A hollow feeling settled in her chest as she wondered if this was exactly what the perp wanted. To deeply wound her as revenge for throwing him behind bars.
Maybe the gunman had lost his mother while he was incarcerated. She tucked that possibility away as an angle to explore in more detail later.
Unfortunately, her attempt to arrange for a new security system to be installed had been too little, too late. And worse, she didn’t have time to clean the place up. The mess would have to wait until she interviewed Sasha.
“Do you still have your suitcase in your car?” Jordan asked.
“Yes, why?” She sent him a distracted look.
“You and Bear can’t stay here, Autumn,” he said in a gentle but firm tone. “Please come back to the ranch with me.”
She sighed, realizing he was right about not staying at the house. “I’ll think about that. Thanks for the offer.” She turned toward her colleagues, Officer Chris Torres and Officer Sam Bolder. “I need to hit the road. I have a meeting I can’t miss. Will you touch base with Detective Peters on this break-in? I’d like the crime scene techs to check things out.” She gestured toward the hallway leading to the bedrooms. “There’s a slug in the doorframe that needs to be retrieved from the first break-in. If I find this guy and his gun, we might be able to match the ballistics.”
“This is the second attack against you?” Torres asked with concern. “That’s not good.”
“There was technically a third attack, but Jordan—er, Mr. Clarke here—was the one who’d been nearly run over by the guy. And that reminds me, I issued a BOLO for a black sedan with muddy plates. Our Flock cameras haven’t picked it up, likely because the plate is covered.” The city had two Flock cameras, newer technology that could be programed to identify stolen plates. She glanced at her watch again, torn. Should she hang around and take care of things here? She could reschedule with Sasha, although she didn’t want to. Finding Jenny’s baby, not to mention a lead to find missing Mia Andrews, was important.
She didn’t want to let down the task force. Besides, technically her assailant was Peters’s case.
“I’ll stay,” Jordan offered, sensing her dilemma. “Don’t worry about a thing.”
“Thanks, Jordan.” She knew he wanted her to keep working his sister’s case, but he was also doing it because he cared. She managed a smile. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“No rush.” His smile was crooked. “I’m caught up with things at the ranch. Thankfully, the calves won’t be dropping for a few more weeks. That’s when things get crazy.”
She could only imagine. She was woefully ignorant of what went into the cattle ranching business, but clearly cows giving birth to the next generation of cattle was a key component. “Thanks again.” After nodding at her colleagues, she hurried outside. “Come, Bear!”
Bear eagerly trotted to the SUV, and of course Cutie followed.
“Sorry, girl, you’re staying here,” she said. “Stay. Do you know how to stay?”
“She doesn’t know many commands and that’s my fault, I’m afraid,” Jordan said. “But after watching you and Bear in action, I realize I need to work with her more.”
“I’ll help.” She closed the back hatch, then added, “Once I have things under control, I’ll work with the both of you. See you later.”
“That would be great.” Jordan’s smile was genuine and only made him more attractive.
She slid behind the wheel, reminding herself that she needed to stay focused on her career, especially if she wanted to become a detective one day, like her mother. Besides, Jordan was the victim’s brother and therefore off-limits. And more importantly, she wasn’t about to trust her heart to another man. End of story.
Thankfully, Sasha was waiting for Autumn when she pulled up to the coffee shop where they’d agreed to meet. She decided to leave Bear in the back, as the bloodhound was sleeping after playing with Cutie. The SUV had a built-in temperature gauge that would trigger the engine to turn on if the interior got too cold, so she wasn’t worried about his comfort.
“Sasha Dugan? I’m Officer Autumn Riley.” She offered Sasha her hand. “Thank you for agreeing to meet with me.”
“I heard they found Jenny’s body.” Sasha’s dark eyes filled with anguish. “I can’t believe it. I honestly thought she decided to up and move.”
Autumn sensed Sasha’s grief was genuine. “Did Jenny mention moving?”
“No, but I know she was getting frustrated with sleeping on my sofa.” Sasha played with her coffee cup. “She asked me to consider moving into a two-bedroom place, but that would have been more expensive and Jenny only gave me a hundred dollars a week toward the rent.”
Autumn nodded in understanding. Rent prices had skyrocketed in the area. “I was told her brother invited her to stay at the ranch.”
“Yeah, but Jenny wasn’t interested.” Sasha sighed. “She believed Jordan would try to control her life and interfere with how she chose to raise her baby. I tried to tell her she would need more support…” Sasha’s voice trailed off. “I just can’t believe she’s dead.”
Autumn gave her a moment to pull herself together. “Tell me about the night you dropped her at the park.”
Sasha grimaced. “That was the night we argued over moving into a two-bedroom apartment.”
“Really?” This was new information. “Jenny was upset when you dropped her off?”
