Chapter 16
Sixteen
Dan
“No, I’ll figure it out.”
I expected her to say that, but that won’t deter me.
“It’s already settled. Ama is looking after Aspen, JD and James can get started at the house without me, and I was going to have to go into Kalispell at some point this week anyway to grab some supplies at The Home Depot. I might as well do it today and pick up your mom at the same time.”
She looks like she’s not done objecting so I bring up the one thing she won’t have an argument against.
“Besides, isn’t the dog team arriving this morning? Who better to brief them, show them around? This is your case.”
Her eyes narrow to slits before she turns her back on me and returns her attention to getting Aspen dressed.
Coming out of the bedroom this morning, she was clearly surprised to find me on the couch. She probably thought I’d snuck out like a thief in the night. I hadn’t, but she’d been sleeping hard and after the baby woke me up around eleven thirty last night, I didn’t want to risk waking her.
Aspen had been hungry and I had to google how much formula to feed her. That little thing has a good set of lungs, I was surprised she didn’t wake her mother. Luckily, she settled down quickly after I fed her. I guess I could’ve gone home then, but I ended up crashing on the couch instead, where Sloane found me fifteen minutes ago.
She looks pretty cute straight out of bed, with squinty eyes and her hair poking every which way, but her mood first thing in the morning is a little scary. I know I’m risking bodily harm when I ease up behind her and press a kiss to the nape of her neck, but she only grunts in response.
“Why don’t you hop in the shower?” I suggest, pushing my luck. “I can take her over to the ranch. I’m heading there anyway.”
I step back when she picks up Aspen and turns around, kissing and snuggling her daughter for a moment—her eyes closed—before handing her to me.
“Let me grab her bag. I’ll text you Mom’s flight number.”
A few moments later I’m walking toward the ranch, the diaper bag slung over my shoulder and the baby in my arms. It’s a pretty safe bet I’m going to draw some comments when I walk into breakfast, but I don’t give a flying fuck.
The world is my fucking oyster today.
Last night was a surprise. I’m a patient man, I’d been fully prepared to take whatever time needed to show Sloane how things could be between us. But then she made the first move, climbed on my lap, and kissed me in a way I wasn’t left wondering whether she was into it. Sure, part of it may have been stress release, but it was my touch she responded to.
So, yeah, I’m feeling pretty great today.
I smell the bacon when I come in the front door. Ama is by the stove, and Wolff, Thomas, JD, and James are already eating at the table.
Thomas is the first one to see me. “Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit.”
Of course that has everyone looking up.
“That didn’t take long,” JD comments before shoving a piece of bacon in his mouth.
James—who never talks much—raises an eyebrow before he returns to his breakfast as well. Wolff does the same with a grin and a shake of his head, as Ama makes a beeline for me. Or rather, Aspen, who is rather abruptly plucked from my hold.
“I’ll take that baby and you sit your ass down before breakfast is all gone.”
I do as I’m told since I’m pretty damn hungry, and load up a plate.
“There’s been a small change in plans,” I inform James and JD. “I have to run into Kalispell. I’ve got to hit up The Home Depot for a few things and I’m picking up Sloane’s mom from the airport.”
“ You are?” Thomas inquires.
My response is a simple, “Yep.”
Then I dig into my breakfast.
I met Isobel, Sloane’s mother a couple of times, years ago, but I have no trouble picking her out of the crowd disembarking the plane.
For one thing, the family resemblance is impossible to miss, and for another, she has me pinned with a look the moment she walks into the terminal. There’s no doubt she knows who I am too.
“Here,” she says by way of greeting when she reaches me and hands me her carry-on.
Then she marches right past me to the baggage carousel, leaving me no choice but to follow.
“How was your flight?” I ask when I catch up with her.
It earns me a flash of familiar-looking blue eyes. “A day too long.”
I try to be sympathetic. “Yeah, that was unfortunate.”
“A pain in my ass is what it was,” she counters, turning to me. “What was unfortunate was finding out I have a granddaughter when she’s already four-and-a-half fucking months old.”
A few heads turn at her raised voice and probably the swearing. I catch a few looks myself, quickly identified as a guilty party by some. If only they knew how much I wish I could make that claim.
