If I’d had any lingering doubts about my sister, I no longer did. Our final battle had begun. And I was ready.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

Sitting in my rental car across the street from the Pronghorn post office in southwestern Utah, I had to admit that Teo had been right. Stakeouts were the absolute pits, and worse? This one gave me too much time to think. Other than turning on the engine to heat the car, sipping hot coffee from nearby Pizza Pleasures or snuggling under the extra blankets I’d borrowed from my bed and breakfast, there wasn’t much to do.

For three days I had parked in the same spot to watch post office patrons come and go with their mail. And for three days I had considered and reconsidered how best to bring an end to this chapter in my family’s life.

I was beginning to recognize the regulars. First thing every morning two middle-aged men in cowboy hats strode inside together, leaving the engine running on an ancient Dodge pickup. About an hour later a dark-haired mother dragged two protesting preschoolers inside, probably afraid if she let go of their hands they would leap into the snow banked outside the parking lot.

My favorite was a regal old man with a cane, silver knob glinting in the winter sunlight. He came precisely at one o’clock and held his head like a king. Yesterday he’d slipped on a patch of ice, but as I grabbed my door handle to cross the street and help, he scrambled up and continued inside. I was glad I hadn’t offered my services. He wouldn’t have liked it.

I thought about texting Teo to tell him that so far the stakeout hadn’t been successful. But I didn’t. We had only seen each other once since dinner at Seabank Seafood, and the encounter hadn’t gone well. Just before my flight to Las Vegas, I’d stopped by the kennel to return Bismarck. While my mother had volunteered to keep both dog and girls, Holly and Noelle had gone to Gulf Sands alone. With no reason to break into the town house, Jonah was no longer a threat. Bismarck’s days as our security dog were over.

At Confidence K-9s Teo had met me in the parking lot, leaving me to wonder if he no longer wanted me inside. He’d nodded a greeting before he leaned over to speak fondly to his favorite canine, then he straightened and inclined his head in question.

“I hate this,” I said. He knew what I was talking about, since I’d told him what I planned to do on the phone that morning.

“So you’re really going to confront Wendy?”

As careful as my sister had been from the very beginning, she had not anticipated that the postal service would be her worst enemy. If she didn’t move on before I got there, I knew I would find her in Utah.

“I got a good flight from Fort Lauderdale, so I can swing by Delray and pack a few winter things before I go. I’ll fly into Las Vegas and drive to a little town called Pronghorn. It’s not far from Bryce Canyon, and it’s supposed to be beautiful country, even in winter. I was lucky to find a place to stay.”