Reining In Trouble (Winding Road Redemption Book 1)

by Tyler Anne Snell

  Caleb cleared his throat.

  There was no time for any of that. If there had been one clear thing about the last week for him, it was that Nina Drake was a woman who stayed behind walls.

  And, despite his small attempts to open up to her, Caleb wasn’t on the same side.

  * * *

  THE OVERLOOK EXPLORER’S website only kept current editions posted and, of those, you had to pay a fee to read more than two stories. Various other internet and social media searches were no help, either. The only story they could track down that coincided with the fires was a blog post written on Gloria’s animal shelter blog. It referenced the newspaper article, along with a small, slightly pixelated picture of Gloria and the same two dogs she would later risk her life to save.

  When midnight rolled around, Nina and Caleb had nothing more than potentially, well, nothing.

  “I guess it’s a little too late to go to the Overlook Explorer office, huh?” she asked when they’d officially given up on searching. She rolled her shoulders back, trying to free the kink in them. Caleb, in a chair much too low for him, cracked his neck and sighed.

  “Usually I’d consider it but I know Lydia, the current editor, takes her sleep seriously. She’d tan my hide and probably not help out of spite until the morning anyways. Plus, she’d ask a million questions about why it’s so urgent. I don’t want any hunch we have on an open investigation to be front page news.” He scrubbed a hand down his face. “We’ll have to wait until the morning. There’s not much we can do right now.”

  Nina tried to hide her disappointment. Morning seemed like such a long time away. She was too high-strung now to go back to sleep.

  Plus, if she was being honest with herself, she enjoyed his company and it was easier to be together with something else to focus on than the things she was still keeping from him about her past.

  For a moment Nina worried that that thought somehow showed on her face.

  Caleb gave her a quizzical look.

  “Or we can break the rules and get some answers before then.” A wry grin spread across his lips. “That is, if you don’t mind slightly breaking and entering. Twice.”

  A bubble of excitement had already expanded within her. Before Nina had met Caleb she would have asked a lot of questions and, most likely, turned the weird proposition down. Yet, Nina surprised herself by nodding.

  “I’m in.”

  * * *

  THE OVERLOOK LIBRARY was a stone’s throw away from Town Hall. Nina had visited neither. Now she was wearing her dark exercise wear and sneaking through the library’s shadows, looking between both buildings with an almost giddy kind of nervous. Her partner in crime was back in his day clothes minus his button-up. His simple black shirt and dark jeans helped him blend in.

  Not to mention they looked good as all get-out on him.

  Caleb stopped at a side door, the detective’s badge on his belt glinting in the flashlight’s beam as he swept it up to the lock. He slid the key in and turned. It was like the movement was attached to Nina’s stomach. She had to suppress a nervous giggle.

  The door opened to a series of beeps. Caleb was inside and running toward the front where the key panel was. Thankfully, he’d already warned her of the alarm. Still, Nina stood just inside of the door in the darkness, a knot of concern. Caleb had the badge, not her.

  It took what felt like an impossibly long minute before the beeping cut off. A flashlight beam found its way back to her before the glow showed a purely mischievous face in the tight space.

  “I feel like I’m in high school again,” Caleb chuckled. He locked the door behind her and then led the way toward the archives.

  “You’ve done this before?”

  Even though she couldn’t see his face, Nina heard the smile in his voice.

  “Since Overlook isn’t the most exciting place for a bunch of teenagers, we had to find ways to make it exciting. Which includes the one day of the year when the high school seniors try to take the riskiest picture they can to impress their peers.”

  They turned down a hallway and into the main room. The smell of old and new books filled Nina’s senses. She couldn’t help but inhale deeply before asking for an explanation.

  “Basically, all the seniors trespass on local businesses and buildings and take pictures of themselves once inside,” he continued. “The pictures of everyone who didn’t get caught are judged at the big end-of-the-year graduation party. There’s even a king and queen title if you win.” He shrugged. “Sure, it’s not the smartest thing to do, and definitely illegal, but it’s one of those quirky town traditions. Honestly, I don’t think we could stop it if we wanted. Mostly because all the adults now definitely did it then. It also helps that, so far, no one has gotten hurt or done anything royally stupid.” Caleb stopped walking. Nina ran into his back. It surprised a laugh out of her.

  “Sorry,” he said through his own laughter. “I’m trying to remember which switches turn on the lights in the back room and which turn on the lights in the main room.”

  Nina gave him some space.

  “So you broke in here to take your rebellious senior picture then, I’m guessing?”

  “Not only did I sneak myself in here, I decorated this entire place and brought in Missy Calder for a date.”

  Caleb decided on a switch to flip. Luckily it was the right one. A small hallway next to them led into a room now filled with light. He turned and winked.

  “I even hired a violinist from the college the city over to come in. I included her in the picture. Needless to say, you’re looking at one of the kings.”

  Nina smirked.

  “And here I thought I was special.”

  Caleb let out a booming laugh and together they went to the back room. It was a small space meant to do research or study. Two tables sat along one wall with a communal computer between them while most of the room was filled with wooden cabinets, each drawer labeled with a date.

