“We need you to head over to Yellowstone tonight, see what you can find out,” George Anderson said. “Duke wouldn’t sleep if it were one of us missing, and we’ll do the same for him.”
I turned at that announcement and told Logan I was going with him then ran from the room and headed to find Josh before he could argue. George was right, Duke would have done anything for one of Ennis’ citizens. He’d also delayed retiring because of my brothers and me. We owed it to him to help bring him home.
“Can you stay the night at a friend’s house?” I asked my brother when I found him.
Josh, being fifteen and a perv, wiggled his eyebrows. “Need the cabin to yourself?”
I reached out and popped him behind the ear. “Quit being a perv. Logan’s heading to Yellowstone to find Duke, and I want to go with him.”
“Duke’s in Wyoming?”
“They found his truck there.”
“Why is Logan going?”
“He’s the new police chief until we find Duke.”
His eyes bugged out. “Jesus, Skye, you hit the motherload with this guy. We’ve got unlimited ‘get out of jail free’ cards now.”
I popped him behind the ear again. “Focus, Josh.”
“Right. Right. Sorry. Um, yeah, I can hang with Cody.”
Logan’s hand landed on my shoulder. “Can you take Max with you? Keep an eye on him for me?”
Josh grew very still, and his eyes turned glassy with an odd sort of wonder. You’d have thought Logan asked him to keep watch over the varsity cheer squad the way he reacted. “You bet. Absolutely. I won’t let anything happen to him.”
Logan reached out his hand for Josh to shake, and he stood taller instantly. “I know you won’t.”
The glassy wonder morphed into pride, and I wondered, not for the first time, if Logan truly was Superman. In less than two days, Josh had changed from broody and secretive to open and hopeful.
Once we were outside heading to his truck, I tugged on Logan’s hand. When he turned to look back at me, I reached up and placed my hand over his heart before rising up to kiss him. He didn’t stop me, let me take control. When I’d finished showing my gratitude for Josh’s attitude adjustment, I simply said, “Thank you.”
“For what?” he whispered against my lips.
“For Josh. For looking for Duke. For being you.”
_______________
Driving in the snow was slow going. A ninety-minute trip took twice as long if you wanted to reach your destination in one piece, so that left a lot of time for questions and answers. We’d stopped on the way out of town for gas and provisions, so with a hot chocolate resting securely in my hands, and a beef stick hanging precariously from my mouth, I turned my back to the passenger door and leaned against it so I could watch Logan as he drove.
I was sick with worry for my friend. A million scenarios ran through my brain about what could have happened to Duke, each of them worse than the next. I knew I needed a distraction before anxiety wormed it’s way back through my system or the next few hours would be unbearable.
“Where were you born?” Twenty questions would help take both our minds off of what we might find when we reached Yellowstone.
Logan glanced at me quickly then back at the road. “Nashville.”
I’d noted a hint of the South in his accent, but not like I would have expected for Tennessee. “You don’t speak with much of a twang.”
He chuckled and shook his head. “I grew up in foster care after my mother overdosed. The last home I was in was close to five years. My house parents were from England, so I suppose it counteracted the twang.”
“Your mother overdosed?” I reached over and squeezed his arm for comfort. “I’m so sorry, Logan. Do you remember her at all?”
Logan took his hand off the wheel for a brief moment and squeezed my hand back in appreciation. “No. I was four when she died.”
He didn’t seem upset by the questions, but I moved on to keep the conversation from being too dark. “Um. How about favorite movie.”
He looked at me and grinned. “Playing twenty questions, are we?”
I’d kicked off my boots to get comfortable, so I uncurled one of my legs and poked his side with my foot. “I want to know you inside and out.”
Before I could move my foot back, Logan grabbed it and pulled it across his lap, rubbing