Robo stayed close to Mattie as they traveled downhill, but he was not averse to the occasional petting from Eve. His presence seemed to be a comfort to the girl, and she called him to her whenever they paused to rest. His work was done, so Mattie allowed it, because she found herself feeling sorry for Eve even though she told herself not to. After all, the girl had confessed to a double murder. Truthfully, she felt sorry for the entire family. Eve was completely right about one point: she’d made a mess of things.
At the station, Stella and McCoy took Eve into an interrogation room to get her statement while Mattie took Robo back to her office to feed him. The three hunters and Flint had been booked into jail to await charges, which would be sorted out once Glenna returned from Colorado Springs. Mattie wondered if Glenna would go easy on Flint in exchange for his help and testimony.
After Robo ate his fill and bedded down on his cushion, Mattie sat at her computer and wrote her own report of what had happened on the mountain. It was late by the time she finished and Stella entered the room to find her. Robo was curled up on his cushion, lightly snoring.
“Does he always snore like that?” Stella asked as she settled into a chair she pulled up from Johnson’s desk.
“Sometimes,” Mattie said. “He’s really tired tonight.”
“I bet.” Stella studied her. “You look like you’ve had better days yourself.”
Mattie brushed her cheek, touching the scratches and the sore spot on her cheekbone. She hadn’t checked a mirror yet, but she figured she was sporting a few bruises. “How did the statement go?”
Stella sighed. “She waived her right to an attorney and confessed to both murders.”
There were a few details Mattie still wanted to know. “I assume Kasey and Nate were using a trip to Nebraska as a cover story with the family when really he was up in the BLM releasing that tiger, right?”
“Yep.” Stella released a heavy sigh. “I took the bait on that one the night we met Kasey.”
Mattie admitted that she had taken the bait, too, and she felt Stella’s frustration. “So how did Eve get Nate out to the county road where she killed him?”
“She tried hard not to implicate Kasey, but when I told her we already knew Kasey had been involved with the tiger hunt, she opened up enough to tell me that Kasey confided to her that she and Nate had been fighting last week. Evidently Nate wanted out and threatened to not go through with the hunt. Eve decided to take matters into her own hands. She called him, told him her car had broken down, asked him to pick her up, and that’s when she shot him.”
It sounded cold-blooded, but Eve’s story had indicated feelings of resentment and anger; she had seized the opportunity and acted on it. “What about the gloves? Why a pair of men’s gloves?”
“She grabbed a random pair. She doesn’t know if they’re Tyler’s or her dad’s.”
“DNA will tell us that. I guess it doesn’t matter as much now, but can we find the glove that matches the one we have?”
“She says she burned the matching glove in their trash barrel. We’ll have to go out and see if any of it’s left. She was pretty tearful through the interview, but when she realized we’d found the glove, she really poured on the waterworks. It tore her up to think she’d accidentally planted evidence to implicate her dad or her brother.”
“Yeah, but her DNA will be inside that glove, too.” Mattie shared a little bit of what worried her. “When you compare her intentions with the crime scenes, you can see she was disorganized. It makes me wonder about her reasoning and what kind of stress she’s been under during the past months.”
Stella rubbed the back of her neck. “Sheriff McCoy called her parents and has allowed them to see her. They were devastated, as you can imagine, but they say they’re going to hire an attorney. I suppose that’s something that will be sorted out by someone other than us. It’s our job to have the evidence and statements in line when they’re needed. We’ve already got a warrant to retrieve clothing and her boots, cell phone and records, a cast of tire prints from her car, and anything else we can find to back up her statement. Sheriff McCoy and I will head out there now to execute it.”
“Do you need my help?”
“No, you’ve done enough today. You need to go home.”
After Stella left, Mattie texted Cole to tell him she was getting ready to leave work. He replied right away: DO YOU WANT TO MEET AT YOUR PLACE OR MINE?
After this long, hard day, the one thing she wanted was to feel his arms around her. She knew he didn’t like leaving the kids alone at night, so she told him she would come over. It was shortly after midnight when she parked at the edge of his yard.
He opened the front door and strode down the sidewalk, meeting her at her car door as she stepped down from the driver’s seat. He took her in his arms to hold her close, and she felt like she’d come home.
But the closeness made her think of his friend. “How’s Garrett?”
“A little better. The doctor thinks it’s possible his vision will clear with time. He’ll probably come home in a day or two.”
The thought of Garrett and Leslie at home together after such a scare made her teary. “That’s such a relief. And what about the tiger?”
“He’s stable. He came out from under the anesthesia without problems and is resting quietly in a secure area at the zoo. The bullet caused a lot of damage, but they cleaned it up and decided to leave the leg until they see if the shoulder heals. Maybe he’ll get by without having to lose it.”
“I hope so.”
“Me too.” Cole put his hand under her chin and tilted her head back to examine her face in the moonlight. “Did you get those scratches tended to?”
“I washed them. It’s nothing.”
“I guess I’ll get used to you mixing it up with the bad guys someday.”
Cole bent his head, and Mattie welcomed his kiss. The kiss was deep and long and it took her breath away, but it no longer felt confusing; instead it left her with a warm sense that she was loved. There were no more secrets to hide from him, and still … he loved her.
After the kiss, Cole spoke quietly against her lips. “I love you, Mattie.”
With her lips against his, she was finally able to say it, though in a whisper. “I love you too.”
“You don’t know how happy it makes me to hear you say that.”
She shrugged inside his embrace, not sure what to say. “I guess I’m a slow learner.”
Robo barked from inside the Explorer.
A short chuckle rumbled in Cole’s chest beneath her ear. “I don’t even want to know how I stack up against him in your affections.” He paused for a moment. “Did you eat dinner?”
“No, but I’m not hungry.”
“Too tired.”
“No, it’s been an eventful day. We solved both our homicides, but there’s not much to celebrate.”
“Let’s get Robo out of the back and go inside where we can talk.”
Mattie leaned in and released the door latch at the front of Robo’s cage. He bailed through, jumping down to the ground to circle Cole’s feet, his tail wagging. Cole thumped his side, told him what a good dog he was, and then took Mattie’s hand to lead her up the sidewalk to the porch. Robo darted in front.
Belle and Bruno greeted them at the door with exuberance, and it took a few minutes to get the dogs sorted. Cole led the way to the kitchen. “Did Robo eat?”