Mounting Evidence

by Karis Walsh

  Abby moved like a sleepwalker as she retraced her movements through the woods. She pointed to hiding spots and described the arc of arrows, but most of her was trying to reconcile this new view of her life with her long-held belief that she was somehow disconnected from her job. She had fought her attraction to Kira because she thought it would make her weaker, morally and emotionally. But Kira made her stronger.

  She placed her hand on the oak tree and felt the rough bark against her skin. She slid her finger into the smooth gouge left behind after the detectives had removed one of the arrows. She had been approaching this case wrong. Abby moved in a slow circle, tracing the movements of the archer based on the arrows’ final positions, as if watching a shadow move through the trees. She needed to understand this person if she wanted to keep Kira safe. She had been pushing her feelings for Kira away, even though they burst out whenever she felt Kira was being attacked. Her goal had been to solve the case and to regain her emotional distance, but now everything shifted. Her priority was to protect Kira—not so she could be free to get away from her once the threat was removed, but because she wanted to be with her. Purely selfish motivation, and it felt damned good.

  Chapter Twenty-three

  “I’m ready when you are,” Abby said when she came out of the police barn and over to the bench where Kira and Julie were sitting.

  Kira felt a twinge of anticipation at the thought of finally being alone with Abby. Since Rachel had arrived at the wetland, they hadn’t had a moment to themselves. She’d been sorting through the events of the day—the culmination of a harrowing, but sometimes thrilling, two weeks—in the privacy of her own mind, but she wanted to share her conclusions with Abby.

  “Okay, Abby. Julie, you’ll call Sergeant Bryce if you see anyone suspicious, won’t you?”

  “Of course, Mom. I’ll be fine.” Julie smiled with a somewhat shaky bravado. “What about you and Abby? What if someone tries to kill her again?”

  “We’ll call Bryce, too,” Abby said with a shake of her head. “I’m sure she’ll manage to rescue all three of us while single-handedly patrolling the fairgrounds.”

  Kira grinned at Abby’s overt irritation. Rachel and the other members of her team had been glued to her side since her run-in with the archer this afternoon, and Abby clearly chafed under their attention. Kira knew how independent Abby was accustomed to being, and she felt the warmth of Abby’s affection for her when she had learned Abby had asked for Rachel’s help in keeping tabs on Julie this evening.

  Kira gave her daughter a hug. “Text or call anytime you want, honey. Have a fun time with your friends, and I’ll see you when you get home.”

  Julie nodded. “Take care of each other,” she said, giving Abby a quick hug as well before she ran off to join Angie and the other kids from her 4-H group.

  Kira had to laugh at Abby’s adorable expression of both pleasure and awkward embarrassment at Julie’s display of affection for her. Abby punched her playfully in the arm.

  “Maybe we should stay,” Abby said. “We could follow her far enough behind so she doesn’t notice.”

  Kira had considered doing the same thing. Or telling Julie to cancel the plans she and her club had made weeks ago. Julie had been looking forward to the evening spent going on rides and goofing off with her friends after the competition was finished, but she wouldn’t have hesitated to leave with Kira and Abby instead. Kira had been tempted, but she didn’t want Julie to live in fear. To give up her plans and stay locked inside her house or her heart because of the meanness of others.

  Of course, it helped to know that the entire Tacoma Mounted Police Unit would be her bodyguards.

  “We can’t embarrass her,” Kira said. She put her hand on Abby’s lower back and pushed her toward the exit gate. “Your unit will take care of her tonight.”

  She was acting brave, but she wouldn’t have let Julie stay here without her if it hadn’t been for Rachel’s promise to keep Julie in sight of the mounted unit at all times. The walkie-talkie she’d given Julie helped alleviate Kira’s concerns, too. As had Billie’s offer to drive Julie to Kira’s on her way home. They were all banding together to protect one of their own, and Kira—who had fought against anyone having a possessive attitude toward her since Dale—felt the difference between their loving concern for her and Abby, and Dale’s need to control her. Today she had watched Abby make the same realization about her team, finally letting them into her life even though she’d spent years keeping everyone out.

