Luna opened her eyes, a twinkle in their depths, and she gave a nod like she already figured Maisie out. “Once you accept your place in this world, things will become less hard for you. Life will settle into where it should be, and your guide will quiet down.” She hesitated, her head tilting again. “I see a man.”
Maisie stiffened. “A man.”
“Yes,” Luna said slowly, glancing back down at Maisie’s palm. “A man you care for very deeply. Your souls are twined intimately in ways most are not. But this man, he’s got a secret. A deep one that still wounds him.”
The direction change made Maisie’s head spin. “Do you know what kind of secret?” she all but whispered.
Luna snapped her eyes to Maisie’s again, and rose, the color in her face oddly gone. “I’m afraid that truth is not mine to share. That’s all I have for you today. If things don’t settle for you in a week, come back, and I’ll see what I can do to ease this guide of yours.”
Maisie rose on shaky legs. She took a step forward to leave, when something suddenly occurred to her. “Do you know who my guide is?” she asked.
Luna gave a gentle smile. “Your Pops, of course.” As Maisie reeled from that, Luna said, “And, Maisie? Ask for help. It’s out there.”
The sun began to set over the mountains outside of Hayes’s office window. He’d spent the last few hours going through the surveillance footage from various cameras at the amusement park hoping he could catch a glimpse of the truck leaving. Hayes had watched the footage again…and again…and again. They didn’t have a direct shot of the parking lot where the truck was parked. So far, he’d come up empty. Last night, he’d crashed at home after a hot shower, only to come back into the station at eight o’clock this morning after word came in that Detective Stewart agreed to work a joint investigation. Since then, he hadn’t left his chair except to grab food. And Hayes felt each and every hour that had followed. His eyes strained, but his gut told him there was something in these videos he could use to catch the person who hurt Maisie. Exhausted, he stretched out his shoulders and leaned back against his chair, rubbing his eyes.
The phone on the desk rang. “Taylor,” he said by way of greeting.
“Detective Stewart calling from Boulder,” he said, and after a short pause, he added, “Neil for short.” He chuckled.
“Hey, Neil,” Hayes said. “Hayes here. What can I do for you?”
“Hayes, glad to work this case alongside you,” Neil said. “I’m reaching out to see if you’ve gotten anywhere on your end.”
Hayes glanced at the report he’d printed off this morning after the detective had shared the online file. “At the moment, nothing is jumping out at me.”
Neil made a low noise in his throat. “I’m in the same boat over here. I’ve interviewed the three people on the suspects’ list I sent you but have ruled them all out.”
“Good to know.” Hayes tucked the phone between his shoulder and ear. He grabbed that list and scratched out the names, frustrated he didn’t have any names of his own to add to that list. “Any other updates?”
“Prints didn’t turn up anything in the databases. Not that there were that many to begin with. The fire damage, as you saw, was excessive.”
Hayes grabbed the copied photograph of his truck beneath the pile of papers. He loved that truck, but there wasn’t much of it left. A total write-off. He’d got the insurance claim rolling on that this morning. Then he reached for the photograph of Maisie’s trailer. Burned beyond recognition. “You’ll keep me in the loop if anything develops there.”
“Of course. Call too, if you see anything I’m not.”
“Will do.”
“I’m heading home for the night, but I’ll be back in at eight tomorrow morning.”
“Same here. Hopefully, with fresh eyes.”
“Agreed. Have a good night.”
“You too.”
The line went dead. Hayes returned the phone to its base and then rubbed the back of his neck, wishing the answer popped out at him. He wanted to get this solved for Maisie. He needed her to know he’d caught the bastards who’d cut her so deeply.
Laughter coming from the hallway made him lift his head. Three guys strode by, a blur of blue uniforms and weapons, but then suddenly one of those men froze. Hayes chuckled now, as wide eyes greeted him.
“Hey,” Hayes said.
Darryl entered the doorway, his stare incredulous. “All right, I know it’s been a shitty, long day, but you are sitting there, right?”
“As far as I know, yes.” Hayes laughed.
Darryl gave a flick of his chin at the two guys with him. Cops that Hayes had never met, obviously rookies, seeing as they both looked young. Once they continued on down the hallway to the locker room, Darryl leaned against the doorjamb, arms folded. “Something bad must have happened to have you sitting behind a desk with a case in front of you. What’s going on?”
Hayes leaned back against his chair, lacing his hands together behind his head. “Did you hear about my truck and Maisie’s trailer?”
Darryl’s mouth twitched. “Ah, so she’s the reason you finally gave in to your father.”
Hayes snorted and avoided that line of conversation. Instead, he said, “No one was going to work her case, but me.”
Darryl’s head cocked at the statement Hayes made. He finally nodded his understanding and asked, “Have you told Nash?”
“Not yet,” Hayes said, not looking forward to that particular phone call. “I’ll be reaching out soon, but I’m hoping we can work something out to keep me on when he needs me.” He enjoyed the rush and his friendships at the farm. Though, this time, the thought of getting near a dangerous horse, of hurting himself, which would in turn hurt Maisie, made him pause. Those pained eyes of hers were all he could see. “We’ll figure it out,” he finished.
“I’m sure you will.” Darryl smiled. “Well, buddy, it’s damn good to have you here. Are you here to stay?”
Hayes glanced down at the case on the desk. Today, when he’d worked the case, for the first time in years he’d felt…normal. Like he’d come home, and he didn’t know how to process that. “I’ve promised my father six months.”
“Good.” Darryl smacked a hand against the door. “I’m overrun with rookies. It’ll be good to have some backup.”
Hayes’s mouth twitched. “That sounds irritating.”
“Worse than you can even imagine,” Darryl drawled, and moved away from the door.
Hayes began cleaning up the papers on his desk. He’d thought Darryl left, but his warm voice jerked Hayes’s gaze back to the doorway. “It is good, you know. You being back on the force. This is where you belong.”
Not having the words to respond, Hayes nodded.
After Darryl left, Hayes picked up the photograph of Maisie’s burnt-out trailer. She always kept directing his life, in good ways, and by all appearances, she didn’t even try. From day one, she’d always been there, guiding his hand. First, when he began dating Laurel. Laurel always made time for Maisie, no matter what happened. Hayes had never minded. Their friendship had been a beautiful thing. And he’d overheard Maisie singing Hayes’s praises about him being a good husband. When Laurel passed away, Maisie had been there to scrape him up off the floor, regardless of that fact that she’d been hurting too. She’d pushed on, showing him the beauty in the world, when he couldn’t see it at all. She gave him reasons to smile and laugh.