“Can you start right now?” Shoulders bunched, jaw set, she looked ready to jump if someone shouted an order over the hum of conversation. Tension practically radiated off her.
“Yes. I’ll need to arrange care for my horses. I can make a call to cover that base. If I’m going to be able to help, you’ll have to tell me everything.” His voice was gruffer than he expected, borderline harsh. Between his need to be her comfort and inappropriate sexual thoughts, being near her wasn’t exactly bringing out the best in him.
She glanced from side to side, told him what had happened that morning with more details this time, and then focused those honey browns on him. Tears welled in her eyes. “After all this time, he’s after me, Brody. Why? It doesn’t make any sense. Where’s he been all these years?”
“That’s a good question. One I intend to answer.”
“And what about my brother? Is there any chance he could still be alive?” Her voice hitched on the last word.
“We’ll find out.” Brody gripped his cup so he wouldn’t reach out to comfort her. “You’ve already been to the sheriff or you wouldn’t be calling me.”
She lowered her gaze. “Yes.”
“What did he say?” The way she kept one eye on the door had Brody thinking he needed to ask her to switch seats so he’d have a better view. As it was, he didn’t like his back facing the door.
“That I should be careful and to call if I see or hear anything suspicious.”
“Did you tell them that’s why you were there in the first place?” Frustration ate at him. He needed to control it in order to focus on the mission. Why would the man who’d abducted her and her brother all those years ago come back? To finish the job with her? She’d never been the intended target. When she’d witnessed a man grab her brother and run, she’d chased him into the woods. He had to know she hadn’t seen or remembered enough of him to help the law track him down or he’d already be in jail. “It’s been fifteen years. Why now? Where’s he been?”
“Wish I knew.” Her gaze ping-ponged from the front door to the exit. Fear pulsed from her. “Then again, the papers always dredge up the past.”
“That wouldn’t suddenly bring him out. They run stories every year.” Brody tapped his finger on the table. “I’ve thought about this a lot over the years.”
“Did we do the right thing back then? I mean, we were just kids protecting our friend by keeping that secret. What if that cost Shane his... What if someone saw something?”
“They would’ve come forward on their own if they had. Unless you think Justin was somehow involved?”
“No. It wasn’t him. This guy was too tall. Plus, I remember that smell. No one in Ryan’s house smelled like apple tobacco, least of all Justin.” The admission brought a frown to her lips.
“The sheriff wrote the case off as a transient passing through town before and found nothing. It’s time to change things up. We need to look at this through a new lens. Our guy could be connected to Mason Ridge in some way. This is where it all started and this is where it ends.” Brody had every intention of following through on that promise.
And if that meant breaking the pact and digging up the past, so be it.
Rebecca’s shoulders slumped forward. “It’s no use. We’ve been over this a million times and we never get anywhere. I’ve scoured the internet for years trying to find Shane. The case is closed. It was most likely a random mugging this morning. Even the deputy thinks I’m crazy.”
“Except that we both know you’re not.” Brody resisted the urge to take her hand in his, noticing how small hers was in comparison, how much more delicate her skin looked.
“The sheriff told me years ago the trail had gone cold. I just didn’t want to accept the truth. They’re probably right. Shane’s...long gone.” Her almond-shaped eyes held so much pain.
“I know why your parents didn’t leave the area after they divorced. They never gave up hope of finding him, especially your mother,” Brody said, leaning forward. Everyone in town had held out the same hope Shane would be found. Hope that had fizzled and died as the weeks ticked by. “And neither did you.”
“Seemed like a good enough reason to stay in the beginning.”
“There’s no reason to give up now.”
“Do you know how slim the chances of solving a cold case are? I do.” When she looked up, he saw more than hurt in her eyes. He saw fear. He already noted that she’d positioned herself in the corner with her back against the wall, insuring she could see all the possible entry points. And didn’t that move take a page out of his own book?
“Except the case isn’t cold anymore. He struck again. We know he’s in the area.”
“Do you have any idea how that new deputy looked at me when I reported the crime and he pulled me up in the system? No one believes me.” Tears welled in her eyes, threatening to fall.
“I do.” Brody meant those two words.
“He could be anywhere by now.”
“And so could you. But you’re not. You’re here. And so is he.” Brody needed the conversation to switch tracks. Give her a chance to settle down. It was understandable that her emotions were on a roller coaster. Her need to find her brother battled with the fear she never would. “What about after college? You disappeared. I heard that you swore you’d never set foot in Mason Ridge again. What happened?”
“I did. I moved to Chicago and got a job at a radio station. I came home three years ago because of my mom’s health. She took a turn.”
“I didn’t know.” Again he suppressed the urge to reach across the table and comfort Rebecca, dismissing it as an old habit that didn’t want to die.
“I had no way to reach you while you were overseas. Doubt I could’ve found the right words, anyway.”
Brody understood the sentiment. How many times had he thought about looking her up on social media over the years but hadn’t? Dozens? Hundreds? “Is it her heart again?”
Rebecca nodded. The sadness in her eyes punctuated what had to be another difficult time for the Hughes family.
“What’d the doctor say?”
“That she isn’t doing well. They’re doing everything they can, but she’s refusing to try a new medication that will help her. Says she’s afraid of being allergic to it, which is just an excuse.” She shrugged. “I always stop by and see her after I get groceries on Fridays. I couldn’t go today, after what happened this morning. I called to let her know and prayed that she didn’t pick up on anything in my voice. She shouldn’t see me like this. It’ll just make her worry even more.”
“I’m truly sorry about your mom.” And so many more things he wasn’t quite ready to put into words. His own mother had freely walked away from his family after getting folks to hand over their hard-earned money under the guise of making an investment in Mason Ridge’s future. She had no idea what it was like to stick around.
“Thank you.” The earnestness in her expression ripped at his insides. “I can’t help but feel that trying to reopen Shane’s case is hopeless. The task force took all the facts into account fifteen years ago when they investigated his disappearance. All the leads from the case are