Page 16 of Final Escape
With a faint nod in Logan’s direction, she marched to the rear, lifted the tailgate, and helped the boys load the bikes. Their eyes were downcast as they climbed in, though Danny braved a quick, longing glance toward Murphy before he pulled his door shut and slumped into his seat.
Their mother paused at her own door, clearly unhappy and torn between a swift getaway and common manners. The manners won when she finally looked up at Logan for a split second before her gaze darted away. “The boys will not bother you again.”
“They weren’t a bother. I just want parents to know when their kids are out here. I can’t be responsible for them while I’m working, and that river current is dangerous.”
“As I said, they won’t be back.” She slid into her seat, hesitated, then her gaze locked on his. “Sheryl Colwell was a friend of mine. I’m sure you understand.”
The SUV left in a cloud of dust.
The other kids had wandered back to their fishing poles as soon as Murphy tired of fetching and plopped down under a tree.
Now Logan could feel Carrie’s curious gaze on his back. He could sense that she was turning the woman’s words over in her mind, wondering what it all meant.
Unless she knew already, in which case this just confirmed whatever gossip she’d heard in town.
“When I walked over here, I saw you studying the raft. What’s going on?”
Surprised at the change of topic, he looked over his shoulder. “Damage. Tina and Penny don’t remember hitting any sharp boulders on the river during the evening float trip yesterday. They couldn’t have reached the landing site downriver unless it happened during the last few minutes anyway. And when they hauled the raft back here, it was still fully inflated.”
“So it happened here. On the shore.”
“Vandalism.”
She moved closer to the raft and bent down to inspect it. She reached out to touch the damaged area and her hand brushed against his.
She jerked her hand back as if she’d touched fire, a flash of confusion crossing her face, and he knew she’d felt it, too—an electric sensation that had shot up his arm and landed somewhere in the vicinity of his heart.
“Um...” She blinked. “A knife, maybe?”
“That’s my guess.”
Frowning, she straightened and shaded her eyes with her hand as she studied the boys along the riverbank. “Think it was any of those kids?”
“The four here now all come from the Sundown Trailer Court—and that’s not the trailer park with the fancy security fences and beautiful landscaping. Sundown is shabby, with beer bottles and trash thrown around. It doesn’t sound like the boys get much parenting, so they’re probably just glad to have a free place to hang out.”
“Still...”
“Nope. They hang around quite a bit, and they’re all good kids. Now, anyways,” he added with a grin. “We had to discuss manners a few times early on.”
Carrie bit her lower lip, her eyes troubled. “If not them, then who? Why would anyone want to cause you trouble?”
“Believe me, this wasn’t the first time something happened here during the past year. And it probably won’t be the last.”
She appeared to be oddly relieved at the news. “I thought the prowler on Monday night was stalking me, but maybe not.”
“Stalking you?”
“I know, it probably sounds silly. But my ex-husband, Billy, wasn’t all that happy about our divorce, even though he initiated it. I get threatening calls from him now and then.”
Logan frowned. “Worrying about something like that doesn’t sound silly at all.”
“But he couldn’t know where I am right now.” She flipped a hand dismissively. “I made sure of that when I left my brother’s ranch.”
“Still...”
“So, do you think that prowler was the one who damaged your raft?”
“Nope.” He ran a hand over the damaged surface. “We would’ve noticed yesterday when we tried to put it on the river. But it was fine.”
