Evidence of Trust (28 page)

His step faltered after three strides and he swung back around, eyebrows drawn together in a frown.

He looked like he was about to say something, but when he remained silent, her pulse kicked into second gear. “What?”

His frown deepened, and he shook his head. “Nothing. I’ll see you at five.”

Not caring if he saw her in the rearview mirror or not, she watched him until he drove out of sight, wishing her heart had listened to her head.

Chapter 31

By three-thirty, Joel wanted to punch something. Aaron hadn’t come up with any leads, and he could barely concentrate past the mental image of Brittany lying in bed, her blond hair shining as the morning sunlight slanted through the window. Yes, the sex had been phenomenal, but it was the whole package that’d done him in.

Leaving her with someone else today had been the hardest thing he’d ever done. He knew Mark and Casey would keep her safe, but it still made him uneasy that he wasn’t the one by her side. Unfortunately, she’d been right at the cabin, when she’d said he wouldn’t catch the bastard sitting there with her.

She’d been with him all day, and in less than two hours, she’d be standing before him, live in person. Tempting him. Making him want to say things he’d vowed never to say to a woman again.

He picked up a manila folder from the table behind his desk and a handful of printed photos fluttered to the ground. His muttered oath was more so at the pictures in his mind than the ones on the floor. Then again, it wasn’t her fault he’d totally screwed up and fallen for her. So much so that he’d been appalled to realize at one point he almost hoped for a couple more nights at the cabin.

How frickin’ messed up did he have to be to hope she remained in danger so she had to stay with him? She deserved so much better than that.

The thought only added to his irritation, and he bent to pick up the pictures. Seeing the crime scene from up near Lawn Lake reminded him of Brittany’s photo card in his pocket. Wouldn’t hurt to check out what she had on there and then get them deleted for her. More than ever, she didn’t need to be reminded of what the man out there was capable of.

Tossing the pages from the floor on his desk with one hand, he fished the SD card from his pocket with the other, and inserted it into his laptop. Scrolling through the mini-icons of all the photos, he searched for the correct shots.

One of himself brought him up short. He clicked on the icon to enlarge it in the photo viewing program. What had she seen when she took the picture? What would she see now when she looked at it? After her obvious regret this morning, he wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer to that question.

He clicked the arrow button for the next photo. Studied it for a moment, and moved to the next. Hmm…something didn’t look right.

It took another moment of examination to figure out it was the footprints. After clicking through the remainder of the photos Brittany had taken, he returned to those first two that had tripped his awareness. The footprints didn’t add up.

The stack of prints that’d scattered on the floor lay right next to his computer. He pushed aside the top copies until he found the one he wanted. Holding it up next to his computer screen, he shifted his gaze from one to the other.

“
Son. Of. A. Bitch
.”

There should be four distinct prints: the poacher’s, his, Randy’s and Dennis’s. Instead, there were only three. He didn’t want to jump to conclusions too fast, despite the obvious indications right in front of him. As he’d pointed out to Brittany once, it was a common tread, and one of the men may have purchased the same pair of hiking boots as the poacher.

He made his way to Ryan’s office to access the time cards and helicopter flight logs, keeping an eye out for both men. He hadn’t seen Dennis all day, but Randy had been around earlier that morning.

“Gifford or Mueller around?” he asked his boss.

Ryan barely glanced up from his computer. “Mueller’s on night shift this week. Gifford left a little while ago. Said he wasn’t feeling well.”

Joel paused at the door. “You talk to him yourself?”

“Yeah. He looked like shit.” Now Ryan peered over a pair of bifocals. “Why?”

“It’s just…he seemed fine when I saw him earlier.”

“Then I’d say whatever he had for lunch didn’t agree with him.”

Joel left it at that. He wasn’t prepared to make any accusations just yet, even though his own gut was churning. When he returned to his office with the data, he made a call to Aaron.

Seeing as they’d spoken less than an hour ago, Thompson answered with a hopeful, “You find something?”

“We may have caught a break,” Joel confirmed. “I’m going to send you some pictures, can you have your tech guys take a look at them, paying particular attention to the footprints? The first picture was taken before we started to process the scene. The second toward the end of processing.”

“We’ll get right on it.”

“Good. I’m going to see if I can confirm my suspicion on my end.”

“Keep me posted.”

“Likewise.”

Joel hung up and started tracking the schedules of both men to see if either had a work alibi for when the time of death had been estimated for each poached animal. Dennis had logged flying time in the chopper for each date except one. And the past three nights, he’d flown nighttime patrols on the opposite side of the park, including the night of the fire.

A heavy weight settled in the pit of his stomach. Still, he dialed Dennis’s home, confirmed the time card, and let the man go back to sleep. Next, he called the man’s night patrol partner, who also confirmed the alibi.

Which left Randy Gifford.

More often than not, Randy had been off duty at the time of each killing, including being off the evening of the fire. He recalled hanging up from his call with Brittany to find Randy standing in his doorway. The man had known he was going to the grocery store, had heard him tell Brittany he’d probably see her there, so he could’ve easily slashed her tires.

If he was the one who left the note at her apartment, he’d known her well enough to guess she’d want to check on her horse. He wouldn’t have had to follow too close.

It pissed Joel off when he thought of Randy ‘assisting’ with his investigation all this time. He’d royally screwed up there, trusting the guy because Ryan had assigned the ranger to help him from the start. He didn’t blame Ryan, he blamed himself for overlooking something he never should’ve missed.

Impotent fury doubled when he recalled Randy showing up at the hospital to check on Brittany after having attempted to burn them alive. His concern had appeared genuine at the time, and he’d managed to fool everyone.

