The Departed

hurt her worse. Can you…”
    Oh, God. Dez felt her heart stutter. Damn it. Damn it. But she let none of that show on her face as Anna asked, “Can you find her? Find who hurt her?”
    “Hurt who, sweetheart?”
    “The lady. That poor lady…”
    * * *
     
    “WE’RE keeping it quiet,” Stahley said. “And we will do it for as long as we can.” He scowled, then, pushing a hand through his grizzled, graying hair, staring over at the small crime unit gathered around the well. “If…hell. If, technically, it has to be if. If it is your sister, I…well, I’ll take care of her. I’ll do that no matter who it is, but I remember your sister. I worked her disappearance, you know. Still guts me, thinking about what happened to her.”
    He slid Taylor another look and sighed, shook his head. “Guess not as much as it does you, though.”
    Taylor didn’t answer. What could be said? Instead of trying to answer, he looked away, focusing on Dez. He wasn’t the only one looking at her, either. Damn near every person there had shot her a look from time to time, and more than a few weren’t even being subtle with the way they stared at her.
    “You got any idea how many freaking weird things have happened in town since that woman showed up?” Stahley asked.
    Taylor smiled faintly. Oh, the man had no clue.
    Dez was still staring at nothing, her face downcast, like whatever it was that held her attention was smaller than she was. Perhaps a child. And she was talking. Some of the people were looking at her like she was nuts. Stahley had more than a little suspicion in his gaze.
    Taylor had an ache in his heart. But instead of going to her, he turned away. He’d already figured out that for some reason, his presence disrupted the flow around Dez if he got too close. As much as he wanted to be there—and he wanted it more than he wanted to breathe his next breath—he couldn’t intrude.
    Hearing the soft thud of footsteps, he looked up, watched as Blake Hensley came over. Clad in a thick jacket, his hat pulled low, he nodded at Stahley then looked at Taylor. “You turn up in the weirdest damn places, buddy.”
    Taylor grimaced. “Yeah.”
    He shot a look over at Dez, then the well. His gaze lingered there, something dark and sad in his eyes, before he looked back at Taylor. “What are we going to find out about this body?” he asked quietly.
    “It’s too early to know anything for sure,” Stahley pointed out.
    Blake ignored him, just staring at Taylor. He knew. Neither of them had to say a word. The man knew.
    Somebody from the team gathered around the well called out. Stahley looked up, sighing. He reached up and scratched his head. “I’ll be back in a minute.” As he headed off, Taylor and Blake watched him go. Only when they were alone did Blake look back at Taylor.
    “It’s Anna, isn’t it?”
    Taylor looked away.
    Dez was staring at him now. As their gazes locked, she started toward him.
    Blake grunted. “You’re not even going to answer me, but I know the answer. It’s her. I feel it in my bones.”
    “You ever going to try to be something more than a small-town cop?” Taylor asked absently.
    “Sure. If Stahley ever retires, I’m shooting for his position. But for now, I’m happy here. This is home.” He shrugged. “Not all of us aspire to fame and glory.”
    Taylor slid him a look as Dez drew even. “You think I chose what I did for fame? Glory?”
    “No.” Blake shook his head. “You did it for Anna. And now you’ve found her.”
    Dez’s brows arched up. She glanced at Taylor. He gave her a tiny shake of his head, but said nothing. Blake might take some damn good shots in the dark, but there was no way Taylor was confirming them. She slid her hand into his and looked past Blake to the other cops. “Any of them know how to process a crime scene?”
    Taylor sighed. “They’ll do.” It wasn’t like there would be much to find. And he knew what he needed to know. It was Anna.
    He’d rather handle it himself, but he had no jurisdiction here and he was already in a gray area, just from all the shit that had gone down. Gray area—hell. He might be resigning over this. He couldn’t even feel bad over any of it, either. He’d meant what he’d told Dez earlier—he might have some rough nights over what had happened to the Moore kid, but he could live with it, especially knowing Ivy was safe, and that Moore would have a hell of a lot harder time targeting other people now.
    He