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But then his sister-in-law had started to get sick. The end had come so swiftly for her that Luke was truly at a loss for words when he got the news while on an army base in Afghanistan. Even for a man who had faced the horrors of combat daily, when the phone call came, telling him that his upbeat, fun-loving sister-in-law was gone, he’d had a hard time believing it.
And his little brother had been a wreck. Not only had Jake faced the horror of losing his wife, but he knew from experience the feeling of emptiness left behind when children lose their mother at an early age. And worry for those kids started eating him up.
Eventually Jake pulled himself together. Kept putting one foot in front of the other, because he was tough. Always had been. He didn’t complain, but Luke had heard the heaviness in his brother’s voice when he talked to him. And he knew what he had to do.
Luke had been near the end of his tour of duty when Janelle had passed away. He hadn’t reenlisted yet, though up to that point he’d had every intention of doing so. Instead he finished his tour and came on home and moved to the ranch to help his brother. Not so much with managing the ranch. Jake had a handle on that. But with raising the kids. With getting on with life.
That had been two years ago. Being a Miles County deputy sheriff was a long way from the intense challenges Luke was used to facing on a daily basis. But once the kids were a little older, and he was convinced Jake was emotionally settled, Luke would get back to traveling the world. Seeing new things. Facing new challenges. Maybe he’d reenlist in the military. Or see what was available in the world of private security.
His thoughts drifted to Melanie Graham. He’d responded to assaults and strong-arm robberies before, but her case was certainly unique. One of the most interesting cases he’d worked in a while.
It was because of the amnesia angle, and the second attack taking place so soon after the first, that he’d made sure the sheriff’s department pushed to be the lead agency on the case. And he’d made certain he was put in charge of the investigation.
He found himself recalling Melanie Graham’s face. The fear and confusion in her eyes. He’d seen that so many times in combat. He couldn’t stand by and let somebody go through that without helping them. And okay, maybe he was a little motivated to help Melanie specifically. In just the small amount of time he’d spent around her, he’d been drawn in by the appeal of her strength and determination to work through the aftermath of the attack on her rather than remaining paralyzed by fear. Her warm hazel eyes and defiant smile, at moments when he knew she was afraid, had their appeal, as well. The woman was a fighter.
Luke wrenched himself back to the present and glanced around. Billy Clyde had let the kids catch him and they were rolling around in the thick grass outside the corral together.
“Little brother,” Luke said, turning and clapping Jake on the shoulder. “You are going to have to give both of your kids a bath tonight.”
“Tonight and every night,” Jake said agreeably. “Sometimes in the middle of the day, too.”
“I’ll give Billy Clyde another bath. Unless you want to make him stay outside tonight.”
Jake laughed and shook his head. “I can’t make that animal stay outside and he knows it.” Then, just like a cloud passing over the sun on a clear day, his expression completely changed. He cleared his throat a couple of times. “Janelle insisted we keep him after he showed up that day, and he was always really her dog. Maybe that’s why he’s always acting up. Maybe he misses her, too.”
Jake’s voice broke and he dragged his knuckles across his eyes, wiping away the tears that had slipped out.
Luke stood by him. As usual he was clueless about what he should say. But he knew there was power in having someone present when you were hurting. Even if they didn’t say a word.
By the time the smelly dog and the kids ran over to them, Jake had composed himself. “I’m starving,” Alan announced.
“Yeah, well, the way you two smell, it’s going to be baths first and then supper,” Jake answered.
The three of them turned and started up the hill to the house.
Luke headed back to the stables with the dog at his heels so he could fill the big tub in there with soapy water and re-bathe Billy Clyde.
* * *
“I still can’t remember what happened to me at the fairgrounds,” Melanie said to Luke, with exasperation burning in her chest like indigestion. “How do you expect me to identify the attacker in these pictures?”
Two days had passed since she’d been grabbed in the alley beside the coffee shop. Three days since someone had tried to kill her at the fairgrounds.
Physically and emotionally she’d taken a slight turn for the worse, once she was settled in her room at her cousin’s house, after the second attack.
Every time she let down her defenses, told herself to relax and tried to get some sleep, that panicky feeling would come back with a vengeance. Her neck hurt even more, as did the scrapes and bruises on the places where she’d hit the ground. She was afraid to take the sleeping pills and painkillers the doctor had prescribed for her. Because what if the attacker came back again? Tried to break into the house?
She was doing a little better now. Well enough to drive herself to the sheriff’s department’s office in town and meet with Luke to look at mug shots. Anna had offered to take her to the meeting, but she’d already missed enough work looking after Melanie. And it was a short drive. Melanie could handle it. Like so many things these days, she had to handle it.
When Melanie’s husband had filed for divorce, she’d needed somewhere to go. Anna had welcomed her with open arms. The rent money Melanie paid was appreciated. Anna made that abundantly clear. But Anna still needed to show up at the accounting firm where she’d recently gotten a job. And thanks to Melanie, she’d already missed two days of work.
Luke took a sip of coffee and set the mug on the conference table, where they were seated. There was an electronic tablet in front of him and he slid it over toward her. “These are pictures of men from this part of Idaho, as well as a few from Northern Wyoming who have a history of violent, strong-arm robbery, specifically targeting women.” The screen showed four images. She could swipe her finger across the screen to see more.
