“Did she go into more detail of what she remembered before the men stopped showing up?” Chay asked. He had a notepad where he was taking notes. The ballpoint pen looked small in his hand, and his handwriting was bold, with slashing strokes. She watched him for a moment before realizing that she was.
“No. Just that they kept her drugged. She’d wake up and they’d give her food, make sure the heat was working, drug her again and leave. She woke up one day and they didn’t come back. She panicked and knocked over the heater trying to free herself and the fire started.”
He could tell Ava was upset for Fern. She kept turning the mug in her hands as she spoke. Not looking up at him. If he were one hundred percent honest, he’d have to admit he hadn’t just stopped by today to learn more about Fern. Something about Ava had stuck with him when he’d gone back home.
To prove to himself that he wasn’t at all into her, he’d stayed away. But today had been slow and he’d figured the drive to Dark Canyon would fill up a chunk of it. Seeing her and the baby she was fostering.
That blanket was right at the front of his mind. His mom had dumped him on his paternal grandmother when he was six years old. Sometimes he dreamed of that day. Saw himself from outside his body, holding his grandmother’s hand as his mom got in that junker of a Ford she used to drive and drove away with a plume of dirt spraying up from her tires as she did.
She’d never come back. She’d called twice and had sent a Christmas card one time. She’d died when he was fifteen—they’d gotten a call from Atlanta. His grandmother and he had driven out to see her buried. It was cheaper than bringing her body back. The blanket that Grandmother had made for his dad at birth had been gone, and he hadn’t thought about that blanket until he’d tucked little Gracie in.
“Thanks for sharing that. You’re right, it’s not news, but just hearing the details again gives me a chance to process it in a different way,” he said after a minute or so. When he’d first joined the police department in Salt Lake, he’d been paired up with an older cop, Butch Lawrence. He’d been injured recently and was on desk duty and light patrol work.
Butch had told him to check his prejudices at the door. Wait until he got all the facts before making a decision. It had served Chay well. There were many times when his first impression of a crime or crime scene was to attribute it to an addict…and too many times that was the case, but there were always other options. Butch was a bit different on the force because he saw each person for who they were first, not as a perp.
He figured if the men who’d held Fern were Navajo she would have mentioned it, but he wasn’t ruling it out until he had another suspect.
“You’re welcome. I think the cops want to question her again. She’s asked that either I or my brother are present.”
“Why your brother?”
“He’s the firefighter who found her,” Ava said. “He keeps checking on her.”
“You Coltons are caretakers?”
“Yeah, especially if someone seems to have no one,” she admitted.
“Like Gracie… Would you mind keeping me posted on her?” he asked, knowing it was time to finish his coffee and get back to his office.
“I don’t mind. Do you think she might be Navajo?”
“I do think there’s a chance—in fact if you want to run the sample through our reservation database, it might help find a match,” he said.
“That’s great news. Let me message Dr. Meadows. Should I give her your contact details?”
“Yes. That would be great.”
Ava took out her phone and sent a message to both him and the doctor. He just watched her typing on her phone. Her hair had been braided but she’d missed a strand that was sticking up a little toward the back of her head. She’d turned her shirt around and well, hell, she looked so damned cute.
Putting her phone down, she caught him staring at her. Raised both eyebrows at him, meeting his stare squarely.
“I could hang around for an hour if you want to grab a nap,” he offered. He knew she was tired, and a baby took a lot of energy.
“Do I look that tired?”
“You look great,” he said, keeping it real. “But I know how it is with babies. You know I’m an upstanding guy. I’ll sit in my truck with the monitor if it makes you feel safer.”
“I feel very safe with you,” she admitted. “I’m not a good napper, but I could use a shower. Would you mind if I grabbed a quick one?”
Still buzzing from hearing her say she felt safe with him, he nodded. He hadn’t dated in a while, and really, with his job and his grandmother he had a full life…well, sort of full life…okay, not full at all, but he was content with what he had. Being interested in a woman who lived almost an hour from him wasn’t a smart idea.
But there it was.
“Take your time. I’ll have another cup of coffee and wait here for you,” he said.
“Thank you!”
She left the room quickly after he poured himself another mug and sat back down, looking down at his notes. The investigation wasn’t moving forward for him, and he’d hoped to be able to rule out Diné involvement in it, but so far nothing.
