Chapter 4 #2
“Yep. I’m staying at the Canyon Creek Lodge for the next two nights.” River pushed his chair back and stood. The dogs had finally gotten tired after playing and were all stretched out on the living room floor. Autumn smiled at how Cutie was curled up next to Bear, as if he were her new best friend.
“I appreciate everything you both are doing,” Jordan said, rising to his feet. “I want to believe Jenny’s baby is alive and being cared for. Hopefully not by the man who killed her.” He frowned, then added, “I feel better knowing the entire task force is working together on this.”
She knew Jordan was still troubled by Detective Peters not doing more, but she sensed he had put aside his grievances to cooperate with the investigation.
“That’s our goal,” River agreed. “Come, Frankie.”
The yellow Lab’s head popped up at the sound of his name and the dog rose to his feet. Cutie jumped up, too, but Bear simply opened one eye as if to gauge if he should bother.
Autumn walked River and Frankie to the door, glancing at Jordan curiously. He hadn’t mentioned leaving with Cutie—maybe he wanted to talk to her alone? She urged the dogs to go outside, instructing Bear to get busy.
“Does that mean go potty?” Jordan asked as Bear did his thing.
“Yes, I like using the phrase get busy, instead.” She shrugged. “It’s just a matter of preference.”
“I like it, but it might be too late to train Cutie that way.” Jordan gestured to the puppy. “At least she’s mostly housebroken. I picked her up from the local shelter back in August. Cutie is going on eleven months old now and does pretty well overall.”
She cleaned up after the dogs, then led the way back inside. Jordan followed then looked at her expectantly. “You know you can’t stay here, right? That guy will come back.”
She swallowed a flash of annoyance. “I’m a cop, remember? I can stay and catch him in the act.”
“If something happens to you, who’s going to find Jenny’s baby?” Jordan took a step closer, his blue gaze imploring. “Please, Autumn. I would offer to stay with you, but I can’t leave the animals to fend for themselves. Come back to the ranch with me. We’ll go through Jenny’s text messages.”
She hesitated, surprisingly torn between accompanying Jordan and staying here to hopefully catch the shooter in the act.
Glancing at Bear helped make her decision.
She didn’t want to risk anything happening to her dog.
Plus, what about the incident Jordan described earlier—had the perp who’d tried to run him over targeted Jordan on purpose?
Or had the intent been to simply scare him off?
Her gut was leaning toward the former, that this guy would eliminate anyone who stood in his way.
If anything happened to Jordan, it would be her fault.
That was enough for her to decide it would be best if they stuck together so she could have Jordan’s back, too.
Tomorrow, she’d arrange for a security system to be installed prior to heading out to do her interviews. Having cameras and alarms would give her and Bear an extra layer of protection.
And she needed to update Peters, sooner rather than later.
“Okay, I’ll go with you to the ranch,” she agreed. Then she carefully added, “You live there alone?”
“Yes.” He didn’t hesitate.
“Okay, but I will only stay for tonight. I want to work on finding your sister’s killer, but I also need to figure out who has it out for me.”
“Thank you. And I can try to help you with that, too.” He grimaced. “Not that I’m an expert in police work.”
That made her smile. “It’s okay. I can handle it. Give me a minute to pack.”
He nodded and scooped Cutie into his arms.
As Autumn threw clothes and toiletries into a small suitcase, she silently hoped she was up to the task. Both in finding Jenny’s killer and identifying the gunman who’d used her for target practice.
And silently prayed for God to give her the strength and wisdom she would need to accomplish her mission.
* * *
Jordan wasn’t sure why he’d thought having Autumn in his personal space was a good idea. He was far too aware of her, and practically bumping into her around every corner of his house wasn’t helping.
Yet, he also knew he wouldn’t get a wink of sleep if she’d insisted on staying at her place alone. Not that she wasn’t strong, smart and capable.
But he couldn’t help but think that Autumn was the key to solving the mystery of Jenny’s disappearance and subsequent murder. Selfishly, he needed her to stay safe. At least, that’s what he was telling himself.
The fact that she was beautiful, kind and caring shouldn’t have factored into the equation.
He’d showed Autumn the guest room, the one Jenny used on those rare occasions when she’d stayed at the ranch. He puttered around in the kitchen, tripping over Cutie twice, while Autumn unpacked her things.
He scooped the dog into his arms. “I know you like to follow me, but you’re going to get hurt if you keep getting tangled around my feet.”
Cutie licked his chin in response. He sighed, hoping that talking to the dog wasn’t a bad sign.
“Come, Bear,” he heard Autumn say moments before she joined him in the kitchen.
“I, uh, have the text messages pulled up on my phone,” he said, trying to ease the sudden tension in the room. “If you’re up to going through them.”
“Of course.” She gestured to the living room. “Let’s sit on the sofa. That will make it easier for both of us to see the screen.”
More togetherness, he thought with a sigh, but didn’t say. This was his idea, after all.
Keeping Cutie in his lap, more so to keep the puppy from bothering Bear, he lowered himself onto the sofa. Autumn sat close beside him, leaning forward to see the small screen. A hint of her flowery perfume teased his senses, and he did his best to ignore it.
“I haven’t looked at these in a while,” he said, having second thoughts about the usefulness of the task. “There may be nothing here.”
