An ambulance pulled in and medics scrambled down the ravine, breaking her line of sight.
Garrett was looking at the marks in the dirt, but it was hard-packed, not damp enough to keep good impressions. Still, he was frowning as if something was off. She looked where he was looking.
“Looks like he drove straight off,” Garrett said to the driver, “How fast was he goin’?”
“Prob’ly a little too fast, to be honest.”
Willow’s phone started pinging as the crew below took photos and uploaded them to their secure site. As each notification appeared she clicked through to see the images.
Behind her, a fresh set of medics were trying to get the driver to let them look him over, while he kept saying he was fine.
She scrolled through the photos and saw the shots of the Caddy. It had rolled all the way down the steep drop, but one side had vastly more damage than the other. She spread the photo larger, moving over every inch of it. And then she blinked and tried to zoom further. But it wouldn’t get larger, so she pulled out her radio, and keyed the mic.
“Uncle Lash—Deputy Monroe,” she corrected quickly. “Is there brown paint on that passenger side, rear door?”
“Stand by,” he replied, and she watched as he moved to that side, hunkered low, and looked close. “Good eye,” he said. “I’ll scrape a little off for you.”
She glanced toward the ambulance. They’d argued Terrence Clay inside. The medic reached to close the doors, but she moved in and grabbed on to hold them open, then leaned into the back. “It looks like another vehicle hit that Cadillac, Mr. Clay. There’s brown paint on the more heavily damaged side. You want to change your statement that there was no other vehicle involved?”
“Brown?” He blinked. “Paint?” He blinked again. Not the brightest bulb, was he? “Oh, yeah, right, right. That was a minor fender-bender, just the other day. Such a small thing I didn’t even report it. Intended to buff out the dings myself. I do a bit of body work on the side, you know. That vehicle was brown, as I recall, so…” He lifted his hands to his sides, then lay back on his gurney.
The medic looked at her. “Okay?”
She let go of the door. “Yeah. Go.”
He closed the doors and went around front to get behind the wheel.
As the ambulance trundled away, Willow turned to her uncle Garrett and said, “What do you think?”
He pushed his hat back farther back on his head, crossed his arms over his chest. “I think he was lyin’.”
“Yeah, that’s what I thought, too,” she said. Then she heaved a big sigh. “Looks like Lily’s probably safe for the night. But I been textin’ the gals. We She-Brands are headin’ over there to keep her comp’ny, just in case.”
Garrett’s smile was half a mile wide. “Sounds like just the ticket to me.”
Lily was bored. The afternoon had waned into evening, and Ethan hadn’t come back, or even called. Her dad was spending the night over at Cat’s, after their square-dancing lesson. The sparkle had returned to his eyes. She had Cat to thank for it.
She was happy for her dad but feeling lonesome and angry with herself for feeling that way. So she’d decided to make the best of the night. She’d already accomplished the relaxing bath part of the plan, even though it had been interrupted by Ethan in a near-panic, thinking she was in danger.
It gave her a warm feeling, remembering that.
She’d got dressed after, but she didn’t stay that way long. She’d since changed into her softest, fluffiest pajamas—light-gray plush with pink. Then she pulled on her thickest socks and put her hair into a ponytail with a thick scrunchy Drew had told her was out of style. To which Lily had replied, “Scrunchies forever!” and they’d laughed together.
She really loved her cousins-in-law. Maybe Ethan had a point about a relationship between them messing with the family.
She settled onto the sofa and reached for the remote, and when she aimed it at the TV, someone knocked on her door as if in response. Frowning, and immediately thinking about the threats against her today—by a dead man, she reminded herself. Garrett had updated her a little while ago. Angus Silver was no threat anymore. He’d left the cantina all pissed off, had a blowout, and wound up at the bottom of a ravine, according to Ethan’s uncle the sheriff.
She turned the TV off and went to the door, peeked through the glass pane, then smiled all the way to her toes and pulled the door open.
All three Brand cousines yelled, “slumber party!” and Lily burst out laughing.
They came crowding in, her sister-in-law Maria, and Ethan’s other two gorgeous female cousins, Willow and Drew, opposites in every way. They were like day and night, Willow with her copper skin and raven hair, Drew with her porcelain and blonde. They all carried canvas grocery bags and wore long sweaters or hoodies in deference to the chilly night.
Lily closed the door as they headed for the kitchen, chattering all the way.
“Heard your dad’s at his new girlfriend’s for the night,” Drew began.
“So we figured the timing was perfect for a get-together,” Willow continued.
