Page 14 of Montana Silence

Did that mean hewasthe one who sent me this? Was it a threat? I didn’t know, and I didn’t understand. All I knew was that this place I’d come to feel like home no longer felt safe.

“What’s the reason he’s up for parole?” Rayne asked.

“Good behavior.”

Sickness roiled in my gut. Good behavior. How could any kind of good behavior make up for what he’d done? To all those women?

“Thank you.”

Rayne ended the call and came over to me, crouching by my chair. For a few minutes, I stared into space, but the quiet peace of her office and her steady presence brought me down.

I finally looked over at her, and she nodded. “You okay?”

“No,” I said.

She smiled. “Yeah, I don’t think I would be either. Well, he’s still in jail. As for who sent the box, I’m not sure. There are some possibilities, and we’ll talk about how to track them down. The first option would be to ask your lawyer. If you need me to help you with an email or call, I can do that later this week.”

Later this week. At our regular appointment. I jumped out of the chair. How long had I been here, taking up time that wasn’t mine? How long had I been away from the ranch when I had work to do? “I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I took up so much time.”

“Mara, you’re never a bother, and I’m always happy to help you. You don’t have to go through things like this alone. I’m glad you came to see me.”

“Yeah.” I grabbed the box from where it sat on the table, not sure what I was going to do with it. Part of me wanted to light a fire in the lodge and burn it, and another, greater part of me knew I couldn’t do that. We might need it for evidence. Regardless, it would be a splinter in the back of my mind wherever I kept it.

“It’ll be all right, Mara. I promise. I’ll see you soon, okay?”

“Okay.” I beelined for the door, barely even comprehending when it opened, and someone was there. I didn’t have enough time to stop, and we crashed together. The box slipped out of my hand and rolled onto the sidewalk.

Thankfully, the veil stayed inside it instead of falling out and blowing away, never to be seen again.

I tried not to be disappointed.

“Oh my god, I’m sorry,” the person said. “That was entirely my fault.”

“Hello, Brynn,” Rayne said. “I don’t have you down until tomorrow. Is everything okay?”

“Really?Shit.” She swore under her breath. “I’m sorry, I’m a mess. And I ran into…” She paused, and I looked up at her. She was around my age, with dark hair and a friendly smile. I wasn’t really in the mood to make friends, but if I was going to run into her here at Rayne’s office, I had to be polite. “Mara.”

“Mara. I’m really sorry, Mara. Are you all right?”

Nodding, I lunged for the box on the sidewalk and didn’t stop until I was back inside the truck, the box in its spot across the seat.

Rayne might say it would be fine, but it didn’t feel that way. I needed to make it better, and since I was in town, I’d make the stops I needed on the way so I could go home and not leave for a good long while.

Chapter5

Liam

The Garnet Bendhardware store was a mix of one of those big box stores and the messy, overfilled, and overpriced mom-and-pop stores you saw in every movie. Big enough to get almost whatever you needed, which was good, considering the number of ranchers in the area with various repairs and construction projects. But it also had the small-town feel that made this place feel special.

However, today of all days, it wasn’t looking like they had what I needed. Which was unfortunate, because having to order it would put us behind a few days. But at the same time, we didn’t have a hard deadline on the building, so no one was going to be devastated.

“Jeff,” I called, coming up to the counter.

“Liam,” he said with a laugh, bracing himself on the counter. “What can I help you with?”

“I’m hoping you’re going to tell me you have a laser plane hidden in here somewhere I’m not seeing and that I don’t actually have to order one.”

He winced. “I wish I could tell you that, but it’s not true. Sold the one I had a few days ago to some contractors out of Seeley Lake. Got another one on order. But if you’re going to need one, might as well tack on another.”

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