by Jenny Penn
Lindsay looked over Cooper’s shoulder to the man still waiting in the background. The well-tailored suit that loved the hard, solid lines of his body couldn’t disguise the cowboy hidden within. He was a fighter, and hopefully he was strong enough for the both of them because she didn’t have the stamina to go even one round right then.
Hell, Lindsay barely had the energy to endure the following half hour. She managed. Gripping Cooper’s hand in one fist and Nick’s in another, she clung to their strength, fighting to stay conscious as more people began to flood into her room. Nurses dithered about while a doctor demanded her attention and in the background Carl lingered along with the sheriff and Evan.
They looked to be having a full-on war right there in the middle of the hospital. Lindsay didn’t think she’d ever seen Carl so pissed and couldn’t even guess what was going on. It took all her concentration to focus on answering the doctor’s question as he kept her too busy to ask any of her own. Then it was too late.
Tired beyond measure, Lindsay couldn’t hold back the tide of exhaustion pulling on her senses. Even as the darkness finally claimed her, she still didn’t know what world she’d awake in—Cooper and Nick’s or Carl’s.
Chapter 32
Dennis watched Carl Bryne storm out of the trauma unit, no doubt to go find himself a judge. The little bastard was about to learn the hard way that he didn’t own every judge in Kansas. The Coopers owned quite a few and were related to even more. In particular, the local magistrate, Judge Elkens, owed his electoral win to the boss man just like almost every other elected official in the county.
Dennis probably should have warned Carl that things wouldn’t go as easily as he hoped but it wasn’t technically his problem. All that mattered to him was that Carl remembered to make the deposit. He had no doubt the little man would figure it out. Even if he didn’t, Crugman was still a dead man.
The bastard knew too much, same as Travis. He wasn’t sure how Travis had learned about his previous association with Carl, but the asshole had. While he might not have much proof, he’d figured out enough to know Carl had paid Dennis to slip some happy pills into Lindsay’s mom’s drink all those years back. Then he and several of his buddies had made a public showing of fucking Vicky Lynn in the bar’s bathroom.
That had guaranteed that she didn’t end up married to Elton’s boy. Pregnant and alone, Vicky had nobody until Carl had nobly stepped in to assist her. Dennis didn’t know the details but he had connected the dots when Vicky’s dad died and then Vicky died and suddenly Carl had himself a baby and a whole lot of money.
The man was an excellent strategist. Dennis would give Carl that, but he suffered from the same disease Travis did. He was cocky and arrogant. After a few words with Crugman, Dennis had realized Carl had told him too much. Now the man had to die, but there was no point in wasting his death.
Carl thought he made a perfect scapegoat. On that Dennis agreed. Of course, Carl seemed to honestly think that Crugman was guilty of setting the fire. Dennis, on the other hand, knew that wasn’t possible. Not that it mattered. All that mattered was that Travis had actually failed to kill the girl.
That made her a liability, which was just why Dennis would like to see her dead. That wasn’t happening, making it only a matter of time before things unraveled. That’s just why he’d told Travis not to try to kill the girl in the first place. It was too late now.
Now it had come time for Dennis to execute his exit plan and get the hell out of town. He had some tracks to cover first, though. Glancing down at his watch, Dennis figured the deputies were probably all rallying to the barn, desperate now to get the rest of the cash out. He decided to give them more time to haul most of the stuff out so he wouldn’t have bother going down in that tight, cramped tunnel.
Of course there were worse fates. One was bearing down on him. Dennis straightened up as Cooper came storming out of the trauma unit. He paused in the entrance, glancing about until his eyes lit on Dennis. Then, with a determined look, Cooper strode over.
“We need to talk.” Cooper didn’t mince his words as he stepped up to pin Dennis with a hard look.
“And I can guess about what, but you have to know if Carl Bryne comes back with a court order, I can’t stop him.” Actually Dennis didn’t plan on being around to stop him.
“Don’t worry. I’ve got Evan to handle Carl,” Cooper assured him. “I need you to tell me why you haven’t arrested Lindsay’s ex-husband for attempted murder.”
