by Sarah Barrie
‘Funny you should say that. I’ve only just had the pleasure.’ Reid’s voice was loaded with heavy sarcasm. ‘He’s a retired judge. So his workers are accessing meth…what’s your gut tell you? Are they buying or producing?’
‘Brian was bragging about the quality, had a lot to say about it. Smells of involvement in the process to me.’
‘You said they’re all out at Carter’s?’
‘Living in vans.’
‘Which would mean…?’
‘If they’re producing, Carter’s got to know about it.’
‘And Hal’s pointing fingers at Jordan…’
‘About that…I brought her up, just to test the waters. Said how I saw her at the club and what an impressive a specimen she was and did anyone know her. Apparently, Dunmore knew her a bit as a kid, the other three are distant admirers. Beau had a few less than gentlemanly things to say about how well he’d like to know her… quite imaginative really. I think he has quite the thing for your girlfriend.’ He wiggled his eyebrows.
‘Specimen? Brett…’
‘I’m talking to a mob of drunken, chauvinist idiots. It fit.’
‘I get it.’
Brett pulled a face and shook his head. ‘Unless you’ve spent some decent time with this lot you couldn’t possibly. Anyway, I don’t get the impression any of them are particularly close to Jordan. Quite the opposite. From initial impressions I’d say the chances of them being involved in anything together would be slim to none.’
‘Good to know, but I’m not making any assumptions yet. What I am going to do is check out Hal Carter.’
‘I’ll access some cash, see what Brian comes up with.’
‘Right. Brett? Take a shower man. You stink.’
‘Yeah, and after that little hothouse meeting I figure I’ve got to be at least half as stoned as they are, so don’t push it.’
Reid sent Brett an amused glance. ‘You smoking it with them?’
Brett grinned. ‘Just enough to make it authentic.’
‘Can’t fault your dedication. I need to go see Jordan.’
‘Of course you do. Try not to enjoy yourself too much.’
Reid went back into the station first, curious to see what Harry had to say about Hal. Martha and Harry were tidying up when he walked in, looking like they were ready to call it a day. ‘Got a minute?’
Harry put down his bag and nodded. ‘Sure. Problem?’
‘Maybe. I had a visit from Judge “just call me Hal” Carter earlier today.’
‘Martha mentioned it. Lucky you.’ Harry leaned on the reception desk, folded his arms and crossed his feet at the ankles.
Settling in for a chat, Reid thought with interest. ‘He has a lot of concern for the community.’
Harry shot Martha a look across his shoulder. ‘Likes to think he owns the place.’
Reid lifted his brow. ‘He said you were friends.’
Harry grinned when Martha muttered something under her breath and rolled her eyes. ‘Maybe he needs to go look that word up in the dictionary.’
‘Is it true you went in to bat for Jordan after the accident?’
Martha slammed the handbag she’d just picked up back down on the desk. ‘Oh, for the love of…that man’s unbelievable!’
Harry just shrugged. ‘So he’s been sprouting his sob story at you has he? Yes, I did what I could for Jordy. It didn’t amount to much more than keeping Hal from spreading his influence too far and wide though.’
‘I’m gathering that would have been no small feat, Hal being a judge and all that.’
‘No. And before you start feeling too sorry for Sean Carter you might want to take a look at his file sometime.’
‘Oh?’
‘Multiple DUIs, drug possession, domestic violence, B and E, harassment, assault…town bad-boy. Here’s another titbit: Sean wasn’t Hal’s kid. He turned up when he was twelve years old with Hal’s latest wife and by the time the wife took off a few years later he’d got himself into a nice little gang of idiot kids, so he stuck. Hal tolerated him because he was useful. I can’t say two people deserved each other more than those two.’
‘I think Hal treated me to the romantic version of that story.’
‘You copped the version that suited Hal. What was he after?’
‘He was accusing Jordan of dealing drugs.’
Harry nodded. ‘Tried it with Neil, didn’t hold. He’s still hoping she’ll be hauled off to prison.’
‘Justice wasn’t done?’
