Brantley cut his gaze to Reese. “The guy at the gas station … he said Gloria came in a few days ago and cleaned out all the milk, eggs, and bread he had. Said it wasn’t unusual since they were expecting a freeze.”
“That’s odd.” Reese stood tall. “Maybe she forgot?”
Brantley cocked an eyebrow. “Who forgets somethin’ like that? Or more importantly, who claims the opposite without bein’ asked?”
“Oh, shit.”
Brantley’s gaze snapped over to him. “What?”
“Tesha. I didn’t realize … I think she alerted on the house.” He exhaled roughly. “She was curious about the bushes out front, then her butt instantly went to the ground. I … You think…?”
Brantley pushed back the stool, stood. “Oh, I definitely think. Come on. Get dressed. We’ve got some recon to do.”
“She did mention she had a shotgun,” Reese offered.
“Then I guess if we don’t wanna get shot, we probably shouldn’t get caught.”
Brantley left Tesha at the house, not wanting to risk exposing them if she got anxious and barked.
With Reese in tow, they parked just down the street from Gloria Steiner’s house and moved closer on foot. He probably should’ve waited until morning, but Brantley was almost positive they were on to something here. If he were lucky, a nosy neighbor would simply call 911 if they saw him or Reese lurking and not take matters into their own hands. He figured he could talk himself out of any situation if someone called the sheriff, but he’d have little leeway with a bullet.
An hour later, they were back in the truck. Their reconnaissance mission had netted them nothing. Brantley had checked out every square inch of the outside of the house, including the small gardening shed. There was nothing that would make him believe Ava was there, but he still couldn’t shake the feeling that she was.
“You wanna call the sheriff?” Reese asked as Brantley drove back to Coyote Ridge.
“No. If Ava’s there, I don’t think Gloria intends to harm her.”
“Protecting her.”
“That’s my thought. Why else would she raid the convenience store? Probably taking care of her, maybe hiding her.”
“She’s a retired ER nurse,” Reese told him.
“Then she’s somewhat equipped. Hopefully. If Rivers did dump Ava in that rug, no telling what he did to her first. It’s possible she needs medical attention.”
“Then I go and walk up on her porch,” Reese mused. “She probably thought I was there to do Ava harm.”
Brantley went to thrust his hand through his hair but came up short when he remembered he didn’t have much anymore.
“Should we call Magnus?” Reese asked.
Brantley shook his head. “We’ll call them in the morning after we call the sheriff. I don’t want Gloria to get in trouble if she’s just bein’ a good Samaritan, but I don’t want to get an ass full of buckshot either. In the meantime, we’ll grab some shut-eye. And at first light, we’ll bring Ava March home.”
He exhaled heavily, praying like hell he was right.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Thursday, March 17, 2022
TREY’S PHONE BUZZED, DRAGGING HIM OUT OFa deep sleep.
He woke, rubbing his eyes with his fingers while reaching for his phone with the other hand.
“Yeah,” he answered, his voice rough with sleep.
“I think we’ve got somethin’, Trey,” Brantley said, his no-nonsense tone in place. “Reese and I are about five minutes out.”
“Did you find Ava?” he asked, nudging Magnus with his arm.
