BIG SKY SECRETS 03: End Game (9 page)

Fencing would be a good project for this weekend—if he went to town and picked up the fencing materials.

Though if he went to town, he’d have a good chance of running into Megan, because she seemed to turn up everywhere he went. And thinking about her was already occupying entirely too much of his thoughts already.

He stood, grabbed his keys and jacket, and headed out the door, whistling. Maybe if he
did
run into her, he’d see that she was perfectly fine, in no obvious trouble, and he could go back to his routine. He’d be able to concentrate, and get his writing done.

And then his life would go back to being exactly as he’d planned.

Megan settled onto one of the counter stools at Hannah’s Pastries ’n’ More. “A day off. Now, this is something to savor.”

Sue Ann bustled over with a fat stainless steel coffeepot, grabbed a thick china mug from below the counter and poured her a cup. “And it has to be raining. Tough luck.”

Megan shrugged. “Still, I’m here, and I can linger. I might go down to the bookstore in Lost Falls and just lose myself in those books for a while. Perfect thing for a rainy Sunday.”

“The place with the tea and classical music?”

“That’s it. They have a whole room filled with mysteries, thrillers and romantic suspense. By the time I leave, I’ve always bought way too many.” A feeling of bliss came over her, and she smiled. “Just the smell of books and tea and their Irish Cream coffee makes me happy.”

Sue Ann leaned closer, her eyes wide. “Speaking of mysteries, anything new about those poor women who were murdered?”

If there were, Sue Ann would be the last person to tell, unless something needed to become common knowledge in a hurry. “We’re working on it, and so is the state DCI unit.”

Sue Ann lowered her voice. “I saw those guys, when they came to town. Hmm-mmm. They stopped here for lunch, and they were mighty fine. Will they be back?”

Only if someone else dies.
“Hard to say,” Megan said with a vague wave of her hand. “I just hope we catch the guy so they don’t need to.”

“The paper called him the Full Moon Killer.” Sue Ann drew back, a hand fluttering at her neck. “But what if he strikes at random next time? I wish I could just leave here, and go stay with my sister in Oregon.”

Megan had heard a number of other people talk about leaving town, and what the situation would do to the upcoming tourist season wasn’t hard to guess. “The sheriff’s department is following every lead, believe me.”

“But that’s what everybody’s talking about these days—how there don’t seem to
be
any. How he could be one of us, and we don’t even know it. Or how he could be someone new around here, who looks normal as can be. Like that new fella—he comes in here, now and then.”

“I think we all just need to be calm, and careful and not jump to any conclusions. We have absolutely no suspicions about Mr. Anders,” Megan retorted, a little too sharply. She steadied her voice. “No evidence whatsoever. I hope you aren’t mentioning him to your customers. False accusations could stir up a lot of legal trouble for you.”

“N-no. Of course not.” Sue Ann cast a quick, guilty glance toward several patrons seated at the front windows. None of them looked up. “And I’ll make sure to let people know, if I hear such talk.”

Megan closed her eyes briefly. Though the woman had a good heart and would never mean any harm, damage control with Sue Ann was like trying to dam a river with chewing gum. “It would be better if you just didn’t say anything at all.”

“I won’t.
I swear.”
The little bell over the entryway tinkled as the door opened. Sue Ann’s eyes widened and she sucked in a sharp breath.
“Oh.”

Megan looked up, already knowing who she’d see reflected in the long mirror behind the old-fashioned soda fountain. She gave Sue Ann a pointed look, then turned to him and smiled. “Scott.”

“Megan.” He stamped his boots on the entry mat and then sauntered up to her, the deep waves of his coal-black hair wet and gleaming from the rain, his light blue eyes more startling than ever in contrast to his lean, wind-burned face. A corner of his mouth twitched. “Let me guess,” he added in a low tone only she could hear. “This is another undercover outfit?”

“Very funny.” She watched Sue Ann move to the other patrons, coffeepot in hand. “It would be effective, though. Ninety percent of the people around here wear denim jackets and jeans, so I’d blend right in.”

“Had any more unexpected visitors out at your place?”

“None—assuming that my new guard buddy has good ears.”

“Do you keep him outside?”

“Goodness, no. It’s chilly out there this time of year.”

“He’s probably used to it, if he was a stray.”

“But he’s older. He deserves to be inside, and he can bark just as well with a roof over his head. If someone tested the doors or windows, he’d sure let me know.”

“True.” Scott studied the toes of his boots for a moment, then looked up with a hopeful smile. “Are you working today?”

“Nope. This is a rare day off.”

The dimples bracketing his mouth deepened. “Are you free?”

“Well…I do have plans. Sort of.”

“Important?”

“Well…” She thought longingly of the bookstore.

On the other hand, a rugged version of Pierce Brosnan was now grinning at her with a hopeful expression in his eyes, and that opened up a set of entirely different possibilities. “Why do you ask?”

“I had to come into town to pick up some fencing materials, and now I’m heading to an estate sale south of Lost Falls.” His low, self-deprecating laugh danced across her skin. “When I noticed your truck parked on the street, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to ask. Maybe you can keep me from doing something stupid.”

She glanced out the window at her pickup. Through the rain-streaked windshield, she could make out the vague, furry shape of her new best friend, who was sitting behind the wheel and who hadn’t taken his eyes off her since she sat down at the counter.

“We…may not actually agree on what constitutes a mistake,” she murmured.

Buddy was seeing the vet tomorrow because she was beginning to suspect hip dysplasia in the way he limped, poor guy. He could end up being a very
expensive
new best friend. But he definitely hadn’t been a
mistake
.

“Well, last time, I ended up with Attila the Donkey. There was just something about that floppy, broken ear…”

“If I say ‘no,’ you’d actually listen?”

