Page 23 of Indigo Ridge (The Edens 1)

“This is a huge ranch. It’s impossible to keep track of traffic.” His jaw clenched. “Why are you asking?”

I looked up and down the gravel road. There wasn’t a vehicle in sight that might have belonged to the girl. She’d been barefoot. Where were her shoes?

“I’m simply asking questions.” That’s why I was here.

“That girl jumped to her death. Her mother is probably worried sick about her. How about you stop asking questions and start providing answers?”

“How about I leave the ranching to you? And you leave investigations to me? I’m just doing my job.”

He scoffed. “You want to do your job, go tell Lily’s mother. Anything else is a waste of fucking time.”

Without another word, he stormed away, marching to his truck. He left me standing in a field, watching his taillights disappear.

“That went well,” I muttered. “Shit.”

I tipped my head to the sky.

Maybe this wasn’t how the previous chief would have handled it. Maybe he would have taken one look at that poor girl and known it was suicide. But . . .

“I’m the chief now.” And we’d do things my way.

Whether Griffin Eden liked it or not.

Chapter Four

Griffin

The ice-cold beer bottle had barely skimmed my lips when the doorbell rang.

“Christ,” I grumbled. “Now what?”

It had been a hell of a long day and I wasn’t in the mood for visitors. But it was probably an employee—the members of my family didn’t know how to ring doorbells—so ignoring my guest wasn’t an option.

With my beer bottle in hand, I padded down the hallway to the door in my bare feet. If I was lucky, a rare occurrence, I wouldn’t have to put my boots back on for whatever this visit entailed.

There were times when it would be nice to put some space between home and work. To live off the ranch where I wasn’t as easily accessible—to the staff or my family. But there wasn’t a place on earth I’d rather be than on this ranch. Even when people showed up at my doorstep unannounced.

I pulled the door open, expecting, well . . . anyone else besides Winslow.

Her eyes, the color of ripe blueberries, seemed bluer in the fading evening light. One look at her beautiful face, and for a moment, I forgot to breathe.

“Hi,” she said.

I tipped the bottle to my lips. Then I chugged.

Drinking seemed necessary around this woman.

Probably not a brilliant decision considering alcohol was the reason I’d gotten into this mess with her in the first place, but one look at those eyes and that silky hair and my cock twitched beneath my jeans.

Why the fuck couldn’t I control myself around her?

Her pretty gaze narrowed as I gulped half my beer. “Thirsty?”

I forced the bottle away from my lips. “Something like that.”

There was no need to ask her how she knew where I lived. Not only could she look it up in her database at the station, but anyone in Quincy could give her directions. Hell, three minutes on Main and she’d likely bump into a relative. Finding an Eden in this town was about as easy as looking for leaves on a tree in June.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.