‘Nothing to do with it, though he’ll swear that’s it. Truth is he wants to get his hands on Jordan’s property; extend his own land over the ridge. Jordan might be broke but she’s sitting on the prettiest piece of land in Whitewater.’
‘And if something happens to Jordan she’ll have to sell.’
‘Bullseye.’
He sighed. ‘Right. I still need to check this out officially, but I appreciate the chat.’
‘Anytime.’
Mitch Riley looked sideways from his perch next to Jordan on the top rail of the fence, and took another swig of his beer. ‘Good news.’
Jordan nodded and sighed with a very real sense of satisfaction. Every last one of the sixty cows in front of her were pregnant. ‘It is. I want as many babies by my bull as I can get before I sell him.’
‘That’s not gonna be an issue.’
‘You done for the day?’
‘One more job on. The Johnsons thought it would be decent of them to adopt a brumby.’
‘The Johnsons? What would they know about training a wild horse?’
‘Came in with a mob bound for the knackers. Pretty little thing. They were just gonna keep it as a pet. Found out the hard way wild horses don’t make good pets.’
‘The hard way?’
‘Bev tried to corner it and kind of got run over.’
Jordan sucked in a breath. ‘Ow…’
‘So now guess where it’s headed after all? I get to somehow put it back on a truck.’
There was silence while Jordan contemplated that. ‘Pretty little thing, you said?’
Mitch grinned. ‘Like you need something else to do.’
‘Always.’
‘You’re just a sucker for an animal in need.’
She returned his grin. ‘Always.’
‘Right-oh, I’ll clear it with Bev, bring him out in the morning for you to take a look at.’
‘Jordan.’
Recognising Reid’s voice, Jordan turned in surprise and climbed down. ‘Hello. Didn’t know you were coming.’
‘Evidently.’ He stared deliberately at the beer in her hand, raised his eyebrows.
Jordan’s expression was all innocence. ‘Want one?’
Mitch grinned widely. ‘This the probation guy?’
Jordan looked Reid up and down — she just couldn’t help it. She reminded herself there was no law against looking. ‘Yep.’
‘You want me to stick around?’
‘Nah. Get yourself out of here before you’re arrested.’
‘What for?’
‘He’ll think of something.’
Reid folded his arms, raised his brow. ‘Brave today, aren’t we?’
The man laughed, turned his attention to Reid with obvious curiosity and held out a hand. ‘Mitch Riley.’
‘Reid Tallon,’ Reid returned. ‘You two busy?’
‘Just finishing up,’ Mitch replied. He turned his attention back to Jordan. ‘I’ll let you get on with…whatever. Catch ya, babe.’ He kissed her on the top of the head and vanished with a wave.
When Jordan turned her attention back to Reid, he indicated to her beer. ‘Let me guess: you were just holding that for your friend?’
Pursing her lips against the guilty grin, she gave up. ‘Isn’t there some defence about refusing to answer on grounds I might incriminate myself?’
Reid held his hand out for the bottle. ‘And if I took you in for a blood alcohol test…?’
In exasperation, Jordan
dropped it in his hand. ‘Honestly, how the hell did I end up with you?’
‘Just lucky, I guess.’ He wandered across to the fence and looked at the cattle. ‘They’re big up close. And noisy.’
Jordan’s eyes narrowed at the change of topic. ‘You kind of switch off to it after a while.’
‘Who’s Mitch Riley?’
‘Are you really going to test me?’
‘I’m considering it. I suppose Barrington wouldn’t mind?’
‘Barney wasn’t a —’
‘Remember I have handcuffs,’ he threatened, over her response.
Jordan kicked at the ground, couldn’t help the grin. ‘Yeah well, pull them out too often and the novelty will wear off.’ She saw his mouth curve, relaxed.
‘Your boyfriend?’
‘No, never uses ’em.’
His face twisted and she thought he might be struggling not laugh. He laughed. ‘Come on, Jordan.’
‘Not my boyfriend. Mitch is Mary Riley’s son. You know, café Mary. I’m helping him out on Saturday so he’s been helping me preg test today. What are you doing here, anyway?’
