was another random victim of our killer.”
She heard the frustration in his voice, could imagine the tense lines that radiated down the sides of his handsome face, across his broad forehead.
Immediately, her desire was to erase those stress lines, even though she couldn’t see them in person. “So, we investigate Casey’s death as a separate murder and continue to push forward on the bigger investigation.”
“Of course, you’re right,” he agreed. “You know what the morning headline was on our little local throw paper? Dream Catcher Killer Strikes Again, and it details Casey’s murder.” This time his voice was filled with disgust.
“But that could work in your favor in solving Casey’s murder. Whoever killed her will feel safe.”
“You’re right again,” he agreed, his voice a bit more relaxed than it had been moments before. “You should be in bed. We’ve probably got another long day ahead of us tomorrow.”
“I could say the same for you,” she replied and tried to force the vision of the two of them in bed together out of her head.
“Yeah, I’m heading there right now.”
“Then I’ll see you in the morning around nine,” she replied. She hung up but remained seated at the table with her cell phone still in her hand, as if she was reluctant to break the momentary contact she’d had with him.
With a sigh, she set the cell phone on the table, feeling like a ridiculous teenager who was about to spy on her boyfriend’s house in the hopes of catching just a glimpse of him.
What on earth was going on with her when it came to Cole Caldwell? She’d never before felt the ball of tension that burned inside her stomach when talking to the man. She’d never experienced a teenage crush, and that’s what she felt she had going on with the handsome sheriff. But she wasn’t a teenager. She was thirty years old, and her only relationship with Cole Caldwell should be as a helpmate to get a killer off the streets.
She went to bed, but it took her a long time to fall asleep as she played and replayed the kiss she’d shared with Cole, as she remembered that moment in his guest bedroom when he’d awakened her from her nightmare and sexual tension had crackled in the air between them.
It was nothing more than a crush, and crushes passed. She fell asleep with that comforting thought in mind. She awakened the next morning just after dawn, feeling well rested and ready to take on a new day.
She made coffee, sucked down her first cup of the day and then decided to make pancakes for breakfast for her and Max. She got out the griddle, made the batter and then drank a second cup of coffee as she watched the sunrise.
As she stood at the window, she once again found her thoughts going back to the murders. Cole had instructed one of his deputies to run a search to see if dream catchers had been noted at any other murders in the general area over the past year. They’d also researched everything they could find about dream catchers in Indian culture, but had come up with no reason that the dream catchers might have been left at the murder scenes.
Whatever meaning the dream catchers had to the killer remained a mystery, but somehow, Amberly felt if they could solve that puzzle, it would go a long way in finding the killer. She wasn’t sure she believed that the killer hung them in order to keep the dead from having nightmares. There had to be another reason.
At quarter to seven, she went into Max’s bedroom to wake him. He was one of those kids who awoke instantly and always with a smile on his face. There was never any prodding or poking to get him up; he bounded out of bed as if in anticipation of a great adventure.
“Pancakes will be ready by the time you’re dressed,” she said.
“Chocolate chip?” he asked eagerly.
She smiled. “I think we can arrange a sprinkling of chips on each pancake,” she agreed.
“Awesome,” Max exclaimed as he headed to the hall bathroom.
By seven-fifteen, they were seated at the table sharing breakfast, and Max told her everything that was going to happen at school that day and his hopes to bring home at least half a dozen ribbons for activities during field day.
“If you wind up going to your dad’s after school today, I’ll call and you can give me the final medal total.”
“Expect to