with a command to get off Elise and at least give her some relief from the dog’s weight. Two sheriff’s cars pulled up on the blacktop, and the deputies climbed out, drawing their weapons.
“Anyone hurt?”
Jonah shook his head. Satisfied the danger was no longer imminent, he helped Elise up. Dirt was smeared down the front of the clothes he’d left out for her. The sight of her in his favorite T-shirt struck a pang in him that he’d been unprepared for.
The sheriff’s car pulled up behind the other cars. Two more cars, local police from town, came into view also. This was turning out to be a regular circus.
When the deputies strode over, he said, “These officers will take you inside.” He glanced at them. “Ask your questions there.”
They strode away, and Sam’s head shifted. Nathan was peeking out of the barn, so Jonah waved him toward Elise and the officers. When they were level with the barn, he emerged to walk with them inside.
The reality that Elise had been fired upon hit Jonah then, the feeling so profound he rubbed the flat of his hand across his chest. She’d only been back in his life since yesterday, and he could have lost her.
He strode to his house, Sam in tow.
Elise was just about to settle herself on the couch, and the detectives hadn’t asked her anything yet. One was bringing her a cup of water.
Jonah stopped just inside the living room. “Why did you walk to the mailbox?”
Elise turned to him then, eyes wide. He should regret being sharp with her, but she should have had more care with her safety. “I was getting the paper. There’s an article about—”
“You didn’t know that. You walked out in the open and put yourself in serious danger. Why didn’t you stay inside, Elise?”
Nathan shifted like he was readying himself to protect his mom. The cops just held their ground. They knew Jonah well enough to know he didn’t lose his temper easily—or for no reason. In the close-knit community of local law enforcement, news about Elise’s arrival was going to get around fast.
Elise stuck her hands on her hips. “I didn’t know I was going to get shot at! How could I have?”
“You knew you were in danger.”
“Yeah, but in your driveway?” She blew out a breath and put her arm around her waist, hugging herself. Her face twisted as angry tears filled her eyes. “I didn’t know I would get shot at.”
Jonah blew out a breath, trying not to let her emotions prick his conscience. “I have to go talk to the Sheriff.”
* * *
Elise stared out Jonah’s living room window, trying to purge the feeling of having been thoroughly dismissed. She knew why he’d yelled. He’d always gotten loud when he was scared, always. How loud he got was directly related to how scared he was. Which meant Jonah had been really, really worried about her getting hurt. A fact that comforted her, even as she was angry he’d basically blamed her for almost getting hurt.
“Ms. Tanner?”
She turned to the cop, Detective William Manners, but she didn’t sit when he motioned her to. The man was older, probably in his sixties, and had gray stubble on his jaw. “You want to tell me why you think you’re being targeted all of a sudden?”
She’d filled him in on the zoo, and her brother. It wouldn’t have looked good if the sheriff’s department found out later she was Fix Tanner’s sister—even if they’d had no contact. But now, looking at the sheriff’s deputy and the disapproving look on his face, all the decades-old shame over the trailer where she’d lived, the state her mom lived in and her brother’s antics welled up in her.
Jonah and Martin had repeatedly told her it didn’t matter what she’d grown up with, that it didn’t stain her. But a lifetime of people looking down on where she’d come from had affected her. She wasn’t naive enough to think otherwise.
“No, I don’t know why I’m being targeted. The only thing I can think of is that whoever stole the files thinks I can identify him, and so he tried to kill me today.”
Could it have something to do with the newspaper article? How did the reporter know all that about the zookeeper? Zane Ford couldn’t have been caught up in exotic animal trading, could he? She found it hard to believe he would do that to animals he’d dedicated his life to taking care of.
If the man wasn’t dead, she’d have been able to ask him.
“We’d like you to come in to the station today and look at mug shots, to see if you can identify the man who bombed the office.”
Elise nodded. “The police asked me the same thing, I’ll make sure to do that. Do you think it was the same man in the office who set the bomb?” She wasn’t convinced, but what did she know? She wasn’t a cop.
The cop said, “We’re looking for conclusive evidence that will prove one way or another.”
The cops excused themselves, and Elise turned again to the window. Nathan stood talking with the US marshals who had tried to arrest him last night. Jonah looked like he was coordinating a search-and-rescue operation that was going to encompass the entire area while she was closeted in the house. All because she wanted fresh air and to read the newspaper.
Jonah might still care about her, but only to make sure his friend, the girl he considered his little sister, was okay. That was all. She didn’t blame him for wanting to get to know Nathan, and to keep her safe for her son’s sake. But the ache in her chest was because he didn’t seem to want to be around her. Her younger self had suffered a debilitating crush on Jonah. He’d been so strong in her eyes, the perfect answer to her childhood dream of being rescued from her life. Too bad that dream was over now.
After Jonah had left for the marines, never even responding to her letters or the packages she sent, Elise had allowed that dream to die. Despite his assertions of how much he cared for her, Jonah had obviously been content to let their friendship languish.
In the end, it had been Martin who offered her everything she’d ever wanted. But now he was gone, too. All she had left was Nathan.
Elise needed to remember that.
* * *
Deputy Marshal Hailey Shelder motioned to the house using Jonah’s newspaper. “The deputies left. They want your girl to look at mug shots before lunch.”
“Thanks.” The mug-shot binder was more like multiple thick folders, so Jonah figured that would take the rest of the day. He’d have to find cover to watch Nathan and Elise before and after then. He couldn’t blow off a whole day of work, even if it was related to a case. Fix Tanner was one of many open cases he had right now, and the stuff going on with Elise wasn’t conclusively related.
“What do you make of the article?”
Shelder’s mouth moved side to side while she thought. She never did go completely still, not even when most people would freeze. “I think the reporter either got the information himself or got it from whoever was in the office.”
“Find a picture of the reporter—”
“And show it to Elise.” Shelder stepped away, pulling out her phone. “Good idea.”
Jonah glanced at the house as Shelder strode down the drive. He ignored the fact that his house looked weathered, badly in need of fixing up, and saw Elise at the window. Looking at him.
She was like a magnet, drawing him to her. Elise had always been like that, and Jonah had given up fighting the pull of her a long time ago and left town instead. She’d been far too young to consider a relationship with, and when he returned the next time she’d been married to Martin. But just because her presence had the same effect on him even all these years later didn’t mean he had to do something about it. She was his weakness. He’d known that the minute he found out she’d