In the Clearing (Tracy Crosswhite #3)(56)

“So what did Kelly Rosa want?”

Tracy spoke from behind the wall. “She doesn’t think that girl in Stoneridge committed suicide. She thinks somebody ran her over with a car and then dumped her body in the river.”

Dan came around the corner into the kitchen. “My God. Really?”

“I know. Can you imagine someone doing something like that?”

He shook his head and leaned back against the counter. “Your week makes mine look like a picnic. Can Rosa prove it?”

“She can prove the girl was run over and still alive when she went into the river.”

“Still alive?” Dan said, thinking like a lawyer. “Would she have lived?”

“Rosa thinks it’s possible, but there are a lot of factors to consider.” She walked to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. “I missed you.” She kissed his lips. “Should we get takeout from Thai Kitchen?”

Dan gave her a thin-lipped smile. “Given the contents of your refrigerator, I’d say takeout’s a necessity.”

She groaned. “I’m sorry. I meant to get home earlier.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he said. “Takeout is fine.”

She stepped back and leaned against the counter, suddenly feeling overwhelmed and emotional. She couldn’t help but equate what had happened to Kimi Kanasket with what had happened to Sarah. “I know, but I wanted to make you dinner.”

“Seriously, it’s fine.”

Her eyes watered.

He stepped closer. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

Tracy thought of Angela and Tim Collins and about what Kins had said his and Shannah’s relationship had become, and she couldn’t help but think that at one time they had been just like Tracy and Dan, feeling intoxicated each time they saw one another. “Are we ever going to find time for one another? I know you must feel like you’re always an afterthought.”

“I’m a big boy, Tracy. I understand the demands of a job when you’re not punching a clock.”

She sighed. “Last weekend you seemed frustrated.”

“Disappointed,” he said. “I told you, I just had expectations that maybe weren’t realistic. I get it—this is your job, and mine isn’t much better at times. We’re always going to have conflicts.”

“So what do we do?”

“Well, for the moment, I’m not sure there’s much we can do about it.”

“That doesn’t sound optimistic.”

“Listen, if either of us reaches a point where this isn’t working, then we need to be honest and let the other person know. We were friends, Tracy. We should always remain friends.”

“Is that what you want?”

“No. I don’t. Is that what you want?”

“No.”

He placed his hands on her hips. “I was married for twelve years. Being together in the same house doesn’t mean being with someone. My wife and I shared the same bed, but we found a lot of excuses to not be together. Eventually, I found reasons to work, and she found reasons to have an affair. So let’s just a make a deal that when we are together, we’ll appreciate that time and try to maximize it.”

Tracy looked up at him. “I imagine you’ve been feeling underappreciated lately.”

He smiled. “Like I said, I’m a big boy. I’ll let you know if it comes to that. Let’s order. I’m starving.”

She leaned in to him. “We’ll have at least twenty minutes before the food arrives. How about I show you how much I appreciate you.”

“Twenty minutes? You’re talking to a man who made love once in the time it takes to boil noodles.”

“I recall. But I don’t think that’s something to be proud of.”

“You did then.”

“Let’s use the full twenty this time.”





CHAPTER 20


It had poured during the night. Tracy and Dan had lain in bed eating Thai food straight out of the cartons and listening to the rain. It rushed against the roof shingles and pinged like coins from a slot machine paying off as it funneled down the gutters and downspouts. By morning the rain had subsided, but a suffocating gray cloud layer had settled over the city.

Dan gave Tracy a kiss at the front gate. “Are you sure I can’t convince you to come to Cedar Grove and help me fend off two hundred eighty pounds of frenzied dogs?”

“I’d love to see them,” she said, “but it sounds like you’ll have most of your day full preparing for next week, and I can use the time to go over some things and hopefully talk with the tracker.”

“Coward,” he said. “You’ve left me alone to the beasts.”

After Dan left, Tracy cleaned up the living room. She was about to jump in the shower when her cell phone rang.

“Sorry I missed your calls last night,” Kaylee Wright said, sounding tired. “We were trying to find a body in Tacoma.”

“I heard. What happened to Germany?”

“Cut short when they found the body and thought it could be related to Ridgway,” she said, meaning Gary Ridgway, the Green River Killer. “Had to take a red-eye back.”

“Any luck finding the body?”