Page 121 of Obsession

The cabin was made of logs and much nicer than Sam had expected. He and Nate stepped out of the SUV. The sun had set and Sam shivered, zipping his jacket against the cold wind.There were no lights on inside the cabin and no sign of Trey, other than his four-wheel-drive pickup parked beside the cabin. “I hope he’s here,” Sam said.

“He may be out hunting. If he is, he’ll be back soon since it’s getting dark.” Nate walked up on the porch and rapped on the wooden door. “Trey, you here?”

No answer.

Sam scanned the area. The cabin and yard had that empty feel, like no one was home. “If the door’s open, do you think he’d mind if we waited inside?”

“Naw.” Nate tried the door, and it opened easily.

Thick curtains shuttered the windows, and the house was dark and cold. “Reckon we could start the generator?” Sam asked as they both used the flashlight app on their phones to illuminate the room.

Nate groaned. “Oh no!”

Sam followed Nate’s light and froze. Trey lay face up on the floor with a dark circle on his chest. Sam reached him first. The dark circle was blood from a gunshot wound. He felt the deputy’s wrist. “No pulse,” he said. “And he’s stiff.”

Nate knelt beside Trey and shined a light in his eyes. “Probably happened in the last twenty-four hours. We need to make sure we don’t destroy any evidence.”

They carefully backtracked out of the house, and Nate used Sam’s radio to call for the crime scene unit and the county coroner, then they waited in the SUV. Thoughts raced through Sam’s mind. Why had Trey been killed? He wished they’d paid more attention to the car tracks in and out of the area. “Do you think there might be shoe prints on the floor? If Trey didn’t use the cabin much, and he hadn’t swept since he’d been here...”

When Nate didn’t answer, Sam turned to him. The sheriff stared through the windshield, his face a stony mask. When he realized Sam had said something, he gave a slight shake of his head.

“Sorry,” he said gruffly. “I didn’t know Trey much outside of the job, and the election caused a few problems, but we’d put that behind us. He was a good man, and the department is going to miss him.”

Sam nodded somberly. “It’s always hard, losing someone you work with.”

Nate took a deep breath. “Yeah. What were you saying?”

Sam repeated his question, and energy seemed to spark in Nate.

“You know, we can do a little preliminary work while we wait. You still have any of that gel lifter stuff in your SUV?”

“Yep, but before I get it out, let’s see if there’s anything to lift.”

They climbed out of Sam’s SUV, and Nate squared his shoulders. “We’re going to get whoever did this.”

Sam nodded his agreement. They started with the front porch, and after angling the lights on their cell phones almost level with the porch, footprints appeared. “Some of these are ours,” Nate said. “But there are at least a couple of shoe prints different from either of our shoes. You have enough sheets to take several prints?”

“Yeah.” Sam returned to his SUV for the tools he needed. They were able to get several clear prints that they could compare to Trey’s shoes.

By the time they finished, the CSI team had arrived, followed by the coroner. Sam itched to call Emma and make sure she was all right. He checked his phone and groaned. The text asking her to call Shaw hadn’t gone through.

66

Emma slouched on the sofa. While she’d been with Sam today, it’d been easy to forget that he’d lied to her about what happened the night Ryan was killed. Maybe not lied, but he’d let her believe a lie. Doubts filled her mind like rocks. Once again she was tempted to cut and run, but was that because that’s what she always did in a relationship? Maybe it was time to grow up. Cut Sam some slack. She sighed. Was she being too hard on him? Ryan could be a jerk when he was drinking.Could be?More like always.

In her mind, she could see how Ryan and Sam’s argument could’ve happened. It was probably even the same argument she’d had with Ryan earlier that night. After their mom and dad had left the restaurant, Ryan had been determined to stop off at the restaurant bar. An hour later, it was evident he’d been drinking before he even arrived at the restaurant. Three drinks didn’t make a person as drunk as he was.

“Come on, Ryan, you’ve had enough,” she said. “Let’s go.”

“Nope.” He turned and ordered another whiskey sour. “Don’twant to. But you can leave, Li’l Miss Perfect. Run home and tell Mama and Daddy your brother isgetting drunk.”

“That’s enough,” Sam said. “Let’s go.”

Ryan downed the drink and shuddered. “Okay. I wanna goto the Hideaway, anyway.” He moved toward the door, hisbody very erect and walkingvery carefully and precisely. WhileSam went to get his truck, she tried again to get him to go home, and he shoved her.

Emma whirled on him. “You know, you’re always talking abouttaking off. I wish you’d just do it. Noone wants to be around you. Life would be alot easier if you were gone!” she hissed. “I wish—”

“What? That I wasn’t your brother?” He swayed. “Atleast I’m my own person and don’t pretend to be perfect.”

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