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Maybe in the time I’d been in Whisper Ridge, I’d admired him more than I wanted to admit. I’d wanted him, needed him, and now that I had him, I couldn’t imagine life without him. Was that love? It sure felt like it. But if there were any chance that he’d get into trouble for anything, I would take the fall without hesitation. He might look after his town, but I was looking after him.
He just didn’t know it yet.
After the kiss, I returned to the task at hand, pushingdown the emotions swirling inside me. I double-clicked the icon for Micah, and the folder opened, revealing twenty files. I opened them all, and they cascaded across the large screen, spilling their secrets for us to dissect. Then, with a flick of a switch, I transferred the display to the board by the door—something that at first glance seemed like a simple whiteboard but was anything but.
I pointed at the board, watching Neil’s eyes widen as the files rearranged into neat squares for us to examine. I magnified the first file in the center, bringing it into sharp focus. It was Micah’s intake form, along with files from Sheriff Windham, Neil’s father who’d been sheriff at the time, documenting the accident that had killed Micah’s friend, Isaac, and injured Chris Sheridan.
“This is the surface information.” I let the words hang in the air. “The black and white details of the arrest and his prison term.”
Neil stepped closer to the board, his gaze locked on the documents. I could see the gears turning in his mind, the connections forming as he processed the information. His expression told me he was remembering, piecing together the fragments of a past that had been buried for too long.
“I was good friends with Daniel,” Neil murmured. “We even…” He shot me a glance, and I filled in the blanks and felt irrationally envious of someone who’d been in Neil’s life so long. “I saw what it did to him to have Micah borrow that car, for Chris to be hurt, for Isaac to die. But I also saw Daniel when Micah came home, when they fell back in love, when Daniel forgave him, and Micah forgave himself, and I made peace with all of that.”
I flicked up the next document—a sketched family tree, where I’d focused more on Micah and Rachel and the kids than I had done Micah’s parents, but they were there in the name.
“Edward and Rebecca Lennox,” I said and clicked on the link for Rebecca, which gave nothing more than a brief date of birth, death, and cause of death—breast cancer.
Neil was focused, ready for whatever I was about to throw at him, but I could see the tension in his eyes, and I hoped I wasn’t about to dig too deep and let all the worms out.
“Sheriff Windham Senior was called on several occasions to the Lennox Ranch regarding accusations of domestic abuse,” I began, keeping my voice steady. “Hitting his wife Rebecca and the kids, I think. At least, Micah. Rachel isn’t mentioned in the reports.”
Neil frowned, “Dad always said Edward Lennox was a bastard, and the whole town knew he was an abusive son of a bitch. Rebecca would never press charges, and Micah was so closed off as a kid, and then Rebecca was diagnosed with cancer. Then it was the accident with Micah and the others. I was away at college for most of that, then had a job in Montana for a few years. I missed most of what happened.”
“So, what we have is second-hand confirmation, more like local gossip and knowledge, of Rebecca Lennox dying when Micah was ten and Rachel was nine. I didn’t think it was crucial at the time to have medical records or a death certificate of someone no longer with us.”
Suspicion crept into Neil’s expression. “How did you getanyof these files?”
I ignored the question, continuing instead. “Okay. So, Edward Lennox died when Micah, aged twenty, was in prison. Edward slit his wrists but messed it up and shot himself in the head. I don’t have crime scene photos, but I can get them.”
“I have them,” Neil said. “It wasn’t pretty—Amy found him. That’s his sister, Amy Reynolds nee Lennox, married to Jeff Reynolds, and they took care of Lennox Ranch when Micah and Rachel didn’t return. Not sure where they lived when Edward and Rebecca were still alive, but they lived at the ranch until Rachel and Micah came back, and now they live in Collier Springs. If Tally and Xavier are correct and this is Rebecca Lennox, we’ll need to visit.”
I ran a search on the data I had. “They lived in town. Jeff worked on the ranch, and Amy was a housekeeper there.”
Neil ran a hand through his hair, frustration etched on his face. “Why is it possible for Rebecca to be in the well when she was diagnosed, died, and, I assume, was buried in the cemetery here?”
I quickly searched while he watched: “No grave is listed for Rebecca Lennox in Whisper Ridge cemetery.”
“How can that be possible?” He frowned again.
“Maybe it was an offsite cremation or … I mean, there are reasons why people don’t get buried on church land with a stone.”
“Yeah, I get that.”
We needed to dig deeper into Rebecca’s cancer, death, and burial. Maybe there was an innocent explanation forthis. “I need to make a call,” I said, pulling out my phone. I could feel Neil’s eyes on me as I dialed and switched to speakerphone while waiting for Carter to answer. A technical wizard with everything information, he worked with Oberon and Trick’s security company, a former black-hat hacker who owed me one last favor.
“Carter,” I said when the line connected. There was no need for pleasantries. “Rachel Lennox and Edward Lennox, both deceased, Whisper Ridge, Wyoming. Any medical records and anything else you can find.”
“Hello Carter, how are you, Carter? Why, I’m fine, Connor. How are you?” Carter deadpanned, but I didn’t have time.
“Can you help?”
There was a pause, and I could imagine Carter grinding his teeth at the other end. “Deep dives like this aren’t my gig now. I’m legit.” He was lying—he still did stuff that would make my sheriff step in and arrest him if he knew.
“I know,” I replied. “But you owe me, Carter.”
He sighed. “Fine. I’ll see what I can dig up.”
“Thanks,” I said, keeping it short. “And Carter? Make it fast.”