He glanced down at the edge of her boot cut jeans draped loosely at the top of her running shoes. “You’re carrying, right? You could always threaten to arrest me.”

She thought about her bare bones cabin. She’d moved in six months ago, and had furnished it with just the basic necessities—except for the two paintings that had wiped out her budget for any other nonessentials for the foreseeable future.

“Are they selling household items, too?”

“Everything.”

“Hmm.” She’d been suspicious of him at first, and back then she might have welcomed an extended opportunity for subtle, leading questions. Now, the thought of simply getting to know him a little better—as a friend—just sounded like fun.

Most guys she met were intimidated by her, though they never admitted it aloud; their masculinity apparently threatened by a woman who packed a gun and could deal with bad guys twice as big and tough as they were. During her two longest relationships, that intimidation and her twelve-hour shifts through the night had eventually made Brad and Jon grow resentful.

But here was a man from her own world, for whom that wouldn’t be a problem, and he was clearly looking for companionship and nothing more. Maybe a day like this
would
be fun—as two equals. Just casual camaraderie, without any illusions about any sort of romantic interest going on.

She slid off her stool and grabbed her purse. “Then I guess you have a deal…as long as my dog can come along.”

The rain slowed to a light drizzle by the time they reached Lost Falls, then started up again with a vengeance as they wound through the foothills on a narrow, two-lane county road to the auction site.

A bedraggled group of bidders was crowded around an auctioneer and his assistants, who stood on a hay wagon stacked with smaller items, while farther up the steep hill, an old tractor, wagons and various implements were lined up for viewing.

Beyond that, a split rail corral held a small assortment of livestock that stood in the lee of a crumbling old barn weathered to pale silver.

Scott waited while Megan let Buddy out of the truck to do his business, then helped him up into the backseat again, where he’d be out of the rain. “It’s unbelievable that someone could have abandoned a dog like him.”

“If I knew who they were, I’d try to arrest them for animal cruelty. The sad thing is that the charges don’t carry strong enough penalties, and the owners could convince a judge that the dog simply ran off.” Shivering, she zipped the front of her rain jacket and pulled up the hood. “The thing is, I don’t think a sweet old dog like this would’ve gone miles and miles into uninhabited forest, away from all the campgrounds and resorts. I still think he was ditched.”

Scott nodded. “Maybe the vet can check to see if he was microchipped.”

“Good idea.” She fell in step with him on the overgrown lane leading up to the barn and house. “So, what are you after here, besides a tractor?”

“Implements. Hand tools. Shovels, rakes…pretty much anything I can find. And you?”

She made a face. “It’s probably time that I found more kitchen stuff and started doing a little more cooking at home. With the hours I keep, I haven’t bothered much.”

They both stopped at a card table on the front porch of the house to fill out forms and receive bidding numbers.

Scott put his in his shirt pocket, then buttoned up his long drover’s coat. “I’m heading up the hill to check out the equipment. Want to come along?”

“In a bit. I’m going to grab a cup of hot chocolate at the food stand inside, then check out the household things.”

“Sounds good.” Bemused, she watched him step out in the rain and stride through the mud.

The miles had flown past on the way here. He’d been easy to talk to, though the silences had been just as comfortable as the conversation—as if they’d known each other for years.

Yet now she realized that he’d deftly kept the conversation in her court, and she didn’t know much more about him now than she had before. By accident or design?

She turned to go inside and bumped into a woman with long blond hair who was easing out the door with a cup of steaming coffee in her hand. “Erin?”

The blonde looked up and her mouth dropped open. “Megan—oh, my word!” She looked down at her coffee, laughing. “I want to give you a big hug. But I can’t! How is everything?”

Megan stepped back outside, holding the door for her cousin. “Busy. And you?”

Erin gestured toward the hill with her coffee cup as they moved to the corner of the porch to allow others to pass by. “I came looking for garden tools. I’d like to grow fresh produce and herbs for the café next year. Jack—” She glanced over her shoulder “—is somewhere out there with his nephew. There’s a sign on the barn offering free kittens.”

Something on her left hand sparkled, catching the light from the bare lightbulb. Megan blinked then stared. “Erin!”

Blushing, Erin extended her hand. “It’s new, just this weekend. Isn’t it lovely? I meant to call you and Kris this week.”

“Wow.” Mindful of the hot coffee in Erin’s hand, Megan gave her a hug, then stepped back. “It’s amazing, isn’t it? How life has changed?”

“I never thought I’d come back to Montana. Once I graduated from high school, I couldn’t wait to get away. The memories were still so hard. And yet here I am again, running Grandma Millie’s little general store. And I’m so happy now—it’s like I had to come back home to finally heal.”

Megan nodded. “I stopped in to see Kris yesterday. She’s doing really well, too, since she moved back.”

“We were quite something as kids, weren’t we? She was always like a third cousin.” Erin shook her head fondly. “I have a lot of great memories of those times…at least until the summer Laura died.”

“Same here.” Megan bit her lower lip. “Losing her like that changed us all.”

Erin fell silent for a long moment. “You were the only one of us who didn’t leave Montana.”

“Hey,” Megan protested. “I did move to the next county.”

Erin’s delicate eyebrows drew together. “Do you ever regret not getting away from here?”

“I’m doing exactly what I was meant to do. No regrets.” A shadow crossed her thoughts…one born of an evil stranger’s cunning that made her heartbeat stumble. “It’s not all fun, believe me. But I’m doing the right thing. I’d rather try to make a difference than run.”

Erin glanced over her shoulder, then lowered her voice. “I’ve been reading the news about those murders in the newspaper. Our tourist business is starting to trickle in, and even the vacationers have heard about them. Some stop by the store for supplies, but say they’ve decided to head south to the Tetons instead.”