away to respond through his collar mic. “Dispatch says a couple of calls have come in about someone driving erratically on the highway,” he said when he came back. “But given your history, I can’t ask Las Vegas PD to go to Ted Kurtz’s home to see if he’s there based solely on your word. Are you sure you can’t tell me anything about the driver or the vehicle?”
“It was a dark-colored truck. His lights were even with my back window. I don’t have any more details. I couldn’t see very well.”
“There’s not much I can do with that.” Bedford took a business card from his clipboard and jotted a number on the back. “Here’s your incident report number. You’ll be able to access the report by eight o’clock tomorrow morning.”
Olivia took the card.
“Good night,” Bedford said, and he left.
* * *
“I can stay here tonight if you’d like,” Elijah said to Claudia.
After Deputy Bedford drove off, they’d walked into the house. Olivia watched Elijah wrap an arm around Claudia’s shoulder as they stood in her kitchen. It was an easy gesture that made Olivia give herself a swift mental kick. She was the one who should have that relaxed, familiar relationship with her great-aunt. She should have visited Claudia years ago. She shouldn’t have waited until she had no other options.
“That’s okay, honey.” Claudia patted Elijah on the arm. “We’ve got the dogs, and they’re the best alarm I could have. Plus, Denise and Raymond are in the cottage out back.” She turned to Olivia. “They’re the couple I hired to help me run the place. Here, let me text them and tell them you’re here so you can meet them.” She picked up a phone and started tapping the screen. “Don’t worry,” she said, glancing up at Elijah. “We’ll be fine.”
“It wouldn’t be any trouble to stay,” Elijah said. “You know I’d like nothing more than to hang around here and take care of my favorite aunt.”
“Laying it on a little thick, aren’t you?” Olivia groused. She hadn’t meant to say that out loud, but where did he get off calling Claudia “aunt”?
Elijah grinned at Olivia and hugged Claudia tighter.
Seriously? That’s how it was going to be? After everything she’d been through tonight, he was going to needle her? He still looked tough, but now that they were inside and in better light, she could see a hint of mischief in his dark eyes. It was already getting on her nerves.
“I think we’ll be okay.” Olivia glanced at the windows she would lock and the shades she would pull before going to bed. She would go through the whole house, checking and double-checking that everything was secure. It was part of the ritual that helped her sleep at night.
“I don’t mind staying.” Elijah’s bantering tone was gone in an instant. The mischievous glint in his eyes was replaced with a look like cold black ice. “I’d love to be here if he decides to stop by.”
Olivia’s attention was drawn to the sound of a woman’s voice just before she heard a door open. It was followed by the sound of footsteps.
“That’ll be Denise and Raymond,” Claudia said, leading the way into the kitchen.
“I hope I didn’t interrupt your dinner,” Claudia called out to a woman with glossy, chocolate-colored hair, who stood holding a small basket heaped with corn-bread muffins. A man with shoulder-length, sun-streaked brown hair stood beside her.
“Oh, no.” The woman, who looked as if she might be a decade older than Olivia, smiled broadly. “Raymond and I finished eating a while ago. I baked a full dozen muffins when I made our supper and thought you and your guest might like a few of them.”
“Thank you.” Claudia took the basket and set it on the counter. “I’d like you to meet my great-niece, Olivia.”
“I’m glad to finally meet you,” Denise said. “It’s so nice of you to come for a visit.”
Olivia exchanged glances with Claudia. Apparently her aunt hadn’t felt the need to explain the real motivation for her trip to Painted Rock. “Nice to be here,” Olivia mumbled.
“Heard you had some trouble on the road,” the man standing beside Denise commented.
Olivia wasn’t sure what to say in response. It wasn’t a conversation she wanted to have with another stranger.
“Raymond keeps things up and running around here,” Claudia interjected.
“I’m looking forward to seeing the ranch in the morning,” Olivia said.
Claudia wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “I’ll bet right now you just want to take a nice hot bath, crawl into bed and get some rest.”
It was exactly what she wanted.
“Time for us to go,” Denise said to Raymond. She glanced at Olivia. “We just wanted to pop in and welcome you. We’ll see you in the morning.”
“You hungry?” Claudia asked after they left.
“Starved.”
“Denise made fried chicken for supper, but we put it in the fridge after you called from the side of the highway to tell me you’d run into trouble. Shall we have a cold supper and turn in?”
Olivia nodded.
“You go on home,” Claudia said to Elijah. “I’ll keep my phone turned on and by my side all night.”
Olivia frowned at Elijah, hoping he would leave. She wouldn’t be able to relax with him around. Not with those muscular arms under that black T-shirt distracting her. Plus the fact that just about every time she looked at him, he was already looking at her. The dream of finally being able to let down her guard, even if just for a short while, was what fueled her determination to leave Las Vegas and make the drive here.
“I live close by,” Elijah said to her after a long pause. “My family’s ranch borders Aunt Claudia’s property. I can get here fast if I need to.”
Olivia nodded. Good to know.
“All right, I’ll head on home.” He turned to Claudia. “Call me if you hear anything. And make sure you lock your doors.”
“Of course.”
Elijah headed out of the kitchen, across the dining area and toward the front door. The women walked with him.
He paused as he passed through the front room and glanced toward something on a bookshelf. Olivia followed his glaze and saw a framed photograph of an older gentleman with a long rectangular face, thick white hair and gigantic sideburns. He looked familiar. Olivia walked toward the picture.
“My Hugh,” Claudia said quietly, stepping up behind Olivia.
“Of course.” Aunt Claudia and Uncle Hugh had made a trip to Phoenix for a visit when Olivia was fourteen. She remembered now that Hugh was about a foot shorter than Claudia. She’d said hello to them and then scampered off to the mall with her friends. Hugh had died a few years later of a sudden massive heart attack.
“What’s
