Ruby slid into the chair beside Rowan and leaned slightly toward the screen, close enough to hear. She’d brought the biscuit basket with her and set it in the center of the table without a word, nudging it toward Wes and then toward Naomi in turn.
It was such a small thing. But that was Ruby. She couldn’t sit still in a crisis without finding some way to take care of the people around her.
“We cleared the overlook and most of the ridge before sunrise,” Sheriff Sutherland said. “Didn’t find the shooter.”
“That doesn’t surprise me,” Wes said.
“Didn’t surprise me either.” Sheriff Sutherland shifted on screen. “No shell casings either.”
Across the table, Rowan’s head came up. “None at all?”
“Not one. Whoever this was, he cleaned up after himself.” Sheriff Sutherland glanced toward Wes through the screen. “That’s not somebody acting on impulse.”
Wes nodded once. He’d already known that.
The controlled positioning, the timing, the tire shot—none of it had felt random.
Vince Furlough had spent a career making sure problems disappeared quietly and without fingerprints. This had that same quality to it.
The man very well could have hired a professional to hit last night.
Or . . . the possibility still remained that this hadn’t been Vince. Instead, maybe the shooting was connected to the Hardings or the Hendersons.
Rowan lowered her gaze back to the table, one hand wrapped tight around her mug.
She still looked as if she were tallying everything up and putting it on her own tab.
Sheriff Sutherland cleared his throat. “Honestly, the shooting troubles me—but it doesn’t feel like it came from the same place as what’s been happening around Refuge Cove. The pattern’s different.”
Rowan’s expression flickered with guilt. Wes recognized the emotion right away. Even when someone handed her a reason not to blame herself, she found a way to hold onto it anyway.
“And there’s something else,” Sheriff Sutherland said.
The table went quiet again.
Wes looked at the screen and waited.
What else could there possibly be?
CHAPTER 28
Wes continued to wait,anxious to hear the rest of Sheriff Sutherland’s update.
“I’ve already had three reporters call the department this morning asking about Rowan,” the sheriff continued. “One somehow got my direct number.”
Naomi shifted. “Can they connect Ro to this place?”
“I’m not sure,” Sheriff Sutherland said. “But once media starts circling in a small town, people talk.”
The warmth in the kitchen dimmed a little more.
Ruby finally sat down at the table, though her eyes stayed fixed on Rowan. “What do we do?”
“We tighten things up,” Wes said. “No one posts online. No one answers questions. And no one goes anywhere alone for a while.”
Rowan let out a soft breath and stared down at the untouched food in front of her. “I should leave.”
“No.” The answer came from three directions at once. From Naomi, Ruby, and Wes.
