“Your situation was different.”
“Was it?”Wyatt stood and moved to the coffeepot, pouring two cups of the thick black sludge that passed for coffee in the field office.He handed one to Zeke.“You’re keeping the woman you love in the dark about something that’s put a target on her back.You’re sleeping in her apartment every night to protect her from a threat she doesn’t fully understand.You disappear for hours at a time to work a case you can’t tell her about.Sound familiar?”
Zeke took the coffee, even though his stomach was already burning from too much caffeine and not enough food.“It’ll be over soon.Once we get the formula analyzed and confirm it’s the real deal, we can move on the Vaqueros’ operation.Clean sweep.Then I can tell her everything.”
“If she’s still speaking to you by then.”
The words hit too close to home.Zeke had seen the questions in Mia’s eyes over the past few days, the way she watched him when she thought he wasn’t looking.She was putting the pieces together—the phone calls he took in another room, the times he disappeared without explanation, the way he deflected when she asked too many questions.She was too good a cop, even retired, not to recognize the pattern.
But telling her the truth meant putting her in danger.The Vaqueros had already targeted her shop.If they knew she had the music box—if they knew she had any connection to their operation beyond just being in the wrong place at the wrong time—they wouldn’t hesitate to use her as leverage.
He couldn’t let that happen.Not again.
Three years ago, he’d chosen the job over her.He’d told himself it was temporary, that just one more case, one more operation, one more bad guy off the streets would be enough.But it never was.There was always another case, another operation, another reason to put his badge before the woman he loved.
She’d finally left him, and he’d convinced himself it was for the best.That she deserved better than a man who was married to his work.That loving her meant letting her go.
He’d been an idiot.
“I need to get back,” Zeke said, draining the terrible coffee.“Blaze is meeting me in an hour to go over the surveillance footage from downtown Laurel Valley.See if we can spot any Vaqueros doing reconnaissance.”
“Want me to come?”
Zeke shook his head.“You’ve got your own case to work.Besides, Raven will skin me alive if I keep you away from home another night.How are things with you two?”
“Better.”Wyatt’s smile was genuine.“Turns out honesty actually works.Who knew?”
“Noted.”Zeke grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair.“I’ll call if anything breaks.”
The drive from Boise to Laurel Valley took just over an hour, but it felt longer when your mind was running through worst-case scenarios.Zeke forced himself to focus on the road, on the investigation, on anything but the image of Tina Wolfe’s body washing up somewhere.
She’d been twenty-six years old.Tough as nails on the outside, but when she’d called him that first time, her voice had shaken.She’d wanted out.Wanted a chance at a life that didn’t involve cooking meth or turning tricks or pretending to love a man who treated her like property.
He’d promised her that chance.Promised her protection if she helped him bring down the Vaqueros’ operation.
Some promise.
His phone buzzed.Blaze.
“Tell me you found something,” Zeke said by way of greeting.
“Maybe.”Blaze’s voice was tight.“We’ve got a dark blue sedan that’s been circling the blocks around Mia’s shop for the past three days.Different times, different drivers, but same vehicle.I pulled the plates—registered to a shell company out of Nevada that traces back to known Vaqueros associates.”
Zeke’s hands tightened on the steering wheel.“They’re watching her.”
“Looks that way.I’ve got deputies doing extra patrols, but we’re stretched thin with the storm damage cleanup in the county.I can’t put someone on her twenty-four seven.”
“I’m already on that.”Zeke took the exit for Laurel Valley, the familiar mountains rising in the distance.“I’ll be at your office in twenty minutes.Pull everything you have on that vehicle.”
“Already done.”A pause.“Zeke, if they’re watching her this closely, they know she has something they want.You need to tell her what’s going on.”
“I will.Soon.”After they found Tina.After they knew for sure what they were dealing with.“Just keep those patrols running.”
He ended the call and pushed the truck a little faster.The sun was starting its descent toward the peaks, painting the sky in shades of amber and rose.It should have been beautiful.Instead, it just reminded him that another day was ending without word from Tina, without answers, without resolution.
The Laurel Valley Sheriff’s Department sat on the edge of downtown, its Bavarian architecture blending seamlessly with the rest of the town’s carefully maintained aesthetic.Blaze was waiting in his office, surveillance footage already queued up on his computer.
“There,” Blaze said, pointing to the screen.“Blue sedan, Nevada plates.Drives past the shop, slows down, keeps going.Same pattern every time.”
