Page 132 of The Last Close Call

“What?”

“A camper.” He smiled. “We get them sometimes. People come back to show their kids.”

She stared at him for a moment.

Then she shrugged. “No kids,” she told him, and walked away.

TWENTY-EIGHT

Hey, where the hell are you?” Bryan asked, and Jack could barely hear him with all the noise in the background.

“Something came up.”

“What?”

“Something came up. I’m not going to make it.”

“Man, you’re killing me. This is your collar. Get your ass over here. Everyone in here wants to buy you a beer.”

Jack highly doubted that. And anyway, his mission tonight didn’t include getting hammered and waking up with a hangover when Heidi’s lieutenant had scheduled another press conference bright and early in the morning. As Jack had suspected, the guy was a publicity hound and had had no qualms about jumping in front of reporters to take credit for leading the task force that finally apprehended the notorious WCR.

“You guys have fun,” Jack said. “I’ll catch up with you tomorrow.”

“You’re serious?”

“Yeah, I’ve got something I need to do.”

Bryan laughed. “Yeah, I got it. Tell her hi for me.”

Jack tossed his phone in the passenger seat and turned on his brights as he scanned the roadside for landmarks. The iron cactus came into view, and he slowed.

He was going to catch a ton of crap for skipping out on the Icehouse tonight. But he didn’t care. Rowan was dodging him, and he needed to find out what was going on. She’d been sick, but there was more to it than that, and he wanted to talk to her in person. She’d lied to him multiple times now, and although he suspected she had her reasons, he was ready for a real conversation.

He passed the limestone wall, and his headlights swept over the red barn. No lights on there, but Rowan’s porch light glowed, and her Corolla was parked under a tree, meaning she was home.

The door to Rowan’s car stood open, and Jack felt a prickle of unease as he pulled up beside it. The interior light was on, too, but the car looked empty.

Jack got out of his Jeep and glanced around. Was she heading out somewhere and she’d gone back inside to get something?

He mounted the porch steps and tried the door. Locked.

He knocked and waited. No answer.

Glancing over his shoulder at the car, he went down the steps and started for the barn. Maybe she was with Skyler.

A screen door slammed in the distance. Turning in the direction of the noise, he saw a shadowy figure running across the yard near the ranch house.

“Rowan?”

No answer.

He rested his hand on the butt of his gun as he walked toward the shadow. The person was moving quickly in the direction of Rowan’s house.

“Hey.”

The figure halted. “Oh my God! You scared me.”

Relief washed over him as Rowan stepped into the glow of the porch light.

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