Chapter 11
Eleven
True crime detective, couch division.
—Sage’s secret thoughts
Sage
I watched Gentry run out of the gate, leaving it open. He didn’t run out slowly, either. He ran out of the gate like he had something to escape.
I watched some more as Neo stared at the open gate, then at the man that’d just run out of it, then at the gate some more.
It took him only a few seconds to decide what to do, but eventually he took off behind Gentry, catching up easily.
The doorbell rang again, and I glared at it over my shoulder, pissed that she was ruining this moment for me.
I was so proud of Neo.
He’d gone through so much, and every day he faced new and terrifying things on his road to recovery.
The doorbell rang again.
This impatient bitch.
“I was having a fucking moment!” I grumbled loud enough that the woman probably heard the curse but didn’t know exactly what was said. “Not to mention, this is the fourth time you’ve rang that bell. If he was going to answer, he would have.”
The doorbell rang again, and I understood now why Gentry would rather leave than answer the door.
Not to mention, he did have a gate and a very long driveway.
It would be a deterrent to any other person.
Apparently not to his ‘favorite’ receptionist.
Looking down at myself, I took in what I was wearing.
Cutoff sweats that had seen so many things, a ratty t-shirt that wasn’t any better than the holey sweats, and socks that covered the space from where I’d cut off my sweats down to my feet.
It was not an attractive look.
I looked to the side and spotted a long-sleeved flannel thrown haphazardly over the back of a kitchen chair, partially dragging on the floor.
Snatching it up, I threw it on over my shirt, buttoned it up halfway, then shimmied out of my sweatpants.
Kicking them off to the side of the kitchen, near where I assumed was the laundry room, I walked to the door in my mostly white socks.
The doorbell sounded again just as my hand met the knob, causing me to yank it open and glare. “Can I help you?”
I don’t know what I expected to see when I opened the door, but it wasn’t a woman with blue hair and a septum piercing the size of a literal bull ring.
No joke, it was so large that it had to inhibit her breathing.
The woman blinked owlishly at me. “Uhhh.”
“Is there a reason that you’ve rang that doorbell so many times?”
She bit her lip, and the septum ring dragged against her teeth. “Is Gentry here?”
It angered me that someone else was calling him by my nickname.
“He’s not,” I decided on the simple truth. “What can I help you with? I’m his wife.”
Her mouth dropped open. “You’re what?”
Okay, so I didn’t like people thinking that we were divorced.
It annoyed me.
I wasn’t divorce material.
I would’ve made him damn happy had everything between us been real.
I would’ve bent over backward to make a man like Gentry happy. He was that good of a man.
“I’m. His. Wife,” I said. “Is there a reason you’re here? And how did you get past the gate, anyway?”
She opened and closed her mouth like a fish. “Uh, you and Gentry are married?”
I tilted my head. “Are you having trouble understanding English? Should I switch to dumbass?”
Okay, so maybe I was angry that she was here.
I should probably cool it, but my god. The woman had to be terrible to make a grown man run away.
Literally.
“If you live here, where’s your car?” she accused.
What did she think, she was a detective?
“In the garage, although I fail to see how that is any of your business.” I shrugged.
“Now, let’s talk about how you hopped over a locked fence, walked down the length of the driveway—which is a mile long, might I add—and then hopped another fence?
” I asked. “All without knowing what kind of animals are here. Because I have a very reactive dog that doesn’t respond well to intruders. ”
The woman narrowed her eyes. “Then maybe you should have that dog put down if random people showing up alarms him.”
I gritted my teeth and was about to launch into a diatribe the likes she’d never seen or heard before when dust kicking up on the gravel driveway caught both of our attention.
As the vehicle coming toward us got closer, the black and yellow wording became clearer and clearer.
“Ahh, there’s Sheriff Black now.” Kelly Waller sounded smug.
I wanted to throat punch her. Or maybe I’d pop her in that nose, accidentally pull that stupid ass bull ring out.
The sheriff’s cruiser pulled to a stop outside of the fenced-in area, and he frowned when he saw the two of us standing on the porch. Me blocking the door with a pissed-off expression on my face, and Kelly Waller, the fucking trespasser, looking smug as fuck.
