Flint looked toward his house as if searching for escape, or maybe to see if his dad was listening, and he mumbled that he would call if he talked to Sadie. Stella’s hint that he was a suspect had hit home.
Mattie had one more question before they left. “The kind of work you do requires a good pair of work gloves. Can you show us yours?”
Looking puzzled, Flint reached for his back pocket. “You mean these?”
He pulled out a pair of light leather gloves, typical of those worn by ranchers for outdoor work. Although they looked similar to the one left in the ditch, they were smaller and of a different style. “What size are these?” Mattie asked, rolling back the open ends of each glove to see if there was a tag.
“Medium.”
“Thanks for your time, Flint,” Mattie said as she handed him back his gloves. Wanting to offer another line of communication, she gave him one of her own cards before saying goodbye.
While she drove away, she checked the rearview mirror, having to look over Robo as he stood staring out the back window. Sure enough, JD came out of the house to stand beside his son, indicating he’d been keeping tabs on what was going on outside his front door.
Stella pulled her seat belt across herself and fastened it. “Was everyone at that dance last night except me?”
“Just about.”
“Did you see Flint there?”
“I can’t say I did. But the place was packed, and we were dancing most of the time before the explosion. I wasn’t really looking for him.”
Stella shot her a sideways glance, eyebrows raised. “So the handsome Dr. Walker was taking up most of your attention, huh?”
Mattie felt her own face begin to flush, like Flint’s. “I was off duty, Detective.”
“Right.” Stella took out a small notebook she carried with her and started recording notes. “What did you think of Flint?”
“I’m not sure. I was about to give him the benefit of the doubt until he lit up when you asked him for an alibi. But that blush could’ve been embarrassment over hooking up with a girl he barely knew.”
“Possibly.” Stella paused her writing and looked out the window. “But we can’t eliminate him yet.”
Mattie thought they shouldn’t underestimate the influence this kid’s dad had on him. “I saw JD step outside to join him when we left. Let’s let him have some time with Flint. Maybe he can get him to come forward with more information before we need to give it another go.”
“In the meantime, it’s good to know that the gloves Flint wears are a smaller size than the one we found. Did you think it was odd that he had them in his pocket?”
Mattie remembered seeing gloves shoved into the back pockets of many a rancher as they went about their business. “Not really. He was getting ready to leave for work, and it’s common enough to keep work gloves handy.”
“Okay.” Stella yawned, making Mattie suppress one, too. “Let’s head for home and try to get some sleep before that ten o’clock meeting at the station.”
Sorry they hadn’t turned up any new leads, Mattie set a course for Timber Creek. She wished they’d come up with something more solid, but she consoled herself that it had been less than twelve hours since Nate’s death.
Her mind jumped to Cole as she drove in silence, and she hoped she could find a way to see him before this day ended. She still felt pressed to share the most traumatic part of her childhood with him and she wanted to get it over with, but not on the phone. It would have to wait till later.
EIGHT
Mattie pulled into the parking lot at the station shortly before ten, noticing that Brody and Stella hadn’t yet arrived. She’d slept hard for three hours and without dreams, a welcome change from her usual pattern of insomnia. Total exhaustion might be the key.
The burn on her arm still tingled when she changed the dressing, but the lidocaine in the ointment had soothed it. Many of the blisters had broken or resorbed with the treatment, and there was no sign of infection. She’d worn another long-sleeved uniform shirt to protect it.
Robo hopped down from the back of the Explorer, and with a waving tail, he trotted ahead to the front door. Ever conscious of alpha training, Mattie made him wait for her to enter first and then gave him permission to cross the threshold after her. It was a small thing, but Robo was the type of high-drive dog who would decide to take charge if you let him, and it was always good to remind him who was boss.
Once inside she told him he was free to go, and he hustled over to the dispatcher’s desk to greet Rainbow, who received him with open arms. Literally. After Mattie clocked in, she joined them.
Her dog was having a love fest, leaning against Rainbow as she scratched his ears, his mouth open in a toothy grin.
“You spoil him,” Mattie said, giving her friend a smile behind the words.
“He’s just a big baby, that’s what he is.” Rainbow ruffled the fur at his neck as he stretched upward to lick her face.
Mattie had to correct him, even though he was fresh from a nap and hadn’t had a run yet to dispense all that energy. “That’s enough, Robo. You know better. Come. Sit.”
He obeyed, though he eyed Rainbow lovingly.
“Sorry, Mattie. I’ll try not to get him so riled up. He’s just so cute, I can’t help myself.”
Mattie knew Rainbow would get her dog worked up again another time—that’s the way the two of them rolled. But she had to look at it as a good training opportunity; Robo needed to learn to behave himself when he was at work, even when he was tempted not to. “Am I the first one here?”
“You are. This is an awful situation about Nate Fletcher. Poor Kasey.”
“Do you know her?”
“Some. She was a few years ahead of me in school, but I remember she was a cheerleader. She seemed to be active in all the sports, too.”
Since Rainbow had been born and raised in Timber Creek, Mattie considered her a good source of information about the community. “Did you know Nate?”
“Not really. I mean, I know who he was and all that. Called himself Mustang Fletcher. Liked to flirt with all the girls at the Watering Hole.”
This was the first she’d heard about Nate flirting at the local bar. “Before or after he was married?”
“Well, he moved here after they married, but it didn’t seem to slow him down with women. I tended bar before I started working here, and I remember he loved to party.”
“Huh. Do you think he could’ve been cheating on Kasey?”
“I have no idea, but his flirting in those days seemed harmless and directed at everyone. He often brought groups in from out of town for hunting. They would all stop at the bar, and the drinks flowed.”
Nate must have been quite the party animal. “Drugs?”
“Gosh, no. You know I’d let you know if I ever suspected anyone of drug use.”
Rainbow might be a good source of information, but Mattie would never want the community to associate her with being a narc for the department. “Don’t let anyone else hear you say that.”
“Why not? Folks know we take a hard stand against drugs here.”
“I guess you’re right.” Mattie remembered the man she’d seen Rainbow with at the dance. “By the way, who was that cowboy you were dancing with last night?”
Rainbow giggled. “Ben Underwood from California.”
Mattie’s brother Willie had come from California. Even mention of the state brought the events surrounding his death back to her, and she had to push them out of her mind. “What brought him to town?”
“Fishing trip. With Nate Fletcher, actually.”