“Do me a favor and just take a look,” he continued. “See if anyone seems familiar. It’s possible you crossed paths with the attacker more than two weeks ago and that you’d remember him if you saw his picture. Maybe he worked alongside you at a rodeo or a fair or somewhere else where you were selling your jewelry over the last few months.”
That was possible. She’d been busy over the summer, traveling to as many events as she could.
“Or maybe he’s someone who’s seen you working at The Mercantile,” he added.
The Mercantile was a former general store in Bowen that had been renovated and turned into a crafts-and-antiques mini mall. Melanie rented space in the communal area, at the center of the store.
“Maybe someone got the idea to rob you after seeing you put money into that blue lockbox that’s missing. Or maybe they saw you put those few pieces of gold jewelry you’ve said you made into the box. Or perhaps something else,” he added, with his eyebrows slightly raised and a questioning expression on his face.
She didn’t like his tone when he said the words “something else,” and she turned to frown at him. Maybe she shouldn’t care so much that he was questioning her character, but she did. Probably because she’d felt a connection, like friendship, forming between them. And that made his comment strike deeper than it would have if it had come from somebody else. “If you think I had drugs or something stolen or illegal in that box, you’re mistaken,” she said icily. “I may not remember that box or specifically what’s in it at the moment, but I do know who I am.”
He held her gaze for several seconds and then finally nodded, though she didn’t think he looked convinced.
She knew he was a cop. People probably lied to him all of the time. He saw the worst of society. But that didn’t lessen the sting of his suspicion.
She picked up the tablet. Swiped her finger across the screen to turn the pages. It took a while, but she finally got to the end. No one looked familiar.
She glanced up at him, shook her head and found herself blinking back tears. It had been irrational for her to get her hopes up. To think she might somehow recognize the perpetrator in these pictures and bring this nightmare to an end.
Haven’t I been through enough? She thought of her husband’s betrayal and insistence on ending their six-year marriage. And the financial bottoming-out that followed the divorce. Now there were these attacks. It was too much.
She immediately felt ashamed of herself for giving in to self-pity. People suffered through a lot worse. Whatever is good and noble, think on those things. Clearly that was what she needed to be doing.
“Looking at mug shots is not our only strategy in this investigation,” Luke said. “It’s just one idea.”
Melanie nodded. “I’m willing to help any way I can.”
Luke reached for the tablet and she slid it toward him. “So, how are you doing?” he asked. Melanie started to fib, telling him she was fine. But then she thought about the promise she’d made to herself after being blindsided by her husband. Ex-husband. There was a lot Ben had kept secret. Including his relationship with the woman he’d begun seeing while he was still married to Melanie.
She should have seen it coming, she’d told herself. But how could she? In so many ways, she and Ben had barely known each other. They’d gotten married straight out of high school, moved to California, found jobs and started living their lives together.
Yet in so many important ways, they’d always been strangers. She just hadn’t realized it until the divorce papers were sitting on her dining room table, ready for her signature.
She couldn’t control other people—she accepted that—but she could control herself. She could keep the promise she’d made to herself to be open and forthcoming. And it was reasonable to expect the same thing from anyone she had a relationship with.
Not that she had a relationship with Lieutenant Baxter. Maybe the feelings she’d thought they were beginning to share were all on her part. Maybe she was reading something into the situation between them that wasn’t there, because she was afraid and feeling alone. In any event, being transparent was a standard she was setting for herself. So she would tell him the truth.
“My head and neck, and everywhere else I’ve been injured, have hurt for the last couple of days, but it’s better now,” she finally blurted out in answer to his question. “I’m still jumpy, though. I can’t relax. And I’m scared.”
And then, even though it made her horribly uncomfortable, she looked him in the eyes and waited for his reaction.
“I’m not surprised,” he said. “You’ve been through two traumatic experiences in less than twenty-four hours.” He glanced down at his phone screen and she thought that was the end of it.
But then he turned back to her, and looking slightly uncomfortable, he said, “My experience is that it takes a lot longer to work through the aftermath of a violent attack than you’d think. But if you hang on, and ask for help if you need it, you’ll be okay.”
“Right.” He hadn’t given her any advice that would make her problems disappear in an instant like she wanted them to. But the empathy he was expressing felt sincere. And the honest assessment that it would take a while for things to heal was probably something she’d needed to hear to make her expectations more realistic.
“Do you want me to help you get your truck and trailer to the house this afternoon?” he asked.
“I think the trip here is all I can handle today.” There was no reason for her to feel physically exhausted, yet she did. And that panicky feeling was starting to come back. Not as severely as it had felt before, but still it was there. She needed to get home before it got worse.
“Can we get them tomorrow?” she asked.
“Of course.”
They both stood at the same time. Her knees were shaky and she reached her hand out to the conference table to steady herself. Luke reached out and held on to her lower arm, keeping her from toppling over. His big, calm presence made her feel stronger. His touch sent a zing through her that she wished she could ignore.
“Thank you,” she said after a moment, and he released her arm.
“I’ll walk you out to your car,” he said. “I need to get out of the building and do some patrolling, anyway.”
She’d come in the small sedan she kept for driving around town. Her truck was a gas-guzzler. Once she was inside the car, with the doors locked, she waved at Luke and he walked over to his truck.
Anxious to get back to the house where she hoped to rest and relax, Melanie started up the engine and then pulled out of the parking lot, onto the street.
In the rearview mirror she could see that Luke followed her all the way home. It felt reassuring to know he was there. And comforting to know that a man like Luke was looking out for her.
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