Page 59 of Tessa's Trust

“No. The police called, and I’ve looked out at her place, but nobody can find her.” He didn’t sound worried. “I figure she and Jonathan went on a trip to spend some of that money or scout new locations. If I know her, she’s already looking to invest in new businesses like she did in my racing career. I honestly wouldn’t worry about her, Tessa.”

“A dead body was found in our building,” I reminded him.

The sound of a snowmobile firing to life came from the background. “I have to go, but we can talk about this later,” Hank said. “How about The Clumsy Penguin at six?”

“I’ll be there.” Good. Hank was the closest person to Sadie, at least from what I could tell. I really needed to talk to him.

“Excellent. Let’s have a nice, mellow evening, all right? I’m not all for the drama.” With those parting words, he hung up.

I wanted to take exception to his last statement, but I also had to be fair. Trouble did seem to follow my family, and so far this morning, I’d avoided looking at the newspaper or going online.

Jolene had taken quite a few pictures after the fish fiasco, and if history proved anything, she liked to embellish when it came to my family. However, she and Nick seemed to have a détente situation happening, so maybe she’d pass on making me look ridiculous.

Somehow, I didn’t think I’d be that lucky.

Steeling my shoulders, I walked out of the bathroom and up the stairs to Detective Pierce’s office. I poked my head in. “Hi. Nick said I should come and talk with the Ozzie Morrison.”

“Morrison has agreed to speak with you.” Pierce looked up from reading something on a pile of folders, his green eyes tired. Today, he wore a dark green shirt with faded jeans, so he must be just handling paperwork and not heading out for interviews. The guy was usually dressed up a bit more. “I’m not sure it’s a good idea, but so far, the guy hasn’t given us anything, and he hasn’t asked for a lawyer. We might as well give it a shot.”

“Okay,” I said. “Tell me about him.” I felt like I should know something about the man before I sat down and tried to question him—as if I had any idea what I was doing.

Pierce leaned back and stretched his neck. “He’s in his mid-thirties and grew up over in Montana. He and his brother, as far as I can tell, pretty much live off the land. His brother was caught poaching three times and had to go to jail after refusing to pay fines or show up for court dates.”

I swallowed. “When will he be out?”

“In a month or so.”

“That’s odd. Why would Ozzie shoot at Nick because of that?”

Pierce shrugged. “Apparently, the brothers were pretty pissed at Nick and alleged they had the right to hunt anywhere they wanted.”

“So this was a fish and wildlife violation?” I asked.

“Yep.”

I’d never really heard of anybody going to jail for that, but I guessed it was possible if somebody didn’t pay fines and kept breaking the law.

“If the brother’s only going away for a month or so, why did Ozzie shoot at us?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” Pierce said. “I mean, they’re both hotheads from what I understand. I know there have been different assault and battery arrests, so it could be he was just ticked and wanted to shoot at Nick.”

The guys sounded like decent hunters. “Did he miss on purpose?”

Pierce cracked his knuckles. “I think so. My guess is he just wanted to scare or tick Nick off, but either way, it’s attempted murder, and the prosecuting attorney’s office will take him down.”

That seemed fair to me. “So, he’ll be going away for a lot longer than a month,” I muttered.

“Absolutely,” Pierce said. “Are you sure you want to talk to him?”

No. Not at all. “I am curious why he had my picture,” I murmured.

“Okay.” Pierce stood and walked around his desk. It struck me again how good-looking he was. I couldn’t tell if he was in his late thirties or early forties because his eyes had that weary look that whispered he’d seen too much.

According to my sister, he’d been dating somebody and had some sort of dustup in the office about it. I wondered if he was seeing anybody now. I was getting pretty good at this matchmaking thing, so I tried to think who’d be a good fit for the hottie detective. Nobody came to mind, but I would still keep thinking.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Pierce asked.

It seemed wise to level with him. “I don’t know. I seem to have a penchant for matchmaking.”

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