Witness In The Woods

Brent shook his head. “You need help with any of it?”

Joe nodded. “Always. You can take this in to the county forensics van, for a start.”

“I’m heading toward Ely. I think Elaine Hester is on shift tonight. Smart chick. What are you up to now?”

“Headed back across the lake.”

He needn’t tell Brent he had decided to stand vigil outside the target’s home because he feared losing her more than his heart could stand.

STEPPING OUT OF the shower, Skylar dried off, then reached for the brandy goblet on the vanity. She downed the last two swallows. Whew! That burned. But she instantly felt the calming effects ease through her muscles, and the need to close her eyes and drop into a heavy sleep.

“Come on, Stella.”

She padded naked down the hallway to her bedroom, followed by the three-legged wolf. Stella generally slept outside, but she would never ignore an invite to stay indoors. The security panel for the entire house was positioned at eye level in the bedroom, by the door. She turned on all the door locks and the perimeter alarm, which was set only for the weight of a vehicle since she had so many animals wandering around at any given time.

Stella jumped onto the end of her bed. Her spot. And let no man try to prove otherwise.

Pulling on a long T-shirt that hung past her thighs, Skylar crawled onto the bed and lay on top of the sheets across the middle of the mattress, so she could smooth her palm over Stella’s fur.

She hadn’t seen Joseph Cash in…must be a year. He got more handsome every time she saw him. He had the “tall, dark stranger” thing going on full force. Except he wasn’t a stranger, and…she wanted to see him again.

Under better circumstances than getting shot at.

“It was a warning,” she whispered, tracing the top of her ear, which felt tender from the bruise. She caught a swallow at the back of her throat, followed by a single teardrop slipping down the side of her face.

She’d walked into a warehouse on Davis Trucking land, and before calling out for her uncle, she’d glanced around. There were crates everywhere, marked with company names. Standard inventory for a trucking outfit, she figured. But the freezers, six of them, had stood out. They were the large white chest kind, probably close to twenty cubic feet in volume.

What had been in them? With a trucking business, it could be anything. And while she’d always assumed they didn’t store goods on-site, she didn’t know enough about the operation.

A man standing over one of the opened freezers hadn’t noticed her, so she’d cleared her throat. He’d lifted his head and swung a look over his shoulder, focusing his gaze on her. She hadn’t recognized him, and he’d immediately slammed down the freezer cover and grabbed a rifle. The feeling of utter dread had overcome her. Skylar had turned and run. As she had, he’d called after her, “Don’t tell, bitch! This is none of your concern.”

She’d run straight to her truck, past a few truckers who had called out to her and whistled. The stranger hadn’t followed her. Forget talking to her uncle. She’d been creeped out, and had put her truck in gear and gotten the hell out of there.

She hadn’t told anyone. Because she wasn’t sure what she had seen. But it had been something. Because tonight they had warned her.

And yet, she’d dared to call the police. Because she would not be scared off by some idiot assholes who thought they had a right to threaten a woman. Hell, the shooter could have killed her.

Now, dare she ask Joseph Cash to protect her?

Chapter Five (#ueb05ea18-7bf2-5e0e-b1a8-d57b7eb837b8)

Joe woke and winced. He was sitting at an angle—ah, hell. He’d fallen asleep in the truck parked at the end of Skylar’s driveway.

The rapping noise that had woken him thumped again on his window. Sliding upright in the driver’s seat, he moaned at the tug to his aching back muscles, then managed a blinking glance to his left. And then he opened his eyes wide and took in the view.

Could a woman look more beautiful in a cowboy hat, no makeup and plain denim shirt unbuttoned to just there? He voted no. She was like sunshine and all those pretty things guys liked to look at but were always afraid to touch for fear of smearing them with dirt or breaking something delicate.

Skylar Davis was not a delicate woman. She’d made that clear to him over the years he’d known her. And he expected some stern words to follow the admonishing look she was giving him now.

Turning the keys in the ignition, Joe pushed the window button, which slid down slowly. “Mornin’, Skylar.”

“Really, Joe? Did you sleep out here all night?”

“Most of the time? Nope. Wasn’t sleeping. I was on watch. Must have fallen asleep a few hours ago.” He wasn’t sure what time it was and glanced at the dashboard. Seven o’clock. He may have gotten two hours’ sleep at most. The night had been spent with the radio turned low to the ’90s top hits, his eyes half-closed, as he’d kept an eye toward the Davis house.

“I told you I didn’t need looking after.”

“Just doing my job, Skylar. You were in danger last night. It’s not clear that danger has passed. I wouldn’t be a very good law enforcement officer if I’d walked away and left you vulnerable. How’d you sleep? Where’s Stella?”

“She’s playing with Becky. And I’m headed into town on errands.”

“Right. Pink yarn, wasn’t it?”

“Red. That, and groceries. Will you move your truck so I can drive through? Or are you now a permanent fixture that I have to learn to live with like some kind of skin growth?”

Someone was not a morning person. Still, her pretty eyes made up for that touch of rancor. “Listen, Skylar, I know you don’t care for me—”

“My feelings for you have nothing to do with what’s going on right now, so don’t bring that into the situation.”

She had feelings for him? Joe raked his fingers through his hair and sat up a little straighter.

“I appreciate you investigating the shooting,” she said. “And I understand you’ll have further questions for me. I’ll cooperate as much as I can. But I already gave you my statement.”

“As much as you can?” Joe opened the car door and stepped out. Another tug at his back muscles reminded him how little time he spent sitting all night in a car keeping a vigilant watch for intruders. “What’s going on, Skylar? I feel like you know something you’re not willing to tell me. Or are you afraid? Is that it? Is someone threatening you?”

“Of course I was threatened!”

“Yes, but why? If it was a threat, then generally the person being threatened has an idea about why.”

She crossed her arms tightly over her chest, paced to the front of his truck and then swung out her arms in surrender. “It’s not what you think, Joe. I just… Did you find the place where the shooter may have been positioned?”

“I did. As predicted, I found a couple shell casings. Sent them in to forensics for analysis.”

Now she gave him her full attention. Sunlight flashed through the tree canopy, gleaming on her smooth skin. That someone had wanted to hurt her, or at the very least threaten her, tightened Joe’s resolve to find the culprit. No woman, especially Skylar, should ever be put in such a position of fear.

“I found a snare, set and waiting to spring.”

Skylar nodded subtly, taking it in. She didn’t seem surprised. And for as rampant as poaching was in the Superior Forest, it wasn’t as if most people ever encountered such a situation unless they went looking for it, as a conservation officer would.

“You ever catch poachers on your land, Skylar?”

“Catch them? No. I’d be a fool to go after an idiot with a gun and the mentality that animals are there for the taking, no matter the pain they cause the poor creatures.”

Joe nodded. They were of the same mind regarding treatment of animals. All animals. Not just the ones society had designated as pets.

“Most of the land owners around here carry a gun,” he said. “And while the majority are law-abiding and only hunt with a license, there are those idiots, as you call them, who think they can do as they please. I’ve been investigating a poaching ring close to this area for months.”

“Is that so?”