Rita Herron - Cold Case at Camden Crossing

“How long will it take to replace the tire and check the alignment?”

“Day or two. I can call you when I’m done.”

Tawny-Lynn hedged. She didn’t have a lot of money, but she also didn’t want to get stranded on her way back to Austin. And her father’s old pickup was at the ranch, so she’d have transportation. “All right.”

“I’ll give you a lift home,” Chaz offered.

She didn’t want to be in the same car with Chaz—to share the same air—because he smelled too good, too darn masculine.

Sexy.

And whether or not she wanted to admit it, she was shaken by the accident and would love to lean on him.

But she couldn’t allow herself to do that.

She grabbed her purse from the Jeep, then removed one of her business cards with her phone number on it. “Call me when you have it ready.”

By the time she finished talking to Henry, Chaz had unloaded her supplies and stowed them in the trunk of his squad car.

Henry waved to her, then jumped in the tow truck and chugged away, pulling her Jeep behind him, the clank of metal echoing as he disappeared from sight.

“He’ll give you a fair price,” Chaz said as if he sensed her concerns about money.

She didn’t comment. Instead she walked around to the passenger side of his car and climbed in. The world was spinning again, the seconds before she’d slammed into the ditch taking her back seven years.

She massaged her temple, but the sound of screams and crying reverberated in her head.

“Tawny-Lynn,” Chaz said softly. “Are you sure you’re all right?” He closed his hand over hers, and her fingers tingled with awareness, unsettling her even more. She desperately wanted to hold on to him. To have someone assure her that things would be all right.

“Yes, I’m fine,” she said.

* * *

BUT NOTHING WAS all right. She was all alone. Everyone in Camden Crossing hated her, and the only way to fix that was to remember what had happened that day.

Chaz gave her a sympathetic look, then started the car and drove to White Forks. The woods backing up to the ranch seemed darker and more ominous tonight. Chaz maneuvered the dirt drive, avoiding the worst potholes, then parked in front of the house.

Somewhere in the distance, she heard an animal rustling in dry leaves as she climbed out. Then the howl of a coyote as if it was close by.

Chaz opened the trunk and lifted one of the boxes, and she grabbed two bags of supplies and led the way up the steps. But when she touched the doorknob to unlock the door, it swung open.

Chaz immediately pressed a hand across her chest to stop her from entering. “Did you lock it when you left?”

She nodded, remembering the bloody message on her mirror.

Was someone inside now?

* * *

CHAZ’S INSTINCTS SNAPPED to full alert. He set the box on the porch, removed his weapon and scanned the front of the property. He hadn’t seen anyone pulling up, and there were no cars in sight.

Still, the door was unlocked, and on the heels of Tawny-Lynn’s so-called accident, that raised his suspicions.

“Chaz?”

He pressed a finger to his lips to shush her, then motioned for her to stay behind him. He inched inside, looking left then right, shocked at the stacks of papers and junk filling every nook and cranny of the living room and kitchen.

The stench of stale beer and liquor mingled with mold, and gave him an understanding of the mammoth amount of trash bags and cleaning supplies Tawny-Lynn had bought.

It had been years since he’d been in the house and tried to remember the layout. The master bedroom was on the main floor, the girls’ rooms upstairs.

The floor creaked as Tawny-Lynn followed behind him, and he veered to the left into the master suite. It was just as nasty and cluttered as the front rooms.

But no one was inside.

“I don’t hear anything,” Tawny-Lynn whispered.

Neither did he, but a predator could be hiding in a closet or upstairs, ready to attack. He slowly closed his hand around the bedroom closet doorknob and yanked it open, his gun raised. It was empty except for the stacks of old shoes, hats and clothing.

“Stay here while I check the upstairs.”

“No, I’m going with you,” Tawny-Lynn whispered.

He gave her a sharp look, then decided maybe it was best if she did follow him, in case the intruder was hiding in the storage shed outside. He didn’t want to leave her alone.

They crossed back through the room, then he tiptoed up the steps, but the wooden boards creaked beneath his weight. The first room was Peyton’s, still decorated like it had been years ago. For a moment, grief hit him as an image of Ruth sitting cross-legged on Peyton’s bed flashed in front of his eyes.

Heaving a breath to refocus, he yanked open the closet door, but all he found were Peyton’s clothes. Jeans and T-shirts, a prom dress.

The softball cleats gave him another pain in his chest. No wonder the parents of the three girls who’d died couldn’t forget.

No one should have to bury a child.

He kept his gun poised as he pivoted, Tawny-Lynn’s choppy breathing echoing behind him as he entered the hall and inched to her room.

He paused at the doorway, anger bolting through him at the sight of the mirror.

“What the hell?”

“That was there when I first arrived,” Tawny-Lynn whispered.

He swung around to her. “What? Why didn’t you tell me?”

Tawny-Lynn shrugged. “I had no idea how long it had been there.”

Chaz cursed, then strode forward to examine it. He studied the writing, then took a sniff. “Looks like blood but it’s dry, so no smell. I’ll take samples and send to the crime lab.”

Tawny-Lynn nodded, then he stepped inside the bathroom and cursed again. “Was this here, too?”

Her eyes widened in shock as she entered. Then she shook her head in denial.

Chaz was disgusted at the sight.

The walls were covered in more blood. Fresh blood.

Whoever had broken in had written another message on the walls.

We don’t want you here.

Leave or die.

* * *

THE SHERIFF WAS inside Boulder’s house with the girl. Dammit to hell and back.

Chaz asked too many questions. He just wouldn’t give up investigating his sister’s disappearance and the bus wreck that had taken those girls’ lives.

Why couldn’t he let it go?

It was over. Years ago.

But now Tawny-Lynn was back.

What if she remembered something while she was in town? What if she remembered him?

His face? That he’d been there?

No, Tawny-Lynn had sustained a head injury that had robbed those memories, wiped them out and given her a clean slate. She couldn’t remember now.

If she did, she’d have to die.

Chapter Four

Chaz studied the bathroom, his anger mounting. Tawny-Lynn hadn’t done anything to earn this kind of abusive treatment. Not certain he believed her earlier statement about the message, he pressed her again. “Why didn’t you call when you found that first message?”

Tawny-Lynn shrugged. “I know you and your family hate me.”

“I’m not my family,” Chaz said. “I’m the law, and no one is harassed or threatened on my watch without me taking it seriously.”

Tawny-Lynn averted her eyes as if she didn’t know how to respond.

“I’m going to take samples and look for prints.”

“In here or all through the house?”

He grimaced as he considered the question. “I’ll start in here.”

“With all this dust and clutter, it would probably be a nightmare to do every room.”

She was right. “I’ll check the doors and major surfaces. But it’ll take me a while. Let me grab my kit from the car.”

“Okay. I’ll bring in the rest of the cleaning supplies.”