Reining in his emotions, Joel gathered the paperwork and texted Aaron he was on his way over. His jaw ached by the time he strode into the sheriff’s office to present the evidence. After Aaron reviewed everything, he led Joel to the desk of the man reviewing the emailed photos.

“You were spot on with those footprints,” he said.

“See here?” The tech pointed to a digitally enhanced close-up of the photos side by side. “Notice how the tread on the left side of the heel is not so deep and there’s a gouge from the sole?”

Aaron and Joel both leaned in for a closer look.

“It matches perfectly with this first photograph.” The technician spun in his chair to face them with a solemn expression. “I’d say it’s ninety-nine percent likely you’ve found your man.”

“He left early today,” Joel informed the officers. “Said he was sick.”

“Want to come with me to go check?” Aaron offered.

“Hell yes.”

“Figured you would.”

Joel glanced at his watch as he got into his truck to follow the sheriff over to Randy’s house. Seeing as he was supposed to pick up Brittany in twenty minutes, he pulled out his phone to call Mark, then swore when he remembered the stable manager’s number was programmed into
his
phone, not the loaner he was using from the police.

Aaron’s squad car left the lot. A second and third car followed. Indecision made Joel hesitate. Once they took Gifford into custody, she’d be safe and it wouldn’t matter if he was a few minutes late. Then again, right about now, he’d much rather see her face than Randy’s.

He texted Aaron that he’d catch up to them later and made the turn for Highlands.

Chapter 32

She shouldn’t be watching the clock. Shouldn’t be counting the minutes until Joel arrived. And yet…it was twenty-three minutes until five p.m. Mark had left for his meeting, everyone else had left at four, and she and Casey were feeding the horses before Joel picked her up.

Lifting one of the bales of hay Casey had brought back from his dad’s place to tide them over until an emergency load arrived, she followed him into the main corral.

“So, this thing with Morgan, is it serious?”

She shrugged and tossed the bale into the feeding trough.

“He’s very protective of you.”

And she loved that about him. “He’s just doing his job.”

Casey laughed as he sliced the baling twine from both bales. “Park ranger duties do
not
include being a bodyguard.”

Colorado nudged her in the back and she moved out of his way. She ran her hand along the gelding’s back before walking toward the gate.

“Come on, Britt, it’s me.”

“Why do you think I’m not talking?” she teased.

“Well, for the record, I like him.”

She latched the gate after he’d gone through. “Yeah. So do I.”

He grinned, then they both turned at the sound of an engine to see Randy’s blue truck rolling to a stop in front of the charred remains of the barn. As he stepped out of his truck, he stared at the pile of rubble. “Wow.”

They’d both heard the same thing from a ton of gawkers all day long, so Britt skipped over his expression of disbelief. “Hey, Randy, what’s up?”

He shifted his attention, his gaze skimming her stitches. “I’m here to pick you up.”

Her pulse skipped a beat. Confusion followed. “Joel said he’d be here at five.”

“I know, but he got caught up with Aaron following a new lead. Instead of making you wait, he asked me to swing by. I’ll drop you off at the ranger station and you can wait for him there.”

“What were you doing up this way?” Casey asked.

Randy grimaced. “Another ram was found near the overnight camp last night. Joel caught me on my way back to town.”

Finding out Randy had conveniently been in the area didn’t lessen her disappointment that Joel had pushed her off on someone else. Had he guessed the depth of her feelings and now planned to distance himself to make his inevitable departure easier?

She put the thoughts out of her mind and turned to Casey. “He’s been helping Joel with the investigation from the start.”

“Good.” His gaze cut toward what was left of the barn. “The sooner this is over, the better.”

“I think we can all agree on that.”

Britt crossed to the passenger side of Randy’s truck, then paused to look back at Casey with the door open. “You headed home?”

“In a little bit. Jon and I are gonna grab a beer at the bar. You guys want to join us?”

She shot Randy a questioning glance. He was never one to turn down a drink, and she now found herself not quite so anxious to see Joel.

“Probably better if we get going,” Randy declined. “Wouldn’t want Morgan to send out the cavalry.”

Casey grinned across the hood at her. “And he would for this one.”

“Shut up.” She climbed in and slammed the door. One hard shove clicked her seatbelt in place. The only cavalry she wanted was Joel, and he hadn’t come. Maybe she really
was
just part of his job.

Randy started the truck and executed a three point turn. Despite wanting to keep her mouth shut, she found herself asking, “Did Joel say how long he was going to be?”

“I don’t think too long.” They passed a row of guest cabins, crawling along at about five miles per hour. He glanced over again, his gaze touching on her bruised forehead once again. “How are you feeling today?”

“I’ve got a little bit of a headache that comes and goes, but that’s about it.”

“Good.” He sent her a smile across the console. “You know, I have to say, I’ve missed you this summer. We haven’t gotten a chance to catch a movie together, or play mini-golf, or anything.”

“I know, it’s been a crazy summer so far, hasn’t it?”

“It’d be nice if things could get back to normal once he’s gone.”

“Who?” Britt shot him a glance. “Joel? I thought you guys got along?”

Randy shrugged. They’d reached the end of the driveway, and he flipped the left turn signal on. Estes Park was to the right. A bell went off in her head.
He should be turning right
.

“Where are you going?”

“I want to show you something.”

“We’re supposed to go meet Joel.” She couldn’t help the suspicion in her voice.

Randy gave her a measured look. The tiny sliver of apprehension that had lingered since the moment he’d stated he was there to pick her up exploded into full-fledged alarm. When he stepped on the gas to make the left turn, icy shards of fear splintered in her veins. She frantically sought for the release of her seatbelt while reaching for the door handle.