Lone Rider by B.J. Daniels

Author:B.J. Daniels
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HQN Books
Published: 2015-09-04T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

“YOU WERE RIGHT,” Sarah said as she climbed into Russell’s pickup parked outside the sheriff’s department. It was late now, twilight deepening. The Crazy Mountains had turned a midnight blue against the lighter sky. They looked cold and dark. At the thought of her daughter being up there...

But they were Buck’s daughters and always had been, even before she’d left. He’d put them on horses before they could even walk. He’d taken them to the mountains camping when they were toddlers. He’d wanted them to be like him, fearless. He hadn’t wanted them to be like their mother, meek, mild Sarah, afraid of everything.

“I probably shouldn’t have gone in there.”

“What happened?” Russell asked as he started the engine and backed out.

“I’m being investigated.”

Russell glanced over at her. “What about that surprises you? The sheriff asked you for your fingerprints and DNA. Did you really think he was just trying to help you find your past?”

She was surprised at the anger she heard in his voice.

“You were married to a man who will probably be the next president of the United States if he doesn’t screw it up.”

“Or if I don’t. Isn’t that what you mean?” When he said nothing as he drove out of the parking lot, she demanded, “Why do you think you know what is best for me? You and Buck? What makes either of you...” Her voice trailed off. “I’m sorry. All you’ve done is try to help me. Buck, too. If anyone is to blame for this, it’s me. The sheriff told me how I literally dropped back into Beartooth and everyone’s life by parachute. He also asked me about a strange tattoo on my butt that I’ve never seen and had no idea was there. If it really is.”

Russell threw on the brakes. “What? You parachuted into the woods where I found you?”

“So you didn’t know,” she said. “He didn’t tell you about the tattoo?”

Russell shook his head. “It’s just a tattoo, right?”

“More like a brand, I’m told. I can’t see it unless I use a hand mirror. I’m going to need you to take a photo of it for me. Would you do that?”

He glanced over at her. She could tell that he was touched she trusted him with this. “You know I’ll do whatever you ask me to.”

She nodded distractedly. “The rumors you heard were true. The sheriff told me about a man named Lester Halverson finding me. This man, a hermit who lived on the river, told him that I called someone that night. Whoever that someone was, they picked me up, and that’s the last anyone around here saw of me.”

“Did he ask you again for your DNA and fingerprints?” Russell asked, worried.

“He didn’t have to. Apparently he had them all along, taken from the chute’s harness. He then compared it with the DNA from my broken coffee mug—and backed it up with Kat’s DNA.”

“But nothing came up in any of their criminal databases.” He sounded relieved.

Sarah, though, didn’t seem to feel better.

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