Page 8 of Cold Case Discovery

“Do you have a head injury?” Anna demanded. “This is our parents we’re talking about.Ourseventeen-year-old cold case. Why the hell would we stay out of the way now that we actually have a lead?”

“Maybe once we have all the facts, we can decide to pursue it. But for now, we wait. Because none of us need to be involved in the details of our parents’ remains.” No one in this room needed to see what he’d seen tonight, needed to have that haunting them for the rest of their days.

For years, they’d tried to come up with clues to follow when it came to their parents’ disappearance. For years, they’d gone over the campsite. Their parents’ pasts. Anything and everything. That had seemed innocent enough. Important enough that they could all be in on the investigating.

But nothing had involved bodies. Nothing had involved the reality of their parents being dead. Not just dead—bones.

No. None of them needed to see it. “We’ll give Bent County the space to handle the investigation. There’s going to be talk around town. People will want to know what we think. I want us to be as quiet about it as we can until we know for sure what we’re dealing with. Because we don’t know yet. All we know is, we’ve uncovered a ring that used to be our mother’s.”

For a moment, that old hope tried to grow back, but he ruthlessly plucked that weed of a thought.

His parents were dead, and it was someone else’s job to figure out how. And why.

Chapter Three

Chloe was bone tired, but a text or a phone call wasn’t going to cut it. Not for this.

She hadn’t been back home. When the police had arrived at the ranch, she’d stayed through everything. Even when it became clear what they were dealing with, and someone pointed out that Chloe was one of the landowners.

The detectives hadn’t liked that, but she knew enough to avoid anyone hauling her off the property. Just like she knew enough to keep Ry from being hauled off too. Once she’d gotten as much out of Bent County officers as she knew she was going to get, she’d driven Ry back to her cabin and insisted he stay put.

She didn’t know if he’d listen, but it didn’t matter. She had to drive back out to the Hudson Ranch and update the family.

Eventually, Bent County would get around to filling them in, but they were likely still organizing information. Chloe had to get in and tell the Hudsons some things before Bent County did so the Hudsons could organize.

Jack probably had a plan in place already, but he didn’t know...

Chloe pulled up to the main house on the Hudson Ranch with nothing but dread in her stomach. She was used to delivering bad news. It went hand in hand with the job. And in a town like Sunrise, she was often delivering bad news to people she knew and liked.

But this was different. On so many levels. Complicated levels. And she just didn’t know how to arrange it all behind her usual cop facade.

She got out of her car and trudged toward the porch. She’d been to the Hudson house for a variety of reasons over the years, but never for the reason Jack came to her place. Set lines. Set boundaries. Ones she’d helped enact because she’d thought it would somehow keep her safe from all her soft feelings.

It hadn’t, and she didn’t like to be reminded of that. She straightened her shoulders, knocked on the door. She’d changed into her Sunrise SD polo and put on her badge in an attempt tofeelofficial on the outside since she didn’t feel it on the inside.

Mary answered. She was dressed for the day, prim and proper as usual, even with her big pregnant belly. She was clearly tired, though, but Chloe wasn’t about to tell her that.

“Aren’t you pretty.”

Mary’s smile was faint, and she rolled her eyes. “I’m puffy and exhausted and ready to be done. I’m guessing this isn’t a social call,” she said, nodding at Chloe’s badge.

Chloe tried to keep her smile in place as she shook her head. “No, I thought I’d update you all before Bent County swoops in.”

Mary nodded. “Come on. We’re all in the dining room.” Mary led her deep into the house. Normally, there would have been lots of conversation, arguing, shouts and dogs barking echoing through the house before Chloe even got close to the dining room.

This morning it was silent. When she entered the room, the only sound was the scraping of forks on plates, though she wasn’t sure anyone was eating a lot.

The table was full, everyone—and there was alotofeveryoneat this house—taking a seat. Paired up with their significant others. Cash’s twelve-year-old flanked between him and Carlyle. Anna’s baby tucked into her husband’s arm.

And Jack, sitting at the head of the table. Surrounded by his family, and yet he looked so alone.

There was a chorus of unsure greetings from the table when Mary announced her arrival. Chloe refused a seat and a plate. “I just came to give you all a few updates. I’ll be out of your hair in a few minutes.”

It wasn’t pure cowardice. She wanted to get out before Bent County showed up and asked why she was here. Besides, she had a shift to work.

“Izzy and I are going to go handle the dog chores,” Carlyle said, her hand on Cash’s twelve-year-old daughter’s shoulder.

Chloe half expected the girl to argue. Even she knew Izzy didn’t like to be shuffled off, but it seemed there’d already been discussion and agreement since she disappeared with Carlyle to take care of Cash’s dogs without argument.

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