Chapter Eight

“Reasons, Grace,” Riley said slowly as he lowered himself on to the swing beside her. “You ought to have damn good ones. And also… Who knows David’s mine?”

Grace twisted her hands together in her lap. “Only Anna.”

He glanced at her. “Everyone else in the town bought the one night stand story?”

“Yes. No one else except Anna knows we slept together.”

He sat perfectly still, absorbing this information. God, why had I said I wasn’t father or husband material?

Because back then, I hadn’t been. In any way.

Who needed a man in their lives who could die at any moment? Well, all right, that might have been over-dramatisng things a littlee, but Riley had been shot at a lot. Being shot at never had good consequences.

“You wouldn’t have needed, or appreciated, a guy around who could have been taken from you at any time,” he said, voicing his thoughts.

She made a small noise in her throat. Then; “That’s why I didn’t tell you. I thought… You loved being in the FBI.”

“Yeah. I did.”

“If you’d known about David, you might’ve quit, or taken a desk job instead of continuing your post as a Special Agent.”

“Yes. And for good reason! If I’d known…” He took a steadying breath. “Grace, I need time to think about this.” He stood.

She stayed on the swing and looked at him. Her expression was calm, but her eyes were wet. “Okay.”

“Can I…” He ran a hand through his hair, feeling as if he’d been taken from the world he knew and set down somewhere new and strange and scary. “Can I come back and see David?”

She nodded. A muscle in her cheek worked, and then she said, “How about over the weekend?”

“Sure.” Riley opened his mouth, but closed it, and walked away, before he said something he thought he might end up regretting.

He trudged to his car, feeling weighed down with the woes of the world.

I have a son.

A son he already wanted to see again. What was his middle name? Which words did he know? What could he draw? Did he know the names of colours and animals yet?

Questions spun inside and around his head as he slammed the car door behind him and drove home.

Peanut and Butter greeted him enthusiastically when he got into the kitchen. He played with them a little, then fed them. Somewhere between making himself a dinner of baked cod with salad, and popping the top off a beer, his mind switched off from the day and he was able to relax and watch some baseball on TV.

But when he got into bed, his mind circled around recent events again.

So, as far as Three Oaks knew, David was the product of a one-night stand. This was true. But it hadn’t been, as they all thought, with a total stranger.

He wondered if Grace would want to tell people. Did he want her to tell people?

He sighed.

He was happy that he’d come to Three Oaks, happy to discover that he had a son. But it looked as if coming here was going to deliver more complications than he had anticipated or hoped for.

v-v-v-v-v-v

The next morning dawned hot, bright and clear. It was Friday. Riley got to work to find a vacation form, neatly filled out by Sam.

The corner of his mouth turned up. Damn if the Deputy wasn’t right. What was Logan Dollar doing, vacationing in Three Oaks when there were near-naked women and cheap beer to be had?

To each his own, I guess.

He checked the rota for the following week. He and Dale would be able to cover it between them, so he signed off the form and put a copy on Sam’s desk.

He was going through recent years of Sheriff logs when there was a knock on his office door.

“Come in,” he called.

It was Grace.

Funny, Riley thought. First you avoid me like the plague, and then I can’t go a day without seeing you.

The urge to touch all that silky hair still made his fingers itch. He met her gaze.

She was beautiful. She wore flared, light blue jeans and her feet were shod in sandals with a low wedge heel. The yellow vest she wore was a few shades darker than her hair. “Morning,” he greeted her.

“Morning. Look,” she began. “Ah… Can I sit down?”

He gestured to the chair on the other side of his desk and nodded. “Coffee?”

She shook her head. “I have to be at work in a few minutes.” She glanced at the book before him, and unable to quell her curiosity, asked, “What’s that?”

“Sheriff log from a few years back. Seven years, actually. Before I even knew about Three Oaks.”

Grace chewed on her lip for a moment. “I f you’re reading that, you’re going to find out that my Mom is missing.”

Riley’s gaze shot to hers, narrowed in. Her mother.

He’d met her father, had contacted him when Grace had been taken hostage that day three years back. But she’d never mentioned a mother. Riley had wondered what had happened there.

“When?” he asked.

Grace pressed her fingers to her closed eyes for a moment, then looked at him. “Look, I have to be at work in a few minutes. I didn’t come here to dissect my past with you. I came to ask what time you wanted to see David on Sunday.”

Riley marked his place in the log and closed it. “What’s best for you?”

“Would you…. Would you like to come for lunch?”

Riley accepted the shaky olive branch for what it was. “That’d be great.”