  Kira and Abby joined a throng of people crossing the road from the fair to one of the main parking lots. When Abby had called her, asking to see her this evening, Kira had already been on her way to the fairgrounds with Julie. Rachel had brought Abby here to meet them. They were gradually getting closer to being alone. They got in Kira’s car and she slowly inched forward behind a line of cars waiting to exit the lot. She reached over and took Abby’s left hand in hers, entwining their fingers and holding her tightly.

  Something had snapped inside her when she had watched Abby running across the clearing toward her. Disregarding her own safety just to ensure Kira’s. She had been angry with Abby for stepping in to rescue her before, but this was different, and she had suddenly realized why. Abby wasn’t trying to prove her superiority or trying to put Kira in a subordinate position. Rather, she was risking her own life to protect Kira’s. Kira had mistakenly seen Abby as taking something away from her, but instead she was giving Kira everything she had. Her own life, if necessary. Kira was awed by what Abby had done, and surprised, as well. Not because Abby had put her own life in danger by running across the archer’s path, but because of the way she’d felt once she learned why Abby had been racing toward her. Abby hadn’t taken her power away, but she’d offered herself to Kira in a way that made her feel strong and cherished.

  And loved.

  “Do you mind if we make a stop on the way home?” Kira asked. She wasn’t sure to which home she was referring. Was she taking Abby to her big, empty Victorian, and then spending a lonely night on her own until Julie got home? Or was she going to be brave enough to ask Abby to come with her. To share a night together, and the hope of many more to come, like she’d been too nervous to do after their dinner together?

  “Not at all,” Abby said. She gave Kira’s hand a squeeze. “I’ll go anywhere you want.”

  Kira bit her lip to keep from grinning like a fool. Abby’s voice, low and suggestive, had just given her the option to choose the direction they went tonight. Kira had been hesitant to get close before, to get too physical with Abby in the too emotional atmosphere of her house, but now she wanted to do something even more intimate. Make herself even more vulnerable to Abby and prove—to both of them—how much she trusted her.

  Kira turned off River Road and drove across the Puyallup River Valley. She slowed when they reached a deserted stretch between fields of tall corn stalks and low, thick rows of lettuce and searched for a barely discernable dirt path.

  “This looks like an ideal place to dump a body,” Abby said, looking out her side window. “Should I be concerned?”

  “It’s a little late to be asking,” Kira said with a laugh. Her headlights lit up the cement berm between them and a small, meandering stream. Patches of brush encroached on the rarely traveled road, occasionally scratching the side of her car with an eerie, shrill sound. She came to a break in the berm and stopped the car. No need to pull to the side and park since no one else should be out here for days.

  Kira smiled at Abby and turned off the ignition, plunging them into blackness. The blanket of dark lasted only a few moments, until Kira’s eyes adjusted and allowed the light of the moon to illuminate them. She saw Abby watching her with a heartbreaking look of longing.

  Kira got out of the car and scrambled up the cracked side of the berm. She had come out here to make herself vulnerable to Abby, but the expression she’d just witnessed was tender and revealing. She wasn’t the only vulnerable one here, and with the k
nowledge came a sense of power and gratitude. Dale’s method of controlling had made Kira feel like nothing. Abby’s desire to protect her made her feel like Abby’s everything.

  She reached out and grabbed Abby’s right elbow to help her climb the low wall. Abby sat beside her, and they looked at the slow-moving stream in silence. A full moon, with craters and valleys shown in deep relief on the clear night, was mirrored in a rippling image on the water. Solid black silhouettes of trees made the sky turn shades of dark purple and navy in comparison. Crickets chirped lazily in the distance and mosquitoes buzzed, but otherwise there was no sound except for breath and heartbeat. A clump of cattails, remnants of the wetland that used to be here and a symbol of what was to come, reached almost to Kira’s shoulder.

  “It’s a beautiful place,” Abby said. “Except for the cement and all the garbage floating over there.”

