Chapter 4

Four

Izzy

We pulled up in front of a home that was adorable in that birdhouse kind of way. It had a stunning fall garden, bursting with yellows and orange colors that helped accentuate the red entryway with a wreath made of leaves. The door was wide open, and I cringed as I watched officers walk in and out. I wasn't the coroner for this area, so it wasn't my scene to lockdown, but I was itching to yell at them. I think I have anger issues.

We got out of the car and started up to the house, but Branson stopped and stared at the silver car in the driveway. I watched him as he walked backward and looked at the back of it.

"What's wrong?" He looked at me, eyes wide as he swallowed. "What?"

Instead of answering, he jogged away and up a couple of steps to the open door. I ran after him, but he'd disappeared by the time I made it inside. I stopped at the closest officer.

"Where is the body?"

"Upstairs. Who are you?"

"Medical examiner," I said and flashed my badge as I ran up the stairs. It wasn't hard to figure out which room everyone was in, with the sheriff standing at the door with his head down like he was in prayer.

It was eerily quiet as I tentatively stepped up to the sheriff and showed him my badge. He stepped out of the way and my hand immediately went to my mouth as I spotted Branson with his hands on his knees as he stared at the bed. Betsy's head sat on one pillow while her body was propped up beside her. She was holding a book in her hands and her ankles were neatly crossed like she'd been sitting there reading when her head simply fell off.

"Oh my god," I whispered and walked to Branson. I wasn't sure what to do to console him. There was pain in his eyes even if he wasn't openly crying. Christian and I had been split for a while and we'd emotionally evacuated the relationship before that, but I couldn't even imagine how I would feel if we'd been madly in love with plans to get married. "Branson, I'm so sorry."

He stood up straight and wiped away a lone tear sliding down his cheek. "I'll be fine. I just want to catch this bastard and have this nightmare behind me."

"I'm sorry for your loss, Detective Crane. But I'll have to ask you a couple questions since you had a relationship with the victim." Branson nodded, his eyes slowly turning away from the bed to look at the sheriff.

"Is this really necessary right now," I asked, but Branson put his hand on my shoulder.

"It's okay. I'd rather get this over with now. Ask me whatever you need to, Sheriff."

"I'll give you some privacy. May I inspect the body," I asked.

"Yes, our M.E. is still on another call so feel free." I walked away from the two men, and even though they spoke in hushed tones, I could still clearly hear every word. I didn't want to be the eavesdropper, and yet, I couldn't stop myself from listening in as I gingerly leaned over to take a closer look at the body. "What was your relationship with Ms. Hardenbrook?"

"We had been engaged."

"But you weren't anymore?"

"No, we split about a year ago and she moved away six months ago."

I wanted to whip around and yell what? All this time, I thought they were still together, but he'd never said a word.

"When was the last time you spoke to Ms. Hardenbrook?"

"A few weeks ago. Betsy…Ms. Hardenbrook called because I'd been storing items in my garage for her. She didn't want to move the boxes twice and was in an apartment for a while. She said she'd found a new home, and we set up a time for her to come by and pick up the rest of her things."

"So, you didn't deliver them?"

"No, this is the first time I've been here," Branson said.

"And how did she seem?"

I saw Branson shrug out of the corner of my eye. "Normal, happy. She mentioned having a new job and that she was dating again." He cleared his throat and crossed his arms over his chest. "I was happy for her. We'd been together for years, but we had our differences. She didn't like me being a detective and said that the worry was becoming too much for her. Betsy never wanted to get married or have a family in a situation like that. I didn't want to give up my career, and that said it all for where we were. We'd simply grown apart and decided it was time to go our separate ways."

"So, the split was amicable?"

"Yes, I guess you could say that. We were both living our new normal. There was no huge arguments or hard feelings if that is what you're getting at. I wished nothing but the best for her and I think she felt the same about me."

"I'm really sorry to ask this, but where were you the last couple of nights?"

"Don't answer that," I said and turned to face the sheriff. "You can't possibly think that Detective Crane had anything to do with this?"

The sheriff rubbed the back of his neck. "I have to ask the question. It's protocol to ask the spouse or person the victim was dating."

"Detective Crane already explained that they broke up for some time. Long enough to be dating someone else or make an enemy. Besides, if this is the work of the Horseman, which it looks like it is at first glance, then it would be more likely that this is a personal attack to hurt Detective Crane, making him just as much a victim."

"I know that, but…."

