Rita Herron - Cold Case at Camden Crossing

But there was no way he could get personal with her. Revealing the truth would make him vulnerable. And he had to focus.

One day he would find his sister. That was all that mattered.

So he kept the conversation on a professional level. “I’m the sheriff, I’m just doing my job.”

Something akin to disappointment flared in her big green eyes. “Of course. Well, thanks for the ride home and for cleaning the walls.”

He nodded. “I’ll let you know if I find a hit on any of the prints or the blood samples.”

Tawny-Lynn led him to the front door, but he hung there, hesitant to leave. She looked so small and fragile. Vulnerable.

She’d been here less than twenty-four hours and already had an accident, which could have been intentional, and an intruder in her house who’d left vile threats against her.

Tawny-Lynn held the door edge, and offered him a brave smile. “Well, even if you are just doing your job, I appreciate it, Chaz. I know how the locals feel about me. I...just wish I could give them what they want.”

He narrowed his eyes, pained at the sorrow in her tone. “You suffered, too. You lost your sister. People should have been more sensitive to that.”

She shrugged, but the effort didn’t meet her eyes.

He had the sudden impulse to reach up and pull her against him. To hold her and assure her that everything would be all right. That she’d done all she could, just as he had.

But touching her would be wrong. Would make it more difficult to keep his distance and do his job.

And his job was to keep her safe and to find the person who’d threatened her.

So he handed her his business card, told her to call him if she needed anything, then headed to his car, determined to ignore the pull of attraction between them.

* * *

TAWNY-LYNN WATCHED Chaz leave with mixed feelings. As long as he’d been in the house, she could chase away the monsters.

But when she was left alone in the house, the ghosts seeped from the walls to haunt her.

For a moment she couldn’t breathe. The familiar panic attacks she’d suffered after the bus accident threatened. Willing herself to be strong, she closed her eyes and took slow, even breaths.

It had been seven years. She was alive. She was safe.

Or was she?

Judging from the bloody message on her mirror and walls, someone didn’t want her here.

A shudder coursed up her body and she locked the door, then shoved a chair in front of it. The chair wouldn’t keep an intruder out, but at least if it fell over, it might wake her.

If she ever managed to fall asleep.

Dusty and grimy from the work she’d done and achy from the earlier nosedive into the ditch, she forced herself to leave the chaotic mess waiting in the living room, grabbed a bottle of cleaner for the shower and climbed the stairs. She’d tackle the den tomorrow.

Chaz had erased the message from the mirror, but the ugly words still taunted her. She stripped the sheets, found clean ones in the closet and put them on the bed. Then she retrieved her toiletry bag and walked into the bathroom.

The walls smelled of bleach, but the shower looked grungy, so she scrubbed it, then the toilet and sink. Then she turned on the water, stripped and climbed in the shower. The hot water felt heavenly on her aching muscles, and she soaped and washed her body and hair, then rinsed off. She wrapped a towel around her damp hair, then stepped from the shower and brushed her teeth twice to get rid of the dust in her mouth.

She towel dried her hair, slipped on a pair of pajamas, took a sleeping pill and fell into bed. Seconds later, she closed her eyes and drifted off.

But even as she faded into sleep, images of the bloody message flashed back.

If she didn’t leave town, would the intruder come back and kill her?

Chapter Five

Chaz hesitated before driving away from White Forks, but he couldn’t stay with Tawny-Lynn around the clock.

Could he?

If the threats continued, he’d have to.

He carried the blood samples and prints he’d collected to the sheriff’s office. His deputy was on the phone when he walked in.

Judging from the goofy grin on his face, he was talking to his girlfriend, Sheila.

He looked up at Chaz and dropped his feet from the desk. “Listen, honey, I’ve gotta go. Call you later.”

He hung up, then quirked his brows at Chaz. “I didn’t expect you back tonight.”

“There was some trouble out at White Forks.”

“You mean that place where the Boulder broad lives?”

“She hasn’t lived there in years, but yes, that’s the one. She came back to town to get her old man’s ranch ready to sell.”

“I heard folks around here don’t much like her.”

Chaz scowled at his deputy. “Who’ve you been listening to, Ned?”

“No one in particular. Some old women were gossiping about her in the diner. Said if she’d spoken up about what happened that day, they might have tracked down your sister and Peyton Boulder.” He scratched the back of his neck. “Hell, someone even said that she helped them run off.”

Chaz silently cursed. Ned had come from a neighboring town and had formed his opinions based on rumors. “First of all, I don’t think my sister just ran off. She wouldn’t have done that. Second, Tawny-Lynn almost died in that crash herself. She was unconscious when the paramedics found her, had a broken leg and a concussion.”

Ned made a clicking sound with his teeth. “The concussion caused her amnesia?”

“Yes, according to the doctor,” Chaz said.

“But the accident— Didn’t the sheriff think that was suspicious?”

Chaz nodded. “There were skid marks from another vehicle on the pavement, but it started raining and they couldn’t get a good print.”

“Why would someone run the bus off the road?”

“Good question. The bus was carrying the softball team. Could have been some teen following too close or—”

“Competitors from another team?”

“I don’t think so. The sheriff looked into each of the girl’s lives, but none of them had any serious enemies.”

“So what’s your theory?” Ned asked.

Chaz contemplated the file he had at home. How many times had he studied the damn thing for answers?

“I don’t know. Two girls went missing from Sunset Mesa before the Camden incident and were never found. A lot of people think that a serial kidnapper took them. It’s possible he was stalking one of the girls on the team and caused the accident, then kidnapped Ruth and Peyton.”

“He’d have to be strong to wrestle both girls.”

“Not if he had a gun, or if they were hurt in the crash.”

His deputy studied his fingernails. “Do you have any idea who this guy is?”

Chaz shook his head. “No, and that’s just a theory. No proof.”

“But you all think that Tawny-Lynn Boulder saw this guy that day?”

“Some people think that. Like I said, she was unconscious when the medics arrived. But somehow she got out of the bus before it caught fire. Considering the fact that she had a broken leg and head injury, it’s not likely she walked.”

“Meaning someone dragged her to safety. But if it was the kidnapper, why not take her, too?”

“Maybe he was fixated on Ruth or Peyton. And like I said, Tawny-Lynn had a broken leg.” He gritted his teeth. Depending on what the sick bastard’s plans were, he probably hadn’t wanted her with the injury.

“Anyway,” Chaz continued. “Tonight someone left a bloody threat for Tawny-Lynn at White Forks. I took samples and managed to lift a few prints. Call the courier to pick it up, take it back to the lab and analyze it.”

“Sure.”

Chaz took a form from the desk and filled out the paperwork for chain of custody. “Tell the lab to call me as soon as they get the results.”