  “Since Overlook is as small as it is, if we were going for much older issues we would have to worry about microfilm,” Caleb said, sliding right into work mode. “But since we’re working within the last five years...”

  He scanned the dates on the cabinets closest to the tables until he found the ones he wanted. Carefully he opened the first one and pulled a newspaper out. Nina was gentle, too, as she took it.

  A stern-looking Caleb wearing a suit and shaking the hand of the mayor stared up at her.

  “The above the fold article of the most recent fire victim. Me.” He spelled the information out for her. “Now let’s see if we can’t find the others, arson or not. Might as well cover all of our bases.”

  Nina started to follow him but he stopped again. This time she was able to keep from running into him. Still that didn’t keep him from turning and giving her another wink.

  “And just to set the record straight, I do think you’re pretty damn special, Miss Drake.”

  Heat exploded in Nina’s cheeks. Luckily she didn’t have to worry about hiding the blush. Caleb was already back to work, moving through the cabinets with purpose.

  For the first time since she’d met the man Nina felt a sudden rush of worry. Once the arsonist was caught and everything calmed down, would Caleb still be around if he didn’t have to be?

  And, more importantly, did she want him to be?

  Chapter Ten

  Caleb spent the next half hour hunting down the issues featuring the Gentrys, Overlook Pass, Gloria and her fundraiser, the restaurant and any mention of Angelica DeMarko, the first fire. After he found each, Nina combed through the articles looking for similarities or anything that could link them.

  She was coming up short and said as much.

  “I’m not seeing any connection other than they’ve all been featured as headline news,” she said, defeated. A slightly grainy picture of Main Street and the then-n
ew restaurant sat beneath her hand. Caleb’s head was bent over a paper in front of one of the cabinets. Nina traced his body with her eyes, appreciating the sight, before her senses came back to her. A sigh dragged her shoulders down, like she was melting into the chair. “I might have been grasping at straws a little too enthusiastically.”

  “You won’t find me upset that we came here. That we tried.” Caleb brought his paper to the table and sat down, still looking at the print. Stubble was growing along his jaw. Nina felt the urge to touch it but batted that down. “Part of my job is following leads, no matter how big or small. Plus, there’s still some facts that I’m not ready to rule out as pure coincidence just yet.” He slid the paper over. The top story featured a picture of a woman and boy facing a house in flames while firefighters worked around them. “Here’s the story about Angelica DeMarko’s house fire.”

  He reached over and tapped the edition number and date on the masthead.

  “This story obviously ran after the fire,” he continued. “But the other stories ran one week before each fire.”

  Nina felt her eyes widen. To prove his point Caleb fanned out each newspaper until they were side by side. Then he handed her a slightly crumpled piece of paper she hadn’t realized he’d been holding. It was a list of the addresses of the fires and their dates.

  “The restaurant is a top story,” Nina reiterated. Caleb touched the coinciding newspaper and its date. “A week later the fire happens.” He moved to the next paper while she read the date on the list in her hand. “Gloria graces the above the fold—”

  “She nearly dies saving her dogs a week later.”

  “And then the Gentrys talk about reviving the Overlook nightlife—”

  Caleb slid his finger to the date on the paper and finished her thought.

  “And a week later lose half of their house.”

  “What about Overlook Pass?” she asked. “No one knows for sure when that happened, right?”

  “True, but if this pattern is a pattern, it more than could have held. That means it would have burned down a week before you got into town. Almost a month ago. It’s plausible that no one would make the trip out there in the time between, especially given the time of year.”

  Nina looked at the date on the article about Caleb.

  “Your story for closing the Keaton case ran a week before the fire at your house,” she said, simply. He nodded.

  “If you’re grasping, then so am I.”

  Nina chewed on her lips as she looked over each newspaper again. Could there really be something there? Or was it a series of small-town coincidences parading as a hopeful lead?

  “They’re all written by Delores Dearborn,” she said after a moment. “I can’t imagine there’s that many staff writers for the local paper so that might not mean much,” she admitted.

  Caleb grinned.

  “We won’t know until we ask her.”

  * * *

  THE NASH FAMILY Ranch buzzed with a restless, quiet energy the next morning. A week’s worth of standing guard at their respective posts without any sign of the arsonist being caught was grating on already grated nerves. Molly came in early complaining about a fight she’d had with Clive over “something silly” while Roberto had shown up just long enough to grumble at Nina about the kitchen. She hadn’t used his kitchen at the Retreat, and she told him so, but there was no budging his mood.

  Then, right before Caleb took off to his brother’s house, the eldest one came in hot. Fear gripped Nina, worried there had been another fire, but Declan was venting about lawyers and criminals. After that Caleb and he walked off, surveying the cabins as they spoke. Nina assumed Caleb was telling him about their flimsy, maybe-there lead. Both men stopped near the last cabin, heads bent in concentration.

  She couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty at how tired Caleb looked.

  When they’d gotten back from the library it had been three in the morning. She’d had trouble falling asleep and she’d have bet Caleb had barely scratched the surface himself.

