Chapter 22
EMMA
My phone buzzes on the nightstand, dragging me out of a restless sleep.
Harper Garrett
Hey. Heard you were supposed to meet Eli Turner last night at the Rusty Spur.
You okay?
My heart stops. This isn’t a concerned inquiry from a girlfriend. This is a question from the deputy sheriff.
They found Eli’s body.
I sit up fast, the sheets tangling around my legs. My hands shake as I type back.
Yeah, I'm fine.
He never showed up.
Why?
Three dots appear. They disappear and reappear before the message shows up.
Harper Garrett
Eli Turner's missing.
Dad's going to want to talk to you later today.
He's stopping at Blackthorn Ranch first to question Jake Callahan.
Oh fuck.
Sheriff Garrett has no love lost for Jake Callahan, probably because of Jake’s father—and mine, quite frankly. The sins of the father carry down in Iron Ridge, and my dad didn’t help matters by using his friendship with Dan Garrett to run Jake off. Because of me.
All of this is because of me, including this predicament with Eli.
Wait.
I reread the message. Eli is missing? What happened to the body?
Maybe it’s better I don’t know—plausible deniability and all.
Exhaling deeply, I focus on the screen.
How do you know Eli is missing? He’s probably sleeping off a hangover in some poor woman’s bed.
Harper Garrett
Normally, I’d think that too, but he was supposed to meet a business associate late last night and never showed up.
Between you and me, I’d probably have waited a day or two before dredging up the river looking for him, but Cole Turner insisted Dad get on it.
I shudder. I haven’t seen Eli’s older brother in years, but he used to make Eli look like a choirboy in comparison.
Why is your dad questioning Jake?
Harper Garrett
Someone saw Callahan at the Rusty Spur last night.
There were a lot of people at the Rusty Spur last night.
It’s the only bar in town.
Harper Garrett
Yeah, but no one saw him go inside.
Oh fuck.
Harper Garrett
Callahan and two of his army friends bought Blackthorn Ranch, as of a week ago.
Do you know him?
He worked for my dad.
We were in the same class in high school.
Harper Garrett
My dad doesn’t like him.
I can’t figure it out. Usually, Dad is impartial about people, but he’s been frothing at the mouth all week since he found out Callahan moved back.
“Frothing” is quite an image.
Harper Garrett
An accurate one.
I’ve never seen him so worked up.
He even called a PI friend of his to dig into Callahan’s background, as well as his two partners. It INFURIATED him when the PI came back and told him if he were smart, he’d leave the three men alone.
Wow
Harper Garrett
Yeah. It made me want to look them up.
So I did.
They barely exist in the system. Except for their commendations. They have medals out the wazoo.
Jake is a hero. I don’t know why that surprises me. It makes me wonder what he’d done to get those medals, and what the toll was on him.
I return my attention to my phone.
When is your dad going to Blackthorn Ranch?
So I know around when he wants to see me.
Harper Garrett
He’s in the kitchen finishing his breakfast, and then he’s going.
He should be out to your place in an hour, unless he’s at Blackthorn a long time.
Warning: he’s NOT a morning person. And he’s especially grumpy today.
I jump out of bed before I can think, my mind racing. From the Garrett house to Blackthorn Ranch, it’s twenty minutes, meaning I have at least that long to beat him there.
If Jake’s going to protect me, I’m protecting him right back.