Chapter 4 #3
“Yes, it was. Fortunately, we never give up on a missing person until they’re found. One way or another.” I glanced around the table. “I’ll need to go over that case file, too, while I’m here.”
I turned to Charlie. “So, Charlie, can you walk me through what happened with Doug?”
“Look, Constable Delaney,” Mitch said.
“Sapphire. Please.”
“Sapphire.” He said it like my name annoyed him. “We’ve already filed a detailed report with Charlie’s employer and told the police everything. It’s gut-wrenching for all of us to keep revisiting it. Plus, we all have jobs to do, so if that’s all—”
“Well, no. Actually, it’s far from all. We still need to find your father.”
“Or what’s left of him,” Mitch said.
The comment was so cold, I genuinely believed he had no idea where Frank was. But there wasn’t a scrap of grief in it either. No love would be lost there if Frank turned up dead.
Boots stomped across the back verandah. I knew who that would be.
My stomach clenched.
Kayden Branson strode into the room. Freshly changed. Wet hair slicked back. He smelled good. Damn it. Why did I even notice that?
His gaze moved around the table and landed on mine.
I dragged my eyes away, hating how hard that was.
When I glanced back, Cassidy was watching her brother, then me, then her brother again, with the deliberate attention of a woman who’d just registered something she wasn’t supposed to.
She didn’t say anything, just picked up her coffee and drank, a small smile playing on her lips.
Whatever she’d seen, she’d figured out that Kayden and I had a history.
Awesome.
“You ready?” Kayden asked.
“Ready for what?” I forced my voice back to chirpy.
“Eastern outstation. You wanted to go, didn’t you?”
“I do.” I gathered my notebook and stood. “Oh, and while we’re out there, you can take me to where Doug Walker’s boot was found.”
Kayden scrunched his nose. Damn it, he’d always looked cute when he did that. He still did. “What for?”
“Because they’re evidence in Doug’s disappearance. Bob should’ve sent someone out to collect them earlier.” I kept my smile pleasant. “Might as well do that while we’re out and about, don’t you think?”
The table went very quiet.
I scanned the people at the table. “Who found Frank’s horse?”
“I did,” Mitch said.
“Ahh, good.” My gaze landed on him. “I’ll need you to show me where Frank’s horse was found. We can do that, too.”
“Kayden can show you. He knows the billabong location.” Mitch nodded, but his teeth were clenched so tightly his jaw muscle twitched.
I gave them all my best smile. “Don’t go anywhere. I’m sure I’ll have more questions.”
I turned to Kayden. “Give me a sec, and I’ll grab my bag.”
He looked at me like I’d just poked a hornet’s nest, which I was absolutely certain I had.
I rushed to the guest room and grabbed my backpack and phone that I’d put on charge when I’d arrived. By the time I returned to the dining room, everyone but Kayden was gone. I smiled at him. “Lead the way.”
Outside, the heat hit me like I’d walked into a wall.
I followed Kayden out into the yard, trying to keep up with him. As he did his best to lose me, my mind whirled with everything I’d learned in the last twelve or so hours.
Frank had been missing for weeks with no report filed. Doug Walker’s items had been found, but Bob had taken no action to recover them. There was a station float with cash in it that nobody kept tabs on. And, there were multiple missing persons connected to Koolaroo Ranch. Three.
On top of all that, I was absolutely certain every person at that dining table had been hiding something from me.
Maybe going alone with Kayden wasn’t the smartest decision I’d ever made. I watched his broad back, his shoulders swaying with his angry strides.
No. What am I thinking? Kayden still had animosity toward me, but he’d never hurt me.
We walked around to the rear of a massive shed, and the helicopter came into view. “So, when did you get your pilot’s license?” I called to his back.
He glanced over his shoulder. “I didn’t.”
“Oh. Joy.” Farrk.
He raised his chin. “So how come you want to see this eastern outstation? Bob’s already seen it.”
“What? When?”
Kayden’s brows shot up. “Last week, when he was here.”
What the hell?
I frowned. “He didn’t mention that.”
“I reckon there’s a whole heap of stuff Bob hasn’t mentioned.” He opened the passenger door. “Get in.”
He was right. There was a lot Bob hadn’t mentioned. I held up a finger. “Just give me one minute, will you?”
“Sure, Sapphire. Because I don’t have anything better to do.”
“Thanks. Sorry.”
His expression softened just slightly, and he shook his head.
I stepped away from him, pulled out my phone, and called Bob.
It rang out.
I tried again.
Same.
In four years of working under Bob Ackerman, he had answered his phone every single time. It was a point of pride with him. What’s the use of a senior sergeant who goes to ground when you need him? He’d said it to me in my very first week, and he’d lived by it every day since.
Until now.
I put my phone away and walked back to the chopper.
I hoped like hell I didn’t regret this decision.