23. Juniper
23
JUNIPER
U ncle Pete made me promise not to say a word about what he’d told me earlier this morning. Several times in only the last thirty minutes, I’d had to bite my tongue to stop myself from telling Cord that today—of all the days it could happen—the person who tried to kill him would be arrested.
While it was still the dead of winter, we’d had a week of unusually warm weather, followed by rain that had melted much of the snow, uncovering clues as to what happened that day.
Cord had once said that it felt like someone had hit him in the head with an anvil. He hadn’t been far off. The team, which included Decker Ashford and others who worked for him, that went out with my uncle to look for evidence found a pickax buried in the dirt not far from the lean-to where they’d found Cord.
The blood on it was a DNA match to his, and more importantly, they’d been able to lift a partial fingerprint from the handle. There was enough of it for a computer application to find a possible match. Not only that, but one of the ranch hands said he remembered seeing someone on the outside of the estate’s perimeter. According to Pete, Decker had access to something called overheads that they used to track the guy and get a positive ID.
Most of what my uncle had said went right over my head, but that didn’t take away from the relief I felt, knowing the man who’d tried to kill Cord would soon be in custody.
While he hadn’t divulged who would be arrested, I got the impression it was someone local, maybe even someone who might’ve worked at the Lilacs at one point, but had somehow missed having their profile set up in the estate’s new, elaborate security system.
Him stopping by our house to give us the news was the real reason I was late.
“Everything okay?” Cord asked as we waited near the hospital’s main entrance for Buck to bring the SUV around.
“Of course,” I assured him.
“You seem antsy.”
“I’m just excited that you get to go home,” I fibbed.
“It isn’t my home,” he mumbled, but I heard him .
“Sorry. I meant the cottage.”
He scrubbed his face, something I hadn’t seen him do in so long that I’d forgotten about it. “Look, I’m sorry. I know I’ve been an asshole?—”
“Don’t apologize. I understand.”
His eyes scrunched, and he studied me.
“What?”
Cord looked up when Buck approached in the SUV. “Nothing,” he said, climbing into the front seat and leaving me to sit alone in the back.
My mom had dropped me off at the hospital, so I rode to the Lilacs with them. By the time we got there, I regretted it. It was becoming evident that I was the source of Cord’s foul moods. I’d leave, or at least ask someone to come and get me, but I wanted to be there if the news of the arrest was released.
“So, um, is there anything I can do?” I asked when Buck pulled up and parked near the cottage’s front door.
Before either Cord or his brother had the chance to answer, my cell phone rang.
“Juni, where are you?” my uncle asked.
“At the Lilacs. We just got here.”
“Is Cord there?”
“He is.”
“Tell him I’m on my way.”
When I turned around, both guys had gone inside. When I followed, I didn’t see Buck, but Cord had his hands on his hips.
“That was Pete. He said to tell you he’s on his way here.”
His gaze bored into mine. “Why?”
My eyes darted back and forth, and I shook my head. “He asked that he be the one to tell you.”
“I see.” He spun in a slow circle. “Was Mrs. Miller’s crew in here?”
“Actually, it was Sam, my mom, and me.”
He took a deep breath, then scrubbed his face with his hand.
There wasn’t a single time since the night Cord went missing when I’d allowed my anger to rise to the surface. He’d made me mad more times than I could count, but I’d tamped it down, reminding myself how close I came to losing him. Now, though, I’d reached my limit.
“I think what you meant to say was thank you.” I turned on my heel and stalked out of the cottage. I no longer cared about being with Cord when Pete told him about the arrest. In fact, I wasn’t sure when I’d be ready to be around Cord again, especially when I reached the main residence and he hadn’t called out to me or followed.
“Hey, what’s going on?” Sam said, coming to the door when I knocked and finding me in tears.
“Can I come in?”
She stepped aside. “Of course.”
“First, I should tell you that Cord is home. Actually, he’s not home —he’s here. His words, not mine.”
“I saw Buck drive in.” She pulled me over to the sofa, and we both sat down. “I’d ask what happened, but I think I already know.”
I hung my head. “He’s being impossible.”
“You’re being kind. I would’ve said he’s being an asshole.”
“It’s like I can’t do anything right. He actually seemed angry that we got the cottage ready for his homecoming. I can just imagine how he’ll freak out when he sees all the food we made and left in the refrigerator.”
Sam’s phone vibrated. “Your uncle is here.”
I nodded. “Cord is expecting him.” I figured within a few minutes, the word would be out, so I said fuck it and told her. “They’re making an arrest.”
She didn’t look surprised. “Decker told Beau and me.”
“And here I thought it was a big secret. I didn’t even tell Cord when he asked me outright.”
Her phone vibrated again. “Beau and your brother are back.”
“Good. If you don’t mind, I’m going to ask Gray to take me home.”
“I understand. I just wish I knew how to knock some sense into him.”
“Who? Cord?” Gray asked, coming in through the mudroom with Beau behind him.
I stood. “Can you take me home?”
“Here,” he said, tossing me his key fob as he rushed by me, stalking out of the house like I had the cottage.