Wife Wanted in Dry Creek by Janet Tronstad

coming through the windows. It was raining steady outside. The faint smell of coffee hung in the air.
    Katrina pushed up the sleeves on the ivory pullover she was wearing. Then she spread her fingers wideand let the sheriff take a good long look. Then she turned them over.
    “I’d never hurt my sister,” she whispered when he finally finished examining her. “She’s my only family.”
    The sheriff wasn’t moved by her words. “An awful lot of violence happens in families. And you said yourself the two of you had your problems. You mentioned you haven’t been in close contact for a long time.”
    “Yes, but—” Katrina looked over at Conrad. “Truly, I wouldn’t.”
    He nodded and turned to the sheriff. “If you want to ask more questions, I think we should wait until we can get a lawyer here.”
    “A lawyer!” Katrina protested. “I don’t need a lawyer.”
    The sheriff turned toward the window. “There’s a forensics team on the way to the house now. They’re going to try to get a handle on the bloodstain. If it doesn’t match either of the two adults living in the house and it doesn’t match yours, we might be able to eliminate you from consideration. The tribal council has samples of their blood and will confirm or deny for us.”
    “I have nothing to hide,” Katrina said. “You’re welcome to take a blood sample from me.”
    The sheriff nodded. “I’ll do that. I have a kit in the car. I’m inclined to believe you for now, though. Mostly because of the boys. They gave me a pretty thorough accounting of when you left this morning. They didn’t mention you going back to the house afterward and boys like that would notice a broken window.”
    “But what’s going to happen?” Katrina asked. “You need to be looking for Leanne. She wouldn’t have just disappeared. The boys and I were supposed to be home by five o’clock. She was making chicken for dinner. I saw her take it out of the freezer.”
    “We’re already looking for her,” the sheriff said.
    “You and the boys will stay with me at my uncle’s house,” Conrad said as he stepped forward. “Just as long as you need to until this works out.”
    “Like I said, we’ll know more soon, I’m sure. It helps that we know where your sister’s car is,” the sheriff said.
    Katrina looked at the lawman. “She must have taken my car. A beige Lexus with a moon roof. I got the model with extra horsepower. Maybe if she’s in the car, she’s running for help.”
    The sheriff took a notepad out of his pocket. “There were no vehicles at the site. Give me the description and I will pass it along to highway patrol.”
    Katrina nodded. She began with the license plate number and finished up with the decal she had in the window saying she was a member of the Huntington Rose Society. She’d joined before she got cancer and never had planted the rose bush she’d meant to.
    “Leanne knew we were coming down I-90 this way. Maybe if we put something out on the road she’d know to take this exit if she drove by looking for us.”
    “I have an old piece of plywood. I can put a sign out with the boys’ first names on it,” Conrad offered.
    “Sounds good,” the sheriff said as he finished with his notes. There was nothing more to say.
    “Why don’t I take you over to my uncle’s house,” Conrad said, then looked at the sheriff.
    The lawman nodded. “Just be sure—” He stopped to sigh. “Well, you know the drill.”
    “Yeah,” Conrad said as he took her arm again.
    Katrina was content to be led. If her sister was in danger, she felt as though she should be doing something, but what could she do? She and her sister had seen their share of tragedy as children and she’d never been sure if that drew them closer together or pushed them further apart. Whichever it had done, it had intensified their relationship. What pained her sister, hurt Katrina. That’s part of the reason she hadn’t been able to be too close when her sister