Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Claire
The next morning, I tried to slip out of the house without getting caught. But Mom, with her special radar, heard me tiptoeing across the living room and called me into the kitchen.
“Leaving without breakfast?” she asked, all doe-eyed and innocent. “I baked this morning. Fresh cherry muffins—your favorite.”
My mouth watered. Unable to resist, I grabbed one off the tray and bit into it.
Sugar. Her personal form of truth serum for me. I eyed her, waiting for the questions to start. But she hummed to herself, putting two more trays into the oven to bake without saying a word.
“Where’s everyone else?” I asked, unable to keep the edge of suspicion out of my voice.
We all ate our breakfast earlier than the guests, since ranch life didn’t give us the luxury to sleep in the way people on vacation preferred to.
Every morning, the sprawling family kitchen was the meeting ground for the whole Hawkins crew as we filled our bellies and our thermoses and divided up duties for the day.
“You just missed the guys,” she said, referring to Dad, Travis, and Jonathan. “They’re moving cattle from the summer pasture to the winter lot today, so they needed to get an early start. The rest of them are around here somewhere.”
“Uh huh.” Somewhere. Mom probably told them to clear the kitchen so she could talk to me.
I went to the cabinet and pulled out a thermos to fill with coffee.
“So,” Mom said, “you’re working the homicide case.”
I closed my eyes and counted to ten before turning around. “I never said it was a homicide.”
She waved me off. “They called in DCI for a body in the woods. Of course it’s a homicide. But that’s not the point. I think you should take some time off from working here. With Rhett still helping out, we can cover things and keep you free to devote however much time you need to this.”
“That’s probably a good idea,” I admitted. I only worked for the ranch part-time, and my responsibilities had gone way down with Rhett back. But she was right—I could be clocking some crazy hours over the coming weeks.
“Your Agent Weston seems nice,” she said, giving me a little smile.
Here we go. “Don’t even think about it.”
She lifted her hands in protest. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m just glad that you have someone nicer than Trey to work with. Nicer and nice to look at.” She winked. “Is he single?”
“Gotta go,” I said, giving an exaggerated look at my watch. “Thanks for breakfast.”
“Here,” she said, grabbing a paper bag off the counter. “I made up breakfast to go for Agent Weston, in case he needs to get an early start, too. Can you drop it off at his cabin for me? You know, it just hit me that you guys could carpool. I mean, you’re going to the same place after all.”
“Mom. Stop.”
The look she gave me was pure innocence, but I’d watched her play matchmaker with Rhett and Cheyenne and I knew exactly what she was doing. I pointed my finger at her in warning as I stalked out.
I did not drop Agent Weston’s muffin off at his cabin, but I did take it with me so I could give it to him at the office.
As I drove into town, I felt a glimmer of excitement about work that I hadn’t experienced in a very long time.
I was working on an actual homicide case. I was doing something that mattered.
On top of that, Agent Weston was actually kind of nice.
Last night had been fun. Outside of the office, he’d been more relaxed, easy to talk to. The teasing between us had been…
Unexpected.
There was a spark there. Chemistry between us that seemed to surprise him as much as it did me. The way he’d looked at me… It was like the way I looked at the mountains, captivated by their beauty and power.
It had been a long time since someone had looked at me like that.
I wasn’t silly enough to think that anything might actually happen between us. We were colleagues. But I was looking forward to doing some real work with someone who might actually have my back. Someone who would treat me like a partner.
And maybe I looked forward to a little flirtation on the side, too.
But Agent Weston wasn’t around when I got to the office.
No one was, except Andrea and Trey, who scowled and didn’t speak to me before storming out for his shift on patrol.
I shrugged it off. He’d be butthurt for a while over losing the assignment to me, but there was nothing I could do about it.
It wasn’t like I’d volunteered for the gig.
I settled in at my desk to wait. An hour later, Agent Weston still hadn’t shown up, and my good feelings toward him had slid back to annoyance.
I was itching to dive into this investigation. But I knew better than to go out on my own and start asking questions. Until we had an official ID and Sheriff McGrath gave a press conference, I had to keep Katelyn’s name quiet. And Agent Weston hadn’t given me anything else to do in the meantime.
Another hour passed by.
By that point, I was pissed off. I couldn’t just keep sitting there waiting for him to show up.
So I started digging. Quietly.
It was after lunch when Agent Weston finally came into the office, wearing a scowl on his face that was nearly as bad as the one Trey had worn earlier. I jumped up, eager to share what I’d discovered.
