Chapter 16
Dungar
My brothers wouldn’t arrive for another forty-five minutes, but I needed everything perfect before presenting my findings.
Each map had been drawn to scale, color-coded by risk level, with rotation schedules that accounted for everyone’s strengths.
The red ink for high-risk areas, blue for moderate concerns, and green for minimal threat zones created a pattern that satisfied something deep in my soul. Order from chaos. Safety from danger.
The door creaked open, and Riley’s scent, honey and something uniquely her, reached me before she spoke.
“You left before I woke up.” Her voice carried no accusation, just observation as she placed a steaming coffee mug on the coaster to my right.
“I needed to finish this.” I lifted my head, taking in the sight of her leaning against the doorframe. Her dark hair fell in waves around her shoulders, and she wore the blue flannel shirt I’d noticed was her favorite. “Did you sleep well?”
“Too well.” She shifted closer, her hip brushing my shoulder as she peered down at my work. “I think I’m getting used to your mattress.”
The casual comment made warmth bloom in my chest. Riley James, getting used to things in my home. My life. My heart.
“This is impressive.” Her finger hovered over the topographical map where I’d marked surveillance points with silver stars. “You’ve accounted for every possible approach.”
“Not yet.” I reached for the red marker, uncapping it. “There’s still this ridge line. If someone had advanced climbing equipment, they could potentially access the pens from the northwest face.”
Riley leaned closer, her warmth radiating against my side. “Add motion sensors here and here.” She pointed to two strategic junctures. “That would cover any approach from that direction.”
I made the adjustments, appreciating how her analytical mind complemented my methodical one. We worked differently, but toward the same goal. The thought made me smile.
“What?” she asked, catching my expression.
“We make a good team.”
She straightened, something vulnerable flickering across her face before she masked it. “For now.”
Those two words stung more than they should because they were a reminder that in her mind, everything about Lonesome Creek, including me, was temporary.
“My brothers will be here soon. I’ve assigned each of them security zones based on their skills.”
Riley tugged her chair over and settled into it, our knees touching as she studied the rotation schedule. “Smart. Putting Ruugar on tracking duty makes sense. His connection with the luminooks gives him an advantage.”
“And Hail on observation. He notices details others miss.” I tapped my pen against the paper three times. “Tark will handle the eastern perimeter. He knows every part of those trails. Becken and Sel will coordinate night watches.”
“What about Greel?”
“Communications hub. He’ll monitor radio traffic and coordinate responses from the saloon.”
Riley nodded. “And us?”
“Central coordination and investigation.” I hesitated. “If that works for you.”
Her eyes met mine. “It does.”
Something shifted between us, a deepening of connection that went beyond partnership or even attraction. Trust. The kind that formed between people who’d seen each other’s vulnerabilities and chosen to protect rather than exploit them.
She opened her laptop and did some work online while I finished. It was only when she gasped that I looked in her direction. Her finger hovered over the screen.
“Found them,” she shouted.
I leaned close, my eyes widening at the advertisement she’d found on FaceSpace. Glowing rabbits for sale. Three available. Four thousand dollars each. Followed by pictures of our luminooks and a number for a pet shop about forty minutes’ drive from here.
I was on the phone in seconds, calling my contact in that town. After ending the call, we waited in tense silence until my phone rang with an incoming call.
“Hello?” I said, putting it on speaker.
“Sheriff Trench here. Got ‘em.”
My lungs sagged as my breath whooshed out.
“I stopped by to view the glowing rabbits, and they matched the pictures you sent. When I revealed my identity, the owner caved and admitted she’d taken them.
She thought she could since they were running around wild and that you had plenty of others.
She denies going near the pens, however, stating she only approached those living in the wild. ”
Riley grinned. “They’re alright?”
“Seem to be. I’ve got them in a cage on my backseat. Cute little fellas, humming away, their little spines flickering blue. I should be there within the hour.”
After thanking him, I ended the call.
Riley leaped from her chair and into my arms. We hugged each other, grateful that the stolen luminooks were safe.
The front door swung open, and my brothers filed in, their expressions ranging from concerned to grim.
When we told them about the luminooks, cheers rang out, along with nudging of knuckles on everyone’s shoulders, including Riley’s.
