“Thanks again,” she said.
“No problem. Oh, hey, Rael.”
The man hanging in the jamb was nearly as tall as Cal, but had fiery red hair and fair, sunburned skin, with a generous splashing of freckles on his face, neck, and arms. He was wearing flannel despite the heat, rolled all the way up to the elbows, and tight Levi’s with heavy brown boots. Rael gave Dotti a nod, his eyes on Nadine.
“I remember you,” he said, scratching at the stubble around his neck. “You were at the wedding.”
“Wedding?” Dottie asked from behind her with interest. “What—oh.”
Thatohchased Nadine out of the kiosk as she squirmed past Rael, thinking,shit, shit, shit. Now everyone in town was going to know who she was and why she was here.
Although, maybe it was a blessing in disguise, she thought, patting her shirtfront to make sure the paper was secure. Noelle was missing—notdead—and surely the people here could understand the need for closure.Shewasn’t the one who had married into the Cullraven family.
No, there wasn’t any reason for the people of Argentum to be suspicious of her.
Except you lied, that voice in her head whispered.
Not by choice, she thought.And only by omission.
But she had gotten what she wanted. The rock was proof that Noelle had been here. Given the Cullravens’s apparent scorn for the mine, she must have gone down here for a reason. Nadine highly doubted that either Ben or Odessa had come down here with her.
I should have asked Dottie about that, she thought.Damn.
Her first real clue, and she was already facing a dead-end.
“Nadine,” a low voice called out behind her. “Wait up.”
Rael. She slowed reluctantly, wondering if she was in trouble. Had Dottie sent the sheriff’s son after her? “What?”
“Cal said you were real worried about your sister. I just wanted to let you know that my father’s following up on all leads. He said he’d be happy to talk to you if you have any questions.”
He handed her a card she didn’t look at, but she felt the shape of it cut into her palms when her fingers clenched around it. Cal was talking about her? To others? She felt a wave of unease. “Cal also said Noelle was crazy,” she said. “That she was practicallyraving.”
“Well, she did that,” he agreed slowly. “Maybe he didn’t tell you, but he and my father had to drag her out of the town square before she vanished. She wouldn’t let Ben touch her. Started screaming when he got close. So they had to do it.”
“What? Why? What was she saying?”
“’The sparrows,’” he said, making her flinch in surprise. “She was screaming, ‘They’re killing all the sparrows.’”
A shadow passed over the sun. Nadine looked up. “What does that mean?”
“Beats me. Probably nothing. There’s a lot of sparrows around here. Maybe she saw a dead one.” His green eyes turned flinty. “I suggest you let my father take care of it and see that you don’t get in his way. People here don’t like outsiders muddling around in their business.”
Take care ofit. Nadine swallowed back her retort. “Thanks for the card,” she said tonelessly.
His mouth curved into a bitter smile as he tugged at the brim of his baseball hat. “You take care, Nadine. My condolences about your sister.”
She’s not dead, Nadine wanted to say, but she didn’t, because she suspected he didn’t really care. Him or his sheriff father, she thought, watching him heading back down the street to where his father’s office was.Must be nice not to care.
Turning from him, she headed down main street, trying to decide if it was even worth going to the diner to eat if everything they had was “pickled and fried,” when she heard a weak cry.
Nadine looked down and felt a pang of sympathy when she saw a raven on the ground. It was dragging a wounded wing that looked like it was only hanging on by a few tendons. She nearly reached out before remembering some adult figure in her life saying that you shouldn’t touch wounded birds, instead folding her hands on her bent knees.
“You poor thing,” she whispered, when the bird gave another pathetic caw. “What happened to your wing?”
“Sometimes they turn on each other.”
Nadine stiffened at the sound of that familiar voice. “Really?”
