Page 138 of Stormswept Colorado

A check of the footage revealed a man of average height and build, wearing a bulky black jacket, a black balaclava over his face, and wraparound sunglasses. Gloves too. The guy had been careful. There was nothing identifiable about him. Not yet, anyway. The crime scene techs would get images of the shoe prints.

The vandal hadn’t spent much time here. Hadn’t risked making a lot of noise. It was like he’d simply wanted to cause terror. Prove what hecould’vedone. And leave his spray-painted signature.

Like a taunt. Not just at Piper. But at the police.

While Officer Bradley, one of my reliable veterans on the force, interviewed neighbors, Susan and I took Piper and Ollie to the station. Sheriff Douglas had sent over one of his trusted deputies, Keira Marsh, to help out. She worked for the sheriff’s office in Hartley, but Deputy Marsh was a Silver Ridge resident herself.

After I gave her an update, Deputy Marsh volunteered to playboard games with Ollie in our break room. A huge relief. We couldn’t have him running around the station. After Piper was done with her interviews, she joined in the game. I made sure they had food and warm drinks and then returned to my own office.

When I had a few minutes, I sent Ayla a quick text.

I love you. Piper and Ollie are okay. I’m at the station working. Let me know if you need anything?

She didn’t read the message or write back immediately. I didn’t know if she was frustrated with me over the way I’d spoken to her earlier. Or maybe she’d gone back to sleep.

But I had an app for my home security system on my phone. Did it constitute spying on her if I looked at it?

I decided I didn’t care. A quick check of the app showed the security system was activated.Good. Ayla was fine.

After chatting more with Piper and some group texts, we all decided that Piper and Ollie would stay in Emma and Ashford’s guest room tonight. I’d offered my own spare room, but Piper and Emma agreed that the kids would have fun together. And Piper wanted to stay close to the coffee shop. Keep things as normal as possible until repairs were finished at her place.

There. At least that was taken care of.

I checked my message thread with Ayla again. She still hadn’t read my text. Shit, she really was mad at me, wasn’t she?

Susan knocked on my office door, which was partway open already. “Chief? Can we talk a minute?”

“Of course.” I put my phone away.

Susan came in and shut the door. “I tried calling Seth Duncan again. Still no answer, which is odd. Usually when he’s sick, he at least picks up the phone or responds to texts.”

“Maybe it’s just one of those days,” I said, thinking of how Ayla hadn’t written me back either. “Spring pollen season messing with people?” I joked.

“Yeah, I know I was harping on that before. But this might bemore. Finn Mackie didn’t come in for his dispatch shift, and the dispatchers had to scramble to cover for him. And Finn lives next door to Seth.”

“Right.” I’d known that. They’d both been newcomers to Silver Ridge in the last year. Finn had moved here for his first job out of college, while Seth came to join my department as a second career. He’d been an accountant before deciding to pursue law enforcement.

They’d been an odd pairing as friends. But neither of them had any family in town.

“So, you think they’re both sick?” I asked.

She nodded. “Finn isn’t answering his phone either. It’s got all my instincts screaming. Something ain’t right, Chief. I’m sure of it.”

We didn’t need this today. A serious illness going around?

“We can head over there and do a welfare check,” I suggested.

“Exactly what I was thinking.”

Finn and Seth didn’t live too far. A ten-minute drive. They each had a small bungalow in a row of them. I’d driven, and I pulled my department vehicle up to the curb out front. Susan and I got out.

She rang Seth’s bell. Opened his metal screen door and knocked on the wood. “Seth? It’s Susan. You in there?”

Nothing.

She glanced at me, worry creasing her forehead.

We went around to the back and did the same. Knocking and calling out. Same lack of response. The windows around the house were closed, so we couldn’t see inside.

---