“May I ask why?” Nate asked.
For a moment she thought about lying, but knew the truth would come out. “She came in to accuse me of stealing a ring.” Once again she looked at Hawk. He nodded ever so slightly, and she sighed. “I was once engaged to Mrs. Dobbs’ son, Grant. He gave me the ring as an engagement ring. When I broke up with him I gave it back. She came in to accuse me of stealing it. She said she wanted it back. She told me she would come back on Tuesday to get it, but I told her, as I tell you now, I don’t have it. I gave it to Grant.”
“He says otherwise,” Nate said.
“As I told Mrs. Dobbs, he’s lying.” She snorted in disgust. “I realize she’s the mayor of Bringham, but calling out the Texas Rangers for a missing ring seems a little over the top.”
“Matilda Dobbs is missing.” Nate’s words hung in the air.
Jessica stared at him, then turned her gaze on Hawk, who was staring at the ranger with a scowl on his face. “She’s what?” Jessica asked.
“Missing, since Monday,” Nate said. “She told her family she was going to Amarillo for a doctor’s appointment. It turns out there was no appointment. She left the house around seven that morning and has not been seen since.”
Jessica tried to process what he was saying. It couldn’t be. “What?”
“Missing,” Nate said. “Can you tell me what time she was here?”
“Um.” Jessica tucked her hair behind her ears. “Um, around ten? Ten-thirty?” She thought back to Monday. “She was here when Mrs. Cunningham was here, from the bank. She comes in a few times a week to buy donuts. But she didn’t say anything to me until Mrs. Cunningham was gone.”
“And that’s when she accused you of theft?” Nate turned his hat in his hands once more.
“Yes, after she berated me for walking out on her son.” Once more she looked at Hawk. “I didn’t walk out on him. I realized I didn’t love him, I told him that, I gave him the ring, and I left town.”
“To come here?” Nate asked.
“No, I moved to Amarillo, and when the bakery here came up for sale I bought it and moved here.”
“May I ask where you got the money for it?” Nate asked.
Jessica snorted in derision. “It wasn’t from a stolen ring, I assure you. I am mortgaged to the hilt.” She waved her hands at the equipment around her. “Everything here is on credit. I barely keep my head above water.”
“Where do you think Mrs. Dobbs went?” Nate asked.
“She told me she would be back on Tuesday,” she said. “I have no clue where she went after that.”
“And you didn’t wonder why she didn’t come back?” Nate asked.
Jessica laughed. “I figured she’d confronted Grant and he’d finally told her the truth and she didn’t bother to come back. I counted myself lucky she didn’t come back. She was never my favorite person.”
Too late she realized she shouldn’t have added that last part.
“Can’t you track her phone, or her car, or some of that stuff they do on TV?” Aurora asked.
Nate laughed. “We’re not getting a signal from either.” He turned his gaze back to Jessica. “What did the ring look like?”
“It’s an emerald, a huge one, surrounded by diamonds on either side.” She shrugged. “It belonged to Mrs. Dobbs’ family when they moved to America.”
“Do you know how much it’s worth?” Nate asked.
“I have no clue,” Jessica answered.
“Five caret emerald is worth about forty grand,” Nate said. She could tell by the way he watched her that he wanted to see her reaction.
“It was heavy, I know that.” She held up her hand. “Grant used to get mad because I wouldn’t wear it around the house.”
“Did you and Grant live together?” Nate asked.”
“No.” She looked over to where Hawk stood. “We dated about a year, and he asked me to marry him and I admit I was star-struck. His family was a big deal in Bringham. But after we’d been engaged for a while I realized I couldn’t spend the rest of my life with him. I didn’t love him enough.”
Nate nodded. “Is there anything else you want to tell me?”
“No.” She shrugged. “She was here, she left, and I didn’t see her again. Maybe she had a wreck somewhere. I have no clue.”
Nate looked like he was going to say something, but decided against it at the last moment. He nodded ever so slightly and said, “I might be back.”
“I hope you’ll have a donut next time,” Jessica said.
“I’ll walk you out,” Hawk said.
The two lawmen left the building and Aurora said, “Oh my God.”
Jessica looked over to where the retirees still sat, their heads close together as they talked. About her.
“So I wonder where she is,” Aurora said.
“Probably holed up in a hotel at some resort so the police will come and grill me,” Jessica said. “She never liked me.”
“How long were you engaged?”
Jessica shrugged. “A few months. I realized after a while it just wasn’t for me.”
She stared out the front window where Hawk stood talking to the Texas Ranger. Hawk nodded several times, and the ranger kept looking in the window. She wondered if he was deciding whether or not he should come back inside and arrest her. But arrest her for what?
“Damn you Matilda Dobbs,” she whispered.
“Are you okay?” Aurora asked, her concern obvious in her voice.
“I’m fine,” Jessica said. She looked over to where the retirees still sat. It would be all over town in an hour that she’d been questioned by the Texas Rangers in the disappearance of a woman who had come into the bakery on Monday. What would that do for business?
The door opened and Hawk came back inside. He had a frown on his face, and Aurora jumped up from her stool. She grabbed the boxes of cookies and said, “I’ll be on my way. I still have to stop at the grocery store. See you later.”