‘I came by for a quick chat.’ His smile faded and he was once again her probation officer. ‘I had a tip-off about you, Jordan. I need to follow it up.’
‘A what…?’ Jordan thought about that; figured it out. Her cautiously friendly mood evaporated. ‘Let me guess: Hal Carter?’ It was more of an accusation than a question. Damn it! Maybe she did need to front him. She caught Reid’s assessing stare. ‘You’ll have to excuse me —’
Reid had a restraining hand on her arm before she noticed he’d moved. ‘Jordan, don’t.’ She felt the steel behind the light grasp. There was something about that easy strength and determined look that made her legs weak and her mind blank, and thoroughly shook her sense of self-preservation. She looked purposefully toward the ute and back at Reid, and saw him shake his head slowly. ‘If I have to drag you back to the station, I will. Is this really how you want to play it again?’
‘I suppose not. But it would probably help if you didn’t phrase your next statement to include doing what I’m told.’
‘I find I rarely have to repeat myself.’
Jordan rolled her eyes and was about to make a rather insulting remark about his ego when she saw the wicked smile playing at the corners of his mouth. An answering grin touched hers. ‘So maybe I’ll spare you five minutes. But then I’m going to see Hal.’
‘You’re going to make me say it, aren’t you?’
She laughed a little. ‘Can I have my arm back?’
With a warning look, he let her go. ‘Let’s go up to the house.’
She led the way and, reaching the stairs, she glared at her resident, nesting goose.
‘Try it,’ she snapped when feathers rustled.
As though sensing mortal danger, the goose stayed where it was, content with a token hiss. Reid quickly hit the stairs behind her, keeping right out of its way.
Deciding the veranda would do, Jordan sat in a wicker chair by a small table. ‘I suppose you already know that the guy I had the accident with was Hal’s stepson? Hal wants payback and he wants my property. He knows if I go to prison he’ll get it. This is not the first time he’s tried something like this.’
Reid took the seat opposite. ‘First, I’m not saying it was Hal Carter that came to see me. Second, the tip-off was that you’re supplying kids with party drugs. Is there anything you want to tell me?’
Jordan couldn’t help the quick flash of frustration that passed over her face. ‘Yeah, it starts with what a pain in the arse this is. I need to go.’
The way he released a breath made her feel like a tiresome child. ‘Relevance, Jordan.’
‘I’d say it’s damn relevant.’ She kicked her feet up onto the table because she couldn’t keep still. Part of that restlessness was the desire to strip the skin off Hal Carter; the other part was purely Reid Tallon. ‘I’m surprised he didn’t just plant some somewhere and tell you where to find them. And how the hell would he claim to know what I’m up to anyway?’
‘So there’s nothing to it?’
Her look was of incredulity. ‘Of course there’s not! Why don’t you look for yourself while I go sort this out?’
‘You’re agreeing to a search of your premises?’
Her stare turned blank. She blinked, exhaled sharply. ‘I think I’ll take my rifle with me.’
‘And now you’re making threats?’
‘Absolutely. Are we done?’
‘Come on Jordan, you can’t always be this hard to get along with.’ At her questioning expression, he added, ‘Mary seems to think you’re a marshmallow.’
‘Mary’s got a weird take on marshmallows.’
She watched the smile creep over his face and was amazed, in her present mood, to feel an answering tug at her own lips. There was something here, she thought, something dangerous and exciting and…completely out of bounds.
‘Let me take a quick look around. If Hal’s simply trying to make trouble for you, I’ll get him off your back.’
That surprised her, as did the little unexpected thrill that ran through her. She shut it down fast. ‘No thanks. I’ll handle it.’
‘Jordan.’ The single word was loaded with both threat and promise. She understood what he was saying: Don’t make an enemy of me. Then she thought of what could happen if Hal Carter found out the truth about the accident – about the consequences for Joel, for Madi. For all of them, because they’d given Hal even more ammunition now — because they’d covered it up.
‘I’m not making, doing or supplying drugs to anyone. Believe me or tear the place apart — full permission for a “search of my premises”.’
