She continued to stare and suck her fingers. Did kids this little talk?
Valerie seemed distracted. Did she even want to work with him? He stared down at the tablet where he had opened Derek Murke’s file. Trying to catch a fugitive without the cooperation of the local police department never went well. She was the most likely candidate to help him. McNeal had mentioned that Salgado was a rookie...just like Cory Smith had been. Icy pain stabbed at Trevor’s heart. Could he keep this rookie safe?
Trevor let out a heavy breath and looked at Bethany. And she had a kid.
He held up the bottle to Bethany. “You want this?”
Bethany popped her fingers out of her mouth. She pointed at something across the room and said, “Gaga.”
He had no idea what she was talking about. Being around babies made him feel awkward. They seemed so fragile. As if they would shatter like glass if you didn’t hold them right. Bethany flipped around to her belly and slid off the couch. She tottered over to him, blue eyes still assessing him.
Her hand rested on his leg with a touch that was barely heavier than air. He held the bottle toward her while she was still standing and fed her as though she were a newborn lamb. She looked up at him with eyes that were filled with trust. He felt a fluttering in his heart. How unexpected that this delicate child was okay with him feeding her.
When he glanced around the room, Valerie stood at the base of the stairs watching them. Without the utility belt, the uniform accentuated her curves. Her red hair had been pulled up into a ponytail, revealing the soft lines of her face and clear green eyes.
“You can hold her, you know.” There was a hint of amusement in her voice.
“We’re doing just fine,” Trevor muttered.
Bethany pulled away from him and tottered toward Valerie just as the doorbell rang. An older woman with white, fluffy hair that had a tint of blue to it stepped across the threshold when Valerie opened the door. Valerie introduced the babysitter as Stella Witherspoon.
“There’s my little Bethie.” Mrs. Witherspoon’s voice had a charming bell-like quality.
The little girl squealed with delight and kicked her legs while Valerie held her. “Thanks for coming, Stella.”
Bethany nestled against Valerie while she gave Stella instructions for the day. Valerie ran a finger down Bethany’s cheek and rubbed noses with her when the little girl tilted her head up. She seemed like a natural at being a mom. Where was the baby’s father in all this? He hadn’t noticed a wedding band on her finger.
After Valerie handed Bethany over, she turned toward Trevor. “Since I’m running late, I can look at the file on the way to the station.” She turned back toward the kitchen. “Lexi, come.”
The dog trotted out from her crate by the back door.
Valerie grabbed the leash and canine vest by the door and proceeded to put them on Lexi. She rose to her feet. “I hope you don’t mind. She goes everywhere with me while I’m on duty.”
Trevor nodded. “I understand.” He opened the door for her when she had clicked Lexi into her leash.
As they stepped out into the early morning, light shimmered across Valerie’s coppery hair. She stopped and stared at where the police car used to be.
“I sent him home since you’re with me,” Trevor said.
Her voice took on that soft, distant quality. “He usually follows me into the station in the morning.”
The inflection in her voice suggested weariness, as though the need for protection had taken its toll on her emotionally.
Trevor glanced around. Other than automated sprinklers turning on, he saw no movement anywhere on the quiet street. He sidled closer to Valerie.
She turned toward him, furling her brow. “You don’t need to stand quite so close. I’m a trained officer. I can handle myself.”
He had to remind himself that though her irritation was directed toward him, she was probably more upset about the loss of freedom the death threats had created. “I don’t doubt you can handle yourself.”
She opened the back door of Trevor’s sedan to let Lexi in.
On the drive toward the station, Trevor filled Valerie in on the investigation as she flipped through the file. “We knew that Sagebrush was one of the places Murke had ties to. He lived here during his teen years and has come back several times since. He’s on the FBI’s Most Wanted list, so his picture has been out there. We had an anonymous tip, someone who saw him in a store here in Sagebrush.”
Valerie stared at the photo of Murke on the tablet. “Sometimes people are mistaken about identities.” She flicked through the pages of the file.
“I know that. It makes sense, though, that Murke would come back here,” he said as doubt tapped at the corners of his awareness. Valerie had to find something that would give them a lead. The urgency to catch Murke was stronger than ever.
Valerie looked up from the tablet. Her eyes lit up as they passed a schoolyard just starting to fill with children. She really seemed to gravitate toward kids. Having kids, being married, none of that had ever been on his radar. His father had been a brute of a man, cruel beyond reason. If it hadn’t been for a youth pastor, who had turned his heart toward God, Trevor could have gone down that same road. The way he had it figured, he didn’t want to risk having those patterns of violence emerge in his own life. He was a better help to humanity as a lawman.
“So it’s just you and Bethany?” The question had spilled out. He had to admit, he was curious.
Valerie laced her fingers together and bent her head. “Bethany is my sister’s child. I recently became her guardian when Kathleen died.” Her voice trembled.
Trevor retreated, aware that he had stepped on an emotional land mine. “Well, you seem like a natural mom.”
Her face glowed, and her voice fused with warmth. “Thanks. It’s been an adjustment for both of us.”
He hadn’t counted on the compliment meaning so much to her. He took a quick sideways glance at her. Shorter hair that had escaped the ponytail framed her soft features, and her full mouth curled into a faint smile. Was she still thinking about what he had said?
Valerie looked back down at the tablet. “Murke robbed a pawn shop with a guy named Leroy Seville?”
Trevor’s spirits lifted. “Yeah, do you know him?”
“No, but I know an elderly lady named Linda Seville. I don’t think she ever said anything about a son, but they could be related.”
“It’s worth a shot.” This could be the lead he had hoped for.
She lifted her head and peered through the windshield. “We’re actually pretty close to where she lives. Let’s just go there now. Four blocks up and one over.” She paused. “I know the street, and I’ll remember the house when I see it.”
He caught a whiff of her floral perfume as she leaned closer to him to point
