Page 115 of The Killing Plains

“In the morning, you’ll have to apologize to Minnie for hurting her hamster.”

He sniffled loudly. “Okay.”

Colly sat with him a while longer, singing his favorite songs until he dozed off. Downstairs, she found Brenda and Iris talking quietly. Brenda had checked on Logan and Minnie, who were both asleep.

They said goodbye to Iris and headed back to town. The drive was a quiet one. When they pulled up in front of the farmhouse, Brenda broke the silence.

“You were upstairs with Satchel a long time.”

“He was pretty worked up.” Colly told her about the conversation. “We’ll buy Minnie a new hamster, of course.” She paused. “I’m sure there’s no point asking Lowell to be more discreet. But you might have a chat with Logan about what really happened in Houston.”

“I will.”

“I’m worried about Satchel, Bren. Honestly, this case is more than I bargained for. I’ve got some lunatic stalking me, and Satchel’s falling apart. It’s not safe for him here, and I don’t want to send him back to Houston alone.”

“You could go with him.”

“You mean quit the case? I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“I made a commitment.”

“You made one to Satchel, too.”

“There’s a killer on the loose, Bren. He’s got to be caught.”

“Doyouhave to do it?” Brenda hesitated. “I know there’s a lot at stake. But is it possible you’re pushing yourself so hard in an attempt to make up for what happened in Houston?”

Colly felt herself flush. “I had my psych eval, thanks. I don’t need you to redo it.”

“Don’t get defensive. I’ve spent a lot of time with Satchel these last few days—enough to form a pretty solid opinion about his mental state. Colly, he’s not okay.”

Colly leaned against the headrest, staring vacantly out of the window at the moon shining through the dry, brown leaves of the oak above them. She felt a deep weariness settling over her like a fog. “I can’t think about this now, Bren. If you’re concerned about Satchel being around your kids, he doesn’t have to go with you to the Rattlesnake Rodeo tomorrow.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Brenda sounded hurt. “I’m just trying to help.”

“I know.” Colly exhaled wearily and unfastened her seatbelt. “See you tomorrow.”

It was nearly midnight when Colly said goodbye and went inside. Despite the new locks, she checked and cleared the house before she felt relaxed enough to undress. It wasn’t until she emptied the pockets of her jeans that she discovered her phone was missing. She picked up her purse and dug through it.

“Are you kidding me?” she muttered.

Closing her eyes, she worked back through the evening. She’d answered Iris’s call in Niall’s fly-tying shed. Had she used it since then? She checked the tracking app on her laptop, which showed that her phone was thirty miles northwest of town. Niall’s place. There was nothing to be done until morning.

The bed was still stripped from the previous day’s break-in, and Colly was too tired to make it. She pulled on her pajamas and stretched out once again on the living room sofa. But despite her exhaustion, she lay awake for a long time, staring at the dappled confusion of moon-cast shadows on the ceiling. Maybe Brenda was right. Colly had vowed never again to put her family at risk for the sake of her work. She couldn’t afford to let history repeatitself. Satchel deserved better. She would call Russ in the morning and tell him she was quitting the case.

Colly woke up to sunlight in the room and lay blinking for a moment, wondering why she was on the sofa and why the preset alarm on her phone had not gone off. She sat up, disoriented, but the sight of the disconnected charger cable on the floor brought back her memory, and she cursed as she kicked off the blankets. Retrieving her phone from Niall’s place would kill half the morning. But there was one crumb of comfort, she reflected, climbing the stairs to the bathroom. Without a phone, she’d have to put off the call to Russ. A night’s sleep had not altered her determination to quit the investigation, but she dreaded breaking the news to him.

She showered quickly and brushed her hair. In the bathroom mirror, her expression was tired and defiant. She’d come to Crescent Bluff to make amends to the Newlands, but instead she’d uncovered their ugliest secrets. What would Randy have wanted her to do now? Would he expect her to close ranks with his brothers, or expose them?

Wait till tomorrow, came the sudden thought. It was hardly fair to tell Russ she was quitting now, while he was absorbed in overseeing the Rattlesnake Rodeo. She’d give it one more day. Maybe, by then, she’d see some way forward. With a sense of relief, she dressed hurriedly, grabbed her holstered sidearm, and headed for the car.

The dashboard clock read eight a.m. as she pulled out of the carport—too early to show up unannounced on Niall Shaw’s doorstep on a Saturday morning. She considered going by Brenda’s house and using her phone to call him, but decided against it. Brenda would insist on driving to Niall’s with her and would wantto continue the previous night’s discussion. Colly wasn’t in the mood. What was the point of more talk?

Wondering if Avery had tried to contact her, she drove by the police station and saw the girl’s shabby Volkswagen in the parking lot. Colly parked near the door and went inside. The place seemed almost deserted. Everyone was out policing the Rattlesnake Rodeo, the office manager said.

Colly found Avery in Russ’s office, hunched over a laptop. She looked up, bleary-eyed. “Where’ve you been? I texted you like five times.”

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