“Because we haven’t located him, yet.” Shoving his hands into his pockets as he told that lie, Dennis forced himself to remain relaxed and calm in the face of Cooper’s scowl. “We will. Don’t worry, boss man, we’ll find him. Of course it would help to have evidence of his guilt. Then we might actually be able to hold him.”
“Then find the evidence, Sheriff.” Cooper stepped in close as he voice dipped low enough that only Dennis could hear. “I know you can.”
Staring at the conviction in Cooper’s cold gaze, Dennis didn’t mistake the meaning behind those words. It just went to prove that every man had his limits, his price, and something he was willing to violate everything he believed in for. Dennis never would have thought that Cooper’s thing would be a woman.
“Fine.” Dennis didn’t expect for Cooper to actually offer him cash.
The man was more subtle than Carl Bryne, or more naïve. Cooper knew that if Dennis wanted to be reelected, he’d do as he was told. What Cooper didn’t know was that Dennis had no plans to run for reelection. Hell, he didn’t even plan on finishing out his current term.
Dennis kept that information to himself and, instead, played his role with a skillful ease. He offered Cooper one simple nod before stepping back and heading for the door. Pretending like he was jumping to do as he was told, Dennis headed straight out to the parking lot to take off.
Actually he did have things to do. Heading his truck for home, he pulled into his garage five minutes later and waited for the automatic door to lower all the way down before he clicked on the lights. It took him another five minutes to load his truck up with all his prepared supplies.
Once he had everything ready, he turned his attention to the massive freezer sitting in the far corner. It wasn’t plugged in and the lid was propped open, which mean the man inside wasn’t dead yet. Looking down at Mitchell Crugman, Dennis shook his head. Big and beefy with round cheeks and thick fingers, he didn’t look so tough all bound up in duct tape.
His cheeks were red and he stank of sweat, but the thing that always amazed Dennis was the fear that rounded a person’s eyes when they realized they were about to die. It was look he’d never understand. If somebody were about to off him, he wouldn’t be afraid. Dennis would be pissed. Shrugging the issue aside, he reached in to haul the other man out.
The big man weighed a ton and Dennis wasn’t a young man anymore. He managed to get Crugman out over the lip but let him crash to the floor once he was out. Instantly the asshole started grunting and writhing, like he stood any chance of breaking the tape Dennis had bound him with.
“You might as well save your energy,” Dennis suggested. “We got a long night ahead of us and I’d hate to have to snap your spine to get you to be still.”
That threat had Crugman wisely quieting down. Whatever Carl had said about Dennis, he must have painted one hell of a picture because the big man actually cooperated, sparing him from having to go through with his threat. He would have, too, even though the last thing Dennis wanted was to have to drag around such heavy weight. Everything went much quicker with Crugman loading himself into the back of Dennis’s truck.
A half hour later, he was pulling off the side of the highway and parking in a grove of trees that would hide the big vehicle. Not that there were a lot of folks out that late at night, but Dennis was always cautious. That’s why he didn’t bother to talk or explain anything to Crugman as he assembled his rifle and attached the silencer. Only once he was done and ready to head off for Elton’s ca
bin did Dennis even bother to look over at Crugman.
“You know I never wanted kids,” Dennis felt compelled to confess. “But it almost makes me proud to know what Lindsay did to you. I guess blood always tells, huh?”
Shaking his head at that though, Dennis swung his rifle up onto his shoulder and started out for Elton’s cabin. It was time to start putting his disloyal deputies in their place.
Chapter 33
August 23rd
Cooper stood along the hillside’s edge along with the rest of the ranchers and hands who had shown up to watch the scene unfolding below. State police swarmed around the burnt-out carcass of Elton’s old cabin as they combed the entire area of evidence while local coroner inspected the two bodies hidden by the tents the out of town cops had brought with them.
