She ran her fingers over the edge of the couch cushion. She had no right to feel anything about what he did or didn’t do. She had told him it was only going to be a one-time thing. And though they had made love, he wasn’t hers. He’d made her no promises. And he shouldn’t. Dane couldn’t be hers. Not if he wanted something more than a romp in the woods.
“Okay,” Dane answered. “Thanks for calling.” He sat the phone down on the counter and slowly turned to her. “That was the medical examiner. They got the rest of the lab work back.” His face was even paler than it had been when she’d arrived and his eyes more tired.
“What did she say?”
“The blood on the tarp was equine. So they couldn’t hold Zeb.”
“Did they find out anything about the women?”
“There was no clear evidence as for cause of death, but both women were missing large chunks of hair at the base of the heads.” He shook his head. “They each had clear defense wounds on their arms and there was some bruising on and around their abdomens.”
“Did they find out anything more about the green and yellow fibers? Where they came from?”
Dane shook his head. “She thinks it was from a type of rope, but it’s a rope that is sold in about every store. So it’s not of much use unless we find something that would match the description.”
He walked over and dropped onto the couch next to her. Nervously, he ran his hands down and over his knees and then glanced up at her. “Your sister wasn’t pregnant, was she?”
“What?” She fast-forwarded through her memories. No. A nymph couldn’t become pregnant, could they? “No. Natalie couldn’t have children.”
“Are you sure?”
“There’s no way.” At least, she didn’t think so …
“Both women killed had high levels of gonadotropins in their bodies. It turns out they were taking the fertility drug Clomiphene. They must have been trying to get pregnant. I didn’t know that Angela had wanted children … ”
The sadness in his voice made chills run down her spine. “I’m so sorry, Dane.” She leaned over to him and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into her chest. He resisted for a second, and then let his body relax into hers.
His arms moved around her and he burrowed his face into her neck. His breath warmed her as his full lips grazed over her neck. His kisses ran up her neck and he tugged at her earlobe gently with his teeth. She struggled to hold back a moan. It felt so good to have him in her arms, wanting her, but now wasn’t the time. He couldn’t stall dealing with his emotions, it wasn’t healthy. They needed to talk.
She softly pushed him back from her. “Dane?” she whispered.
“Hmm?” His eyes were filled with lust. He reached over and unzipped her coat. Aura let him slip it off her shoulders. He dropped it on the floor.
“How do you know Angela wanted a baby? What if someone else was giving her the meds?”
“What?” The question must have pulled him from his haze. “Wait … You could be right.” He looked stunned at the revelation.
“Do you think this could have had something to do with why they were killed?” She shuddered at the thought. “Do you think whoever did this wanted them to get pregnant?”
“It’s possible, but it’s hard to say. I guess it would make sense. But if your sister is still there and taking these meds … ” He stared at her as he refused to say what he was thinking.
“She’s being raped,” she finished his sentence. Nausea engrossed her and she ran to the kitchen. She made it to the sink just in time.
Dane stepped behind her and rubbed her back. “For all we know, that might not be what’s going on. And she had to tell them that she couldn’t get pregnant. Maybe they are using her for something — ” He clipped his sentence short as he must have realized that he wasn’t making anything better.
A fresh wave of sickness overtook her. She heaved again. Her back shook as she tried to control the sickness. Natalie was strong, but she didn’t deserve to be a prisoner, to be used for unspeakable things. It couldn’t be. Not her sister.
He was quiet as he ran his hand up and down her back, trying to comfort her — but it wasn’t working. “Who knows what was really going on? Angela wasn’t known for her ability to stay with a single man. Maybe she wanted to have kids. Maybe she got wrapped in something weird.”
Dane stopped rubbing. Opening a cabinet, he grabbed a glass and filled it with a bit of water. “Here,” he said, sitting the glass at the edge of the sink.
Aura needed to be strong. She stood up too fast and the world swirled around her. She grabbed the edge of the sink, waiting until the light-headedness passed.
“Are you okay?”
Aura nodded, but she felt anything but fine. Her sister was missing and women were dead. May the gods be with Natalie.
She picked up the glass and took a sip and swirled it around, washing away the bitter taste in her mouth. When she was done, she sat the glass down, turned on the water, and washed out the sink. Dane didn’t need to see her this way. She needed to keep her distance, both emotionally and physically. Natalie needed her even more than she’d first thought. A new sense of urgency filled her. If Natalie was still alive, the gods only knew what atrocious things were happening to her. Aura’s imagination filled with thoughts she shuddered to even acknowledge.
Using a paper towel she wiped her face and tried to swallow away the residual feelings of sickness. She wasn’t helping anything. “Where’s your garbage?”
He pointed under the sink. Opening the door she threw the towel away and turned to face him. “We need to find Shawn. He’ll lead us to Natalie.”
