Page 11 of Ranger Bravery

Moxie burst into the kitchen, a ball clutched in his mouth. Finn followed. The eight-year-old was tall for his age. He nearly came up to Piper’s shoulder and was skinny as a rail. He was dressed for school in jeans and a rock band T-shirt. His hair was neatly trimmed and combed back from his face.

“Morning.” Piper greeted him with a hug and a kiss on his cheek. The bread popped out of the toaster, and she placed one on Finn’s plate before pouring him some juice. “Moxie is getting very good at catching your curve balls.”

Finn grinned. “He sure is.”

Finn washed his hands at the sink before plopping down at the table. He said a quick grace before digging into his food. Moxie collapsed at his feet. His brown eyes tracked the fork from the plate to Finn’s mouth. He snuck the pup some eggs.

Ava laughed and pointed a spatula at her son. “I saw that.”

Finn’s grin widened. “No one wants to eat dog food after working out.”

“Dogs should,” she shot back.

Everyone laughed. Emma bounced into the kitchen. The next twenty minutes were spent eating breakfast and rushing through the rest of the morning routine. Grandma Mary arrived. She was driving Ava to her morning physical therapy. Finn caught the school bus. Emma shrugged on her light jacket—the morning was cool—and then her backpack. Her sparkly sneakers caught the light as she hopped down the porch steps toward Piper’s SUV. Her kindergarten wasn’t attached to the elementary school where Finn went. Instead, it was housed in a building near the sheriff’s department, along with the preschool.

Ava waved from the doorway. “Have a great day, you two.”

Piper waved back. The front door shut. Dew still coated the grass, and fluffy clouds spotted the sky. Birds chittered from the oak tree. She hit the fob on her keyring and the SUV beeped. Piper opened the door for Emma, taking the little girl’s backpack so she could get seated. She glanced at the spelling sheet in her other hand. “The next word is wig.”

Emma’s nose wrinkled. “W.”

Hair rose on the back of Piper’s neck. She spun, half-expecting to see someone standing at the end of the driveway.

No one was there.

Her gaze swept the neighborhood. Sprinklers were on at the McAllisters’. Mr. Jenkins, the elderly man three doors down, weeded the area around his rose bushes. A sedan from the end of the street flashed its brake lights at the stop sign and then turned right. No one was paying Piper any mind, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. But she couldn’t shake the instinctual feeling that someone was watching her.

Real? Imaginary? Piper couldn’t tell. She’d had the same sensation last night, but it’d just been an animal in the woods.

“Did you hear me, Aunt Piper?” Emma tugged on her shirt. “W-I-G. Wig.”

“Correct. Great job.” Piper shoved Emma’s backpack in the seat next to the little girl and then closed the door. She scanned the neighborhood again.

Nothing.

Still the sense of being watched lingered.

SEVEN

A thud jolted Jackson into a sitting position.

He blinked. His eyes were blurry, and a piece of paper was stuck to his cheek. He removed it as the room came into focus. Sunshine streamed through the window, brightening the industrial-gray carpeting to a silver. The table was covered with paper. A long whiteboard with his scribbles covered one wall. His laptop sat at his elbow. He’d fallen asleep while working in a conference room at the Rock Fort Sheriff’s Department.

Piper stood at the opposite side of the table. She wore black tactical pants and a knit shirt bearing the sheriff’s department logo. Her blonde curls were pulled back into a neat ponytail at the base of her neck. Light makeup colored her cheeks. The scent of her perfume—something subtle that smelled faintly of orange blossoms—tickled his nose.

Jackson’s heart instinctively kicked up a notch. His half-asleep brain couldn’t compute much, but her beauty was striking. He, on the other hand, looked and smelled like something from a dumpster. He groaned and rubbed a hand over his scruffy chin. “What time is it?”

“Eight.” Piper released the thick binder she’d dropped onto the table to wake him and then reached for a coffee resting nearby. “Here. I picked this up for you.”

He accepted the offering and drank greedily. Rich caramel mixed with coffee and milk slid over his taste buds. She remembered his favorite drink. It was a tiny detail, but one that sent a wave of warmth through him. Memories he’d locked away burst free. Laughing while they taught a group of campers to fish on the lake, long talks in front of the firepit, sweet kisses that sent his heart racing. Piper had been his first love.

She sipped from her own cup, her gaze scanning the whiteboard. “Any updates on the case?”

“Yep.” Jackson reached for an evidence bag lying on the conference table. “This necklace was found in the grass near the field. It must’ve broken when Elena fled from her killer. Look at the photo inside the locket.”

Piper set her coffee down. The heart-shaped pendant inside was opened, the picture attached visible through the clear plastic bag. She inhaled sharply. “That’s Elena… and Shawn Kingston.” Her gaze shot up. “They were romantically involved?”

“Certainly appears that way.”

---