"No buts. He doesn't have to answer another question without a lawyer present," I said, glaring at the man as I went into full protection mode.

"Izzy, it's fine. I have nothing to hide. I've been working night and day on the Headless Horseman case. I'm practically living at the station. But last night, I was catching a few hours of sleep after working an eighteen-hour day when I got a call from Izzy that the Horseman had left a body at her home. We were in the process of putting her into protective detail when you called."

The sheriff ran a hand through his thinning hair. "Sounds like the two of you have made a very dangerous enemy."

"We've been on this case since the first body was left on display, and we've both been dedicating every waking hour to hunting this sicko down," I said and looked over my shoulder at Betsy. We'd never been friends, and I always envied her relationship with Branson, but I never wanted her dead. "I think we must have uncovered something that is bringing us closer to an arrest. This is his way of telling us to back off. He knew enough about each of our personal lives to go after the people that would hurt us." Not that I was broken up over Christian, but that wasn't the point and there was no reason to give the sheriff that information. It was completely irrelevant, I most certainly didn't kill him.

I shook my head and thought about what Branson had said regarding Eli. He'd arrived fourteen months ago, and the Horseman started killing two months after that. Maybe there really was something to his theory. Shit.

"You're free to go, Detective Crane, but we may have more questions for you," the sheriff said, and I wanted to smack him. He was wasting time looking into Branson. We could use all the help we could get to close this case, but not by having our private lives uselessly turned inside out for public consumption.

"Please have your M.E. send the body to my office. I'm taking over the autopsy, and if you have an issue with that, then you can take it up with your boss. You can also explain why it is that you want to hinder the investigation of an ongoing case in another jurisdiction that could lead to a quicker arrest." I held out my business card and loved that he took it even though his teeth ground together. "The Horseman has already claimed a dozen lives so unless you want to deviate manpower and resources to the cause, I suggest you send the rest of your file to Detective Crane when you're done acting like he's a suspect."

"I'll be in touch," he said.

"I'm sure you will," I countered as Branson stepped up beside me before we walked out of the house. We didn't say anything until we were in the car. I looked at him as he sat there staring out the windshield, his hands gripping the steering wheel, but he didn't turn on the car. "I'm so sorry, Branson."

He shook his head and looked over at me. "No, don't be sorry. This is not your fault, and Betsy and I weren't together anymore. She had a whole new life, and I…well, my feelings are elsewhere." I swallowed as I read between the lines. He really had been flirting with me, and I'd been shooting him down because I thought he was engaged. Hello miscommunication. This would've gone so much smoother if he'd just said they were finished.

"Why didn't you tell me that the two of you had split up?"

"Honestly, I was embarrassed. Everyone thought we'd be together forever, including her parents, who are still not speaking to me. All the guys at work kept telling me not to screw this up. ‘Crane, you really punched above the belt with that one.' Engagement gifts were still coming from people. It just really wasn't something I wanted to talk about or mention to anyone. Betsy had an issue with me going into policing, but the town was quiet enough that she wasn't concerned until I made detective and was always working cases that scared her." He shook his head and looked at me. "I didn't even have to say anything, she saw the local posts about all the bad shit. She wanted to hide from it all and would start in on me about why I didn't warn her that there were drug dealers in town or that a girl was raped. I realized that she wanted to live with her head in the sand and see the town as safe and picturesque. It's a fairytale, and I don't live that way. I can't. Every hour I had to work overtime, she knew something was happening and would start texting me every ten minutes for updates until I shut off my phone. It became a lot and the distance between us grew until it was a cavernous void dividing us." He sighed and started the car. "The only thing I regret is that my work still caught up to her, that maybe if we'd split sooner when we first started having issues, then she would be alive. I hate to think that she was targeted, and this happened because of me."

Reaching out, I laid my hand on his arm. "It's not your fault. We can't control what this psychopath does, and there was no way to know he would go after Christian any more than we could've predicted what he did to Betsy."

"I know, but…."

Leaning closer, I cupped his cheek, loving the feel of the dusting of his five o'clock shadow under my palm. "There are no buts, Branson. We will catch this guy. Let's get some sleep and regroup tomorrow."

He leaned into my touch, and as wrong as it was considering the circumstances, my pulse pounded harder.

"Thank you, Izzy. I don't know what I would've done without you here with me tonight." Grabbing my wrist, he kissed my palm and then started the car.

I didn't think my feelings could get any more confusing when it came to Branson, but being happy that his ex-fiancé was dead and he was turning to me added a whole new layer.