“We put out an APB on his truck, but nothing has come in yet. At least nothing I’ve heard.”
“We can’t sit here and do nothing. We need to get out there and find her. Now.”
“We don’t know for sure that Shawn had anything to do with this.”
She hugged her arms around her. “Zeb said he’d seen Shawn around. He was in the video … ”
“But he doesn’t have the initials M. J. P. He couldn’t be responsible for the women’s deaths and Natalie’s kidnapping.”
“There’s no reason to believe he didn’t. He could have stolen that knife.”
“Aura,” he said, touching her arm like he was talking to a stubborn child. “Just because he’s in the video and they were fighting doesn’t mean he’s the man we are after. He very well could be, but as you know, we believe in due process and everyone is innocent until proven guilty. Even if we find him, without a confession we’ll have nothing to pin him to the murders.”
“I know, but how can we find evidence that ties him to the murders and my sister by standing around here?” She pushed off from the sink and walked out to the living room. She pulled on her coat and strode to the door.
Dane moved in front of her, blocking the door. “Where are you going? I thought we were going to talk?”
“Talking can wait. My sister needs me.” She reached around him and took the door handle. “Now, you can come with me, or you can sit in here and do nothing. Either way, I’m going to find her.”
“Wait.” Dane stepped away from the door and grabbed his utility belt and black uniform jacket that hung in the side closet. “I’m going with you.”
Chapter Fourteen
Del’s Bar was a shit-hole by anyone’s standards. The bar stunk of old tobacco, stale beer, and vomit. The floor was covered in wood shavings that they must have used to try and mask some of the rank odors, but even the fresh shavings did nothing to help. A man was standing behind the bar. He had a crooked nose and a receding hairline. What little hair he had left was gray and grease laden.
A few men stood at the far end of the bar playing pool. Another man and woman sat at the poker machines, gambling away their money. None o
f them made eye contact as Dane strode to the bar and pulled out a stool for Aura to sit down. She slid into the seat and then he sat down next to her and turned to the bartender.
“I’ll have a beer. What do you want, honey?” There was a foreign ownership in his own voice that surprised him. Where had that come from?
He watched her pink lips twitch as she ordered a beer. He wanted to kiss those lips again, but for now he just wanted to keep her safe. The bartender looked at her. “Which one?”
Aura glanced to him questioningly, as if she wasn’t much of a drinker.
There was a lot that could be assumed about a man by the beer he drank — especially at a bar like Del’s. The man eyeballed them, waiting for them to decide so he could finish sizing them up. The uniform mustn’t have been enough for the man to dislike him, so Dane held out a hope that there was a possibility of getting some answers.
“We’ll take two draft Bud Lights.” He was normally a lager drinker, but this type of situation called for a low-key American beer. Something that showed they were simple, straight to the point, and not here for any bullshit.
The man grabbed a couple of pint glasses and put them under the tap.
“You here to bust us for something?” He pushed the second glass under the tap. “We’ve been carding all the young-looking kids that come in this joint. We ain’t done nothing illegal.”
Of course the man would think a deputy would be coming here to deliver tickets, but they were here for something better — answers. “You aren’t in any trouble. Just wanted to stop by, have a beer.”
The man slid the beers over the bar to them as he gave them the stink eye. Dane couldn’t blame the guy for not believing him. He’d never set foot in this bar unless it had been to apprehend a criminal or bust up a fight. The bartender had every reason to be suspicious.
Dane pulled out his wallet and laid a fifty dollar bill on the bar. “We are here for a little information. We just need to get you to take a look at a picture for us.” He pulled Natalie’s phone out of his pocket and pulled up the picture of Shawn. “You recognize this guy?”
The bartender set to washing a used pint glass, but leaned over far enough to see the picture. He acted like he was only half interested, but it was easy to tell the guy was chomping at the bit to get some fresh gossip in the place. Nothing would make a better story for later in the night than a sheriff coming in looking for a suspect.
Dane pulled back the phone, like he was reeling in a fish. The man leaned over further, taking the bait. Nothing worked like using a person’s curiosity to get him to talk.
“We just need a little information about this guy. What he’s driving. Who he’s been with … ”
The bartender stared at the screen. “I think I’ve seen the guy. Don’t know his name, but he was in here with a pretty little brunette number.”
“When was that?”
“I don’t know … three or four days ago.” The guy leaned back and wiped his hands on the rag at his waist.
“Was Natalie — I mean the woman upset?” Aura looked anxious as she leaned over the bar after the man, almost appearing as if she was going to reach out and grab him to keep him from moving away. She had a lot to learn about interrogation.
“She didn’t talk much … I don’t really remember her.” He thought for a minute. “She was cute, I guess. Had a couple of guys giving her everything they had to get a chance to be alone with her. She stuck to that guy pretty good though.” He motioned to the phone.