She hurried out the door, and the retirees grew silent. Jessica glanced at them, and they all looked away.
Hawk came over to the counter and said, “Monday, huh?”
It was horrible to be caught in a lie. But there was nothing for it but to nod and say, “Monday.”
Would he accuse her of doing something to Mrs. Dobbs, as the ranger had just done? Their gazes locked and they stared at each other for a few moments. Finally he said, “I’ll bring pizza tonight. How does that sound?”
Jessica sighed in relief. Take-out food usually meant a Daddy/Little night. He didn’t want her to cook. He wanted her to be his little sweet pea. She prayed that’s what his words meant now.
“See you around seven,” he said.
He made a kissy face once more, then turned toward the door. When he was gone she looked back at the retirees. They all had phones in their hands.
This day was not turning out as she’d planned.
“Do you think she killed the woman?”
“No!” Hawk paced Holt’s office, his heart pounding at today’s turn of events. “I could tell Monday that something was wrong, but she said everything was fine. I never expected to have a Texas Ranger show up at the meth lab and tell me he needed to talk to me.”
“Did he know the two of you are in a relationship?” Holt asked.
“No, he was there as a courtesy to let the local LEO know what was happening. I told him Jessica and I were seeing each other.”
“Was that wise?” Holt asked.
“Do you think I should have waited until after he’d talked to her?” Hawk sat down on the sofa. “That would make it look as if we were hiding something.”
“You don’t think she was?” Holt asked.
Before Hawk could answer, Aurora rushed into the room. “Holt, you wouldn’t believe… oh, hi Hawk.”
“I’ve already told him,” Hawk said.
Aurora sighed. “You must think I’m a gossip monger, Hawk.”
“Not when it has something to do with our fam
ily, no,” he said. “I’ll see if I can get more information out of Jessica tonight.”
“I’ll leave you two to talk,” Aurora said. “I still have to deliver groceries to the cabins.”
She blew a kiss in Holt’s direction, then hurried from the room.
“Do you know this Nate Willis?” Holt asked.
“Never met him before,” Hawk said. “He seems smart enough, and he asked questions, and didn’t make accusations. Although I’m sure he thinks Jessica had something to do with this woman’s disappearance.”
“Do you think he’ll be back?”
“Unless she turns up alive, yes,” Hawk said. “I hate to admit it but Jessica would be the number one suspect if I was investigating.” He thought for a few moments before he said, “I knew something was off on Monday. She told me nothing was wrong, and I didn’t push it. I should have pushed.”
“You would have pissed her off,” Holt said. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. You said you believe her, so I do.”
“I’ll have to have a talk with her tonight,” Hawk said. “It was supposed to be a fun night. Now it’s going to be a huge pain in the ass.”
The brothers said goodbye and Hawk went out to his truck. He ordered pizza and then drove to the convenience store to buy a few sodas and some candy for dessert. Jessica loved chocolate. As he waited in line he saw a few furtive glances from people coming in the store. The town already knew Jessica had been questioned about Mrs. Dobbs’ disappearance.
He imagined the retirees had spread the information to all of their friends, who called their friends, who had called their friends. Life in a small town could be a royal pain in the butt. But they would get through this together. He would make sure of it. If he had to kick some butt to stand behind her he certainly would, even if it cost him his job.
Chapter 5
Jessica sat in her car and stared at her house. She had ice cream in her sack, but if it melted and got all over the car she really did not care. If it hadn’t been for Mags at the grocery store she would have lost it and called Maria Moore a royal bitch and told her to mind her own business.
“She probably killed her, just like that other Coleman woman killed her husband. You can’t trust them, and because her man is a cop, she’ll get away with it. Murderer.”
The woman’s words rang through Jessica’s mind as she sat there. Mags had ordered the woman out, and told her to get her food elsewhere from now on. Jessica might do the same thing with the retirees in the morning, because she was sure it was their gossip that had spread all around town and branded her a killer.
“Damn you Matilda Dobbs,” she said. “When they find you I’m going to slap you across the face. Twice.”
“Twice is a little excessive, don’t you think?”
Jessica jumped, then looked out her open window to where Hawk stood. He had three pizza boxes balanced in one hand. She couldn’t help but giggle, then she pointed at the boxes. “You bought three pizzas? Talk about excessive.”
“Get out of the car,” he said. “I’ve been behind you for five minutes and you’ve just been sitting here. Are you locked out? Is that why you’re waiting for me?”
“No.” She took the keys from the ignition and got out of the car after he’d backed away. “I have groceries in the back.”
She took out two bags, and then headed toward the back door.
“What’s up?” he asked as she put the key in the door and threw it open. “That was a rather, um, forceful opening.”
“I got called a murderer at the store,” she said as she went inside. “Maria Moore.”
“I’ll remember to give her a speeding ticket the next time I see her.” He stepped inside and put the boxes on the table. “Aurora said she’d heard the gossip at the grocery store while she was there.”
“Damn retirees,” she said. “They’re banned.”
