Cole held her gaze, her brown eyes serious and intent. He could tell she was already planning what she needed to do next to start this investigation. He’d hoped he could show her exactly what she meant to him tonight—if she felt the same way, that is. Sometimes it was hard to tell exactly how Mattie felt, and he remained fearful that she would withdraw again like she had last spring.
Gently, he applied the cream and then wrapped her arm. This way of showing his love would have to do for now. He could tell she was anxious to get back to the job, and he needed to get to the hospital to support Leslie.
As he finished securing the gauze bandage, she surprised him by placing her hand against his cheek. He turned his face into her palm to press his lips against it.
“Thank you for taking care of me, Cole. No one’s ever done that like you do. I appreciate it.”
He knew she’d had a tough childhood, and she’d built a wall between herself and others, a wall he was trying to climb over. “I like doing things for you. I’m grateful when you let me.”
He tipped her face toward the light to inspect the reddened skin on her cheeks. “This isn’t as bad as your arm, more like a sunburn. I’ll leave this cream for you to put on to help decrease the sting. Promise me you’ll do that before you go back out.”
She gave him a small smile. “Call me when you know something about Garrett, okay?”
“Sure. I’ll need to hear your voice.”
“This isn’t how I thought this evening would end,” she said, frowning. “Not that I should be thinking of us, in light of what’s happened to Garrett and Nate Fletcher.”
Cole took her in his arms and held her close. “I love that you’re thinking of us. Kiss me now before I have to go.”
The way she slid her arms up to hold him, cupping his neck with her hand, sent a shiver of pleasure across his shoulders. Her lips were soft and responded to his when he deepened the kiss, until Robo squeezed between them, forcing them to pull away from each other reluctantly. The dog pranced around the floor at their feet, trying to get their attention.
“Our chaperone,” Cole said. “Let’s remember to leave him home on our next date.”
Mattie’s already reddened cheeks flushed, and she bent over the shepherd, ruffling his fur. “You’re incorrigible.”
Cole hoped she was talking to her dog. “I’ll leave these supplies here, so that if your dressing gets wet or soiled, you can change it.”
She turned to go with him toward her front door. “Be safe. Don’t drive home if you’re too sleepy.”
“Yes, ma’am. Call me.”
“You do the same.”
He hurried to his truck, turning his thoughts back to Garrett and Leslie Hartman and his fears about their well-being. He knew of no one else who’d suffered the terrible loss of a child and survived as gracefully as they. While a child’s death could sometimes drive parents apart, it seemed like it had only drawn the Hartmans closer together. Leslie was a strong woman, but a person could only take so much.
He turned toward home so he could put his own dogs, Bruno and Belle, into their outdoor run, in case he couldn’t make it home to let them out in the morning. His resident housekeeper, Mrs. Gibbs, had taken advantage of his kids’ vacation to go visit her daughter, so she wouldn’t be around to help.
This was nasty business with Nate. Poor Kasey. What in the world was going on? Nate was just a rancher, a man who’d married into a family that was tied to the land, and he’d seemed happy to join them in their livelihood.
He thrust these thoughts aside and focused on driving. Mattie was right; he needed to stay safe on the road, because terrible things could happen and life could change in a heartbeat.
THREE
In a hurry to get back to the crime scene, Mattie splashed cool water on her face before applying the cream to her reddened skin. When she glimpsed herself in the mirror, she wondered if there was someone out there in the world who resembled her. A few weeks ago, she’d submitted her DNA to an ancestry database, and she watched her email daily, hoping for a match. She loved her Mama T—no one could ask for a better foster mom—and she’d recently connected with a foster sister named Doreen, but she still wanted to know if her biological mother or any other relatives were out there looking for.
When she thought of family, memories of her brother Willie surfaced, as they often had since his death the month before. His loss and the way he died still haunted her. It hurt to think that she’d missed the opportunity to reconnect with him, and she supposed it always would. She’d let emotional scars from her past delay their reunion, a mistake she wouldn’t make again if given another chance to unite with relatives.
Robo followed her into her bedroom to watch her strap on her Kevlar vest and put on her uniform. He darted back and forth to the front door, revved up and ready to go to work.
That was Robo. No matter if it was day or night, he found his job exciting.
“Let’s go.” Her words set off his usual scurry toward the doorway, toenails skittering across the hardwood floor. Mattie lagged behind to retrieve her service weapon from her gun safe. She racked the slide, checked the cartridge, and jammed it back home.
“Okay, buddy. Out to the car.”
Her uniform’s long sleeves felt good, because the velvety evening had turned chilly. Robo loaded into the back of the K-9 unit, a converted Ford Explorer, and she paused to check her supplies before leaving. All was in order, so she jumped into the front and headed toward the crime scene.
She thought of Cole while she drove. Remembering his tenderness when he’d treated her burn made her teary. If she was being completely honest with herself, she had to admit she was glad she’d been unable to share details from her past with him tonight. What if doing so drove him away? She didn’t think she could handle losing Cole now. Not after how close they’d become since Willie’s death.
When she reached the outside of town, she could see flashing lights from emergency vehicles in the distance, but the orange glow of the fire appeared to be extinguished. Gravel on the county road peppered the bottom of her car, and as she drew near, smoke thickened the air. The flames had been doused, leaving the blackened body of the van’s hull a sodden mess. Firefighters remained on the scene, aiming spray from the fire truck’s tank at the van’s undercarriage.
As she parked, her headlights illuminated Stella. The detective had pulled her auburn hair into a ponytail, and she wore a brown Carhartt jacket with a Timber Creek County Sheriff’s insignia on the sleeve. She’d elected to stay home instead of going to the dance, saying she preferred not to have to deal with cowboys and their wandering paws. Stella had once shared that she’d divorced a cop not all that long ago, and the bitter tone of her story led Mattie to believe that she didn’t hold any fondness for most men in general, at least not for the time being.
Stella came to the passenger side and climbed in. “Gotta warm up a minute. With all that water, it feels like hell frozen over out there.”
Mattie restarted the engine and turned up the heater.
Stella leaned forward and rubbed her hands together near the vent. “I released the body and the coroner took him away. I wanted to preserve whatever I could on him for the medical examiner. I marked his position, and we’ll need to take measurements of the crime scene layout as soon as we can get in there to work.”
“Some kind of accelerant must have been used to create that kind of a blaze. Probably to cover up evidence, but it’ll be hard to sort that out now.”
“I’ve called CBI,” Stella said, referring to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, “to request a crime scene unit and fire investigation team. I’m not sure how soon they can get here.”