by Barb Han
“I reckon the two of you will fit in just fine here.” He chuckled. It was a low rumble in his chest. This wasn’t the time to notice how that chuckle was a light feather roaming her exposed skin, leaving a trail of goose bumps.
Leah needed to cool it right there. Being in Deacon’s home with his family around for protection was one thing. She didn’t need to mistake his hospitality for anything more serious. Especially with how much her heart protested. She liked his family. They were down to earth and not pretentious like her own parents. She’d always been an only child so she had no idea what it was like to have siblings. After seeing the Kents, she was starting to realize just what she’d missed out on.
Would Connor miss out on a father figure and siblings, too?
“I better call Susan and see if there are any updates on the case.” Leah excused herself to call her colleague. The two had hit it off immediately when Leah had made detective. The occasional lunch was as far as their relationship went, though, because Susan was married with four kids under the age of eight. She had no free time outside of work.
Leah found a quiet spot on the back porch. The days were getting shorter by a minute or two every few days this time of year and she missed the extra sunlight. She pushed a stray strand of hair out of her eyes and focused on the screen. She scrolled through the names in her contact list, allowing her finger to hover over Wyatt’s name. She probably should’ve deleted it a long time ago. Someone else had to have been assigned that number by now. A strange slap of reality struck. It would be incredibly strange to call this number and hear someone else’s voice.
She had so many wonderful memories of Wyatt. He might not have been the man of her dreams but he’d cared about her and made her want to care about someone else again in the process. Their relationship might not have been perfect or even for the right reasons but she got an amazing kid out of the deal. And that wasn’t half bad. In Connor, she would always see Wyatt. He would always be with her. It was time to let go. Leah plucked up the courage to delete the number before calling her friend.
Susan picked up on the second ring. “Hey, girl. I’ve been worried about you. I’d ask where you’ve been but I heard the story of what happened last night near your house from five people already.”
“It’s been a roller coaster,” Leah admitted.
“How’re you holding up?” Susan lowered her voice and Leah realized her friend was most likely trying to sneak away from ears that might be listening. Susan was used to seeking privacy. She’d joked dozens of times that she couldn’t even go to the bathroom by herself after having the fourth child.
“What’s the word on Elijah Henry?” Leah figured she might as well get straight to the point of the call.
“No one can find him to ask where he’s been the past few days. In fact, he’s completely fallen off the radar ever since his release,” Susan said.
Leah’s gut braided. “You really think it’s him?”
“Me? I’m still following the evidence trail. It’s too early to determine his guilt or innocence. I don’t like his connection to you, though.” Susan paused a beat. “You don’t remember him, do you?”
“Elijah? No. Why would I?” Leah asked.
“I was talking to Keeve yesterday or the day before and he said you arrested Henry like five years ago,” Susan supplied.
“Wait. Hold on a minute. I have a history with Elijah Henry?” she asked.
“Yeah. According to Keeve you do.” The news had the effect of a bullet through the chest.
“What else did he say?” Leah couldn’t wait to hear this. Why didn’t she remember Elijah? Maybe if she’d been the one to talk to him instead of sending in Deacon to see him face-to-face, she’d have remembered. After the pregnancy she’d pretty much lost half her memory due to the onslaught of hormones.
“Guess the guy had it out for you after the arrest. It caused him to lose his job and then his ex got full custody of their kid. He had supervised visitation after... You don’t remember any of this?” Susan sounded surprised.
“Not a bit. That’s a familiar sob story, though,” Leah countered. “And I can’t count the number of people who’ve threatened me after arresting them. Pretty much every drunk and lowlife I came into contact with.”
“True. This guy seemed to have it out for you in particular.” She paused another beat. “How many times do we ask ourselves about this? If one of our old arrests came back for us, which one would it be?”
“You’d think it would be someone I remember, at least.”
Susan blew out a breath. “Seriously.”
“I need a favor,” Leah hedged.
“What is it?” Susan’s voice quieted again.
“The names of the witnesses who saw Henry in the area.” She knew she was asking a lot. And she would never put her friend in a bad position if it weren’t life or death. “But if you’re not comfortable—”
“I’ll give the names to you right now,” Susan said.
“Are you saying you already have the names?” Leah was stunned and very grateful.
“I’ve been expecting your call. I have names, addresses and phone numbers. I would be asking the same thing if the situation were reversed. I mean, I’m not saying Dougherty is a bad detective but he’s gone a little bonkers with everything he’s been through. He’s not in his right mind and I don’t think he’s doing his job,” Susan said. Almost the exact same words Deacon had used to express his doubts.
“You won’t get an argument from me.” Leah felt the same. Dougherty was being sloppy and her life might depend on getting this right. At the very least her professional career hung in the balance.
“Dougherty has been saying that Elijah is close to confessing but he couldn’t hold him and they had to release him,” Susan said.
“Elijah?”
“According to Dougherty, the man all but claimed responsibility.” Susan sounded worried.