Her and her box-dye self needed to get lost.
Sheriff Black got out of the cruiser and took two cautious steps toward us.
I was sure it was never a good idea to approach pissed-off women.
But it was his job, after all.
“Black.” I smiled sweetly at the sheriff. “Could you escort this woman off our property?”
I’d never met the man in my life.
I’d seen him around, of course.
It was impossible not to notice him in a town the size of the one we lived in.
Not to mention I had a staring problem when it came to my husband, and Black was often with Gentry.
Black cleared his throat and said, “I thought I told you to wait at the gate?”
Kelly smiled. “I did. But it got awfully cold, so I decided a nice walk would be wonderful.”
Black didn’t look impressed. “There was a reason that I told you to wait at the gate. Firstly, because you don’t just walk into people’s property and expect to make it out alive.
This is Montana, not Oregon. You will get shot.
Secondly, there’s a traumatized dog that lives on this property. He doesn’t react well to strangers.”
Kelly’s face fell slightly. “I didn’t think it was that big of a deal.”
“It is, though,” Black insisted. “And I wouldn’t lie to you about this. I asked you to stay in your vehicle. As it is, I’m trespassing, too. But I was fucking worried you’d get mauled out here on your own.”
I smiled sweetly at the sheriff. “You know you’re always welcome, Black.”
Black’s eyes sparkled.
I was sure he knew Gentry and my background. He probably knew exactly what I was doing here, and he likely knew exactly what I was playing at.
There was no way that Gentry held his disdain for this woman in check.
She seemed very entitled and likely hadn’t ever suffered the consequences of her actions.
Speaking of consequences of her actions, one of those consequences came running up from the field to my left and started barking and snarling on the other side of the fence.
“Please get in your cruiser,” I said to the two of them.
Black and Kelly walked steadily toward the cruiser. When Kelly tried to run, Black caught her by the arm and soothingly said, “Don’t appear as quarry. It’ll spark his prey drive.”
Neo stalked them to the cruiser and continued his growling.
Gentry appeared moments later on the top of the hill, took one look at the cruiser still there, and whistled before turning around again.
I snorted.
Neo looked from the cruiser, where Black was calmly waiting, to me, then to where Gentry had disappeared.
He took off over the hill, disappearing again.
Black rolled his window down and said, “I was coming out here to discuss a case with him.”
My eyes went to his passenger.
“She’s here to hand off the case files.”
“I didn’t see any case files,” I pointed out.
Kelly blushed.
“Where are they?” Black turned to her.
“In my car at the gate,” she answered.
Black looked back at me. “I’ll go drop her off and come back.”
I nodded.
When he disappeared, I went back into the house and put some coffee on.
By the time I’d poured myself a mug, Black was back and ringing the doorbell.
I opened it for him and gestured for him to come inside.
“I’m sorry that she came like that,” he admitted as he swept past me.
“She’s a bitch,” I pointed out. “And Gentry literally ran for the hills.”
Black snorted. “I figured. It’s nice to officially meet you. I’m Black.”
He held out his large palm to me, and I slipped my much smaller hand into his.
He gave it a solid squeeze, not hard, but not soft either, and let me go.
I gestured toward the coffee and said, “Help yourself.”
He poured himself a mug of coffee and took a seat at Gentry’s table like he’d done it a million times.
His gaze caught on my discarded sweatpants and I flushed. “I was in a rush. I wanted her to think that there’s more here. So she’ll leave him alone.”
A single brow rose. “And you think that appearing happily married will matter to her? I swear she thinks it’s fun to ruin relationships.”
I scowled. “Then why do you retain her services?”
Black scrubbed at his face.
But it was Gentry’s voice that answered from behind me. “Black can’t fire her because she’s his brother’s daughter.”
“That would be niece…” I pointed out. “Why not refer to her as that?”
“Being a niece means they would have a relationship. They don’t. Black can’t stand her.”
“Just Black?” I teased.
Gentry reached the kitchen sink and he bent over it and washed his face and chest in the water before using a kitchen towel to dry off.
I watched as a rivulet of sweat or water ran down the length of his throat and across his bare chest.
His very defined, bare chest.
His bare chest that had my name on it, as well as Dean’s.
