Rugged Defender

“You don’t know how unfunny that is. I ran into him at the sheriff’s office,” she said. “He threatened to handcuff me and get me into the back of his patrol car.”

“What were you doing at the sheriff’s office unless he did arrest you?” Annabelle asked.

Chloe saw that both sisters were studying her.

“What’s going on?” TJ asked suspiciously.

She tried to wave it off, but could see neither sister was going to let her get away with it. “I’m looking into Drew Calhoun’s death.”

“Why would you do that?” TJ and Annabelle asked in unison.

“That is so annoying when you two do that,” she said.

“Is this about Justin?” Annabelle asked.

“I’m just curious about Drew’s case,” she said as she opened the refrigerator, pulled out the orange juice and poured herself a glass. She wasn’t thirsty. She just needed something to do with her hands. It was hard to stall without keeping her hands busy.

“Just curious?” TJ said. “Are you looking for a job?”

Taking a drink, she turned slowly to meet her sister’s gaze. “I’m not sure what I want to do next.”

“Chloe? You aren’t thinking of quitting print journalism, are you?”

“Maybe you haven’t heard but newspapers are struggling right now,” Chloe began and was quickly interrupted.

“With your track record?” TJ asked in surprise. “You can get a job almost anywhere, maybe a smaller paper but—”

“I’m not sure what I want to do,” she said. “Maybe I just need a break.”

Annabelle laughed. “You’re falling in love with Whitehorse all over again, aren’t you? You don’t want to leave.”

Chloe rolled her eyes. “I wouldn’t go that far, but I am enjoying being here with the two of you.” She went over to where Annabelle was taking cookies hot from the oven off the pan and setting them out to cool. She had to smile. Her younger sister had never shown any interest in cooking or baking growing up.

When they were kids, TJ had taken up cooking because their grandmother was no cook. Chloe had been the baker. There was something so satisfying about whipping up a batch of cookies. Plus you got to eat them while they were still warm. She’d forgotten how much she’d enjoyed it since she seldom baked for herself.

“Sugar cookies for Dawson,” Annabelle said proudly.

“And for your big sister Chloe,” she said, taking a cookie. “You’re getting good at this. These are delicious.”

Her sister lit up at the praise. “I figure I’ll branch out into cooking. Willie has promised to teach me a few of Dawson’s favorite dishes.”

“You couldn’t ask for a better teacher,” Chloe said of Dawson’s mother.

TJ was studying her again. “I know you, Chloe. Unless you have a project, you will go crazy between now and the wedding. We don’t want that.”

She realized that her sister was giving her permission to dig into the Drew Calhoun case. Like she needed her permission, she thought, but wasn’t about to voice it. Annabelle and TJ would be busy and out of her hair. She was her own woman. She could do whatever she wanted.

“But are you sure there isn’t more to this quest you’re on?” TJ asked, studying her closely. “Like Justin?”

Chloe had to smile. Her sister knew her so well. “I might as well hang around for a while. Anyway, we have a wedding coming up, right?”

“That’s what we wanted to tell you,” Annabelle said excitedly. “We have a surprise.”

Chloe had already told them that she didn’t like surprises. Often it meant change. Like when their parents had been killed and they’d been shipped to Whitehorse to live with a grandmother they didn’t even know existed before then. Grandma Frannie had been wonderful, but she’d definitely been a surprise.

What was she thinking? Frannie had continued to be a surprise.

“We’re going to have a double wedding!” Annabelle announced, smiling broadly, her eyes glittering as she reached over and grasped TJ’s hand.

“Congratulations!” Chloe said, glad for the change of subject. “This is wonderful. What can I do to help?”

The conversation quickly shifted to the double wedding: who, what, where, when.

“We need to find you a dress to wear,” Annabelle was saying.

“I thought you both wanted small weddings?” she asked.

“It can be small but elegant,” Annabelle said.

Chloe looked at TJ. “You and Silas are good with this?”

Her sister laughed. “My mountain man does own a tux, you know.”

She looked at them and felt her heart swell. “I am so happy for both of you.”

“So what have you found out so far?” TJ asked as Chloe joined her at the table.

“I just did a little research on Drew Calhoun’s death,” she said. “There wasn’t much in the local paper so I talked to the sheriff. It was interesting—and disturbing.”

“In what way?” Annabelle asked as she brought over a plate of cookies and joined them.

“No real answers. I can understand why McCall ruled it an accident, but it definitely left me wondering. I’m sure that’s the problem Justin’s dad is having with it, as well. Did you know that someone beat up Drew that night before he was shot? He had cuts and bruises, a black eye and scratches on his face and arms that the coroner said appeared to be from fingernails.”

“So some woman beat him up?” Annabelle said.

“I’d say he definitely tangled with someone or maybe a mountain lion,” she said. “I’d love to know who was responsible. But it makes me think that it’s why Drew, who was drunk, was in the cabin with his gun.”

“Maybe he was going after whoever beat him up,” TJ suggested.

“Or thought they were coming after him,” Annabelle added.

Chloe sighed. “We might never know. He wasn’t dead though when Justin found him. According to Justin, he took the gun away from him—that’s how his fingerprints ended up on the gun. It also explained trace amounts of gunpowder residue on Justin’s hands.”

“I heard that one of the reasons Bert thinks Justin shot his brother was because he found him standing over Drew holding the gun,” Annabelle said.

“That would do it,” TJ agreed.

“Also Justin and Drew had a fight earlier in the day,” Chloe said.