else he knew the identity of the killer.
She heard another buzzing sound. Not Dallas’s phone but rather the security system. Joelle hurriedly put on her shoes, the blasted heels that she intended to burn first chance she got, and raced after Dallas. By the time she made it to the front door, he had disarmed the security system and was letting Harlan inside.
Harlan shucked off his raincoat and Stetson, and his gaze lingered a moment on his brother before it came to her. Though he didn’t smile, she thought he might be pleased to see her. It was always hard to tell with Harlan. He had a quiet intensity about him that could be a little unnerving.
“You’re back?” Harlan asked her. Joelle followed his gaze down to her neck and wondered if there was a love bite there. Probably. Dallas knew it was her hot spot and the kisses had gotten pretty intense when they’d had sex. So, the “you’re back” comment took on a whole new meaning, and Harlan likely wanted to know if she and Dallas were back together.
They weren’t.
But Joelle didn’t have time to get into that now.
“If you can, get me any updates on Owen and the evidence the CSIs pulled out of Rocky Creek,” Dallas instructed Harlan. “And rearm the security system when we leave.” He opened the door and did a lawman’s surveillance of the front of the house.
“You expecting trouble?” Harlan asked him.
“I think it’s already here.”
That sent Harlan’s gaze back to her again. Specifically, back to her neck. Joelle didn’t address it but instead followed Dallas to his truck, which was parked at the edge of the porch steps. Good thing, too, because it was still raining. No lightning or thunder, thank God, but it was a slow, steady downpour.
Dallas didn’t waste a moment getting her inside before he drove away, still keeping watch of the area. She looked, too, but when they were away from the house, she pulled down the visor and checked herself in the vanity mirror.
And there it was.
Definitely a love bite. Maybe two.
“Sorry,” Dallas said, obviously noticing them, too.
She was about to say there was no need for an apology, that she’d gotten a lot of pleasure from those bites, and everything else he’d done to her in bed, but she didn’t have time to answer.
“We’ll talk later,” he said. And he didn’t sound very happy about that. Didn’t look happy, either.
Of course he wasn’t.
He was still trying to come to terms with the child they’d lost. With the secret she’d kept. One night of great sex wasn’t going to undo all of that, but Joelle hoped it was a start.
However, she rethought that.
Maybe a start wasn’t even possible. The sex had always been good between them. Still was. But sex alone wasn’t going to heal their wounds.
That sent a jolt of pain through her heart. Mercy. Hadn’t she learned to shield her heart any better than this?
Apparently not.
Because here she was falling hard all over again for Dallas.
His phone buzzed, and while the truck slogged down the gravel and dirt road, Dallas took the call on speaker.
“It’s me, Clayton,” he said. “The CSIs got that safe open.”
Joelle certainly hadn’t forgotten about the floor safe that the CSIs had found, but with everything else going on, she’d put it on the mental back burner.
“There was some cash in it,” Clayton explained. “About five grand and a passport.”
Joelle thought about that for a moment. “You think Webb was planning on leaving the country or something?”
“Maybe. There were also some account books that’ll probably prove he was skimming money from the state.”
Definitely not a surprise, but maybe the contents of the safe was just his getaway kit. Something he could grab in a hurry if he came under scrutiny.
Which was about to happen.
Because Kirby had been on the verge of launching a full-scale investigation. Of course, if they were to believe Sarah, Webb hadn’t been concerned about that investigation because he’d already gotten approval to keep Rocky Creek open.
“One more thing,” Clayton said. “Owen still hasn’t produced the so-called real knife that he claims he received.”
And with Owen hurt, maybe dead, it might take the marshals a while to find the knife or anything else Owen had hidden away. Not good. Because maybe if all the pieces of this case came to light, it would be better than keeping things hidden away.
While Joelle mulled that over, she felt a jolt of a different kind. A real one. Dallas must