from dispatch directed Aiden and Jess to a ranch on the outskirts of town. Considering everything that had been going on lately—from the suspicious drug overdoses, to Bridget’s father’s murder, and the man on the loose in town—Sergeant Basuto had ordered them all to double up tonight.
That meant Jess had commandeered the keys to their squad car, and Aiden sat in the passenger seat, continuing his conversation with Sydney, the one that had started before Bridget left to go save her friend.
Though it was more like she’d walked out the door without a single look over her shoulder. Probably what she had done the night she left town, considering the fact she hadn’t told him she would never be back.
As they climbed out of their car, the owner made his way down the front steps of the house. The older man gripped a metal railing as he descended.
Aiden reached him first. “You called in that there might be a prowler out back?”
“My grandson installed one of those security camera things. A floodlight comes on when someone sets it off. Might’ve been one of the barn cats, but he called me and said there was a dark figure on the camera.”
Jess drew close to their huddle. “You haven’t seen it?”
“I don’t have one of them newfangled smart phone thingies. I wouldn’t know what to do with it.” He pulled a flip phone from his pocket.
“I didn’t even know they still made those.”
Aiden ignored Jess’s comment. “Mind if we look around out back?”
“Knock yourself out. Just watch out for animals.” The old man flashed a toothy grin. “The four-legged and the two-legged kind.”
Before Jess could ask him about two-legged animals, Aiden said, “Great, thanks. We’ll knock again before we leave and let you know what we find. If anything.”
He led the way between the house and the barn. When he reached the back corner of the home, he stopped and gaped. “Whoa.”
“I can see why the need for security,” Jess said. “This is a treasure trove of old junk. You know, the kind they pick through on TV shows and discover stuff worth thousands they can buy off the owner and then go on to flip for a huge profit.”
“You watch those shows?”
She shrugged as they wandered toward a rusty, old fifties model Ford. “Ellie lives in my house. My sister watches all those shows about old stuff.”
“You should ask the homeowner if you can bring her out here to take a look. I bet the history professor could find something interesting.”
“I’d rather find the guy everyone is looking for.”
Before Aiden could respond to her snide comment about being on the lookout for Clarke, she continued, “Which is an interesting segue into talking about Bridget. How do you guys know each other?”
He snorted. “Interesting segue my foot.”
She just about managed to stop herself from asking more questions than that. Aiden shook his head at her antics. He could see the restraint cost her. In a way that made him want to laugh. When she got a bee in her bonnet about something and couldn’t find out everything there was to know, it was liable to build in her until she exploded.
“Can we just look around for this prowler?” He glanced at the stuff and saw a lot of old farm equipment piled up. Beyond it, he could see one of those metal trailers, a camper that looked like a bullet, dented from years of being banged around.
That could be the perfect hideout for a person hiding from a town full of cops all looking for them.
He headed for it.
“So you’re just going to avoid the whole Bridget thing?”
He said nothing.
“When you’re clearly into her, and she’s clearly into you, and neither of you is willing to put your egos aside to say something. To the point that she walks out to save her friend and doesn’t even ask if you want to help.”
“You know I had to work.”
“Did she?”
Aiden shrugged. “Who knows? Millie probably told her. You don’t know. And besides, she has a lot more serious things to worry about than my feelings.”
“I know you did not just tell me this girl doesn’t need to have care with your emotions. You have Sydney in the mix. Are you going to take that stance when it comes to her?”
“You’re assuming that’s where it’s going when you have no idea, and neither do I. Maybe I knew Bridget a long time ago. We’re two completely different people than we were then.”
Jess just grunted.