“I’m thinking we’re back to square one.”
Ben watched her in the rearview mirror. “You believe her?”
Bailee nodded. “Yeah, I do. I believe she’s moved on. She obviously still hates me, but I don’t think she hired someone to come after me.”
Easton frowned. “I’m not so sure. I don’t think our conversation necessarily rules her out, but there’s not enough evidence to connect her to this. We need to consider other theories.”
“Agreed.” Ben turned onto a new street. “Ready to head back?”
“Yeah,” Bailee said. “Let’s head home.”
Chapter Twenty
Bailee tossed the stick high enough for it to arc through the air. Roxy scrambled after it, lining up to snatch the stick between her teeth. She sprinted back, her tail wagging furiously. Jax clapped and cheered beside Bailee, and Roxy responded to the praise by dropping the stick at the little boy’s feet.
“Can I frow it, Bai? Pweeze!”
Bailee felt her heart melt at the little boy’s garbled speech. She smiled and nodded.
“Go for it.”
He picked up the stick, not at all bothered by Roxy’s drool covering the bark. With a mighty heft, he tossed the stick farther than Bailee expected, though not as far as Roxy was used to. The dog misjudged the distance, so she didn’t catch the stick in the air. Instead, she pounced on it as soon as it hit the ground, and Jax’s laughed at her antics. Bailee joined him, her laugh more because of the boy’s infectious excitement than for Roxy’s theatrics.
“I want to too,” Jax told her, jumping up and down.
“You want me to throw it to you, too?”
He nodded rapidly. “We chase it.”
Bailee hesitated before agreeing. “All right, but be careful not to let Roxy run over you. She may be watching for the stick instead of watching out for you.”
“I’m okay.”
She retrieved the stick while Jax ran over to stand beside Roxy. Giving the stick a toss, she was careful to keep the distance a challenge for them both while giving Jax a fighting chance to reach it before the much larger, much faster dog.
The two chased after the stick, but they seemed more concerned with running with each other than catching their target. The stick fell to the ground between them. Jax dived after it, and Roxy nudged her nose underneath him to try to grab the stick. The two started to tussle, and Bailee almost broke it up until she heard Jax’s laughter ring out. Roxy barked at him and danced around, and the back and forth continued.
“Those two have become best friends very quickly.”
Bailee turned to smile in Reagan’s direction. Dressed in shorts and a plain T-shirt, Reagan looked like she stepped off a Paris runway. Her legs were slender and long, her features angular and beautiful without any enhancements from makeup, and her hair was long, dark, and shiny as it fell over her shoulders. Next to her, Bailee felt every bit the tomboy she was with her hair thrown up in a messy ponytail and her clothes chosen more for comfort than style.
“It’s good for Roxy to be around other people besides me. She needs to learn that not everyone will hurt her the way her previous owner did.”
“Poor thing. She’s a good one. I hate to think of anyone hurting her. Jax will be heartbroken when you and Roxy head back to Louisville.”
Bailee’s heart constricted in her chest. “I might be a little heartbroken myself.”
It’s the first time Bailee voiced the thought that had started to plague her of late. She knew what awaited her in Louisville. A job she loved in a precinct where she was considered persona non grata. A home that was sufficient for her needs since she spent little time there. No true friends since she hadn’t cultivated relationships yet. No family. The only thing waiting for her was a case that endangered those she cared about. Why was she in a hurry to get back?
“This town will do that to you. Believe me, I know.” Reagan’s words pulled Bailee out of her head.
“You a transplant too?”
“Oh, yeah.” Reagan stood beside her with her hands resting on her lower back as she watched Jax and Roxy play. “I never intended to set foot in Fire Creek.”
Bailee glanced at her curiously. “That surprises me. I grew up coming here in the summer. I loved it here, but I guess that was more due to Gran and Pops.”
“It’s a long story, but my biological father lived here. I hated him for leaving me and my mother. So I never wanted to come here, even if it was just to pass through. But then he got hurt, and I was called here to make medical decisions on his behalf. Whoever hurt him came after me and my mother.”