Grace stood. “I should get to work.” She started to turn, then said, “I am sorry I never tracked you down. I’m sure…. I mean, there were probably ways.”

“Yeah. There are always ways.” He suddenly felt very tired.

She took a few steps towards the door, then looked over her shoulder. “I missed you, Riley,” she said simply, and then the door clicked quietly closed, and she was gone.

Riley sat back in his chair and let his brain digest what had just happened.

Then he opened the Sheriff’s log.

Sure enough, Grace’s mother, Chloe Cutter, had been reported missing, by Jimmy Cutter, Grace’s father.

The case hadn’t been closed. After a few weeks, the FBI, from the Houston field office, had been called in to help. Still nothing.

He wondered how Grace, and Grace’s father, felt about that.

She’d recovered, though, because the Grace he’d met three years ago had been sunny, happy, cheerful. But then being taken hostage… Perhaps that had been too much, on top of losing her mother.

Was Chloe Cutter out there, somewhere, still alive?

He was wondering where the rest of the files on the Cutter case were kept when there was another knock on the door.

Sam popped his head in. “Morning, Sheriff. Thanks for approving my leave.”

“No problem. Looking forward to seeing your brother?”

“I am, actually.” Sam grinned. “Although he can bit a bit of an ass sometimes.”

Riley chuckled. “I’m pretty sure that the only purpose siblings really serve is to annoy the hell outta each other.”

“You’re not wrong. Want some coffee? I just made a fresh pot.”

Thinking about the taste of the stuff – even worse than FBI coffee – made Riley feel slightly ill. “No. Thanks.”

“Okay.” And he shut the door.

Riley continued to look through the rest of the log, making notes and placing markers by cases he felt had been important within the town. Time flew and before he knew it, Sam and Dale had excused themselves for lunch, and he was alone.

The next person to visit him was Mayor Gibson.

Riley smiled as she sat in his office. “At this rate, I’m likely to see everyone in town,” he joked.

“Busy day, huh?”

“Something like that. What can I do for you?”

“You coming to movie night a week tomorrow?” she asked, and she glanced at the Sheriff log as Grace had done. But she didn’t ask what it was, most likely because she knew.

“Sure.” Riley folded his arms across his chest. “I’m sure you didn’t come here just to ask me that – unless you’re super dedicated and have started making house and office calls now.”

“To be honest, I came to see how you were setting in.” She pushed back the heavy fall of her red hair. “How’re the townsfolk treating you?”

“Well enough at the moment.” He shrugged. “Not sure how happy Paul Baker and Mike James are with me after I sorted out their vehicular the other day.”

“They hurt?” Angela asked with concern.

“Nope. Bruised pride I expect. Both had different versions of the incident. Turned out Mike was trying to avoid hitting a cat. They both had insurance, so no harm done.”

Angela smiled. “That’s the only kind of incident I ever want in this town.” She shifted, crossed her legs. “I’ll bet, being in the FBI, you see, and deal with, far worse on a daily basis.”

“You’re not wrong.” He smiled tightly. “But, if it’s all the same to you, it’s all stuff I’d rather not talk about.”

“Fine with me – the past is called that for a reason.”

She made to leave, but Riley halted her. “Do you have a minute?”

She nodded and sat again. “What is it?”

“What do you know about Chloe Cutter?” Riley opened the book and took out the marker he’d placed there.

Angela drummed her fingers on her thigh. “Grace’s mother, right. She went missing before… Before my time as Mayor of the town. Why do you ask?”

Riley tapped the book with his index finger. “I’ve been reading about it. Grace was in earlier, and she mentioned it when she saw the log. What exactly happened? What was the relationship like between Chloe and her husband Jimmy?”

Angela moved her shoulders. “To be honest, I couldn’t say I’m the best authority on that. Small towns, Riley, big secrets.”

“You’re the second person to tell me that.”

Her lips twisted. “I can’t say I’m surprised.” She folded her hands. “It was decided that Chloe had taken off.”

Riley stared at the log for a moment. “Did that seem like her?”

“No, but…” She sighed. “No body, and the investigation could really only spare so many men for so long.”

“Did you have many suspects? Jimmy would’ve been one, obviously.”

“He was. We all felt weird about that.” Angela sighed, and shifted uncomfortably. “Look, Riley, the case is seven years cold. If you want more detail, I’m sure the FBI have records in their Houston office. The men came from there when we needed help to try and find Chloe. I’m sorry, I can’t tell you more. I have to get back.”

“Sure,” Riley agreed as she left.

Small towns, big secrets.

He had a feeling he’d barely scratched the surface of all the secrets in Three Oaks.