Paula Graves - Case File - Canyon Creek, Wyoming

“Nobody in security?” Joe asked.

“Everybody reported as scheduled.” Tanner passed a sheet of paper to Riley. “I typed their names up for you, since I know you think security is the weak link.”

Riley scanned the list of names. “This is a new one,” he said, pointing out one of the names near the bottom.

“Yeah, Mike Sanchez. He’s a retired county-jail guard. He wasn’t ready to be put out to pasture, so I vouched for him here at the hospital.” Tanner raised his eyes and gave the lobby a quick scan. “He’s a little on the husky side these days. Doesn’t fit your girl’s description.”

My girl , Riley thought with a pang. They’d certainly spent the last two nights wrapped up in each other like lovers.

He glanced at his watch. “It’s nearly noon. She’ll be coming down any minute.” Every muscle in his body felt like a rubber band stretched taut, ready to snap. He forced himself to breathe slowly and evenly, trying to regain control. The Ruger tucked into the holster hidden beneath his leather jacket felt heavy against his hip.

He knew there were two undercover Teton County deputies on the third floor, where the psychiatrist’s office was located. One of them had been assigned to follow Hannah into the elevator for the ride down to the lobby. He, Joe and Jim Tanner were in charge of getting her safely out of the lobby.

He should be hoping for the killer to make a move. With so many officers on the lookout, the guy would be a sitting duck.

But Riley couldn’t wish Hannah danger. He’d rather spend the rest of his life chasing the bastard.

With a soft ding, the nearest elevator opened and Hannah emerged. A moment later, the sandy-haired undercover deputy came out behind her. The deputy locked gazes with the sheriff and gave a slight shake of his head.

The plan had failed.

Hannah walked up to where they sat, slumping into the empty seat by Riley. “No luck, it seems.”

Riley slid his arm around the back of her chair. “Depends on who you’re asking,” he murmured.

The look she gave him was a blend of disappointment and affection. “So, I guess the next stop is the airport.”

His heart sank. They’d packed her bags and put them in the truck before leaving the house that morning. Her flight left the Jackson Hole airport around three, so there’d be no time to return to the house.

This was it. His last hours with her.

Sheriff Tanner stood up, cuing them to do the same. Riley settled his hand at the small of Hannah’s back and walked out with her as she followed Tanner and Joe outside to the parking lot. He stayed alert crossing the lot to their vehicles, in case their unidentified suspect decided to make one last play to take Hannah down.

But the walk was uneventful.

At the truck, Tanner turned to Hannah, holding out his hand. “It’s been a pleasure meeting you, Ms. Cooper. You have a safe trip home, and I’ll be in touch if anything comes up on the case.” He nodded to Riley and Joe and headed for his Bronco parked a few slots over.

Hannah turned to Joe. “Thank you for all your help, Joe. And please tell Jane again how much I appreciated her help when I arrived. She promised to e-mail me when the baby gets here. You make sure she does, okay?”

“I’ll do that. Have a safe flight.” Joe gave her a quick hug and met Riley’s gaze over her shoulder, a thousand questions in his eyes.

Questions Riley couldn’t have answered if he wanted to.

After Joe left, Hannah turned to look at Riley, her expression as bleak as a Wyoming winter. “We’d better hit the road. Jane said it’s a bit of a drive to the airport.”

He helped her into the truck cab and went around to the driver’s side. “It’s a little ways,” he agreed, “but we’ll have a good view of the mountains.”

She buckled herself in. “I’m sorry the plan didn’t work.”

“I’m not,” he said, and meant it.

She turned her head and gazed at him with moist eyes. “I just wanted this to be over for you. It doesn’t feel right to be going home and leaving you here still searching for answers.”

Then stay , he thought. But he couldn’t say the words aloud. What he could offer her, at best, was half a man, and she deserved so much more than that.

They stopped for burgers on the trip to the airport, eating in silence, each knowing that everything that could be said between them already had. They didn’t speak again until he parked in the short-term parking at the airport and carried her luggage for her to the check-in area.

She turned to look at him, her green eyes dark with sadness. “I won’t make you go through security just to see me off. It’ll just make me all weepy and stuffed up for the flight, and who needs that at thirty-thousand feet, right?” She managed a watery grin.

He cradled her face between his hands. “You have my phone number. Call when you get home so I know you got there safely.”

She nodded, still smiling through her tears.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to contact the local authorities to give you some protection?”

“My brother’s a deputy. Two of my other brothers are auxiliary deputies. I have a rifle of my own. I’ll be fine. Besides, he’s not likely to follow me all the way back to Alabama, is he?”

Tamping down his fears and regrets, he brushed his lips to hers, not daring anything more, and then crushed her against him, holding her tightly. “Thank you for everything,” he murmured into her ear.

He let her go and stepped back, his heartbeat playing a slow dirge against his ribcage. He wanted to say more, to explain to her how much he regretted seeing her go, but he’d long ago learned the difference between what he wanted and what had to be. So he gave her a quick smile that he hoped conveyed how much he was going to miss her and turned toward the exit.

Reaching the door, he looked back one more time to find her standing where he’d left her, her heart in her eyes.

Mustering all the strength he had, he turned and walked out the door.

Her timing was lousy all the way around.

If she’d gone to Wyoming in the spring, she could have returned to a wildly busy office to take her mind off everything she went through on her vacation. The past week would have been a whirlwind of fishing-camp bookings, clients looking to schedule guided fishing trips, and several of her brothers running in and out of the office between fishing trips and maintenance calls.

But by late October, the season was coming to an end, and the phone calls slowed to a trickle, leaving her too much time to think about Riley and the way things between them had ended.

Maybe it would have been easier if their brief fling had blown up in a huge, dramatic fight. At least there would have been passion, tears and the chance to get good and mad. But watching him walk away, knowing with every cell in her body that he felt the same connection between them that she did, had been a sort of quiet, relentless torture she hadn’t yet escaped.

She pushed back her desk chair and crossed to the filing cabinet on the pretense that there was something in the office she hadn’t filed in the week since she returned home. But the cabinet was immaculately organized, thanks to her desperate attempt to keep her mind off Riley for the past seven days.

Admitting defeat, she slammed the drawer shut and turned around to look at the empty office.

The phone rang, an unexpected reprieve. She hurried to answer it. “Cooper Cove Properties.”

“Hey, Skipper, it’s me.” It was her brother Aaron, using her much-hated childhood nickname because he liked to hear her growl. But this time, her heart wasn’t in it.

“Hey, what’s up besides the crime rate?”