Leonard massaged his temples to ease the headache that was beginning to pound behind his eyes. He was too obsessed with getting his old life back to slow down and sleep, and his body wasn’t happy with the situation. He couldn’t keep up this pace, couldn’t work all day in the hot sun and stay up all night following Sophia. But he’d been so sure it was almost over. “I waited, but they never came out.”
“They’re still there, then! It’s not too late!”
“No. They’re gone.”
“How do you know?”
“I checked. The place is locked up and empty.”
The string of curses that came out of Gary’s mouth surprised Leonard. Gary wasn’t typically foulmouthed. But then, there’d never been so much at stake.
“You said you’d take care of it! You said I could rely on you!”
Straightening, Leonard began to pace. “It’s not my fault. They didn’t come out the back. Something must’ve tipped them off. That’s all I can imagine. Why else would they go out front onto the main street when there’s a nice quiet alley in back?”
“This can’t be happening,” Gary muttered.
“Rod’s a former Navy SEAL. I expected stealth.”
Gary didn’t seem to hear him. “I’m dead. She’s got me this time. There’s no avoiding it. Do you know what’s in my office? Everything.” He seemed to grow more lucid. “But if I go down, you’re going down with me. I promise you that.”
“It’s not over yet. Maybe—” Leonard pivoted and headed toward the backhoe he’d used as cover while waiting for Rod and Sophia to leave the building “—maybe they never even came here.”
“They were there, all right. I called the company that monitors my alarm. They said the system was tripped at eleven-fourteen by my stepdaughter.”
Leonard’s boots crunched on the gravel as he made another pass. “How do they know it was your stepdaughter?”
“Because they called the store to verify whether it was a false alarm, and she answered. She identified herself as my stepdaughter and as the chief of police. That’s why they didn’t call me at home when it happened. Can you believe it?”
“She’s got balls, that’s for sure.”
“I tried to let you know, but you wouldn’t pick up your damn phone.”
Leonard resented the accusation in his tone. “Because I had it turned off. I didn’t want it to ring when I was trying to sneak up on two people with a rifle, if you know what I mean.”
“Keep your voice down!”
There wasn’t a soul around, but Gary was right. He was overreacting. He had to reel in his emotions, figure out the best way out of this before everything went to hell. “Look, they might’ve found some evidence to back up their suspicions, but they won’t be able to use it against you.”
“Why not?”
“They didn’t get it with a warrant. They have a lot of work to do before they can act on what they found. That buys us some time.”
“They can talk, make other people suspicious.”
“They won’t talk because they won’t want to tip you off. Why give you the chance to prepare a defense before they’re ready to spring their trap?”
“You never know what they’ll do. We have to stop them both right away. Tonight.”
Leonard agreed. They could still contain this thing if they acted quickly. But what should he do next? He’d bugged Sophia’s house, her office and her cruiser, but he hadn’t had access to Rod’s Hummer. And that was what they’d driven to the feed store. Sophia’s cruiser was still sitting in her driveway.
“Maybe they’ve gone back to her place,” he said. “I’ll check and tell you what I find out.”
“I’ll be at the store. I already drove by a couple of times, but if they were in my office they must’ve closed the door because I couldn’t see any light from the street and I didn’t dare get any closer.”
“You’re not at home? What about Anne?”
“I told her the alarm went off at the store, that it was probably vandals but I had to go check that it was secure.”
Leonard was walking to his truck. “Fine. Wait at the store—do anything you want. I’ll call you when I’ve taken care of the problem.”
“You’re sure you can take care of it?”
Leonard wasn’t sure at all. Now that Sophia was with Rod, she wasn’t half as vulnerable, and her actions were much less predictable. It was a crapshoot. But they couldn’t be far. He had that going for him. Bordertown wasn’t big. “I got it.”
“The quicker you handle it, the better.”
“What happened to wrestling with your conscience?” Leonard asked dryly.
“I just want it to be over. For good.”
The pressure was getting to Gary. But this kind of thing was never over. Killing became a lifelong secret and wasn’t an easy one to keep.
Too bad Sophia had boxed them into a corner.
As Sophia drove away from the Firelight, she wasn’t thinking about murder. She was grinning like a silly schoolgirl with her first crush. That brief kiss of Rod’s had absolutely no sexual intent behind it, but that was precisely why it made her so happy. The slightly possessive way he’d gripped her shoulders and his concern for her safety made her believe he cared about her as much as she was beginning to care about him.
Was she crazy to go with it? To take such a chance with her heart? She’d always managed to recover from past breakups. But she knew instinctively that greater heights meant harder falls. And there were more practical issues to consider. Even if Rod could somehow disassociate her with the pain of his past, there was no way they could stay together. He wouldn’t move to Bordertown. He hated it here. His life, his job, was in L.A. And she couldn’t leave Arizona, not as long as Rafe needed her.
Her goofy smile began to falter, so she backed away from confronting those harsh realities. She could worry about that later, couldn’t she? Would it be so terrible to forget caution for a change and accept whatever came to pass?
She didn’t realize the light had turned green until a honk behind her said she was holding someone up. Embarrassed, she accelerated, heading south on Bordertown Boulevard toward Charlie’s place. It was late, and she was tired. What she really wanted to do was go to the Boot and Spur and simply wait for Rod. She’d had enough upsetting revelations for one night. She preferred to cling to the euphoria of falling in love as long as possible.