“And then I get a text message this morning, saying my daughter can’t even be bothered picking me up.” She quickly turns her head away, but I still catch a shine in her eyes. “Now I have to wait even longer to see my grandbaby.”
I don’t have to be a mind reader to know there’s a lot going on below her angry surface. I even get Sloane carries responsibility for that, but she doesn’t need to have more blame than she deserves piled on her shoulders.
I send a quick text to let Sloane know her mother arrived. Then I wait until we have collected her suitcase and are on the road back to the ranch before I speak.
“In all fairness, Sloane planned to come to the airport but I talked her out of it.”
“What the blazes for?”
I can feel her glaring at me, but I keep my eyes fixed on the road.
“Has she told you about the case she’s working on?”
“What case?”
I tell her about the girl we rescued from the gorge, and the remains of the other girl we found. She doesn’t interrupt and seems to be listening intently as I explain how her daughter is working her butt off to find whoever did this before he gets a chance to do it again. All while she’s trying to get her feet back under her.
“To top it off, she hasn’t had a whole lot of sleep.”
Isobel snorts.
“Because Aspen is teething,” I clarify, setting straight whatever assumption she made.
“So, it sounds like you two have reconnected.”
“We have.”
She’s quiet for a while, and I’m good with the silence. It lasts until we’re coming up on Happys Inn, a small hamlet maybe twenty miles from the ranch.
“I still don’t get why she left in the first place,” Isobel muses. “She loved it here. I really thought she was getting her shit together. She had a thing for you, you know?”
“Had a thing for her too,” I admit.
I glance over and catch her eye.
“Still do.”
Sloane
Jillian Lederman is not at all what I expected.
I guess I had a picture in my mind of someone more seasoned, a bit more rugged, and definitely bigger than the petite redhead. I swear, she can’t be more than five foot two at most, and with a bit of effort, I could probably lift her right off her feet. She’s tiny and I feel like a freaking Amazon standing next to her.
“Nice place.”
She swirls around, checking out the ranch house and the grounds.
I met up with her at the office for a short briefing with Sheriff Ewing. He’d already told me he’s been in touch with the FBI and law enforcement agencies in Flathead County and Lake County, and has their cooperation in this investigation. But in the actual briefing there wasn’t a whole lot to discuss, since we don’t really know what—if anything—we might encounter. We will try to stay in constant communication.
The meeting here at the ranch will be more important, which is why we drove here in tandem.
“Are there dogs around?” she asks. “Emo was cooped up in the back of the vehicle all day yesterday, and then all night in the motel room. She needs to stretch her legs.”
“No, no dogs at the moment. Just horses.”
“She won’t pay them any mind.”
I can hear the dog whine and whimper as Jillian opens the gate of her SUV.
“Come on, girl, go do your business.”
“That’s an unusual color,” I observe as the gray dog jumps down and immediately starts sniffing for a patch of grass to do her business.
“She’s called a silver/gray sable.”
She’s gorgeous, the dark face and paws contrasting with the gray coat. I watch as the sleek animal explores the grounds, not straying very far as she continuously turns her head to check in with her handler.
“Beautiful.”
“I know. I got her from the shelter, believe it or not. The people who owned her gave her up, claiming she was too hard to handle, but they wanted a family dog. They should’ve gotten a golden retriever, not a Malinois,” she derides, clearly with strong feelings on the subject. “These dogs are active; they are happiest when they have a job to do.”
“Was she trained already?”
“No. I trained her. She’s not my only dog, I actually have five. A couple of search-and-rescue dogs, and two more I trained as therapy dogs. In an ideal world where I would have the space, I’d love to be training shelter dogs exclusively. It’s true certain breeds make for good working dogs, but I believe most dogs can be given a purpose.”
She darts me a glance, a bit of a blush on her face.
“Sorry. I get a little carried away.”
I grin at her. “Not at all.”
Emo saunters up to me, nudging my hand with her nose.
“Is it okay if I pet her?”
“Oh yeah, she’s very social. Loves people.”
“How is she with babies?” I ask. “I have a little one inside.”
“She’s fine with kids. How old?”
“Almost five months already.”
Behind me I hear the door open and someone step out on the porch.
“Do I need to move shit out here, or are you coming in?” Sully wants to know.
