stay out of sight?
If I’d just waited in the bedroom…”
“It’s not your fault,” Tyler said, lifting her from her chair and
pulling her into his arms. “None of this is your fault.”
“Well, the fact remains that he knows you’re with us now. We’re
going to have to be on high alert until he’s caught. I want you with Ty or me at all times until they catch him.”
Sara sighed. “I’m so sick of this. Why can’t he just let me go?”
“I’m not sure, baby,” Tyler answered, pressing his lips to her
forehead. “But you are ours now, and we’re not letting you go either.”
The phone interrupted their discussion. Gage picked it up, and
then paced by the windows, listening to the voice on the other side of the line.
“Who was it?” Sara asked as soon as he’d disconnected the phone.
“It was Detective Ryder. Jeremy used his credit card at a store
down in Sheridan. If he left from here and headed south, it would
make sense for him to be arriving down there about now, if he was in
a hurry. The purchase was a couple boxes of hunting shells and a
high-end sleeping bag. It had to be ordered. The order was placed the day you left him. They think he’s making preparations to come after
you again.”
“Why would he put that on a credit card? He’s smart. He has to
know that they are tracking his purchases.”
“Maybe he didn’t have another choice. He might not have cash.”
“Yeah, but he has plenty of ammunition at home, and we have
camping gear. Even if he doesn’t have any cash, I don’t think those
supplies would be at the top of his list.”
“So you think it’s a diversion?” Tyler asked.
86
Samantha Blair
“I’m not sure. It just doesn’t sound right to me. Did you see what
kind of gun he was shooting? Is the ammo even for the same gun?”
The two men looked at each other and shrugged.
“I’ll call the police back and let them know what you said. They
should know everything that we know, and just to be on the safe side, you’re not leaving the house until we hear back.”
“We can’t hide out in here forever,” Sara protested.
“It won’t be forever,” Gage argued. “Couple of days at the most. I
will take you out if you need to go somewhere. I just don’t want you
to be alone. I already emailed about the barn project, and they are
going to put the whole thing on hold for another week. Right now,
none of us needs to go any farther than our own corral. That proved
dangerous enough in itself this morning. We’re staying put.”
“Oh no!” Tyler remarked sarcastically, throwing his hand up to
his forehead in a dramatic fainting gesture. “Whatever will the three of us find to do when we’re all locked in a confined space?”
Sara giggled, and Gage shot them a glare that clearly said this
wasn’t funny.
“Oh come on, Gage,” Sara said. “Ty’s right. We might as well
enjoy the time together.”
“I did insist that we build that bathtub big enough for three for a
reason you know,” Tyler added.
Gage rolled his eyes but caved. “Fine. Last one naked and in the
tub has to do the dinner dishes.”
Protectors
87
Chapter 10
Detective Filley flashed a recent picture of Jeremy Granger at the
store clerk.
“No, that wasn’t him,” the clerk said.
“You sure?”
“Yeah. The guy that picked up that sleeping bag and ammo was a
lot younger than the guy in that picture. He was a kid, maybe eighteen or twenty. Nothing but sticks and bones. That guy’s a good bit
bigger.”
Filley looked at his partner, Ryder, across the counter. It seemed
as if Sara Effese knew her stalking ex-boyfriend well. She had been
right about the sporting goods store being a wild goose chase.
“Thank you,” he said, lifting the photo from the counter and
heading back to the car with Ryder.
“So we’re three hours out of the way? And our suspect is probably
still hiding out back in town?” Ryder
Elizabeth Bear
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Ruthe Ogilvie