Page 16 of Running to the Mountain Man

“Are you sure it was Trace?”

Barrett nods and sits back to study me as I sit here in shock. “That was the ID I found on him.”

“He’s an elder in my church.”

“You mean he’s one of those polygamists?”

“Six wives. Thirty-six kids. He’s the dad of one of my best friends, Louisa. After twenty years, he decided he couldn’t hack the life he created. He disappeared one day and left his whole family high and dry. He couldn’t even be bothered to stay long enough to protect Louisa from forced marriage, so she ran off just yesterday.”

“I’m sorry your friend lost her dad.”

I shrug.

He adds, “I’m guessing you’re not a fan of the guy.”

Exhaling a heavy sigh, I reply, “Louisa’s dad isn’t terrible, just terribly neglectful. Poor Louisa, she doesn’t even know yet. And all her siblings…how awful. He might not have been the provider he was supposed to be, but I hoped he’d return. I keep waiting for the day when one of our men will stand up and tell the leaders that the things The Prophet has done to our churchare wrong. It’s all wrong. My friend Olivia’s grandpa remembers the way things used to be. He was the only thing standing in the way of the new dictates. But he got sick, and he passed away a while back.”

Barrett stands and clears his place, piling the dishes into the sink. With his back turned to me, he says, “I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news. Sounds like you’ve had enough of it in your life.”

After a moment, the water shuts off at the sink. Barrett is silent. I turn to find him leaning against the counter, watching me.

“I’m glad you were the one to tell me this,” I say.

Chapter Eight

Barrett

“I suppose I should get going,” Goldie says. “I don’t want to cause you any more trouble.”

She gets up from the table, goes to the sofa, and picks up her boots.

“You’re not going anywhere, Goldilocks. Not while there’s a shooter on the loose on this mountain.”

With her boots tucked under her arm, she looks at me like I ought to know better.

“It’s not proper for me to be here, alone with a man.”

I don’t know what they preach at that church of hers besides treating women as if they don’t have a choice over their own bodies, but I have a feeling this is part of a pattern.

“And it’s not proper to let anyone, man or woman, out there alone right now. You’ll stay put until I have assurance from the sheriff’s department that they’ve caught the killer.”

Goldie lifts her chin defiantly. “I can handle myself.”

“I’m sure you can. But I insist.”

“Barrett, please.”

“Where do you think you’re going, anyway? I know why you’re running away, but what’s the plan?”

She shifts her weight and looks out the window for an answer. “I was going to camp out and look for work at one of the new mountain lodges in the area.”

“No one’s hiring now that ski season is over.”

She smiles. “Wedding season is coming, though.”

“You can’t be serious about camping out there by yourself.”

Her eyes scan the room, taking it all in. She bites her bottom lip, considering my offer. Well, it’s less of an offer and more of a command. Goldie has experienced the creature comforts of my humble abode, and she’s not going to like sleeping outside on the hard ground.

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