‘I’m going to take you up on that. Stay put.’
Jordan sat where she was, fidgeting, for a full two minutes. Then she growled, kicked her chair back and stomped off to get the rest of her work finished.
She’d fed the horses and had almost finished cleaning her second stable when he appeared. She’d been so engrossed in what she was doing — and in pretending not to think about what he was doing — that she didn’t hear him come in.
‘I thought you’d taken off.’
She almost dropped the rake then composing herself, stopped and leaned against it impatiently. ‘I was tempted. Like my underwear?’
His brow shot up. ‘You issued the invitation, princess.’
Funny. ‘Yeah, so…discover anything?’
‘For someone who forever wears jeans and shirts you own some pretty nice lingerie.’
‘I meant…Oh, God…’
He laughed. ‘No drugs, Jordan. But you already knew that. Look, you did the right thing letting me check this out. Now I need you to promise me you won’t go see Hal Carter and do anything stupid.’
‘Okay, promise.’ She agreed easily, then she thought about it. ‘Ah…can I get an absolute definition of what you’d term “stupid”?’
He stepped in, grabbed hold of the rake and used her grip on it to tug her forward. By the time she thought to let go they were inches apart, his hands on either side of her face. His eyes bored into hers with an intensity that made her knees weak. ‘Have I got your attention?’
Attention? She could barely breathe. Her heartbeat kicked up a couple of notches, her entire body turned to jelly and a charge started firing through her body and just refused to stop circulating. He was holding her quite gently but she knew if she tried to move those hands would be vice-like. She was so overwhelmed by the sensations he’d stirred in her, it took her a moment to remember he was waiting for an answer. Eventually she managed a breathless ‘Yes.’
‘Then listen. If you do anything Hal can legally pin on you — just the slightest misdemeanour — I won’t be able to protect you from the courts, do you understand that?’
Protect her? ‘Yes…okay.’
‘If he’s trying to get a rise out of you — if that’s his plan — by doing nothing you win.’ His gaze moved to
her lips, hovered there while the tension surrounding them all but sizzled in the air. Something stirred in his eyes and a muscle jumped in his jaw. Then he abruptly let her go and walked away, before pausing in the doorway to look over his shoulder. ‘Stay out of trouble.’
Jordan just stood there until she heard his car start, then she dropped where she was in the middle of the stable, put her head in her hands, and spent several moments pulling herself back together.
From the mountain, eyes watched with irritation as the scene played out below. They’d gone into the stables. Starting to itch, he twitched nervously, fingers began scratching — arms, legs, forehead. He’d have another hit in a minute, when he figured this out. What were they doing in there?
She’s got a boyfriend.
‘No! She wouldn’t do that. She’s got me.’ He lifted the binoculars again and watched the intruder get back into his car and drive away. ‘He’s gone. He means nothing. He means nothing.’ Where’s Jordan?
There she was, heading back up to the house, alone again. ‘Good, good.’ Relieved enough to sit now, he watched her move through her comfortingly predictable routine.
And she was once again his.
CHAPTER
6
The little buckskin colt stared inquisitively at Jordan and Mitch as they looked him over in the back of the cattle truck. His coat showed hints of rich gold, but was mostly just a coarse, sun-bleached cream. His dark, tangled mane and tail needed some serious work, and his hooves desperately needed a trim. But his legs were straight, his shoulder held a good angle and a nicely set neck came out of it. He was compact, solid and had a strong hindquarter. Those liquid black eyes were large and soft.
Jordan nodded in approval. ‘He’ll do. He can’t be more than three or four, and looks like he’s got that easy, brumby temperament. He’ll come ’round.’
‘Then he’s all yours.’ Mitch unlocked the gate to encourage the colt down the ramp. ‘How did you go with your probation guy yesterday?’
‘Okay…sort of.’
‘Yeah, well just keep flashing those baby blues at him; he’ll be wrapped around your finger in no time.’
‘I was not flashing…anything!’
‘Oh come on, Jordy, you were flashing. And baiting him from the first moment you opened your mouth.’