“That’s okay, I plan to request a copy of her phone records, too. Detective Peters has them,” she hastily added. “He’s not happy about me taking over the case but will send them over along with his notes.”
He nodded and turned the screen so she could see it better. As he scrolled through the messages, memories washed over him. Some of the messages between him and Jenny had been tense, and he winced at his blunt responses.
“We didn’t grow up together,” he said to break the silence.
“Jenny lived with her mother until she passed away of breast cancer. That’s when Jenny moved in with Sasha.
But we got together during the holidays and other special occasions.
After our dad died, though, there wasn’t as much glue holding us together.
” He paused, then added, “Jenny kept telling me she could take care of herself and that I should butt out of her life.”
“I understand, Jordan. I don’t blame you.” Her green eyes were too close for comfort. “At nineteen, I can assure you I was just as stubborn as Jenny.”
He nodded, his throat too tight to speak. Maybe Autumn was right in that there wasn’t more he could have done. But it was hard not to wallow in guilt all the same.
Autumn looked back at the phone screen. He thumbed through the messages, hoping to notice something he might have missed. Unfortunately, there weren’t all that many messages to go through. To his shame, he hadn’t reached out to her as often as he should have.
Especially once she’d learned she was pregnant.
“Who’s Karen?” Autumn asked. “This message mentions needing to talk to her about rearranging her schedule for doctor’s appointments.”
“Her manager at the Dollar Store.” He frowned. “I’m not sure if anyone talked to her about Jenny. They weren’t friends, exactly, but Jenny could have mentioned something to her.”
“I’ll add her to my list.” Autumn gestured to the phone. “Keep scrolling.”
He did so, but all too soon they reached the end of the messages. “There may be more messages, but maybe my phone memory doesn’t go back any further.”
“The phone records should include everything else.” She didn’t sound concerned. “Thanks for doing this. You’ve given me a place to start.”
“Yeah.” He subtly edged away from her, needing some distance. Totally inappropriate for him to be distracted by a pretty face at a time like this. “Ah, do you need to take Bear out one last time? Because I should take Cutie out soon.”
“Yes.” She finally rose from the sofa, giving him the space he needed. Yet ironically, he missed her closeness. “Come, Bear.”
Her K-9 trotted alongside as she approached the door. He set Cutie on the floor and followed the pair outside. He’d have accompanied her outside regardless, out of concern for her safety. But having the puppy provided a good excuse.
They stepped into the chilly night. Away from the city, the stars were bright overhead.
In the distance, though, he could see the glow of lights from Canyon Creek.
He couldn’t help thinking about the park where Jenny was last seen, and how close it was, relatively speaking, to her final burial ground.
Where had his sister been those five and a half months before she was murdered? Here in Canyon Creek or somewhere else?
“Get busy, Bear.” Autumn hunched her shoulders in her jacket, while Bear sniffed the area with interest. “Come on, Bear, it’s cold out here.”
He caught himself smiling at the way the dog continued his intense sniffing rather than getting down to business.
“I can’t help thinking about Jenny’s baby,” he said. “I hate thinking the killer has the newborn.”
“I know, it’s hard.” Autumn glanced at him. “We need to pray that God will watch over the baby until we can find him or her.”
“Her.” He sighed and rolled his shoulders to ease the tension.
For a moment, Autumn sounded like his father, pleading with him to find solace with God before it was too late.
He glanced up at the sky again, then over at Autumn.
“Jenny had several early ultrasounds to help identify her due date. She was so excited to learn she was having a baby girl.”
“Good to know.”
He supposed he should have mentioned it earlier, but he didn’t see how the gender of the baby would impact the investigation.
“You think prayers will really help?” The question popped out of his mouth before he could think it through. “I mean, it seems strange that God would protect Jenny’s baby after allowing her to be murdered in the first place.”
“God doesn’t tell us we won’t suffer here on earth,” Autumn said as Bear finally lifted his leg on a bush.
“And it was an evil person who killed your sister, not God. Jesus suffered immensely, dying on the cross the way He did. God sacrificed His son for us, so that we can find everlasting life with Him.” She spread her hands.
“I know it’s hard to understand, but I believe there’s a reason this has happened.
All we can do is find those responsible and throw them in jail where they belong. ”
He nodded, thinking about God and Jesus. He’d attended church with his father before he died, so he was familiar with the story of Jesus’s birth and persecution. But he hadn’t read the Bible in-depth the way she’d seemed to.
It still didn’t make sense, but maybe he needed to learn more. He waited for Cutie to finish up, then scooped the dog into his arms.
“Come, Bear.” Autumn turned toward him. He stepped back to give her room to enter the house first, then set Cutie on the floor. When she abruptly stopped and turned to face him, he instinctively cupped her shoulders with his hands.
For a long moment, she stared up at him without saying anything. Then she took a step back, breaking the connection. “Ah, good night, Jordan. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Good night.” He stayed where he was as she and Bear disappeared down the hallway to the guest room. He wasn’t in the market for a relationship—Shiloh’s leaving him had been enough to keep him out of the dating scene. Still, he wondered what Autumn had been about to say.
Giving himself a mental shake, he closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep. It should have been thoughts of Jenny and her baby that kept him from the rest he needed.
But it was Autumn who dominated his mind. And the driver of the black car who’d tried to run him over that kept him awake for a long, long time.