  Abby gestured toward a pile of debris in the shallows, caught in the trailing branches of a willow. Kira would have to come back in the light of day and do yet another cleanup in the area.

  “Don’t see what’s here,” Kira said. “Try to imagine what it will be.”

  Abby looked at her and not at the scenery. “Tell me what to see.”

  Kira felt Abby’s focus on her, but as she spoke she lost herself in the fantasy she saw in her mind. “The whole valley used to be filled with a series of wetlands, but in the early nineteen hundreds, people channeled the streams and covered the marshy land with fill and drainage tiles to turn it into farmland. But if the berms are removed, allowing the stream to flow on its natural course, the area can be restored.”

  Kira pointed toward the bank opposite them. “Take away the Scotch broom and those clumps of thistles. Replace them with snowberry and salmonberry plants. Instead of the mucky scum along the edge of the stream, imagine sedges and bulrushes lining the banks.” She waved her hand as if painting trees one by one. “Willow, red alder, black cottonwood. Filled with singing birds and giving the stream shade.”

  Abby watched Kira and saw the new ecosystem come to life through her words and gestures. The beauty of the dream was reflected on her face. “Who will make this happen? You?”

  Kira smiled at her with a mix of pride and shy humility. “I’ll help. Sometimes when we can’t stop a developer from building on a wetland, for whatever reason, we can at least get them to create a mitigation site to replace it. This is one of our victories. It’ll be restored with native plants and the groundwater will be allowed to pool naturally again. Someday it will be beautiful and full of life.”

  Abby brushed Kira’s hair off her cheek. “Because of you.” She understood why Kira had brought her here. She was sharing part of herself with Abby—as meaningful as trusting Abby and her team to take care of Julie, and just as personal. A gift.

  Kira turned toward her and leaned forward to kiss her. Abby felt only Kira’s desire. No hesitation or connection to old memories. Present, and looking forward. Abby relaxed against her and let the growing intensity of Kira’s kiss set their pace.

  Abby willingly lay back on the rough cement when Kira pushed against her shoulders. The contrast between Kira’s softness on top of her and the unyielding coldness of concrete beneath her head and spine intensified both feelings until Abby’s entire body felt like one quivering nerve ending. Kira kissed her neck, her throat, the skin revealed by the open neck of her polo shirt. Abby twisted the fingers of her left hand in Kira’s hair, holding her tightly but not directing or guiding. Abby felt the exhaustion she’d been storing up since her accident, since Kira’s abduction, since she first learned about her family secrets, slowly leach out of her body and into the rock below. It was replaced by the healing warmth of Kira’s skin and of Kira’s tongue moving slowly over her belly. Abby closed her eyes and let Kira take control.

  Abby gasped when she felt Kira’s fingers slowly open her jeans, and her mouth following the slow progression downward. She raised her hips to allow Kira better access, and denim skimmed along skin electric with arousal. Kira’s fingers spread her lips, and the briefest flick of a tongue threatened to send Abby over the edge. Kira wasn’t about to let her off so easily, though, and her intermittent touches and licks made Abby strain against the confining denim around her thighs. Finally, thankfully, magically, Kira took Abby fully into her mouth and brought her to a climax that she knew must have sent tremors into the earth around them.

  Abby shivered, and Kira moved up to lie next to her and hold her close. Abby rested against Kira’s chest and felt a racing heartbeat matching her own.

  “I love you, Abby,” Kira whispered, her breath ruffling Abby’s hair.

  “I love you, too,” Abby answered without hesitation. She knew it with as much certainty as she knew she’d do anything to keep Kira safe. Suddenly her breath caught.

  But Kira was safe. The shooting in the wetland had stopped as soon as she had arrived. Because now there were two targets and more risk of getting caught, or because the archer didn’t want to hurt Kira? And she had been left relatively unharmed when Tad Milford was shot—only being left blindfolded and tied because she would be able to identify the killer on sight. Abby stopped breathing and stood still. Someone else had the same goal she did—to keep Kira safe.

  Abby nearly rolled Kira off the cement shelf when she pushed herself to her feet and yanked up her jeans.

