Blood in the Ozarks

27. Packing Up

I sat in silence in my room after Cian left. I'm not sure how long. But I sat there until my cheeks dried and I felt completely numb. And then I started packing.

Odds were Jayme Donner was the uck I'd been searching for. All I was waiting on was a DNA match and then I could leave town. I wanted to be ready the moment I got that call. I wanted to go home and leave Little Bluff behind with all my problems in it.

There wasn't a lot for me to pack up, but as with the end of any case I realized that I had wildly strewn my belongings around the room in a haze of exhausted distraction. But slowly I collected each item and found a place for it in my carry-on suitcase.

Once all of my clothes were located and packed away, I moved to the bathroom. Crouching down, I swiped my toiletry bag from the rack under the sink. Then I unrolled the organizer on the counter top to assess what I was missing.

In one heart-stopping moment, the door to my room swung open. Fear flooded through me and all other thoughts were rushed out the door. I grabbed the first weapon I could find and spun around to face my attacker.

A defensive Ortega stood in the doorway with both of his hands up. He'd cleaned up and changed into another plain black t-shirt. The same style and fit as the one he'd forgotten at the farm.

"Were you planning to brush me to death?"

"I was going to shove it in your carotid artery." I shrugged, loosening my grip on the impromptu weapon.

Instinctively, Ortega's hand went to his neck and rubbed the spot I'd threatened.

"You're a real sadist, Ross. Anyone told you that?"

"I didn't have much to work with."

The muscles in my arms fully relaxed and I placed the toothbrush back on the counter. As the adrenaline slowly faded, I began to feel the melancholy creep back in.

"How did you even get in here?"

Holding his hand in the air, Ortega displayed a plastic keycard between his first two fingers.

"I swiped your extra key the first day you got here. You really shouldn't leave these things lying around."

He pocketed the card, clear he had no intention of giving it back. But I was checking out anyway, so who really cared. Keep the hunk of stolen plastic.

I rolled my eyes and went back to gathering my toiletries as we talked.

"Harding isn't staying with you?" Ortega asked the somewhat empty room. "I'm surprised he's not in here with you taking care of him. He didn't go to a human hospital, did he? Abandon you for a real nurse?"

"We're not talking about Cian." I turned to face the man with my hand on my hips and a leveled glare. Cian was the last thing I wanted to talk about and Ortega was the last person I'd want to talk about him with. "What was so important you needed to break into my room?"

Taken aback, Ortega's mouth hung open for a second. As if it were surprising I didn't feel chatty.

Then he redirected. "Uh, the hairs don't match."

"What hairs?"

I slid my own hairbrush into the toiletry pouch, not in the mood for Ortega's bullshit.

"The fiend hairs. They don't match. They're not even fiend."

Trying to zip my overstuff toiletry bag, I pressed down on the canvas sides as I tried to follow what he was saying. "What hairs? You yanked Donner's tooth for his fiend DNA."

"Not Donner's hair. The ones from the body. The original sample."

The hair.

Of course he meant the hair from Hannah Riggley's body. What was wrong with me?