Nobody was saying anything but that didn’t mean Cooper and everybody else couldn’t notice the obvious. Their sheriff along with all his deputies were missing. Thanks to the grapevine, Cooper knew nobody had seen or heard from Rendell since he left the hospital last night. The rest of the deputies had disappeared along with them.
The only one accounted for was Travis Green. According to Neil, Travis accounted for one of the two tents. He should know. He’d been the one to find the two bodies after he drove his herd over to Lindsay’s watering hole. Clearly Cooper’s talk hadn’t gone as well as he’d thought. It was time to discuss building a fence with Lindsay.
She might even be in an agreeable mood once she found out Crugman was dead. Neil’s description of the second body matched Lindsay’s supposed ex-husband. Hopefully it would end up being him but that didn’t mean the situation made any sense.
Why would Crugman return to the cabin? There was nothing left here for him. Nothing left for him to do. Nothing left for him to steal. Those questions shouldn’t have mattered to Cooper. The bastard was a threat and he was dead. That’s all that should have mattered, but Cooper found himself suddenly curious about all sorts of things, like how Crugman managed to overpower Lindsay and start a fire with two broken hands?
Unfortunately Lindsay wasn’t in any condition to give any answers and the doctors didn’t expect her to have much to say even once she could talk. Beyond the smoke inhalation, she’d sustained several heavy blows to the head. Somebody had beaten her. Cooper was beginning to wonder if it wasn’t Crugman after all.
Or maybe he was just becoming paranoid. It had been a long night and an even longer morning. He’d gotten very little sleep and borne an incredible amount of stress. Through it all he’d stuck by Lindsay’s side, standing guard until Evan called to say that Judge Elkens had sided in their favor and found Lindsay competent.
Cooper couldn’t even describe the relief he felt knowing that Lindsay was safe, at least for now. Evan had warned them that Carl swore to appeal. That would take some time. The best thing they could do was get married. That would stop the bastard cold except that Nick and he hadn’t settled the issue of who got to marry her, not to mention Lindsay really wasn’t in any condition to accept a proposal.
Maybe when they got back to the hospital, she’d be more alert. Cooper and Nick allowed Sally to talk them into going home to get cleaned up. That had been four hours ago and a half hour before he’d gotten the call that bodies had been found down by the old Howell homestead.
“I got to get to the hospital.” Sighing, Cooper stepped back from the line, done with watching the morbid show below. He glanced over at Nick, who trailed him back toward his truck. “You headed down to Humble today?”
“I think I better.” Nick glanced back over his shoulder at the mob gathered to watch the chaos ensuing below. “Clearly the situation is getting out of hand.”
That was an understatement. No doubt the police would want to question Lindsay and probably Carl, too. Who knew what that ass would say? Who knew how any of this would turn out? Cooper certainly didn’t, but he didn’t suspect that things would end on a happy note. As if to confirm his grim prediction of the future, Chet waved to him as he jogged over.
“Hey, boss man, wait up.” He came to a stop, looking flushed and annoyed. “Where you going?”
“I got to get to the hospital.” Cooper turned to yank open his door, certain he didn’t want to hear Chet’s response, but he couldn’t avoid it.
“Oh, for God’s sake man, can’t you see that this girl is trouble? There are dead men down there.” Chet pointed behind him, honest concern sounding in the panic of his tone. “You don’t want to join them, do you?”
“Lindsay didn’t have anything to do with that. She’s innocent.” Nick stepped up to defend her, involving himself in an argument that wasn’t even worth having. Typical Chet, he couldn’t let the matter go either.
“Maybe but that doesn’t change the fact that if that girl hadn’t come here then a good man wouldn’t have lost his life and Mrs. Green wouldn’t have to bury her boy, does it?”
“So we should just let an innocent woman suffer? What? Are we all supposed to be as chicken shit as you?”
“Why you son of a bitch,” Chet whispered a second before heaving a thick fist right for Nick’s jaw.
He ducked the blow and landed one that sent Chet reeling backward. In an instant they became the center of attention as the rest of the men turned from the sight below to the fight erupting behind their backs. Cooper knew he should have interfered but didn’t bother.