  “What’s wrong?” Kira asked with a frown.

  “Nothing, nothing,” Abby said, her mind racing. “Just let me call and check on Julie, then I’ll be right back.”

  Abby scrambled off the berm and jogged over to the car. She got her cell off the passenger seat.

  “Rachel, it’s Abby. How’s Julie?”

  “She’s great,” Rachel said, with the midway sounds loud in the background. “She and her friends seem to be having a great time.”

  “Good. Thank you again for watching her. Say, who’s on guard duty with the horses tomorrow night?”

  “Billie. Why?”

  “I’ll take her place,” Abby said. “Let her know. In fact, let everyone you can think of know.”

  Rachel was silent for a moment. “You know something. Are you planning to use yourself as bait?”

  “That’s exactly what I’m doing. Meeting this person on my terms.”

  “I don’t think—”

  “I gave you an order, Sergeant,” Abby said. Her voice left no room for argument. She ended the call and tossed her phone in the car before returning to Kira. This had just gotten personal.

  Chapter Twenty-four

  Kira stepped under the yellow police tape and walked down the empty barn aisle. Legs was still at the vet, and there was a cot and sleeping bag in her stall. The other three horses were doing their second demonstration. Abby was probably in the audience, watching and wishing she could ride regardless of her wrist.

  Kira paused in front of a chalkboard the unit had been using to list practice times and stall cleaning or feeding duties. A large note written in Abby’s handwriting announced that she was on guard duty tonight. She wasn’t surprised by the information—Abby had called her earlier and said she was sleeping in the barns to give her officers a break—but she wasn’t sure why Abby was advertising the fact that she’d be here alone all night.

  No, not alone. Kira smiled and ducked under the tape again on her way out. She had her own plans, hastily made after Abby’s phone call. She had brought Julie here to meet some 4-H friends who were showing alpacas, and Julie had already been planning on staying with Angie overnight. Kira had decided to organize a slumber party of her own. For two.

  Kira had wanted to see Abby again tonight and she’d been disappointed when she heard about the duty shift. She wanted to feel Abby’s touch, her kiss. To quietly whisper words of love she couldn’t keep inside any longer since she’d acknowledged them herself. She’d hoped for a quiet evening alone with Abby, sitting on the bench in her backyard. A repeat of the night she’d first realized how smoothly Abby fit into her and Julie’s world
. Then, she had been scared by the evolving intimacy between them. This time, however, she wouldn’t hesitate to be with Abby, wholeheartedly and unreservedly. No way would they have gone to separate rooms when they went to bed.

  Kira walked quickly around the barns and back to the busier section of the fair. She felt a shiver of excitement as she thought about the night ahead. She’d hide somewhere—there must be plenty of nooks and crannies where she could disappear until the fair was closed—and then she’d sneak back to the horse barn. Open the door and walk across the stall. Slide into the sleeping bag and into Abby’s arms…

  She imagined the surprised look on Abby’s face and couldn’t contain her smile. Luckily, there were too many people around for anyone to notice the heated blush she could feel creeping up her neck as her mind wandered forward in time.

  Kira looked at her watch. Still a few hours to go. She bought a bag of popcorn and ate it while she searched for a hiding place. The horse barns would be ideal, but she worried the mounted unit would check them before they left for the evening. She didn’t want Don or Rachel to discover her lurking in one of the empty stalls. She considered the other animal barns, but she’d rather not bring the smell of livestock to her tryst with Abby.

  She wandered into the agricultural building. The granges from across the state each had a large display, like huge shadow boxes placed in two rows, back-to-back, displaying the produce and other goods from their region. Some were simple with neat rows of corn and berries and tomatoes, but others were more elaborate. A horse and buggy, the logo of the Seattle Mariners, complete with autographed baseball bats. Kira was admiring the variety of winter squashes in one of them when she noticed the gap between the two rows. It was just big enough for her to squeeze through, and the dark corridor inside looked relatively clean and roomy. Who’d bother checking inside there every night?