Page 36 of Apple of My Eye

“Yes. All of them. Gone.” Her voice held. Barely.

“Who knew about the notebooks?” I asked. “Because from the looks of things in there, this wasn’t some random people taking things to pawn for drug money. They were targeting the notebooks—and whatever your father wrote inside them.”

“That’s my deduction, too,” the sheriff agreed with me. “All right, Finn, Liam, go on in and get to work. They’ll be dusting for prints, although my guess is they won’t find any.”

“Why not?”Daisy demanded.

“Because a smart thief here intentionally to steal the notebooks probably wore gloves,” I said.

“Let’s hope we’re not dealing with smart thieves. Otherwise, there’s not much more we can do.” The sheriff rubbed his jaw. “Back to Knox’s astute question, though… who knew about what your father wrote in those notebooks?”

Daisy pressed a hand to her forehead. “I told you about them at the Copper Cup.”

“Where there were plenty of people around in earshot. Small town. Word travels fast to the wrong people. The ones who don’t want whatever your father wrote to get out,” Patrick finished his thought process.

Sage piped up. “Between Harper and me, we might piece together a list of who was at the Copper Cup that morning. Most of them were regulars, but there might be a few strangers in the mix.”

“That’d be helpful. I can follow up and question each person who was there that morning.” He handed Poppy his card with his number on it. “Now, Daisy, do you think you can remember what your father wrote exactly?”

“I’ll try.” The worry line in her forehead deepened.

“Yeah, what did Dad say in those that would cause all of this?” Ivy asked.

We all formed a circle in the yard, listening to Daisy telling the sheriff what she could remember, trying to come to terms with it all.

The sheriff took the information without visible reaction, which was a skill in itself. He wrote it all down, asked a few quiet questions, and answered dispatch calls on his radio. He urged Daisy to think through it more thoroughly in the morning,after a good night’s sleep, and to call if she thought of anything more.

While his brothers wrapped up inside, I pulled the sheriff over for a chat. “Any thoughts? Anything I can do to help?”

“Someone knows something. Whether we can find out who—that’s another thing entirely.” He shook his head. “Good sleuthing you did in there, Knox. I wish I had more deputies like you. That’s why Finn and Liam are here tonight. This case is sensitive and involves information Daisy’s dad had that might have answered some long-standing questions in the cold case of my father’s murder. I needed men here I could trust tonight, and sometimes I trust my brothers more than my deputies.”

“Yeah? What does it take to become one? Would my military background help?” I wasn’t looking for a career change. Whatever possessed me to ask, I couldn’t say. As he talked about the training academy down in Billings I’d have to attend for a couple of months, my eyes crossed the yard to Daisy, and a future together we didn’t have yet. I filed the information away for later.

When Finn and Liam finished, they left with Sheriff Patrick, gravel crunching under tires until it went quiet. It was well past midnight now, and we all stood on the porch, trying to stay warm as the temperature dropped.

“You two should head back to town,” Daisy directed at her sisters. “Go back to Ivy’s apartment, get some rest. Come back tomorrow; we’ll get this cleaned up together.”

“Well, you’ll come with us, of course,” Sage said.

“You’re not staying here,” I gritted through my teeth. “These idiots could come back and inflict more harm.”

“I have rifles and I know how to use them.” Daisyinsisted as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “I’ll be fine. Go on.”

There was a brief negotiation, or sisterly argument, depending on how you looked at it. Daisy, being stubborn, refused to leave their family home. Ivy and Sage worried about her safety. Colt stayed out of it. Smart man.

I opened my big mouth. “If Daisy is staying, then I am, too. I’ll keep watch.”

“Nobody is asking you to,” Daisy replied, hands on hips.

“Nobody has to. I’m staying.”

“I’m not a woman who needs a babysitter.”

“I know that.”

“Then—”

“I’m staying. That’s not up for negotiation.”