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The look on his face said his comment surprised him as much as it did her. An awkward moment passed before Reese took another sip of coffee and then walked over to the kitchen sink.
“This land always was beautiful,” she said. “I loved coming here.”
“Sometimes, I get so busy with life that I forget to stop and appreciate everything I do have,” he said. “Having this place makes me feel connected to something bigger than myself.”
“I can see that,” she said. “My business might be successful and I like what I do most of the time, but there’s no legacy. It doesn’t tie into anything bigger in the way Hayes Cattle does.”
“It’s understandable how you might think that way, but you’ve built something from scratch,” he said. “There is a whole lot to be proud of in that.”
“Thank you, Darren.” Those words, coming from him, meant more than she could say.
FORTY-FIVEMINUTESTICKEDBY. Waiting was the absolute worst. If Darren paced anymore, he’d wear a hole in the carpet, metaphorically speaking, since the floors were wood.
Buster came through the back door at 6:30 p.m. “The Archer family sticks to themselves. No one knows all that much about them other than the fact they run the bee farm on the outskirts of Cider Creek.”
“I don’t remember much about Aiden from school, but I believe he would have been two grades ahead of us,” Darren said as Reese listened intently.
“You probably don’t know him because he dropped out of school in the ninth grade,” Buster said. “I asked around and Mrs. Carmen said she was one of his teachers. Said he was a quiet boy who was unapproachable. He used to get bullied because he didn’t talk much, and she remembered feeling sorry for him because of it. It’s the reason he stuck out in her mind. His parents pulled him to homeschool him, saying they needed the extra help around the farm.”
“The guy sounds like he could fit the description of a would-be serial killer,” Reese finally said.
“It definitely doesn’t rule him out,” Buster admitted.
“I hate to say this, but living on a remote bee farm would give him a lot of places to bury bodies,” Darren pointed out. “Aiden would know the land like the back of his hand and could have cameras set up, hidden.”
“Which would also make it hard for us to confront him,” Reese said. “We have no idea if he’s home.”
Buster lifted his index finger. “The place takes deliveries. Aiden is rarely, if ever, seen, according to several of the folks I spoke to but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t slip out at night and disappear for a couple of days to go somewhere. He’s never seen in town, though.”
“How would he know the girls if he doesn’t leave the property?” Reese asked.
“Good question,” Darren said. “Since the cases are stretched far apart, he might study each one and take his time with them.”
Could it mean Tandra was still alive? Could they get to her in time?
“I’m ready when you are,” Buster said.
Darren nodded before retrieving a baseball cap for Reese. Even with the disguise, Darren would know it was her from a mile away. If Aiden was targeting her, he would, too. So, basically, Darren had the drive over to convince her to stay inside the vehicle.
“Whoever is responsible for this also lit my home on fire,” Darren said. “If we come driving up in my SUV, it’ll alert Aiden and/or whoever else might be involved.”
“Then, we’ll take my pickup,” Buster said. “It has a bench seat in front, plenty big enough to fit all three of us.”
Reese put on the cap, lowering the rim to hide as much of her face as possible. Then, Darren waited for her to lead the way outside. It dawned on him that he might need a weapon of his own. His mother would never allow loaded guns inside the house and he respected her wishes to this day even though she wasn’t there. It was one of many small ways that he kept her memory alive at the farmhouse.
It was already dark outside when Darren went to the locked shed at the back of the house. Clouds rolled across a blue velvet sky. He unlocked it and then retrieved the Colt .45 he kept there for shooting coyotes. It was the quickest way to get rid of the menace. There were wild boars on the property, too, and they were nasty creatures. Mean, too.
The drive over was quiet. The gate to the bee farm was closed. Was it locked?
Buster exited the vehicle and opened the metal gate.
The porch light was on at the ranch-style home. They were expected, so someone must have heard them driving up. And the prickly hair feeling on the back of Darren’s neck was on high alert. He felt like they were being watched.
“You feel that?” he asked Reese and Buster. It didn’t need explaining, not with how quiet they were. The cab was eerily silent.
“Yep,” Buster finally said.
“I do, too,” Reese agreed.