“This doesn’t solve our in-town problem, however,” I said. “Someone’s been near the pens, and they tampered with the fencing. They don’t appear to be related to the wild luminook theft, so we should proceed with our plan.”
Smiles fell as my brothers arranged themselves around the room. Ruugar leaned against the wall by the window, while Tark and Becken took the chairs across from my desk. Hail and Sel remained standing near the door, and Greel closed the circle, positioning himself beside the filing cabinet.
“We’re worried this could be a coordinated operation targeting the luminooks for other reasons, perhaps biological, military, or research.”
I outlined what Riley and I had discovered, including the professional fence cuts and the different descriptions of suspects seen near the pens.
“We think at least two individuals are involved, possibly more,” Riley said. “They’re methodical and patient.”
“This…could be related to my past.” Riley explained quickly.
Tark came over and patted her shoulder. “You’re family, and we protect each other. We’ll keep you safe.”
“The timing is suspicious, but there’s no concrete evidence they’re involved,” she said, smiling up at him.
“Doesn’t matter,” Ruugar growled. “Whether they’re after you or the luminooks, we protect both.”
My brothers all nodded. They’d accepted her as one of us without question, something that made my chest swell with pride.
“Here’s the plan.” I distributed the color-coded maps and rotation schedules I’d prepared, each brother receiving a packet tailored to their assigned zone.
“Ruugar, you’ll track movement patterns around the colony.
Hail, observation posts here and here. Tark, eastern patrol routes.
Becken and Sel, night watch in alternating shifts. ”
Each brother studied their assignments.
“What about the existing security footage?” Greel asked. “Have you reviewed it all?”
“Not yet,” I said. “There’s approximately seventy-two hours of recordings from multiple cameras. Riley and I have gone through about fifty hours so far.”
“Jessi and Gracie can help with that,” Greel said. “The saloon’s closed until noon and Gracie planned to stop by to visit with Jessi this morning.”
My brothers filed out, each carrying their packets. Only Greel remained behind, taking some of the security footage back to the saloon. He returned quickly.
“All set. I’ll stay here and help you both, since there’s so much to review,” he said, settling at the spare desk where Riley had set up the security footage.
For the next two hours, we combed through recordings from around town, focusing on the time periods when luminook disturbances had been reported.
We only stopped when Sheriff Trench arrived with the luminooks.
Ruugar came after my call and did a quick physical of the creatures, pronouncing them healthy.
“I’ll take them to their families,” he said, his gaze meeting mine. “But we’ll need to come up with a new plan for integrating them into the wild. We can’t risk anyone stealing them again.”
“Agreed,” I said, Riley nodding along with me.
He lifted the cage and left my office. We got back to studying the camera footage.
Halfway through the third hour, Riley’s hand suddenly shot out, pausing the playback.
“There.” She pointed to three figures standing in the shadow of the maintenance shed. “Mary, Joyce, and Ava, the photographer we ran into while searching for Marcy.”
I leaned closer to the screen, studying the body language of the three women. They stood in a tight circle, their postures suggesting an intense conversation. Mary kept glancing over her shoulder, while Ava appeared to be gesturing emphatically.
“That doesn’t look like casual conversation,” Greel said.
“No,” I said. “It doesn’t.”
Riley’s brow furrowed. “Check the timestamp.”
“Tuesday, 3:17 PM. About an hour after Mary claimed to have seen the suspicious hiker,” I said.
“Ava wears hiking gear like she described.” Riley’s frown deepened. “This is thirty minutes before Allie spotted the woman in the apron near the pens.”
The coincidence felt too neat, too convenient. “We need to check that maintenance shed.”
Greel grunted, glancing between us. “While you do that, I’ll continue with the footage. See if there’s anything else we need to look into. I’ll check with Gracie and Jessi, too.” He lifted his phone and dialed while Riley and I slipped out the back door of the sheriff’s office.
We took the less traveled path behind Main Street. The maintenance shed sat at the far end of town, a simple structure painted the same weathered brown as the other buildings to maintain the Old West aesthetic.
The door had been secured with a padlock, which I opened with the master key. Inside, the shed smelled of oil, metal, and cleaning supplies. Tools hung on pegboards, and labeled shelves held neatly organized repair parts.
“Someone shares your appreciation for order.” Riley ran her finger along a row of identical screwdrivers arranged by size.