Chapter 25
Twenty-Five
Sloane
“You have got to be shitting me.”
Several months and not a word, a cell phone no longer in service, and no forwarding address. How ironic Mom and I were just talking about this possibility earlier.
“Come on, darlin’, don’t be that way.”
That’s how he used to talk to any woman who would sit down at his bar, except I was the fool who fell for it.
Well, I’m no longer falling for it, I’m spitting nails.
“You bailed months ago, no heads-up, no way to contact you. You just packed your bag and walked away, from your fucking daughter! And you sure canceled that phone number in a hurry, you useless piece of shit!”
I’m glad he caught me working at Dan’s place, at least my yelling won’t wake my daughter.
“I was in a bad place?—”
I bark out an ugly laugh. “You? Give me a break, Jeff. You got to stay home with our daughter while I had to go out and earn an income. Not what you’d call a hardship.”
“It was stunting me, killing my muse.”
Oh, my God. He is not to be believed. I don’t know why I even bother talking to him.
“You’re killing me . Why are you calling?”
When he hesitates, I already know what’s coming.
“Well, I’m not sure where to find you. Things didn’t work out west so…I came back to Billings, but I couldn’t get into our place and I was told you left.”
“It was never your place, Jeff. It was mine. My name on the lease, my money that paid for it. Mine.”
“I lived there.”
“For four months. That’s it.”
“Right, but here’s the thing, I don’t have anywhere else to go.”
“And that’s my problem, how?” I snap.
“You’d have your child’s father living on the street?”
This time I laughed because that was hysterically funny. “I honestly can’t believe you. Find yourself a place to live.”
“Listen, I can probably get my job back at the pub, but I spent my last money on the flight home. There’s a furnished studio apartment two blocks down from our old place I could move into today, but I don’t have first and last month’s rent.”
I’m aggravated, get to my feet, and start pacing around the room.
“You’re looking at me for money?”
“Unless you let me crash at your place until I’m back on my feet.”
“You’re delusional.”
“Come on, Sloane, where are you living now?”
His whiny voice grates on me like nails on a chalkboard. How could I ever have thought we’d be able to turn what essentially was a one-night stand into a lasting relationship? I don’t think I even like the guy.
I stop in the kitchen and look out the window over the sink. It got dark outside, but I can see there’s a full moon out. Maybe that explains it.
“Certainly not in Billings,” I let slip.
“You moved? I’m pretty sure you can’t just move away. Aspen is my daughter too.”
“Oh, now you remember?” I scoff. “And before you get any ideas, let’s remember who disappeared for months. We’ve come full circle here and this conversation is done.”
I still hear him railing as I take the phone away from my ear and end the call. Then I turn around and almost have a heart attack when I see Dan standing just inside the door. I grab for my chest.
“God, you scared the shit out of me.”
He motions to the phone. “That the guy? The asshole who abandoned his baby daughter?”
Dan’s voice is soft, but holds a threat I can feel across the room. I know for a fact if Jeff were to show his face here, he might well come to regret that.
“It was. How much did you hear?”
“Just the last bit,” he shares, walking this way.
He stops right in front of me and leans down for a kiss. Then he takes a step back.
“I smell, I need a shower. Keep me company, and fill me in on why that asswipe called you?”
I follow him into the bathroom and sit on the toilet seat, enjoying the view as I tell him about the call. Despite a few growls, he doesn’t interrupt me.
“He wants money.”
“That’s what it sounds like,” I confirm. “But he’s not getting a cent from me.”
“Hold on a sec,” Dan interjects as he steps out of the shower and grabs a towel, rubbing his hair vigorously. “I think you should give him the money.”
My mouth falls open as I stare at him in disbelief.
“You’re not serious, are you?”
“Yup. But on the condition he gives up his parental rights. It’s not like he wants them, and he’s using his rights as leverage over you. I don’t think you’ve heard the last of him. I can call my sister, Lindsey, for advice. She’s a legal assistant for her mother, who is a family lawyer in Durango. The law may differ from state to state, but they’ll at least be able to tell us how to go about getting this done.”
It takes me a moment to process. This is what Mom was suggesting this morning, making Jeff sign off on his rights. At the time it was something to consider for the future, but I guess Jeff’s unexpected phone call makes it a reality to deal with now.
This would cost me legal fees and filing or whatever else is needed on top of his first and last month’s rent, but it’s probably cheaper in the long run than potentially having to deal with him long term. The only problem is, I’m not sure I’d be able to afford it. Even just first and last month’s rent—which I’m guessing would be around fifteen hundred, so three grand total—would be a stretch for my meager savings. Of course, that also means I don’t have first and last when I get around to looking for a place of my own.
“I can hear you thinking.”
“I am.” I grin up at him as he pulls me to my feet. “Your idea is kinda brilliant, but I’m not sure if it’s going to be an option for me at this time.”
He places his hands on my shoulders.
“Us,” he corrects me. “You know where I see us going. I’m pretty sure you’re at least on board with the concept of that. And that means we tackle shit as a team.”
“But this isn’t your problem,” I point out.
“Sure it is. Anything that affects you, has an impact on me too. Isn’t that the nature of relationships?”
“Honestly? I wouldn’t know.”
He shakes me gently and I’m suddenly aware that I’m standing in a small space with a very handsome, very naked man.
“Eyes up here, Sloane,” he mumbles. “My point is, I benefit too. Once he’s out of your and Aspen’s life, there’s more room for me.”
Then he gives me the full force of his smile, and I feel the effect down to my toes.
“Okay,” I give in with a nod. “If you could contact your sister to see if she knows what all of this would entail, that would be very helpful. Thank you.”
“That wasn’t too hard, was it?” he teases, still very naked.
