pressure to act like I was single at some high school reunion that wasn’t mine.
I winced as I thought about my own reunion two years ago and how awkward it had been, especially because everyone asked about me and Rose. I didn’t want to think about her. I was happy that I hadn’t been dwelling on her too often.
Sky was a good distraction. I thought about her beautiful green eyes, like a lush forest after spring rain.
I thought about her red hair and her pale skin dusted with freckles that caught the sunlight.
Shaking myself, I pushed back on the attraction I was feeling for her.
She was a woman who needed help, and she was fragile and vulnerable right now.
I couldn’t stop thinking about how after we had eaten pizza together, which had been a pretty delightful experience, we’d sat out on the pier overlooking the lake with all of the tourists.
The sunset had painted the water in shades of orange and pink.
She had asked a million questions about my life, my family, and my reasons for becoming a cop.
The odd thing was that she had surveyed me and said, “I peg you for having a hero complex.” Which was hilarious, because my family said that kind of stuff to me all the time.
When I asked her why she would say that, she said, “Well, you feel responsible for me, don’t you?”
And it was true—I did feel responsible for her.
In fact, I pulled out my phone and texted Kayla. Everything good?
Immediately, Kayla texted back: She’s been here less than an hour. We are about to turn on a chick flick. We are great.
I felt myself relax. Why was I so keyed up about her? I’d randomly found her, and she needed people. That’s the only reason I cared.
I kept telling myself that, kept pushing away the thought that she was gorgeous and maybe there could be something between us. That was stupid, idiotic. There couldn’t be anything between us. This was just an assignment—well, an assignment I’d given myself.
With that in mind, I turned my attention to the high school gym. Music was blasting through speakers mounted high on the walls, and people were mingling under the glow of blue-and-white balloon arches. Of course, I recognized most of them—another blessing and curse of a small town.
To my complete lack of surprise, I spotted Dylan with Eliza. The music changed to something slow, and the two of them put down their drinks before he reached a hand out to her. It was interesting to watch people in their dating practices. Eliza seemed happy to dance with him.
I knew she’d gotten married, then divorced about six months ago.
She had recently moved back to Refuge Falls.
She was a dental hygienist, but I hadn’t been to our dentist lately, so I hadn’t talked to her; most of the town had, though, so I’d heard that it was a bad marriage.
They’d tried to have kids and couldn’t. The local gossip had told me more than I wanted to know.
I started patrolling around the gym, staying to the edges where the shadows were deeper, hoping that there would be no incident tonight.
Suddenly, I spotted my brother Noah, which surprised me. This was not his year for a reunion, but he was just walking in, and he didn’t seem like he was there for the party. He looked around, spotted me, and headed my way.
I braced myself. This definitely didn’t have anything to do with the reunion.
“Some of my buddies have been investigating in Casper,” he said right off the bat, “and they did find tire tracks. A lot of tracks. It looks like a whole caravan of sorts must have been there.”
“A caravan? Are you sure?”
Noah nodded, then bit his lip. “Do you think she was part of it?”
“No idea.” Of course, there was that possibility, and at the beginning I had suspected she might’ve been connected to that night’s other incidents.
Yet in the last couple of hours, I had started to see her as someone lonely who needed help.
More than once, I’d had to tear myself out of a fantasy that maybe I would save her from something.
Noah sighed. “Do you think she could be involved in something nefarious? It seems they all left, and nothing was found except a dead body.”
My heart raced, and I looked at Noah. He had been a soldier for a long time, in charge of running special ops.
He’d worked for his own third-party security company, and now he was part of search and rescue, but at his core, he was military.
He was trained to follow instincts, trained to find the bad guys. “What are you thinking?”
Noah crossed his arms and faced the crowd, analyzing people.
He was standing so close that our shoulders were touching.
He cocked his head to the side so only I could hear.
“I think this woman has bigger problems than we know about. I think she was running from something. I think that’s probably what caused the car wreck. ”
I digested this.
