Chapter One

“So, you come by here often?” a man, roughly her age, with a strong build and already sweating, fell into step at Ferd Kincade’s side. She moved over a few inches to give him room to run without crossing the white line onto the road.

Great, now I can’t limp. She ignored the urge to hobble along and took a slow breath. One more mile, then she’d turn back to Wayside anyway. “I’m visiting.” She wasn’t about to explain herself to any stranger.

Raindrops pelted her forehead as a dark cloud hovered overhead. Drops slithered down her temple. Wet brown curls stuck to her neck and sides of her face. All she’d wanted was time away from her brother, his overprotective friends, and her mother. Was there any peace or quiet in all of Wyoming?

“Family in the area?” he asked, his voice winded and breathy.

She looked down at her shoes and took a moment to watch their pace. His runners had the look of someone who actually used them. Not old but used to the fullest. “Yeah. All of them.” Every footfall sent shooting pain up her thigh.

He glanced her way. “You didn’t want to be bothered, did you? I run this route, around the lake, every other day at this time. Use that information any way you will.” He easily kept pace with her.

“No offense. My family tends to get in my business, and I was looking to be alone. I’m sure you’re a great person, but not the person I want to run with.” Her brother would give her his standard deep growl for that comment. He’d call her rude and tell her to grow up. Even though she had.

“Sorry. Anyone I know? I work at the police station in town.”

Her leg finally tightened so hard she couldn’t take another step and bent at the waist, giving in to her need to massage her twisted leg muscle. “Kincades,” she answered through gritted teeth. Why wouldn’t he go away?

“Oh, you’re with Wayside. Connor’s a great guy.” His dark eyes swept over her injuries, but he didn’t ask about them. He took two steps back, giving her more than ample space now.

“Yeah, he’s my half-brother. Love him, but he has a way of getting into people’s business even if they don’t want him to.”

He chuckled and tilted his head to the side. “You seem to be in a lot of pain. Want me to get my car? I parked about two miles back. I could take you home?”

She closed her eyes and forced herself upright. Her thigh muscles burned tight enough to snap. “I can make it, but thanks.” She limped a few paces, putting distance between them.

“I’m not a creeper, but I can’t leave you alone injured like that.” He walked alongside her but gave her a foot of space. “Ignore me if you want to but I don’t want to have to call Connor in an hour to make sure you made it.”

“Now I’m costing both of us a run.” Rain stung her face. How much further to home?

A few feet away, a fisherman in a yellow slicker with a giant tackle box emerged from the long grass. “Duke? That you?” He waved a red and white fishing pole, knocking his arm against his waterproof baseball cap as he came closer to them.

Ferd jumped, nearly stumbling on her wobbly leg.

“Yeah, what’s up, Bailey?”

He glanced at her for a second, looked at her with narrowed eyes, then frowned and turned back to Duke. “I just got here. Was planning to do a little fishing with my day off and this front moving in. My boat is missing. Gone. It’s always right over there on my dock. I rent that spot. No one else should be using it.”

Duke stared at Bailey for the span of a breath then frowned. “Did you forget to tie it up? We had that storm last night. I can call in a team to look for it out on the water.”

Ferd snorted, then composed herself. You don’t know boats and you certainly don’t want to go out on that water. Leave this alone.

“I’m certain. I haven’t gone out in over a week, but I check on it nightly. I had it all ready to go for today. I don’t like leaving it out at the dock without looking.” He shook his head. “You going to help me find it or what?”

Duke crossed his arms and widened his stance. Feet planted. Arms crossed. Face emotionless. A cop stood where before he’d been a civilian runner. Probably how she’d look if her badge wasn’t laying on her dresser where it had been for three weeks. This is just a break, you’ll be back.

“I’m not on duty at the moment. Why don’t you call it in? Miss Kincade here injured herself on her run and I should help her get home.”

Bailey scowled. “I don’t like the rest of the team. You’re the one who gets the job done.”

Duke held up a hand. “Then I’ll get in touch with you tomorrow, bright and early. If you see anyone driving your boat, call it in please. They may be able to help you get it back.” He turned and waited for her to continue down the road.

A few steps of silence put distance between them and Bailey, then he spoke again. “What did you do to your leg?”

She could lie and tell him it was from running, that she hadn’t had enough water before heading out today. It was her secret to tell, after all. “Long story,” she said instead.

“We’ve got a few minutes, but I get it. I hope you don’t mind that I used you back there. Bailey would’ve talked for a half hour. Not sure if you caught a whiff but today he smelled like at least a six pack.”

At least it had taken her a few weeks to meet the town drunk. “I hadn’t had the privilege of meeting him yet. I spend most of my time out here.” Should she mention that? Her instinct had been to trust. Immediately. Guess showing a badge to a cop would do that.

“That was mainly a warning. If you run around this area, you’ll see him.”

“That tracks. I’ve been doing most of my physical therapy at home. This is the first day I ventured out this far.” Why had she told him that much?

He matched her slow pace. “If you’re already doing PT, it must have been a pretty serious injury.”

“Yeah.” Most people considered getting shot serious.

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