The man is too tempting, and I’m having a hard time thinking of anything other than jumping him.
“Shouldn’t you put some clothes on?” I suggest.
He slides his hands up my neck to cradle my face and drops a hard kiss on my lips, before letting go.
“I will, but only because I want to hear about the rest of your day and tell you about mine.”
I’ll be damned if that doesn’t make me want to jump him harder.
Dan
“Seven victims.”
I shake my head. It makes me a little sick to think what may have been happening in my backyard.
Sloane has been filling me in on the meeting at the sheriff’s office this morning.
“Eight. Chelsea was a victim too,” Sloane reminds me, snuggled up against my side.
“Of course, you’re right.”
“Anyway,” she continues. “Remember the license plate on the video? I found the company it was registered under, and the name of the owner/operator. And guess what? It’s the same last name as on the permit application for that cabin Wolff found up on the trail.”
“Same guy?”
“No. There was a Cornelius on the permit application, but Michael is the listed name for the owner of Cedric Transport.”
“Family, then,” I guess, wondering why that name seems familiar.
“Yes, it turns out Cornelius was Michael’s paternal grandfather. I just found an obituary for him earlier. From what I’ve been able to gather, Michael was the old man’s only remaining relative.”
“So Michael would’ve inherited the cabin?” I suggest.
“That seems the logical conclusion.”
“So now what happens?”
“Well, before Jeff’s call, I’d just fired off an email to the FBI special agent in charge with the information I dug up. It’s up to him what’ll happen with the information, but I assume they’ll be paying Michael Cedric a visit.”
There’s that name again, followed by the same little niggle in the back of my mind, but I can’t place it.
“Anyway,” Sloane continues, tilting her head back to look at me. “I’m no longer in charge of this case, so I’ll be waiting for instructions.”
“That’s gotta suck,” I sympathize.
She shrugs. “Meh, before Aspen I would’ve been royally pissed, but to be honest, the scope of this case is more responsibility than I’d want to have rest on my shoulders.” She rubs my chest with her hand. “But enough about me. How was your day?”
I tighten my arm around her shoulders.
“Good. Productive,” I share. “I finished the framing just in time for the HVAC guys and the plumber to start tomorrow.”
“Good for you. I bet that’s a relief, getting it done before you have to go back to your regular day job.”
“Sure is,” I agree. “And remember I told you last night I’d asked Jackson to come on board?”
I’d brought it up when we were cuddled on this same couch, except with notably fewer clothes on at the time. I was thinking about Jackson because I hadn’t heard anything yet.
“Yeah, did he call?”
“He did, actually. He showed up at the house and we had pizza and beers on the porch before we went to get your aunt’s motorhome. It’s now parked on the far side of the house, next to the river, and Jackson’s already moved in.”
“Wow,” she whispers, and subsequently falls silent.
I wait her out for a bit before asking, “You don’t think it’s a good idea?”
She shakes her head. “It’s not that, it’s that I’m worried about him, out there by himself. He was living alone when he tried to end it.”
I press a kiss to the top of her head. “I hear you, but he’s a grown man. Living under someone else’s roof, under twenty-four seven monitoring, without a reason to get your ass out of bed in the morning doesn’t seem like the better option.”
She twists her body so she’s looking straight at me.
“And living in a trailer at a building site does?”
“Yes, I think so,” I tell her bluntly. “Being responsible for himself, responsible for the trades and security at the house gives him purpose. Being someone else’s responsibility only erodes his self-worth further. He’s a man, he needs to be reminded he still is, and missing a limb makes no damn difference.”
She launches herself at me and lands on my lap, her mouth on mine and her hands tangled in my hair. She’s smiling when she pulls back.
“You’re a smart man, Daniel Blakely.”
I scrunch my nose at the use of my full name, but grin back at her. I don’t particularly want to address the next topic, but in the spirit of transparency…
“I went to see Shelby at the feedstore this afternoon.”
“You did?”
Her body language tells me the casual curiosity in her question took effort.
“I was cleaning up the lumber at the house and found an empty spray-paint can under the porch. It was red livestock marker paint.”
“Son of a bitch,” she mutters, which is pretty much what my own reaction was.
“Right. I was able to confirm two cans were missing from stock at the feedstore, but it’s not exactly evidence.”
“She had her hand in it,” Sloane concludes firmly.
“Seems likely.”
“Maybe she didn’t do it herself,” she offers. “But she was involved, if not the instigator.”
I don’t disagree with her.
“Didn’t you say she was divorced? Could she have manipulated her ex into doing it?”
I feel like I’ve been zapped with a cattle prod, every synapses firing at the same time.
Of course , her ex.
That’s what’s been niggling at the back of my mind.
“Cedric.”
Sloane looks at me, puzzled.
“Sorry?”
“She mentioned her ex once, told me he was a truck driver and they lived in Eureka before she moved back home. I’m pretty sure she mentioned the name Cedric. Mike Cedric.”
Sloane is off my lap and on her feet in a flash.
“You’re shitting me. Cedric is Shelby’s ex?”
She massages her scalp with her fingertips, as if to help her think.
“I’m pretty sure that was his name,” I state.
In fact, the longer I think about it, the more positive I am. Feeling the need to move, I get up off the couch and grab the empty beer bottles off the table to take to the kitchen.
“That would be wild,” Sloane mutters.
“I’ve gotta admit, it’s making me a tad uneasy,” I confess, leaning over the sink as I stare outside. “That shit that went on right across the river on that mountain was already too close for comfort. This literally puts it in my backyard.”
I feel her hand slide up my back.
“I’m sorry. And I’m sorrier yet to be all business but…”
I turn around to face her.
“What?”
She grimaces.
“Tell me you kept the spray can?”