  Nina was giving the two privacy by returning to her notebook when the sound of tires made her turn. Dorothy Nash jumped out of her car and greeted Nina with a wide, genuine smile.

  “Beautiful day, isn’t it?” she sang as she made her way over.

  “It sure beats the rain.”

  Nina could have been working inside but the sunlight had been calling her name. She’d even traded in her blouse and jeans for a breezy dress. An outfit choice that made her a little self-conscious now that she seemed to have lost track of her sandals.

  “You got that right, honey!” Smoothing the gray braid hanging over her shoulder, Dorothy stopped next to Nina. “A few years back we had nearly two weeks straight of rain. I’m talking torrential, too. It washed out roads, trees were uprooted and everything was just so dreary. It also put everyone in a mood. Irritable and grumpy. A lot of little fights that were as draining as the dreary skies. When the sun finally came back out for more than a day it was like the spell was broken. Now I can’t help but appreciate every single moment it’s out.”

  She sighed and glanced toward her sons. Declan answered his phone. Caleb was looking at them. On reflex, Nina smiled.

  “But I’m not here to just talk about the weather,” Dorothy continued. The lines at either side of her eyes deepened as her own smile grew. “You know, I was sitting out on my porch, too, this morning, enjoying the view, when I realized we never did throw you a welcome party, now, did we?”

  Nina was surprised at that.

  “A welcome party?” she repeated. “No, but that’s definitely not necessary, especially with everything going on right now.”

  Dorothy waved her off.

  “For every employee who has worked on this ranch, the Nashes have made it a point to throw a little get-together to celebrate.” Nina heard “Nashes” but assumed that meant Dorothy was the mastermind. “Nothing too big or fancy. Just some food, dancing and general merriment out at the barn.”

  “The barn?”

  “Molly told me about your idea to turn it into a just-in-case attraction if we ever get swamped by rain. I thought we could decorate it a little for the party while also getting an idea about how we could really tie it in to the Retreat.”

  Talking to Molly about the barn felt like ages ago to Nina. Since Caleb’s house fire happened so soon after their original conversation on the topic, neither woman had revisited it.

  “I would love to look at it with you but I’m just not sure a party for me is what anyone needs.”

  “No one ever needs a party, honey,” Dorothy laughed. “That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have one.”

  Nina wanted to continue to argue her point—How could they celebrate her when one of their own just lost everything?—but Caleb and Declan had made their way over and cut the conversation off.

  “Hey, Ma, did you need something?” Caleb asked, his tone softening despite the hardened expression that was reflected on Declan’s face. Something had happened. Both men were tense, even more than they had been when Declan first arrived.

  “I came by to tell you all about the little party we’re throwing out at the barn tonight.” Dorothy’s eyes narrowed as they swept across her boys. Her eyebrow raised but she kept on. “I was also going to see if Nina would accompany me to town to get some supplies.”

  “You want to have a party,” Declan said, deadpan. “Right now?” He looked like he was going to say more but Caleb touched his shoulder. His smile seemed forced but not unpleasant.

  “That sounds like fun, Ma,” he said. “Just let us know what time to be there and we will. Right now, though, we have to leave.”

  Nina felt a pang of disappointment. Caleb had been waiting to call the Overlook Explorer’s editor so they could all meet up later that day to talk about the articles and Delores Dearborn. He’d included Nina in that plan j
ust as he had said they both needed to follow the lead from the night before.

  But just as quickly as she’d felt disappointment, Nina felt silly.

  She wasn’t a detective, Caleb was. It was one thing to have her along to look for information when no one else was around. Why would he need or want her when he was actually on the clock?

  “Is everything okay?”

  Dorothy looked between her sons.

  Declan tensed even more.

  “Yeah, everything is fine,” Caleb answered. “We just need to get rolling.” He bent over and laid a kiss on his mother’s cheek before pausing in front of Nina. “I’ll call you later.”

  They each left in their own truck, kicking up dirt as they hauled toward the main road. For a moment Nina and Dorothy didn’t say anything; they just gazed after the two cowboy lawmen.

  The stress both men shouldered was only growing.

  It was a feeling that pulled at Nina’s gut and pressed worry into her chest. One look at Dorothy and she knew the older woman felt it, too.

  “The party sounds like it could be fun,” Nina found herself saying. “I’m ready to leave when you are.”

  Dorothy smiled again. This time it didn’t reach her eyes.

  * * *

  DELORES DEARBORN LIVED in one of two apartment complexes within the town limits. It was a nice, clean place with good landscaping and enough parking that Caleb cut his engine no more than a few feet from her front door. Declan had gone to the department to deal with some sheriff-related issue he’d only mumbled about before getting into his truck and leaving the ranch. Caleb was solely focused on Delores at the moment. The idea that she was a link to the fires was probably nothing more than a small-town reporter covering what she was told, bound to write several headline stories over her career.

  It could mean nothing.

  Caleb was ready to find out.

  He knocked, and a young woman with blond curls and a pleasant smile answered the door. Her eyes went to his badge first. They widened when she recognized him. He’d almost forgotten she’d been the one who had interviewed him for the article that ran about the end of the Keaton case.