He glanced around at the empty building. “Is Sheriff McGrath here?”
“No. But—”
He turned and headed for his office, ignoring me completely.
I ground my teeth and followed him. What the hell ? What happened to the man I’d hung out with last night?
What was it about this building that made me invisible?
I stomped into his office planning to give him a piece of my mind, but he spoke before I could.
“DNA results are in. It’s Katelyn.”
“Oh.” I sank into the chair across from his desk. I’d expected it, but hearing it still felt heavy.
“They’re notifying next of kin this afternoon. The news will break after that.” His tone was flat.
“Okay. So, what’s next?”
He scrubbed his face, clearly frustrated.
“Once her name has been released, we’ll start asking questions, trying to find a connection between her and someone from this area.
A reason for her to be here. Worst-case scenario, there is none.
The fact that she left her cell phone behind makes me wonder if she wanted to hide. If she picked this place at random—”
“I don’t think that’s what happened.”
He stared at the wall absentmindedly, like he was thinking out loud instead of talking to me.
“There were rumors she had a new boyfriend, one she was deliberately keeping quiet. No photos on social media, but a few people suspected it, including her roommate. If they’re right, there’s a good chance he’s involved.
When people leave in the middle of the night, they’re either running away from something or running to someone. ”
“Not a bad theory, but—”
He ignored me, continuing with his train of thought as he fiddled with a pen on his desk.
“If he wasn’t local, he could have been someone she met online.
We might be dealing with a trafficker who convinced her to come to him.
Now that we have a positive ID, I need to get warrants and look through her phone and laptop.
Wouldn’t be a bad idea to reinterview her roommate, either. ”
“ Agent Weston. ” I raised my voice, leaning over the table and snapping my fingers in front of his face to get his attention. “Hello? I need to tell you something.”
He finally looked at me, his eyes clearing like he was seeing me for the first time that day. “Oh yeah?”
“Yeah.” A little thrill of excitement went through me. I’d gone hunting, and I’d scored.
“Go ahead,” he said, waiting.
“I found Katelyn’s connection to Wildwood.”
He straightened, looking dumbfounded. “What?”
“Tony Evans,” I said smugly, enjoying the look on his face. “Not a new boyfriend, but an old one. He’s a sophomore at the college there, but he grew up in Wildwood. His dad is our mayor.”
“You’re kidding.” Agent Weston grabbed the file on Katelyn and flipped through it, scanning quickly. He looked up. “Is he the one she had a fight with at the party that night? The name wasn’t listed in the report.”
“I don’t know. Maybe.” I shrugged.
He sat back and stared at the wall again, his brows furrowed.
“They didn’t interview him. Maybe they thought it didn’t matter since they were looking at a voluntary disappearance.
But we need to dig into that more, especially since he’s from here.
” He looked back at me, grinning. “Nice work. This is a great lead. How did you find out about her dating Tony?”
My face flushed. I hoped I hadn’t broken any rules. “I called my brother, Finn, the college professor.”
“You said he worked in Montana.”
“He does. But he has a lot of connections at UW,” I explained. “He’s been working with a colleague on a joint project, so he’s on campus in Laramie a couple of weeks each semester. And you don’t have to worry about him saying anything to anyone—he’s as discreet as they come.”
“What did he know about Katelyn?” Agent Weston was frowning, but he didn’t seem to be angry at me—just thoughtful as he mulled over this new information.
At least I hoped that’s all it was.
“He said her disappearance caused enough of a stir on campus that it was all anyone talked about for a few weeks. The general consensus was that she’d had some kind of mental health breakdown from stress.
One of her professors told him she’d been concerned about her behavior all semester.
Said she’d been skipping classes, that her grades had dropped, and that she seemed distracted. ”
“Hmmm. And Tony? How did Finn know they were dating?”
“He always runs into Tony when he’s on campus. Makes a point to say hi, you know, being from the same town and all. Said Tony introduced him to Katelyn last fall. But they’d broken up before Finn was there in February. He said Tony was devastated about it.”
“That’s very interesting.” He grinned again. “Excellent work.”
“Thanks.” I flushed under the praise.
Heavy footsteps came down the hall, followed by Sheriff McGrath sticking his head in the office.
Agent Weston stood. “We have an ID.”
“I know.” Sheriff McGrath’s shoulders sagged. “I just got off the phone with Laramie PD. They’ve notified her mother. The news breaks in an hour.”
Agent Weston’s eyes met mine. “Get ready,” he murmured.
“For what?”
He shook his head. “Things are about to get wild.”