Page 30 of Cold Case Discovery

For a second, Jack was distracted enough to think she was talking about everything that had just happened with Chloe. Which was ridiculous. The look on Suzanne’s face was clear. Anguish.

Suzanne Smithfield, Sunrise’s administrative assistant, had known both his parents. Well, everyone in town had. People loved to tell him stories about how one of his parents had helped them out of a bad situation. But Suzanne had been close personal friends with them. She’d gone to school with his dad, and his mother had babysat Suzanne’s kids sometimes.

He managed a reassuring smile for Suzanne. “We don’t have ID confirmation yet. It’s probably going to take a while. Don’t let the gossip mill upset you.”

Suzanne sighed heavily. “The news hasn’t made its way through town yet, but it will. And soon enough.”

Jack nodded. “That’s all right. I’ll handle it.”

“You handle too much, Sheriff.”

“So they say.”

She leaned in close. “All this stuff with Chloe’s cabin... Is it related?”

Most people asking that question would put his back up, but he knew Suzanne cared about each and every Sunrise deputy like one of her own kids. She was worried about Chloe, nothing else. “We don’t know yet, but Deputy Brink and her brother are going to be staying out at the ranch until we get it sorted. I also want her riding two-man for the time being, so keep an eye out if she tries to dance around that.”

Suzanne nodded. “Good. That’s good.” Then she nodded to his office. “Messages are on your desk.”

Jack nodded, then focused on being Sheriff Jack Hudson and nothing else. He returned messages, worked on some paperwork, did what needed to be done. And if he occasionally took a walk around the office to get more coffee than necessary to check on Chloe, well...

Who knew that was what he was doing besides himself?

But she had calls to respond to and work, too, so their paths didn’t cross, and that was fine. Great, even. Best all the way around.

If it settled in him like frustration, he was just going to have to get used to that.

Toward the end of the day, he got a call from Bent County. When he heard Hart on the other end, Jack doubted they had good news coming.

“We haven’t got a hold of Mark Brink yet, but we did get a report he was spotted in Denver. Morning after the remains were found.”

Denver. Pretty much halfway between Texas and them. “Going to ask around and see if anyone saw him here?”

“Already got a deputy on it. Laurel’s also going to head out to the ranch and question Ry again.”

“Why?”

“That’s a pretty quick turnaround, Jack. Being in Denver the morning after a middle-of-the-night discovery? If it’s connected, he had warning.”

Jack closed his eyes and tried not to groan. He wanted to argue with Hart, but how could he? If he was in charge of the investigation, he’d been drilling Ry for information too.

“Phone records?” Jack asked, though it squeezed his heart to do it. Chloe was a realist when it came to her brother, but that didn’t mean she was going to be okay with any of this.

“Working on a search warrant, but Laurel’s going to see if he’ll hand it over of his own free will. Ry doesn’t strike me as a hardened criminal despite his rap sheet, but I don’t know what kind of relationship he has with his father.”

Jack didn’t, either, and Chloe clearly didn’t think Ry had one. Which was maybe true. Maybe not. Either way, Chloe wasn’t going to be too happy with this turn of events. She’d want to head over to the ranch right now, intervene.

“I also wanted to talk to Brink about what we found in the chest,” Hart said. “Can you transfer me? She can call me back later if she’s out on a call.”

“Are you going to tell her about Mark?”

“No, Sheriff. I’m only even telling you as a courtesy. It’s an active investigation into her father. The less she knows, the better off we’ll be.”

“She doesn’t have a relationship with her father.”

Hart was quiet for a few humming seconds. “Regardless. She’ll be kept in the loop in what directly affects her.”

It was a clear-enough warning. Jack wasn’t supposed to tell her either. He didn’t like how that settled in him like betrayal instead of just the nature of the job.

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