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Gandt tapped his badge. “In case you’ve forgotten, Graystone, the people elected me, so they obviously have confidence in my abilities. Now, get out of my office.”
Dugan shot him a go-to-hell look, turned and stormed out the door. The man might make a token gesture to solve Lewis’s murder.
But he doubted he would put forth any effort to hunt for Benji Freeport.
Dugan spotted Sage sitting on a park bench in the square, her face buried in her hands, her body trembling.
He headed across the square to join her. If Gandt wouldn’t find Sage’s son for her, he would.
* * *
SAGE WAS SO ANGRY she was shaking all over. Sheriff Gandt had stonewalled her before.
But how could he dismiss her so easily now that they knew that Ron Lewis had been murdered?
Ron’s face flashed in her mind, and her stomach revolted. She’d been such a fool to trust him. Why had he taken her son with him that day? Where was he going?
And who had killed him?
The questions ate at her. None of it made sense.
Ron had waltzed into her life and charmed her with his good looks, his business sense and his talk of giving the town a face-lift and bringing in tourism. Tourists would have greatly impacted her income, so she’d been on board from the beginning.
Maybe that was the one reason he’d warmed up to her. Had he thought she could influence the town council with his plans for putting Cobra Creek on the map?
Footsteps crunched on gravel, and she suddenly felt someone beside her. A hand on her shoulder.
She jerked her head up, wiping at the tears streaming down her face, and stared into Dugan Graystone’s dark eyes. The man was a rebel of sorts and was the only person she’d ever known to go up against the sheriff.
High cheekbones sculpted an angular face, evidence of his Native American roots. His chiseled face was bronzed from work on the ranch, his hands were broad and strong looking, his big body made for ranching and working the land.
Or for a woman.
She silently chided herself. Just because she felt vulnerable and needy, and Dugan was strong and powerful looking, didn’t mean she’d fall prey to his charms.
No man would ever get close to her again.
“What do you want?” Sage asked, a little more harshly than she’d intended.
Dugan’s eyes flared at her tone. “Gandt is a first-class jerk.”
His comment deflated her anger, and a nervous laugh escaped her. “Yes, he is.”
“He said he’d look into Lewis’s murder.”
“Sure he will.” Sage brushed her hands together. “Like he looked into the crash two years ago.”
Dugan sank his big body onto the bench beside her. “I know you were engaged to Lewis and want answers about who killed him.”
Anger shot through Sage. “We may have been engaged, but that was obviously a mistake. The minute he took my son from my house without my permission, any feelings I had for him died.” She swallowed the lump in her throat. “I don’t care why he was murdered. In fact, I would have killed him myself for taking Benji if I’d found him.”
A tense second passed. “I understand,” Dugan said in a gruff voice.
“Do you? That man took everything from me.”
The anguish in her tone made his chest squeeze. “I’ll help you,” he said. “I’ll find out why Lewis was murdered.”
Sage studied his face. He seemed so sincere. Earnest. As if he actually cared.
But she wouldn’t buy in to that, not ever again.
On the other hand, Dugan had run for sheriff and Gandt had beaten him, so he probably had his own personal agenda. He wanted to show Gandt up and prove to the town that they’d elected the wrong man.
She really didn’t care about his motive. “All right. But understand this—the only reason I want to know who killed Ron is that it might lead me to my son. Whatever dirt you dig up on Ron is fine with me. I don’t care about his reputation or even my own, for that matter.”
Dugan studied her in silence for a few minutes. Sage felt the wind ruffle her hair, felt the heat from his body, felt the silence thick with the unknown.
“I’ll do everything I can to help you,” Dugan said gruffly. “But I may not find the answers you want.”
Sage understood the implications of his statement. “I know that.” She gripped her hands together. “All I want is the truth...no matter what it is.”
“Even if it’s not pretty?”
Sage nodded. “The truth can’t be any worse than what I’ve already imagined.”
* * *
DUGAN HOPED THAT was true. But there was the possibility that they’d find out her little boy had been burned in the fire. Or that he’d been kidnapped by a cold-blooded murderer.
The scenarios that came to mind sent a shot of fear through him. For all they knew, the shooter could have abducted Benji and sold him or handed him off to a group trafficking kids. Hell, he could have been a pedophile.
In fact, kidnapping the boy could have been the endgame all along.
Someone could have hired Lewis to get the boy.
But if so, why?
He had to ask questions, questions Sage might not like.
“You’ve done investigative work before?” Sage asked.
Dugan nodded. “I’ve been called in as a consultant on some cold cases. I have a friend, Texas Ranger Jaxon Ward, who I work with.”
“How do you know him?”
“We go way back,” Dugan said, remembering the foster home where they’d met.
Sage arched an eyebrow in question, but Dugan let the moment pass. They weren’t here to talk about him and his shady upbringing. “In light of the fact that Lewis’s body has been found, I’m going to enter your son’s picture into the system for missing children.”
Emotions darkened Sage’s soft green eyes, but she nodded. “Of course. I tried to get Sheriff Gandt to do that two years ago, but he was certain Benji died in the crash or drowned, and said it was a waste of time.”
That sounded like shoddy police work to him.
“If you want to stop by the inn, I can give you one of the latest pictures I took.”
“I’ll walk with you over there now.”
Sage stood, one hand clutching her shoulder bag. “Why don’t you meet me there in half an hour? I have an errand to run first.”
“Half an hour,” Dugan agreed.
Sage hesitated a moment, her breath shaky in the heartbeat of silence that stretched between them. “Thank you, Dugan. I can’t tell you what it means to have someone listen to me. I...know some people think I’m nuts. That I just can’t let go.”
He had heard rumors that she set the table for her son at every meal, as if he was coming home for dinner. Hell, was that crazy, or was she simply trying to keep hope alive?
“I don’t blame you for not giving up,” Dugan said gruffly. “At least not without the facts or proof that your son is really gone.”
He let the words linger between them, well aware she understood the meaning