Nick needed to vent and Chet needed to learn not to push him. Not that they really had a chance to settle much of anything. It didn’t take but seconds before some ranch hands swarmed in to separate the two. Nick was shoved back toward the car while Chet was hustled off in the opposite direction, each receiving the same advice from almost everybody present. It was time to cool it and let it go.
Of course Nick didn’t listen but thankfully he didn’t try to fight his way back to Chet. Instead Cooper’s brother jerked away from the man pushing at him and shot a baleful look across the crowd before turning and storming around to the other side of Cooper’s truck. His brother held on to his irritation as Cooper sped down the highway toward the hospital.
It probably wasn’t the best time to bring up the concerns weighing on his mind but Cooper didn’t have time to wait. He gave Nick as long as he could before finally breaking the tense silence between them.
“You know, picking fights with everybody isn’t going to help Lindsay’s reputation none.” He cast a quick glance toward his brother, catching Nick mid eye roll.
“Yeah, I know.”
The sharpness of that response warned Cooper that he was wading into dangerous waters but that didn’t stop him. Things needed to be resolved. It was time to confront them head-on.
“You know I get scared, too.” That simple statement had Nick’s head snapping in his direction. “But fear isn’t an excuse to go around hitting people.”
“I hit Chet because he’s an ass, Cooper,” Nick explained, his tone making no disguise of his disgust. “And it’s all right to hit an ass.”
“No, it isn’t and you used to know that.” Cooper risked another quick look at his brother. “You need to deal with this, Nick, because Lindsay doesn’t need a man who can’t control his temper.”
“Are you going to start in on that again?” Nick groaned, the sound masking the concern Cooper could see straining his brother’s features. “We almost lost Lindsay last night. Can’t we just focus on handling that problem and leave mine alone for a while?”
“Fine.” Cooper let it go, knowing he’d pushed Nick as far as he could for the moment. “Then let’s talk about Lindsay.”
“What about her?”
Cooper took a deep breath and let it out slowly, bracing himself for his brother’s reaction. “I intend to make my engagement to her real.”
He fully expected an argument or, at least, a little cussing, but Nick said nothing, just sat there glaring out the window and allowing the silence to build. A part of Cooper itched to speak up and break the tension filling the cab but he held back. I
f his brother needed the moment he wouldn’t fill it with noise just to make himself feel better.
“Fine.”
“What?” Afraid he’d imagined hearing what he wanted, Cooper couldn’t help but jerk the wheel in shock as he cast a surprised look in Nick’s. He tried to read his brother’s expression in the few seconds he tore his eyes from the road but his brother gave nothing away.
“I said fine,” Nick repeated with no hint of resentment hardening his tone, which only confused Cooper more.
“Uh…okay.” Not sure of what else to say, Cooper gripped the steering wheel tighter and told himself to let it go but he couldn’t. “So? You going to tell me what gives?”
“What?” Nick started at Cooper’s question, appearing to wake from a trance.
“What gives?” Cooper repeated. “Why are you suddenly so eager to let me be the one to officially marry Lindsay? Last night you had a few choice words for me and now it’s just…fine?”
“Yeah, it is and I’d think you’d be happy about that fact,” Nick retorted, a hint of annoyance creeping back into his tone.
“I am,” Cooper insisted. “It’s just…call me curious. Why don’t you want to be married to Lindsay?”
“I didn’t say I didn’t want to marry her.”
“Nick,” Cooper groaned already starting to get a headache.
“It’s because of Chet, okay?”
“Chet?” Now that made no sense. “What the hell does he have to do with anything?”
“He wouldn’t dare to insult your wife.” Nick shot Cooper a half smile that betrayed his sadness as well as his acceptance. “Being your wife will give Lindsay a certain amount of protection. People might not like her but they’ll be respectful and then I won’t have to get into any more fights, right?”
“Nick—”
“Just say thank you, Cooper, and don’t argue.”
It took him a minute but finally Cooper did just as Nick asked. “Thanks, man.”