Free BIG SKY SECRETS 01: Final Exposure by Roxanne Rustand

Can we even afford it?”
    Curled up on his bed behind the cash register, Charlie looked up at her, his eyebrows wiggling up and down and his tail thumping against the wall.
    “I’ll take that as a yes.” She went to the front door and opened it to a gust of damp wind. An eddy of dry leaves blew in and skittered across the floor. “Aren’t you coming inside?” she called out. “It’s kind of chilly out here.”
    Ollie’s shoulders drooped and he started to shuffle away.
    “Wait, come back. I need to ask you something.”
    He stopped and turned back with a hunted expression in his eyes. “Got no money.”
    “I need some help, and I thought you might likethe job. It’s just some sweeping, but you could earn money to take home.”
    “Enough for rolls?”
    “More than that. Say, ten dollars an hour and just a couple hours a day? But when the snow comes, you could earn more by shoveling.”
    He beamed. “I watch out for you, too.”
    “No, just some sweeping, and maybe some odd jobs here and there.”
    “Take care of you, too.”
    An image of the hulking man-child as her constant bodyguard in this small town made her smile. “Just the sweeping, really.”
    “No.” He lifted his chin to a stubborn angle. “I watch out for you ’cause of the bad man.”
    A chill snaked across her skin. “What bad man? Who?”
    “The one who comes and watches you sleep.”

EIGHT
    E rin didn’t recognize the deputy who arrived an hour later in an unmarked car, straight from manning a speed trap he’d set up on County Road 33.
    Apparently he’d been successful and wanted more of the action, because he’d been fidgeting and checking his watch since climbing from behind the wheel.
    He glanced down at his clipboard, then tramped around the exterior of the cottage once again. “I don’t see anything obvious. No unusual litter, no places worn down in the grass where someone has been taking a regular position outside your windows. So you say this guy comes at night and watches you through the windows?”
    “That’s what Ollie said. I haven’t seen anything myself.”
    “Ollie. Where is he again?”
    “He took off as soon as he saw your uniform. He’s a little shy.”
     
    “So you’ve got a window peeper you haven’t seen and a witness who has disappeared.” The deputy cleared his throat. “You do realize that Ollie Mattson probably isn’t a very dependable source of information.”
    “I know he has some mental challenges, but he sure seemed convinced about what he’d seen.”
    “We’ve also got a report from about ten days ago, when you thought there was an intruder in your store.”
    Erin sighed. “And I didn’t see that guy, either. I heard him, but he slipped away. I know this all sounds crazy.”
    “Do you know of anyone who would want to harass you? An angry ex-boyfriend or husband, maybe?”
    “I haven’t had a relationship with anyone who might be volatile. Just some nice guys I dated one at a time. No one who would be jealous or possessive. In fact, all three of them are now happily married and live in Denver.”
    “What about business rivals or difficult customers? Any altercations over the last few months? Testy neighbors or relatives?”
    “Nope.” She bit her lower lip. “There was the Laura Warner murder years back. She was my cousin. But five years ago the guy who killed her turned up dead himself, according to the sheriff.”
    “Ahh.” The deputy eyed her with compassion.“You took over this store for your grandfather, didn’t you? Not long ago?”
    “That’s right.”
    “It’s got to be tough, coming back with all those memories. I’ve heard about the Warner case, but it was before my time.” The radio in his patrol car crackled, and he canted his head to decipher a static-filled message. “I need to go, but I’ll file this report so there’s a record of your call in case anything else happens.”
    She nodded.
    “Be sure to lock your windows and doors, and leave a light on