Page 102 of Sheriff's City Girl

But as I climbed inside and fired it up, I couldn’t shake that there was something more for tonight. It was one of those gut feelings, but this one didn’t leave me pointing in any direction. I didn’t know Cody well enough to know where he’d go if he was in a pinch or having a hard day—and Lucas had already checked the ranch.

What does he like to do?

I racked my brain as I backed out of the spot, recalling everything Jess had mentioned about him. He was into rodeo…right? I shrugged to myself and turned left instead of right, which was the direction back to the cabin. I was certain the rodeo grounds had been checked, but the roundup club had a backup arena out of sight from the road.

Still, it had probably been checked.

But just in case, I stomped the gas and headed in that direction. It honestly was a reach, but it was all I had. About three miles outside of town, I turned into the drive of the rodeo grounds, seeing the gate was shut and locked.

Damnit.

However, the lock caught my eye before I backed out to turn around. Ah-ha. It was just dummy locked. I slid out of the Bronco, and made my way to it, slipping it open and swinging the gate. It was impossible to tell if someone had driven down it, given that it was gravel.

I pulled the Bronco down the drive, searching the grounds for any signs of someone being there. The main arena and parking area were empty without a single sole in sight. However, my chest jumped with anticipation when I saw a black Chevy truck hooked up to a horse trailer parked at the back area.

The dim lights of the practice arena couldn’t be seen from the road, but they were shining down, illuminating the red dirt riding area. My gaze landed on a young cowboy, sitting in the dirt, his head in his hands and his horse right beside him.

Found him.

He looked up as I parked the Bronco right next to the white pipe railing, and for a moment, I thought he might just bolt right out of there, but he didn’t. He didn’t even stand on his feet as I climbed out. My footsteps sounded heavy in the quiet of the night air, and as I leaned on the railing, Cody let out a heavy sigh.

“You can arrest me if you want,” he muttered, removing his cowboy hat and setting it on the sand. “It’s fine.”

“Why would I arrest you?” I chuckled, shaking my head at him. “You aren’t doing anything wrong. This is public grounds. Anyone can come here and practice at any time—albeit your timing is a little strange.”

“Yeah…”

“You know the whole town has been looking for you, right?”

He looked up at me then, his brows pressed together in confusion. “Why?”

“Because you were reported missing. Your stepmom is back in town.”

“And she reported me missing?” He laughed, shaking his head. “She doesn’t care if I’m here or not. She just wanted the code to my dad’s safe, probably.”

“And why would she want that?”

“Because it’s got a lot of money in it,” Cody said in a tone like I should’ve known the answer to that already. “I don’t even know the code, and my guess is that he didn’t tell her, either. He was sneaky and shady—and he never gave a shit about me.”

My heart sank. “You know, I can’t speak for your dad. But… I can speak for Lucas, and he was real worried about you not showing up for work.”

Cody shook his head. “I’m just an employee to him, and with my stepmom coming back, I just didn’t want to be around to be found.”

Ah, so that’s why he disappeared.

“I didn’t expect the whole freaking town to come looking for me,” he continued, sounding more disdained than ever. “I just wanted to be left alone for a while, and I turned my phone off so she couldn’t get ahold of me.”

Poor kid.

“Jess was worried about you,” I said, feeling awkward as I admitted the words. “I don’t even know how much sleep she’s getting this evening.”

He was silent at that. “I don’t know why she’s worried. I can’t even…”

“Can’t even what?” I narrowed my eyes at him, fighting to keep my papa bear in check as I kept my sheriff hat in place.

“I can’t look at her and not just feel like shit about what happened to Emma Fisher—and well, you.”

“She doesn’t hold you accountable for what happened to us,” I said confidently. “She doesn’t associate you with your father, and I… I don’t either.”

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