“Coming in.”
I quickly make the introductions before we follow him inside. He walks straight through to the kitchen where Wolff and Bo are seated at the big table. I don’t see Ama or my daughter.
Sully catches me looking. “She just went up to put Aspen down for a nap. You can probably still catch her. I’ll do the introductions.”
“Be right back,” I tell Jillian, before darting down the hall and up the stairs.
I find them in the spare bedroom where Ama is just putting her down in the Pack ’n Play we set up for her.
“She was nodding off when I fed her,” Ama informs me in a low voice. “And fell asleep while I was still changing her diaper.”
I peek into the travel bed where my little girl is sleeping peacefully, a little flushed and her pink little mouth partially open.
“She looks out,” I observe. “I’m glad at least one of us is catching up on some sleep.”
“Hmmm. Busy night?” Ama teases me with an eyebrow raised.
Not much at High Meadow goes unnoticed, especially by Ama.
“No, actually,” I rush to inform her. “Last night was the first night in many I slept well.”
No need for her to know it was the stupendous orgasm Dan gave me that knocked me out, and the care he gave Aspen all night that allowed me to sleep through.
I’m not really sure how I’m supposed to view what happened. I have a tendency to want to put things in well-defined boxes, but I don’t know where to place this. I want to keep an open mind, but it’s not easy when you try to protect your heart at the same time.
I was surprisingly unmoved by Jeff walking out, but the consequences when he bailed were painful. Dan, however, has the ability to really hurt me.
With one last look at my daughter, I head back downstairs and join the group in the kitchen.
Several maps and printouts cover the surface of the table.
“Bo and Wolff will go with you. They’ll help you set up the ascent/descent system. Have you worked with one before?” Sully asks Jillian.
“Yeah, I have.”
“Are you going down with her?”
This question is aimed at me but Jillian answers.
“Actually, I would suggest to hold off until I actually find something. The more we can minimize scent pollution, the easier it’ll be for Emo to pick something up.”
“Fair enough,” I agree, a little too eagerly.
Being lowered down the side of a cliff isn’t my idea of fun. I’d rather not if I don’t have to. Of course, if the dog finds remains, I won’t have a choice.
Other than to indicate on the satellite images approximately where we found the remains, I mostly listen. Jillian and the team divide the area along the creek into three search grids, starting today with the area I indicated, and moving farther out from there.
Wolff and Bo head to the barn to get their horses saddled and the climbing gear packed up, while Sully outfits Jillian and me with two-way radios so we can stay in touch while she’s searching the gorge.
Jillian wants to drive her SUV to the trailhead, and I’m towing the trailer with the ATV up the mountain. She and I will ride the ATV as close as I can get and walk the few minutes it takes to get to the ledge.
We’re just stepping out the door when Ama stops us, carrying over a large cooler.
“Water and sandwiches,” she states gruffly and turns back inside before I have a chance to thank her.
Sully walks us to the vehicles.
“Dan is picking up your mom?” he asks as he holds the truck door for me.
“He offered,” I reply a bit defensively.
“I’m not saying it like it’s a bad thing,” he quickly clarifies. “It was the best solution, given you have your hands full and Fletch and I are the only ones left to run the ranch with Jonas picking up Alex and Jackson.”
I almost forgot about Jackson coming home today.
“Shit, is Aspen going to be in the way?”
My uncle gives me a look like that’s the stupidest question ever asked.
“She could never be in the way, and besides, Bo told me earlier Jackson will be staying with him and Lucy at the horse rescue.”
That’s actually a pretty good idea. The ranch can be a bit overwhelming with the sheer number of people around almost all the time. I imagine the last thing he would want is being watched or hovered over all day long.
Their place is pretty quiet in comparison, just Lucy and Bo, and of course, the animals. Lucy runs an equine therapy program at the horse rescue which, now that I think about it, might benefit Jackson as well.
As I pull away from the ranch with Jillian’s SUV in my rearview mirror, I wonder if Jillian’s work with rescue dogs would interest him.
My phone on the center console pings with an incoming message.
She’s here. Waiting for bags.
Good luck today. I’ll check in later.
XOX
XOX.
I’m grinning all the way up Kenelty Mountain.