But what could he possibly want from her after all this time?
Chapter Two
“Sorry to intrude,” Duke said to Audrey as he stepped inside her home and then slid the door closed behind him. Her long auburn hair had fewer highlights now, but it still framed an oval face with big green eyes and a heart-shaped mouth with kissable pink lips. “Crystal asked me to stop by to check on you.”
She checked behind him like she expected a rabid dog to ram itself into the glass at any moment. “Why?” she stammered as his gaze dropped to those lips—lips that were none of his business.
“Follow me,” he said, figuring she needed to see what he was talking about before the evidence was recovered or destroyed. He turned toward the door, then said, “And lock up behind us.” He exited the same way he came, forcing his thoughts away from how beautiful Audrey still was or how right it would feel to hold her again.
The sound of her footsteps signaled she was on his heels. Good. He’d only been half certain she would follow him.
Not ten feet into the tree line where they were surrounded by mesquite trees, he stopped. “Right here,” he said, pointing to an area behind a tree trunk in the hard unforgiving dirt.
“Those are footprints,” she said. “Looks like large boot prints. They’re faint, but I can make them out in the dust covering the soil anyway.”
“Someone stood here long enough to shuffle his feet,” he continued, taking a knee. He noticed a curious leaf had blown into the scrub brush and stuck. He reached for it and almost shouted eureka! Holding the leaf by the stem in between his thumb and forefinger, he said, “Look at this. A perfect print on here to match the one on the ground.”
“This one is much clearer,” Audrey said as she examined the specimen.
He fished out his phone and took a couple pictures of the unmistakable shoe print on the leaf.
“I can’t say for sure, obviously, but this looks like a standard work boot, maybe size thirteen,” Audrey surmised, stretching her hand over the print on the ground for measurement.
“Agree one hundred percent.” Duke snapped a few pictures of the prints on the ground from multiple angles without looking up at Audrey. Hearing the tension in her voice was enough to draw out all his protective instincts. But she may not want his help beyond making this discovery. “Of course, the prints don’t prove anything in and of themselves.”
“Except they are pointed in the direction of my home and I’ve had this creepy feeling recently someone was watching me,” she said. Her voice still had a way of reaching parts of him that didn’t need visiting. She planted her right fist on her hip and issued a sharp sigh.
“How long have you had this feeling?” He threw a mental wall up and shut down his emotions. It was the only way to do his job, and he’d become good at compartmentalizing so he could maintain focus on an investigation.
“A few days and again a few minutes ago before you arrived. Did you come out here before knocking?” Audrey crouched beside him. She was close enough for her shoulder to brush against his arm. Contact sent a surge of heat rocketing through him.
“Only to do a perimeter check. That’s when I noticed the prints.” Duke cleared his throat to ease the sudden dryness. Audrey exhaled and pinched the bridge of her nose like she was stemming a sudden headache.
“It’s impossible to tell how long the person was here or how frequently he might have visited,” he said. “Do you remember anyone hanging around or doing work out here with boots that could fit these prints?”
“No, but you know this can be a cut through to the lake,” she admitted. They both worked in jobs where they were paid to notice things. It became habit and spilled over into a law enforcement officer’s personal life, as well. “How did you... What are you doing here at my cabin when you should be at the hospital?” She shook her head like she was coming out of a fog.
That was a legitimate question.
“I got a call from Crystal with a tip that a perp might be headed this way,” he admitted, standing up and taking a step away from her to get the lilac scent of her shampoo out of his nostrils.
“Oh,” she said. “How does that apply to me?”
“Have you heard of the Ponytail Snatcher?” he asked. “You must have since everyone has been keeping an eye out.”
The inside of her brain must look like a pinball machine right now based on the array of emotions passing behind her eyes. “Yes. Why?”
“Evidence of his work was found in a motel off the highway outside town,” he stated. “Crystal pointed out the type this bastard usually goes for resembles you. She asked me to stop by since she had a bad feeling. That’s as far as we got before I dropped my bag off inside the farmhouse and then headed over this way after being at the hospital.”
“It’s clear someone has been out here, watching my home,” she said on a shiver.
“You’re an attractive woman,” he said, keeping his tone as level as possible. “You might have attracted teens, who like to sneak around in these woods.”
“Or a voyeur who might escalate if he isn’t caught before he moves onto the next-level crime of rape,” she pointed out without making eye contact. It was difficult to get a good read on her. Even at sixteen, she’d kept secrets.
“Have you received an indication from anyone in town that you might be the object of an admirer?” he asked, his gut twisting at the thought of someone stalking her. No matter what she’d done to him, no one deserved to have their privacy violated and she sure as hell didn’t deserve to become a victim of the Ponytail Snatcher. The thought caused his hands to fist at his sides.
“Not that I’m aware of,” she said, rising to her full five-feet-eight-inches. She’d been tall and basically a stick back in high school, but now she’d filled out her frame with just the right amount of curves. The yoga pants and sports bra she wore highlighted those curves, as well as the fact she must spend some time at the gym. It was a shame her green eyes were hidden behind sunglasses. She’d slipped them on along with a pair of running shoes and locked the door in record time.
“Do you live here alone?” he asked, unsure if he really wanted to hear the answer. His shoulder muscles pulled taut as he waited.
“Yes,” she said in a defensive tone.
“I’m not trying to overstep bounds here,” he said, releasing his fists so he could fold his arms across his chest. “It’s important for me to assess the threat level.”
She nodded. “Living alone could make me an easier mark,” she conceded. “However, I’m a law enforcement officer who happens to be good at her job and keeps a shotgun next to her bed. The person watching must realize that if he’s been watching for very long.”
“Could be the reason he’s out here instead of coming in closer,” he pointed out.
She visibly shivered. “We both know the profile of the kind of bastard who stalks and murders. But we might be jumping to conclusions here.”
“Yes, we might and, yes, we do.” Freaking her out was the last thing Duke wanted to do, but she needed to take the correct precautions.
Audrey crouched down again and studied the boot print. She snapped a pic with the cell in her hand.
Discreetly, Duke glanced at the home screen to see if there was a picture of her with someone. It would answer the question he needed to ask next despite not feeling like he had a right to. A breeze carried her lilac scent, which messed with his concentration.
“What about a relationship?” he asked.