On one side of his heart was the word ‘Dean’ in calligraphy.
On the other side of his heart read ‘Herb.’
My heart lurched into my throat.
He caught me looking and smiled sheepishly. “I never want to forget.”
I wasn’t sure what that meant.
He didn’t want to forget that I was the reason for all his troubles?
That made more sense than the alternative—that he actually liked me and never wanted to forget me.
I was too scared to ask him to clarify why.
Instead, I looked at Black and said, “Do I need to leave?”
Black looked at Gentry.
Gentry shrugged. “It’s not like she knows anyone to tell.”
That was true.
I only knew very few people in town. At least well.
I knew of a lot of people.
I’d met a ton of the Dixie Wardens and their wives.
Quite a few of them had come through the hospital that I was working at.
I’d also met quite a few people socially through the SAR club that Mable had encouraged me to join. Though, at the time, she’d encouraged me to join with Neo, but now I wasn’t so sure that he could help in any way.
A few of the Dixie Wardens also helped with the SAR—search and rescue—team. As well as quite a few firefighters for the area.
I’d also met the mechanic in town, Courtland, who also happened to be a part of the club.
But most of them were just acquaintances. Someone I’d say hi to if I saw them, but other than that…
Black cleared his throat and opened the case file.
My heart sank.
A little boy’s face peered up at me.
He was around two or three with a mop of brown curls around his face, blue eyes and porcelain white skin.
“This him?” Gentry asked.
“Calen Wains. Two and a half. Missing for six weeks.”
My stomach sank.
“His parents, Lynda and Chris, have been cleared. They’re distraught parents. There’s no faking that,” Black said. “So have the grandparents.”
I reached for my sweatpants on the floor and pulled them on, no longer comfortable being without pants near the two men.
This didn’t seem like the type of thing to be so flippant about.
Those poor parents.
That poor little boy.
“He was playing in his yard, right? When he went missing?” Gentry asked as he poured himself a cup of coffee and took a seat next to Black. He pulled the case file over to himself and started to flip through it.
“Yes,” Black answered as he flipped open another case file. “This is Monty. Two and a half. Playing in his backyard with his dog, Reno. Just poof. Gone. Jackson and Melinda Cross have also been cleared of any wrongdoing. They don’t have any family, though. Been missing for four weeks.”
“How many in total?” Gentry asked as he looked through the next case file.
“Four. All same MO. Two and a half. Playing outside in the backyards. Then they’re gone.
No sign of a struggle. No scream. No nothing.
It seems like whoever took them knew the child.
I could see one kid going without a fight, but not all four of them.
Kids are usually hesitant around strangers at that age. ”
A thought occurred to me, and I blurted it out without thinking first. “Do they all have the same caregiver? Like a babysitter?”
Black and Gentry both looked at me in surprise.
“If you think that they knew their kidnapper, that might be an explanation. Or a Sunday school teacher. Or a daycare worker.”
“Two went to church. So that might be the case for two. But not the other two. None of them went to daycare. But the babysitter theory…” Black stole one of the case files back. “A babysitter isn’t mentioned, but I’ll ask.”
I took a sip of the coffee and walked to the sliding glass door that overlooked Gentry’s backyard where the RV was parked.
As I stared at the camper, I realized you could see straight into it through the windows.
My cheeks heated.
Could he see me?
“This one mentions a babysitter,” Gentry said. “Thursday nights. From seven to ten. Parents are gone at…”
“SAR meetings.” I looked over my shoulder.
“Yes,” Gentry confirmed. “You’re aware of those?”
“A friend, Mable, encouraged me to start going. When Neo was missing. To give me something to focus on outside of wondering where he was,” I admitted. “There’s a couple that hasn’t been there in a while. The others were talking about it. I’m assuming that’s why. Their son was kidnapped.”
“Yes,” Black said. “What else you got, darlin’?”
I smiled, though it didn’t reach my eyes. “Not much,” I admitted. “Unless you want me to scour their social media and their babysitter’s. I’m pretty darn good at that.”
Black frowned. “Actually, that would be great.”
My brows rose. “Are you serious?”
He nodded. “I am. I usually have Kelly do it. But you have good instincts.”
I sat down. “Give me a list of names.”