24
BLAKE
Bumpingalong over the dirt road, I cursed the ranch truck Jeff had borrowed for me. I wasn’t used to driving a stick, and with every groan of the engine, I worried I was gonna kill the thing.
I drove as far as I could, pulling to a stop in front of the river, just a stone’s throw from the falls. It was a beautiful area, but the thought that a little girl was found just atop the falls put a damper on the whole thing. Glancing across the rushing river to the other side of the land that used to belong to the Callahans, I watched as a woman hauled in wood from a bin beside her house.
“Looking for a spot to park that tiny house of yours?”
I gasped, nearly jumping out of my skin as Liam sidled up beside me. “Don’t you make any noise?”
“I thought you were an expert at sneaking around.”
I did, too. “Apparently, my stealth detector went out the window when I got knocked up.”
Chuckling, his eyes scanned the terrain, locking on the woman across the river.
“Any idea who she is?” I asked.
“Pop set her up. He hasn’t said a word about her yet.”
“And you haven’t seen her in town?”
He shook his head.
“Isn’t that unusual?”
“Depends on why she’s here. Eventually, she’ll need supplies.”
As intriguing as it was that a woman showed up on the property, that wasn’t why I was here. “What do you know about the Callahan brother who died?”
“He didn’t,” Liam grunted. “He’s just brain-damaged.”
“No, I mean John’s brother.”
Understanding lit his eyes as he rocked back on his heels. “Jim. Christ, I haven’t heard his name in…a long fucking time.”
“No one remembers him?”
“I’m sure they do, but there were other things going on.”
“You mean the accident.”
Liam nodded. “That family has had a shit ton of bad luck over the years. But Jim’s death was just one of those things that happened. The rest of the shit…”
That wasn’t anything to go on. Bad luck could happen to anyone. “Did you ever get the feeling that he maybe wasn’t all there?”
Amusement flickered across his face at my question. “Any reason in particular you’re asking about that?”
“I just wondered if maybe there was a darker side to him.”
“There’s a darker side to all of us. What exactly are you getting at?”
I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted to make any accusations. Not yet. I had literally a scrap of an idea to go on, but it was the only thread I had to pull.
“It’s just a hunch I’m working on.”
“Yeah, well, watch what you say around town. Gossip spreads quickly.”