Did Natalie want to be with Shawn? Had they gotten it all wrong? Was she just hiding from her sister? No … There were dead women to be accounted for. But maybe, just maybe, Natalie wasn’t as innocent as Aura had been putting on.
“Did you see what the guy was driving?”
The man eyed the fifty dollar bill. “My memory is a little foggy.”
Dane pulled out his wallet and pulled out another fifty. If this was how the questioning was going to keep going he’d need to find a sponsor.
“Silver GMC, Idaho plates.”
“Idaho? You sure?”
The man nodded and turned to put a glass away. “Positive. Saw it when I was running a load of trash out. He and that woman were having a good time in the front seat.”
Aura blanched, but tried to cover her horror by taking a long swig from the heady beer.
“By chance did you catch the woman’s name?”
The guy stood still for a moment, as if he couldn’t think and work at the same time. “I don’t know it might have been Brenna or Jenny. Something like that. Maybe.”
At least he hadn’t said Natalie. Not that he took any comfort in the bullshit names he had provided.
“Did you hear any mention of where they were staying?”
“I don’t know about that.” The bartender eyed the room to make sure no one was watching. When it seemed like no one was paying attention, he picked up the money on the bar and stuffed it into his pocket. “There was another guy with them though. Older guy. I’ve seen him around here before, but he didn’t look real happy to be here with them. He kept trying to leave and your guy kept stopping him. They were fighting about some stock auction … Something about some wild horses they had, but that’s about all I know.”
At least he wasn’t going to have to give the man any more money to get answers and they had gotten a few questions answered.
Dane took a long drink of his beer and wiped the foam from his lip. “Thanks for the information.” He pulled a business card from his pocket with a picture of a badge and his number in bold black print. “If you see him, the other man, or the girl, I’d appreciate it if you’d give me a call. We need them to answer some questions for us.”
“This about those two dead chicks?”
So much for secrets. Everyone knew what he was up to. If he didn’t find answers soon his ass would be on the line.
“Like I said, just need them to answer a few questions for us.”
The man smirked and walked to the other end of the bar where a barfly waved him down.
Aura turned to him. “Natalie hated Shawn … It couldn’t have been her in that car with him.”
She could be right, but from what the bartender said, her sister had been a willing participant in the late night romp.
“Was there any reason your sister wouldn’t want to speak to you?”
She nibbled at her lip and she stared down at her beer. After a minute she looked up. “We’d had a fight, but she wouldn’t just disappear.”
“Not even if she had something to do with Angela’s murder?” He hated that he had to ask her, but the truth needed to be found. He needed the real answers.
“She’s not a killer. There’s no way.”
He twisted the beer in his hands. “Aura, you need to tell me what is going on. You are lying to me … I can feel it. If you care for me at all you need to tell me what the hell you’re hiding.”
The sound of pool balls being racked echoed across the room, making the silence between them that much more tense.
Didn’t she care for him at all? If she did, she would tell him the truth — hell, she already would have.
She didn’t give a shit about him. She didn’t give a shit about anyone except her damn sister.
He swallowed the last drink of his beer. The glass slammed down on the bar as he stood up. “I’ll be outside.”
She didn’t stop him.
He pushed open the door and headed out toward the patrol car. He needed to get his mind back on work. He’d been a fool to think that she wanted anything more from him than a quickie. She was using him to find her sister. If nothing else, it was damn smart of her … give an officer a little ego boost, a little sheet time, and then manipulate him to get whatever it was she wanted. How had he been taken for such a ride?
Cars buzzed by on the highway that ran outside the bar. As Dane pushed the unlock button on the key fob, a truck pulled into the space next to him. Behind the wheel was Zeb, and from the pucker on his face, it was more than clear that he wasn’t too happy to be seeing his arresting officer and brother standing next to his truck.
Zeb pushed open his truck’s door and stepped out, slamming the door behind him. “What the hell? Can’t a guy even get a drink without you being around?
“Look, I was only here to have a drink.” He twisted the keys in his hands as he tried to think of a way to deescalate his brother’s anger. “Hey man, I’m sorry I had to arrest you. It’s the policy. If you want, I’ll buy you a beer … to make up for it.”
“I’m your goddamned brother. I don’t care if it’s procedure or not. You know I’m not the one behind the murders. I could never do shit like that. Yet you couldn’t just live and let live. You had to go after me for Angela … and the ranch. You need to let shit go.”
“I need to let shit go?” Dane’s anger threatened to boil over. “You are the one standing there blowing up at me. I offered to buy you a goddamned beer. Thought we could just move past this.”
Zeb pulled a can of snuff from his pocket and pushed a pinch full into his mouth and under his bottom lip. “You don’t know what you cost me.”
“You have all the money you need thanks to the ranch. You’re full of it.”
“Money’s not the issue.”
He wasn’t making any sense. What could be more important to his brother than money? “What are you talking about?”
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