“Do you believe him?” Leah could trust Susan with an honest answer.
“I want to.” She issued a grunt. “Mostly, I want this to stop. This is creepy. You know? And not just because I feel like it could’ve been you and now with your sitter. The whole thing gives me a bad feeling.”
“Me, too.” Leah didn’t like any of this whether she was ultimately the target or not. None of it felt good and people were dying. “The families of those murdered women deserve answers. They deserve to know what really happened and who did this.”
“I know.” Susan’s tone was quiet now, like they were in church.
Leah got the names before ending the call. She typed them into the notepad feature of her smartphone. She heard the door open to the screened-in porch and knew Deacon was behind her. A moment of panic seized her as she turned to face him. “Is Connor all right?”
“Connor’s great. He’s laughing and rolling around on the floor with Aaron. Rea moved on to her dolls. The little guy fits right in here and even though there’s an age difference I think Aaron likes having another boy around,” Deacon said. She picked up on something in his voice that didn’t match his words.
Did he regret bringing them home to the ranch?
“I have news,” she said.
* * *
“I ARRESTED ELIJAH HENRY five years ago and he says his life went downhill after.” Leah was wringing her hands.
Deacon took her hands in his. “Your friend Susan told you this?”
She nodded, looking straight into his eyes. For the first time, he saw confusion.
“What else did she say?” he asked.
“That everyone thinks Dougherty’s too distracted by his personal issues to do a good job on the case. And that he swears Elijah was about to write a formal confession.” The guy Deacon visited hadn’t seemed anywhere close to admitting murder.
“Elijah flat out told me he was innocent. I can’t believe h
e’d change his tune,” Deacon pointed out.
“Did you mention my name to him?” she asked.
“Not specifically.” Deacon thought about it for a minute. “I’m not an investigator but I do have a decent gauge of whether or not someone’s lying to me. I got the impression that Elijah was scared and that he believed he was being set up.”
“He’s a drunk,” she said.
“He’d be the first to admit it,” he added. “He seemed truly scared, like something big was going down and he was knee-deep in it.”
She studied him. “You’re sure that wasn’t just him being afraid because he’d done horrible things? I’ve seen a lot during my years as a cop and now detective. People make all kinds of crazy statements and then recant later. People aren’t always as they seem.”
“It’s best to let the evidence lead us,” he said. “I’m interested in seeing what those witnesses have to say.”
“So am I.” She produced a text from Susan with names, addresses and phone numbers. “We have a twenty-year-old musician as a witness.” She made air quotes when she said musician.
“None of his bandmates saw anything?” Deacon asked.
“He’s a street musician. Plays drums for dollars and change. I’ve seen him before. He plays at a different spot every night. He’s also been picked up multiple times for disorderly conduct and being under the influence of drugs,” she supplied.
“It’s four o’clock,” Deacon said. “Probably too early to catch him out.”
“We can head downtown. He likes to play next to a taco shop.”
Deacon checked the map feature on his phone. “Who else? Anyone on that list seem respectable?”
“There’s a bouncer, a vagrant by the name of George Washington, and a married father of two. Nick Chester works in some kind of marketing job and lives in Frisco,” she supplied.
“The dad sounds like the most credible source,” Deacon said. “Him and the bouncer.”
“Jax Hanks is twenty-four years old. He’s the doorman at The Sloppy Pig, which is a place we watch constantly for drug traffic.” She caught Deacon’s gaze. “The suburban father is our best bet. We’ll still interview the others. You never know what will break a case open.”
He’d heard that before from Zach.
“Are you sure about us staying here?” Leah asked. “Stepping in to help a stranger is one thing, but this is above and beyond. Taking us in and volunteering to help with Connor. I can’t remember the last time I saw him this happy. He’s a happy kid, don’t get me wrong, but this is...”
“My family can be overwhelming but they’re good people. Last I checked on them, Connor was happily sharing his brontosaurus with Aaron, who was in absolute awe,” he said, and he couldn’t help but smile. He liked that she and Connor fit in so well with his family.
“Kids are so in the moment,” she said on a sigh. “I always wonder if that’s the key to their happiness. I mean, if they’re upset, they throw a temper tantrum. Granted, I could do with less of those all-out throw-himself-on-the-floor tantrums that he used to have and seems to have thankfully outgrown but there’s something smart about not stuffing emotions deep down.”
She looked at Deacon who could relate.
“When they’re happy, they just let it all loose. You can see it radiating from them,” he agreed.
“There was one time Connor’s body literally vibrated with happiness. It was a couple of weeks ago and we were waiting in line to see Santa. Connor was so exuberant it was like he couldn’t contain it,” she continued.
Could he live life in the moment? Not worry about tomorrow? Just enjoy being?
Her smile made him wish he could because it was sexy as hell and he wanted to spend more time in the moment with her.
“Your family has been amazing, by the way,” she said as he brought his hand up to her chin. He tilted her face toward his and looked into her eyes.