“Don’t fly off the handle.” Hawk came over and put his hands on her shoulders. He kissed her forehead and said, “Why don’t you go change.”
She knew what that meant, and she was more than happy to follow his order. She went to the bedroom without bothering to unpack the groceries. It took her seconds to strip out of her clothes and put on a pair of baby-doll pajamas that she kept for Little days. She was rather surprised he didn’t want to talk about Monday night, how she’d basically lied to him. It wasn’t like Sir to let things like that slide. Which meant she needed to be on the lookout for a discussion about the situation.
But not tonight. He never did things like that on a Little night. She left her hair down and padded, barefoot, into the living room. Hawk sat on the sofa, his bare feet propped up on the coffee table, a heaping plate of pizza centered on his thighs.
“There’s pepperoni pizza, breadsticks, and a chocolate chip cookie. But no cookie for you until after dinner, understand?”
“Yes, Daddy.” She hurried to the kitchen where she helped herself to food, then filled a glass with ice and soda. She took her dinner to the living room and sat down next to Hawk. “Do you need anything, Daddy?”
“Not now,” he said. He was working through the pile of food on his plate. She’d always said the man had the appetite of an elephant, but he never seemed to gain an ounce.
He took a drink from his soda. “How are things on the cake front?”
“All nine done,” she said. “We’re meeting at four at the bakery, just after it closes.”
“Good job, sweet pea.” Jessica took a bite from her pizza and focused on the TV. He had old cartoons on, where the roadrunner ran from the coyote. Sometimes she thought he enjoyed watching cartoons as much as she did, although she knew he did it for their Daddy/Little time. Or maybe he did. The cartoon ended just as Jessica finished a slice of pizza.
“You want to talk about Monday?” His voice was deep, and she could tell he was trying to hold in his emotions.
“Not particularly,” she said.
“Then let me phrase it a different way. I want to talk about Monday.”
“I thought we didn’t talk about sex during Little time.” She was pushing it, she knew. She should have faced the situation head on; instead, she was putting it off.
“This isn’t about the sex, and you know it.”
“The sex was pretty great,” she said.
He sighed so heavily she wondered if there was any air left in his lungs.
“I’m talking about you lying to me.”
“I didn’t lie!”
“What’s the old saying, omission is still a lie?” He was looking at her now. She couldn’t quite read his expression. He was angry, true, but there was also concern on his face.
“You don’t think I hurt her, do you?”
“No.” He took her hand in his and squeezed it. “But the Texas Rangers might. I understand her son is an ass, and he’s pushing the idea you had something to do with her disappearance.”
So much for keeping her pizza down. “That doesn’t surprise me.”
“One thing at a time,” he said. “Why didn’t you tell me she came to visit you? And threatened you?”
“Because I thought I could handle it,” she said. “I didn’t take the ring, so I didn’t think there was anything to worry about. Naïve of me, true, but I did what I had to do.”
He continued to stare at her, and she knew she’d said the wrong thing.
“Do you remember when we officially started our relationship, not the one night let’s fuck and have a good time start, but when we sat down and talked it out, our public relationship, and the one we kept behind closed doors?”
“Of course I do.” Jessica knew where this was going, and she wasn’t happy about it, because he was right. She should have told him about Mrs. Dobbs’ visit. But she didn’t want to admit she’d been wrong.
“What did we say?”
“That you’re in charge,” she said. “But this was…” She couldn’t say this was about work, because it wasn’t. This was about her personal life, and she’d given him
responsibility over it. She should have called him the minute Mrs. Dobbs left. Instead she’d kept it to herself. “You’re blaming me for something I couldn’t keep from happening.”
“Wrong,” he said. “I’m not blaming you for her visit. I’m upset about what came after. You agreed to let me care for you, to be your Daddy Dom. To make sure you were safe, and sound. That woman threatened you, and you kept it to yourself. How can I keep you safe if you don’t tell me what’s happening?”
Jessica stared at the slice of pizza that was still on her plate. It had looked so good earlier, but now her stomach churned. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“I am, too,” he said. He got up and took his plate to the kitchen. Seconds later she heard the rattle of car keys. She jumped up from the sofa and raced after him.
“You’re leaving?” She still had her plate in her hand.
“I left something in the truck. I’ll be right back.” He crossed the room and kissed her on the forehead. “I would never abandon you. You should know that.”
She should know it, but thinking that wasn’t something that came easily to her. She put her plate next to his on the kitchen counter. His was empty. Hers was not. When he came back inside she stared at what he carried.
“A composition book,” she said. She sighed heavily. She wasn’t much on writing lines.
“Use this as a journal,” he said as he handed it to her. “Something tells me you have issues you don’t want to share with me, but things you need to think through. Write them down in here and work through them that way.”
“You mean so you can read them later?” She wasn’t sure how she felt about that. A diary was a very private thing—because even if it was called a journal it was basically a diary—and if he wanted to be able to read it, that didn’t set well with her.
“This is for your eyes only,” he said. “I won’t read it, but I want to know you’re using it. All I ask is if writing every day helps you discover something, like why you would keep something from me, you would ask to discuss it with me.”
Jessica's Cowboy Daddy Page 4