Page 45 of Tough as Steele

Nate thought about the investigation and their lack of progress. “Seems odd that no ransom call has come in yet.”

“Agreed. But why wait?” she asked. “Unless they’re moving Mimi a great distance. And if that’s occurring, they could be crossing state lines, and we’ll need to bring the FBI in.”

“When we have proof of that, we will. No slam to your sister, but I’d prefer not to bring the feds in unless we’ve exhausted all leads.”

“I agree.”

“You do?” He glanced at her. “I thought you might want to bring Ryleigh in more but were holding back because of me.”

“I would have if I thought it was the right thing to do for Mimi, but I also didn’t want to fight with Ryleigh to take lead. Her parents and ours have raised strong women who inevitably want to be in charge. So as our gran reminds us, too many cooks spoil the broth. Gran’s a fantastic cook and baker, and she loves to boil everything in life down to cooking terms. No pun intended.” She chuckled.

“She sounds like a fun person.”

“She is and so is my granddad. They lived on the farm next to us when we were growing up, so we saw them all the time, and we’re all really close.”

This stylish, savvy cop grew up in the country? Unbelievable. “You grew up on a farm?”

“I did.” Her chin went up. “Something wrong with that?”

“Not at all, but you and the others havecity girlswritten all over you.”

She laughed. “Get us back on the farm, and that quickly fades away. We toss hay bales to the horses and muck their stalls, feed the chickens, milk the cows, and do any other chore that needs doing.”

As much as he tried to see it, he couldn’t, but he wanted to. Badly. To visit their farm and see her in action, even though he didn’t know the first thing about a farm. But he did know farmers couldn’t just take unlimited time off and walk away from the work to be a law enforcement officer.

He pulled his gaze from the city lights looming ahead and glanced at her. “Who does the chores now that you all live in the city?”

“There’s not as much work as there used to be. My grandparents don’t have any animals anymore except a bunch of barn cats and their dog. My parents and my aunt and uncle pooled their resources too. One family raises chickens, the other the cows, and they share. All of them have a huge family garden that we help with in our free time.”

He took the Troutdale exit off the highway. “That life is so foreign to me. The closest I ever came to growing my own food was when my team had to pilfer some local chickens when we got pinned down in Afghanistan.”

She turned toward him, and he felt her gaze on him. “You’ve led a very interesting life.”

He couldn’t tell if she was impressed and shocked at the pilfering of chickens. Gave him even more reason not to talk about his SEAL days. “I’m not sure interesting is the word I’d use to describe it, but yeah. I’ve seen a lot of things for a guy in his mid-thirties.”

Thankfully, he got another reprieve as the GPS voice announced the last turn onto Gaskin’s street, and he pointed his full attention ahead. Right where it needed to be for approaching the house of a deceased male who was likely involved in a kidnapping.

12

Nate was surprised by Gaskin’s neatly trimmed grass and shrubs surrounding the crisply painted ranch home. The morning sun rose over the newer roof, a blazing orange ball. He was thankful the rain had gone. For now anyway. This time of year, it rained almost every day. Not all day long, but throughout the day. Made for green grass in the winter, which was why Gaskin’s lawn looked so lush.

“Good upkeep,” he said.

“No lights on or car in drive.” She got out her backup gun from an ankle holster and checked the clip. Most officers carried a second weapon, and she was no exception.

She reached for gloves and booties from a box on the floor and held out a set for him. He parked in the drive and tucked them in his pocket. They exited the vehicle and walked up to the door. The skies might be clear now, but he smelled rain in the air, and he guessed the temps to be in the forties. Hopefully they’d be inside before a cold rain drenched them.

He pounded on the door and caught a whiff of the nearby flowering shrub sweetly perfuming the air.

Londyn looked at him. “You probably woke the neighbor up.”

“Sorry. I don’t like the idea of going in and startling an armed person awake.”

“I get it. Just saying we might have an audience soon.”

No one answered the door.

Nate knocked again, then put on gloves before bending down to a bright yellow flower pot on the stoop and looking underneath.

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