Across the Vanishing Sky (Starlight Grove, #1)(61)

I stared at Dex for a long moment. “You’re worried you’ll turn out like your father.”

It wasn’t a question, but Dex answered it anyway. “His DNA runs through me. I can’t help wondering if there’s that urge in me. But I deal. I face it. I fucking despise guns, but I learned how to use every type I could get my hands on. More, I became a damn good shot. Got even better when I had access to some of the FBI’s training facilities.”

My tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth as I struggled to swallow. “You’re not going to turn.”

Dex stared back at me, the green in those hazel eyes darkening to nearly black behind his glasses. “You don’t know that. I’ve learned a lot working beside profilers. Sometimes, living with that sort of darkness taints you.”

“And sometimes it makes you seek the light. Makes you fuel it. Dex, you light the dark places.”

He didn’t move his gaze from my face for a long moment. “You really believe that.”

“I know that.” I might not have known Dex long, but I saw how he moved through the world. The way he helped when he had everything to lose and nothing to gain.

“We still haven’t talked about Waylon.”

Confusion bloomed at the abrupt turn in the conversation. But then I saw it for what it was—a deep need to steer away from the heaviness. “Tell me about him.”

“Great-uncle on my dad’s side. The only family who stepped forward to take us in. Has a ranch where he raises alpacas, rare sheep, goats, and even a few yaks.”

My mouth curved. “Owen is going to flip when he gets to see that.”

Dex chuckled, and the sound came out a little rusty, like he hadn’t made it in a long time. In reality, he was simply shaking off the heaviness of what he’d shared. “He’s a character. Amazing cook. Incredible and eccentric clockmaker. And a Bigfoot enthusiast.”

Owen’s head popped up in the grass, sending Yeti scrambling up. “Did you say Bigfoot?”

Dex grinned, his gaze connecting with Owen’s. “I did. You like Bigfoot stories?”

Owen sent him a massive gap-toothed smile. “Tell him, Mom.”

Dex’s gaze moved to me, a hint of confusion in it.

I pressed my lips together to hide my grin. “In this house, we are Bigfoot believers. Why do you think our dog is named Yeti?”

Dex groaned, letting his head fall back. “Never mind. You can’t come to dinner. You and Waylon will be way too much.”

“Hey,” I clipped. “The truth is out there. It’s not my fault you don’t want to believe.”





24





DEX





I lifted the can of Lightning Energy to my mouth and took a swig of the lukewarm liquid. My grimace was almost instantaneous. An ice-cold Lightning? Perfect deliciousness. A lukewarm Lightning? Disgusting.

I downed it anyway. I needed the energy, the pure caffeine. Because my vision was starting to go a little hazy.

My computer monitors taunted me as I leaned back in my chair and took off my glasses, setting them on the desk in front of me. I rubbed my eyes and hoped like hell the action would soothe the headache I had thrumming.

Cracking my neck, I slid my glasses back on. My gaze instantly flicked to the windows and Cabin Two.

Empty.

Just like it had been all day. Because Brae was at work and Owen was at camp. Nothing out of the ordinary had occurred over the last four days. And we’d settled into a routine of sorts.

I’d find some excuse to wander over. Sometimes, with food. Other times, with a new video game for Owen. Occasionally, to talk over the case with Brae.

The case that was currently making me want to pull my goddamned hair out. Because none of it made any sense. It was like Nova had been snatched off the trail by aliens. Waylon and Mav would have a field day with that idea.

Thankfully, someone in the sheriff’s department had requested the camera footage from the state. I wasn’t sure anyone had actually been through it, but the request had gotten a four-hour window of footage saved to a backup server with security that was a joke.

I’d tracked down all the vehicles I’d seen on the road-condition cameras, and every single driver had a reason to be there—and none of them were to kidnap someone off a trail.

I scowled at the screen as if it were personally responsible for dead end after dead end. An email notification dinged, and I switched over to that tab. A new message sat in my inbox from a familiar name.

Travis Moore.





The subject line simply said: Background.

I clicked on the email, quickly scanned the text, and noticed the attachment.

You did not get this from me. But I hope to hell it helps. Miller’s still old-school and doesn’t put everything in our digital files.





A buzz lit beneath my skin, the start of the high that came from digging up new information. Usually, it hit when I was breaking into a system like I’d done with the sheriff’s department. But that hadn’t even been a challenge. Their system was pathetic.

This was different. A gift. And it was a hell of a risk for Travis to take. If he got caught, he’d lose his job for sure.

The moment my security software scanned the attachment, I hit download. A second later, images that Trav had clearly taken on his phone filled my screen. It was the paper file on Nova’s case.