“Good. Because from the looks of it, they’re enjoying having you both here,” he said. He was happy.
For how long?
Chapter Nineteen
The drive downtown didn’t take long. Deacon was getting awfully familiar with the highway leading to Fort Worth from Jacobstown. Part of him wanted to argue that he felt more at home in the city than he did on the ranch. That couldn’t be true, though. Could it?
Deacon loved the land. He loved his family even more. It was probably his stubborn streak rearing its ugly head that had him wanting a life outside of it all. Granted, he would always love his family and he wanted to be connected. He just needed to figure out where he fit in the big picture of the ranch. He didn’t have the passion for it like his oldest brother, Mitch, and his baby sister, Amber, had. His brother Will had fallen somewhere in the cracks of ranch life, too. Nate and Jordan were the other two of Deacon’s brothers who were questionable. They had lives of their own, and Deacon figured he should talk to them and see where their heads were in regards to moving to the ranch full-time.
It was already getting dark by the time Deacon and Leah arrived downtown. Dinner had been served at the ranch and Connor had been bathed before Deacon and Leah had headed out.
Connor took to the ranch and Deacon’s family, and part of him wondered if it was such a good idea to mix his worlds in that way. Even though he’d been with Jackie for a year, she’d never met his family nor had Emery. He figured they could all meet once he popped the question and she said yes to being his wife. Looking back, it seemed odd to him now that he hadn’t wanted to bring her home to his family. Had he thought she wouldn’t fit in?
Did a part of him realize that he loved her for the wrong reasons? That he’d fallen in love with the three of them as a family? He and Jackie rarely had time alone until Emery had gone to sleep. He would’ve done anything for that little angel. Including marry her mother, that annoying voice in the back of his head stated. Damn. Was that true? Had he confused loving the three of them as a family with loving Jackie? Because she’d never stirred his heart or mixed up his emotions as much as Leah.
The first stop in the downtown tour was an underpass beneath I-30 along Lancaster Avenue to find George Washington, dubbed GW. Deacon bit down the irony that he was searching for a homeless man who shared the same name as the first president. Deacon also figured the man had mental health issues, as so many homeless people did. He wanted to know more about GW and possibly help the man if he could.
There were a couple dozen blankets laid out with grocery shopping carts dotting the landscape. The place smelled like urine and days-old garbage.
“What’s going on down here? Why are there so many people?” Deacon quietly asked Leah.
“Budget cuts hit the city hard. Quite a few shelters shut down a couple of months ago because grants were tightened up. Money has been hard to get,” she said. “It has especially affected our citizens dealing with mental health challenges. People who don’t have families to take care of them.”
Deacon wasn’t naive and he didn’t live in a vacuum. Well, he sort of did. The ranch was a safe haven and Jacobstown was the kind of place people moved to in order to get away from crime in the city. He’d grown up in a sanctuary compared to most. He got that. Serving his country was the first time he’d seen the other side of the coin. He was proud of his service, and it had opened his eyes to life outside the bubble. His parents had been generous souls and had devoted themselves to various causes. His mother had had a huge heart and soft spot for sick children, animals and people with disabilities. All of the kids had been brought up to help their fellow citizens. Deacon’s mind was already reeling as to how he could help.
“These people need food and shelter.” Deacon also knew that many had developed drug or alcohol dependency. His personal belief was that anyone who wanted help should be able to find it. “A rehab program would do a world of good here.”
“I can connect you with peo
ple who can help you set that up if you’re serious,” Leah said quickly. “That’s the worst part of my job. I see all this need and I can’t do much about it. Let’s face it, arresting people after the fact doesn’t help with the reason they did whatever crime they committed. I’d love to see more prevention measures that would make my job obsolete. I got started in law enforcement to make a difference to victims’ families. And now, after all I’ve seen, I think my time would be better spent making sure no one ever had to go through this in the first place. Does that sound strange?”
“Makes perfect sense to me,” Deacon said reassuringly.
A couple of occupants were scattered around. Leah walked up to the first one they came to. It was an elderly-looking woman who was hunched over her shopping cart. She glared at Leah and Deacon while spreading her arms over the contents, like she expected them to rob her.
Seeing this was heartbreaking. Deacon knew right then and there he had to do something.
“You know anyone by the name of George Washington? Some people call him GW,” Leah said to the woman. Leah pulled out her badge and showed it. The woman relaxed her grip on the cart.
“Haven’t seen GW since the other day,” she confessed.
“Any idea where I might be able to find him? He’s not in trouble. I just have a few questions about something he witnessed,” Leah said.
The woman shrugged bony, rounded shoulders. “Haven’t a clue.”
“Do you know him?” Leah asked.
“As well as anybody could, I reckon,” the lady said.
“What can you tell me about him?” Leah’s voice held compassion and respect.
Deacon appreciated her manner with people. He could see that she was a good detective. And a good mother, that voice in the back of his head reminded. He told the voice to be quiet.
“He sleeps over there.” She pointed to a spot next to a pylon.