“Yes.” Ryan didn’t let herself sound apologetic or annoyed. A poker face was the best strategy a Detective had.
Dane nodded to her. “Excuse us,” Ryan said to Steven, standing smoothly and taking both herself and her notebook out of the room. Steven couldn’t see them or hear them when the door was closed. It was safe.
“You okay?” Dane looked concerned.
Ryan exhaled. “Liv’s place was broken into Friday night. I asked Officer Wiggins if he could drop by, just to check on her.” She shrugged. “I’m focused on this case, promise.”
“How about you go talk to Ross and then go home?” Dane’s voice was soft.
“But there’s so much to do,” Ryan argued. “Talking to his neighbors, seeing if we can find anything on the alibi —”
“I’m the primary Detective on this now,” Dane said patiently.
Ryan was stung at the rebuke. The Chief. She wanted to swear, but she didn’t let herself. She wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction. “Thanks.” She nodded to Dane, then headed out. She knew she was being unfair, knew it wasn’t really her fault, but the emotional part of her didn’t care.
Before she left, she grabbed her missing persons case files. Even if the Chief didn’t want her working on them, she was going to do it anyway. Someone had to care about the two teenagers; one had been murdered and the other was still missing. Even if they weren’t connected to the richest family in the town, their lives had and did mean something to someone.
Her first stop was the bar. It was late enough in the afternoon that she guessed Ross would be there, and if he wasn’t, she could drop her card off and have him give her a call. It took more than she would have liked to rein in her petty streak. It was a homicide case, and she was an adult. She shouldn’t have been so put out about it.
Ross wasn’t there, but Veronica was. She was standing behind the bar and surveying the room, as if she was waiting for something — or someone. It was a bit weird, but Ryan wasn’t exactly one to judge.
“Is Ross here?” Ryan asked.
Veronica looked at her, as if she hadn’t noticed she was there. Strange, since Ryan had been standing there for quite some time, but whatever. Ryan had had weirder encounters. “No, he doesn’t work on Mondays.”
“Can you give him my card?” She passed it across to the woman. “I need to talk to him about whether or not a couple of customers were at the bar last night.”
Veronica picked up the card and studied it, then looked at Ryan over it. “I’ll pass on the message.”
Ryan wasn’t exactly certain why she was getting goosebumps. She thanked Veronica, then left. Surely it was just the empty bar, and the bar felt more like an actual bar with the music going and surrounded by people.
Or maybe it was Veronica. Either way, Ryan could have done without it. She texted Dane, letting him know what had happened. Her next stop was Liv’s house. If anyone needed her right now, it was Liv.
If only Liv would acknowledge that.
22
Monday 24th October; 12 noon
When Ryan pulled into the dirt street, Liv was out in front of the house, boarding up the broken windows.
One look at her face kept Ryan from saying anything. Liv didn’t look broken, or angry, but there was a sort of numbness there that Ryan knew she might only make worse. Instead she went over, holding up the wood so Liv could nail it in without having to do both roles at once.
Mocha came out of the house, sniffed Ryan’s legs and then trotted back in, apparently unbothered by the new addition. That was a good sign, right?
“Here’s some water, Oli — Oh!” Gram tottered out of the front door, apparently having caught sight of Ryan. “I’ll be right back.”
“You don’t have to—”
Gram was already back inside, giving no indication she’d heard.
“She’s stubborn,” Liv said with a smile on her face.
Ryan exhaled in relief. Liv had broken the spell, and she was even smiling. “Hey.” This time Ryan was the one who smiled.
Liv smiled back at her, but her eyes were distracted and she rubbed the back of her neck with a grimace on her face. “River and Abby are watching the coffee shop today so I can take care of all of this.”
“Can I help you with your neck?” Ryan’s grandmother had been a massage therapist, and Ryan had learned more than a few tricks that she had used to help Liv when they were in high school. Liv carried all of her tension in her neck, which led to headaches and other aches that could keep her busy for weeks.
Liv nodded once, then turned back to her Gram as she brought the drinks out. Water with a lemon slice for both of them, in clear yet mismatched glasses. Ryan smiled.
“I’ll be inside if you need me, dears.” Gram headed back through the door.
“I already did the other window,” Liv said, nodding towards it. “I just had to finish this one.”
Ryan nodded, taking a sip of the clear and refreshing water.
“Follow me.” Liv turned and started walking around the house. It was a decent feat, given its size, but Ryan followed nonetheless.
Around the backside was a decent-sized wooden porch, with a table and umbrella set up in the middle of it. “We can actually sit here,” Liv said as an explanation.
Ryan was grateful for that, even though she didn’t want to admit it. Her day had been long, and even with seeing Liv, she knew it was going to get longer. Once Liv was taken care of, her mind would be turning the cases over in a thousand directions, trying to figure out how they fit together.
“Would you mind?” Liv pointed to her neck, a flush
