little bit, and I couldn’t tell if it was her ankle or knee that was bothering her. I watched her carefully, half-expecting her to suddenly fall onto her face and pass out.
But then we rounded a corner and the trail flattened out. We passed through a copse of evergreen trees into the South Kaibab parking lot.
It was over. Christie had done it.
“You did it! You hiked to the river and back!” Riley said excitedly.
“That was the hardest thing you’ll ever have to do,” I said. “Barring childbirth.”
She barely heard our compliments, if at all. She was focused on her phone. Apparently she had another voicemail.
“This way,” Riley said, ushering her to the road. “The visitor’s center is three miles away. We have to take this shuttle.”
We got on the shuttle and flashed our badges to Rick, the driver. “You come from the river?” he asked.
“Sure did. It was her first time,” I said, gesturing at Christie.
Rick twisted in his seat to look at her. “First time from river to rim! And it’s not even ten in the morning! How do you feel, young lady?”
She didn’t notice his question. “Bonny, I just got your messages. It must be some mistake. We’ve been depositing the cash into the account almost every day. I know. Then how do you…”
She gasped.
“It has to be Pierce. Bonny, let me call you back.”
She hung up and glanced at me. “It’s my ex. It has to be. He’s been keeping control of my accounts all this time. He’s been stealing from me!”
“Not from you,” I said. “From the dog shelter. Which is much, much worse.”
Riley’s face went dark. “That son of a…”
Christie dialed his number and put the phone to her ear. “I doubt he’ll answer. He’s been ducking most of my calls since we broke up. I’m going to drive to the courthouse where he works and drag his ass in front of all the judges…” She cut off. “Pierce! What did you do with my money?”
We couldn’t hear his side of the conversation, but Christie scoffed.
“Don’t try to turn this around on my volunteers. They’ve been depositing some of the funds, but I trust them completely. Logan would never steal.”
Riley practically snarled. “We’ve deposited every dollar. Every. Single. Dollar!”
I nodded. We had the receipts to back it up. We hadn’t done anything wrong. Christie had to know that.
But then her eyes widened. “What do you mean? He what? That’s not true…” She looked at Riley.
And in a flash of realization, I knew what Pierce had just told her.
“You have court-mandated hours too?” she asked Riley. “Like Logan?”
“Christie, I can explain…”
“You’ve been lying to me this whole time?”
34
Christie
I should have been basking in my accomplishment—hiking to the Colorado River and back. Instead I was calling my stupid ex.
“I doubt he’ll answer,” I said when we got on the shuttle. I was talking to myself more than to Harper and Riley. “He’s been ducking most of my calls since we broke up. I’m going to drive to the courthouse where he works and drag his ass in front of all the judges…”
Suddenly the phone stopped ringing. “Christie,” Pierce said through the phone.
“Pierce!” I practically cursed. “What did you do with my money?”
His laugh was light. “Your money? Why, I haven’t touched it, Christie. If something happened to it, your criminal volunteers are probably to blame.”
“Don’t try to turn this around on my volunteers,” I snapped.
“Haven’t they been making the deposits?”
“Yes, they’ve been depositing some of the funds, but I trust them completely. Logan would never steal.”
“Logan? I wasn’t talking about him, Christie! I was referring to the other one. Riley Hawthorne.”
I gave a start. “What do you mean?” Riley and Harper were sitting across the shuttle aisle from me, and they looked confused.
“The other night. You mentioned the volunteers names on the phone. I knew I recognized the brunette gentleman, so I cross-referenced all recent judge rulings with the permanent Ranger Station address. There were two men who popped up in the search. Logan Verdugo of course, but also Riley Hawthorne. Charged with public indecency and assigned forty hours of community service.”
“He what?” I looked at Riley. “You have court-mandated hours too? Like Logan?”
His reaction immediately told me that it was true. His face drooped with guilt and he slowly shook his head. “Christie, let me explain…”
“You’ve been lying to me all this time?”
On the phone, Pierce let out a laugh. “You didn’t know? According to court records, Riley turned in his timesheet last week. Your signature