“I know we’ve speculated, but I bet someone’s after her.
If she used a fake name, she was scared.
She wrecked the car for no real reason other than the fact that she was scared.
I talked to Ella. She said the woman had a very visceral reaction when Dr. Chavez suggested she should go to Denver.
She was afraid. Bro, I think you’re into something that you should be wary of. There are bigger things at play here.”
“Sky.”
“What?”
“She wants to be called Sky.”
He nodded. “Okay.”
I thought about what he’d just said. I hadn’t wanted to face all that, but I pushed away any kind of fear that built up inside of me, and I puffed my chest out. “Well, then I’ll face whatever is coming for her.”
Noah nodded. It was in the Armstrong blood to face horrible things together. It was a gift from our father, a gift from search and rescue growing up, as we’d gone out and helped people in difficult situations. “We’ll face it together, bro.”
I sucked in a long breath and blew it out. My attention was drawn to the refreshment table with its white tablecloth and silver punch bowl. “I need some water.”
He hesitated. “I’m going to drop in on Kayla and the woman.”
That made sense to me. Of course he would. All of my family rallied when we needed each other. “Sky.”
Noah looked confused.
“Right.” Noah nodded. “I’ll check back with you. Thank you.”
The music changed, and people started heading to the refreshment table.
I hurried over to grab something before a line formed. I was so thirsty, I didn’t want to wait.
Suddenly, Dylan and Eliza walked over, and Dylan slapped me on the shoulder. “Hey, bro, you should have a dance while you’re here. It can’t be all duty, can it?”
I grunted at him and took a drink. “Nah, I’m good.” My mind was preoccupied, but I turned to Eliza and smiled. “How are you doing, Eliza?”
“I’m good. It’s good to be home. I haven’t seen you for a cleaning.”
I grunted again. “I’ll be in soon.”
Dylan gave me the kind of look that said he knew something was going on.
There was no point in continuing the conversation.
I just took my water and headed to the other side of the gym, where the bleachers were pushed against the wall, the metal glinting in the dim light.
Standing there was Bill Hanks, another cop who had been assigned this duty. He was in his mid-fifties, and his usual expression made it look like the past couple years had soured him against people in general. It was how most cops looked, really.
“How’s it going, Bill?”
He grunted. “Great, if you want to babysit.”
I nodded and sipped on my water. “Well, I’ll take a quiet night, that’s for sure.”
Bill turned to me. “The woman from the car wreck still in town?”
Of course he knew. Everyone knew about Sky. “For the time being.” I didn’t want to give him the whole story, because I was suspicious of everyone right now.
He nodded. “Do you think she’s in trouble?”
“I don’t know.”
Bill stared me in the eye. “I heard she’s staying with you.”
In response, I said nothing. I didn’t feel like everyone in town should know about that. But why wouldn’t they? This was Refuge Falls.
He grunted again. “Just be careful. That’s all I have to say.”
I hesitated. “What do you mean? I’m not entirely sure what you’re talking about.”
“You should just be careful. It’s such a suspicious situation. And how do you know that she really doesn’t remember anything?”
I was mystified by this. “What, you think she’s faking?”
“She could be a grifter. She could be trying to get in people’s good graces for a reason. You never know. Haven’t you learned that from being a cop? Don’t trust people.”
There was some kind of dispute happening across the gym. People were yelling; I recognized the two offenders—two brothers with a girl in the middle. That’s usually how those things happened.
Bill stood and stalked off to intervene. “I’ll go check on that.”
On impulse, I pulled out my phone and called Kayla.
She answered with a light laugh. “We are fine. There’s nothing to worry about.”
Unrest settled in the pit of my gut. “I know, but this town talks,” I said quietly. “Why don’t you head to Mom and Dad’s? It’s a little bit safer there.”
Kayla didn’t speak for a minute. “What are you talking about?”
“I don’t know. It’s just a feeling I get. Everyone knows everything. Just go to Mom and Dad’s. They have good security.”
“Okay. We’ll head that way.”