Free Run Wild by Lorie O'Clare

it.”
    Trent left her for the first time as he walked toward the dead animal. Her headlights were still on and she remained in the truck, wishing the heat would warm her up faster as she watched him stop next to the dead animal and stare down at him. Trent then bent over, gave the creature a closer look before pulling his phone from his belt and placing a call.
    “Someone will be out here shortly to get him off the road,” he said when he returned to her. Then taking his time searching her face, before letting his gaze travel down her slowly, he gripped her door and met her gaze. “Did you do it?”
    “Do what?”
    She watched a twitch play at the corner of his mouth. “Murder Carl Williams.”
    “Was that his name?”
    “He was twenty-two years old,” Trent offered, looking away from her and staring at the top of the Avalanche. “I met him once or twice. He was a kid, in love with life, psyched that he had a job, and spending most of his paycheck on booze. He chased any lady who would let him. He came from Washington State, and notifying his parents was one of the worst things I’ve ever had to do.”
    “It does suck,” she whispered, knowing the pain from having experienced it a couple times herself. “My uncle believes a woman’s touch makes it easier for the next of kin.”
    “He passed the buck to you.”
    Trent was right, but Natasha still felt defensive. “You don’t know Greg King.”
    “No,” he said slowly. “And you didn’t answer my question.”
    She frowned. “Oh no. I didn’t kill Carl Williams.”
    Trent didn’t wait a heartbeat before asking his next question, as if it wasn’t the answer so much as her answering his questions that mattered to him. “Did Helen tell you how he was killed?”
    Natasha had asked Helen not to repeat their conversation and so decided it was only fair she give the waitress the same respect. “She and I agreed we wouldn’t discuss our conversation with anyone.”
    Trent nodded. “She’s the one who told me you’d asked about Trinity Ranch.”
    Natasha hoped her smile was sincere looking. “That isn’t exactly sharing the details of our conversation.”
    His green eyes flared with emotion again, although she wasn’t sure what emotion she saw. It crossed her mind to ask why he suspected her father, but she wasn’t sure the sheriff would be open with her. In a few hours she barely considered herself close enough to him in order to read him accurately. He’d said it was easier to tell if someone was lying in person. But the truth was, it wasn’t possible to know whether someone was lying or not until enough time passed to learn certain characteristics about an individual. Natasha barely knew the sheriff. And all she was sure about at the moment was that Sheriff Oakley was dangerously hot and distracting to a fault.
    “Why were you heading out to Trinity Ranch?” He changed the subject and pulled her out of her thoughts, which once again were heading in the wrong direction.
    She shrugged, then extended her hand toward the heat that now blew out of the vent and warmed her up. “It’s the scene of the crime.”
    “And you were going to search for clues in the dark?”
    “No. I’m not a trespasser, either.” She stared into those compelling green eyes and didn’t notice his facial expression change. Just to be safe, Natasha didn’t dwell on how many times she’d trespassed while on the clock over the years. “I thought I’d do a drive-by, learn how far out the ranch was, then return to my room and do a search online and learn what I could about the murder that way,” she told him honestly.
    “I’ll have all links I know of ready for you to check out tomorrow when we meet.” He looked past her, glancing behind them at the road.
    Natasha caught headlights in her rearview mirror. A large vehicle rumbled to a stop behind Trent’s Suburban.
    “Don’t leave yet. I’m going to help Ronnie get that buck off the road.” Trent started around