Carla's Cowboys

by Bella Settarra

  “What’s this?” Officer Graves frowned as he pulled the postal box from the bag.

  “The money. I told you, I was going to send it back to Mr. Roberts,” Carla explained as they stared at the name and address she had written on the label.

  “You can verify that this hasn’t been touched since the date on that form, ma’am?” Sergeant Biggleswade queried.

  The woman nodded with a smile. “I would have recognized her, officer. No, she hasn’t been back since depositing it, I’m sure of that. I can show you the proof, if you like? Visitors to this department have to sign a register before they are given access to the security boxes. You can also check our CCTV if you need to?” She indicated a camera which was positioned just above them, and Carla noticed that the room had several of them situated over each row of boxes.

  “Thank you.” The sergeant smiled and Carla noticed for the first time that he was actually quite a handsome guy, beneath his gruff exterior.

  “We’ll take it back to your office to count it, if that’s okay, Sheriff?” Officer Graves seemed a little more relaxed now, too. He returned the box to the hold-all and handed the bag over to Dyson who took it with a grin.

  “Of course. And we mustn’t forget this, either.” He put his hand in and pulled out Carla’s journal.

  Sergeant Biggleswade grinned. “I hope you keep details in there,” he told her.

  She nodded. She had even written down conversations she had overheard Jerome having—including his bragging about his part in the robbery.

  “You wanna follow us down once you’ve got your evidence?” Officer Graves asked his partner.

  “Yeah, sure.” Sergeant Biggleswade went with the lady while the others made their way out to the cars.

  Dyson handed the bag back to Officer Graves. “I’d feel better if you hung onto this for a while, officer.”

  The cop smiled, clearly satisfied that the sheriff was keen to follow procedure. He put the bag into his squad car before following the sheriff back to his office in Pelican’s Heath.

  “Can you really use my journal as evidence?” Carla queried as they drove back.

  Dyson grinned at her in the rear-view mirror. “As long as the bank can verify that it hasn’t been tampered with since the day you left it there last week, anything written down can be used,” he told her.

  “What’s in there?” Matt asked, holding her tight.

  “I used to write in it every night. All my suspicions about Jerome, bits of conversations, things that he said and did,” she recalled with a frown. “I even wrote down what I planned to do with the money once I got to the Melrose.”

  Matt squeezed her even tighter. “Good girl.” He kissed the top of her head and she blushed.

  ****

  Dyson took Officer Graves into his office while Matt and Carla waited in a more comfortable room.

  First they counted out the money. It was all there—forty-six thousand eight hundred seventy-four dollars, just as Mr. Roberts had calculated. It was more than a week’s takings as well as a good wad the old guy had put aside for his savings.

  “She hadn’t even taken a penny to help get away from the fuckwad.” Dyson sighed, thinking of the beautiful girl in the next room.

  “She sure seems honest,” Officer Graves agreed as he signed for the cash.

  “I can’t wait to read that journal of hers.” Dyson remembered just how detailed her memory had been as she’d scribbled her innermost thoughts onto the motel’s notepaper.

  “You wanna make a copy?” Officer Graves offered it to him. “I’m sure it’ll prove mighty useful at the trial.”

  Dyson didn’t need asking twice—he shot to his feet and started feeding the pages into the Xerox.

  “You think she’s innocent, then?” he asked the officer, as he placed another coffee in front of him.

  “Sure seems that way.” The older guy smiled as he took the cup. “Got some dang guts, too. That fuckwad could’ve killed her yesterday. No wonder she was running scared.”

  Dyson grimaced, recalling the scene in the woods. They had caught up with the cops at the old, run-down shack just near where the tussle took place between Pearson and Carla. They’d had to abandon the SUV near to where they’d found the horse by the river. Luckily Aiden Fielding had spotted it and called to tell them where to look. They’d been starting to lose all hope of finding her in time when they heard yelling and followed the noise. He shuddered as he remembered the dread that had filled his body when he saw the fucker grab their girl, and would never forget the pride which overtook him when she grabbed that branch and threatened him with it.

  His heart had been in his mouth when the fuckwad managed to overcome her and take the wood clean out of her hands, and he was relieved that the cops had let him be the one to pull his gun on the shithead. He could still smell the fear on the bastard when he realized that she’d won and his game was well and truly up. The cops had heard even more than he had, and it seemed they had enough to go on, although they were still keen to hear her version of events—especially as the money was still unaccounted for. Understandable, really, but Dyson still regretted making her feel so miserable.

  “Sheriff, Matt’s asking if it would be all right to take Carla over to the diner for some lunch.” Lily was showing Sergeant Biggleswade into the room.

  “I don’t see why not,” Dyson replied, looking to the other two for approval.

  “She won’t be running off anywhere now,” Officer Graves agreed, and his partner nodded.

  “That little lady’s been through a lot, by all accounts, she needs to keep her strength up,” Sergeant Biggleswade added with a smile.

  Dyson grinned, thankful that they all seemed to be on the same page. “Tell him to go right ahead.”

  “Yes, sir.” Lily smiled and left the room.

  “Sounds like Pearson’s making everyone’s life hell back home,” the sergeant announced as he sat down opposite his partner. “Turner rang me. Apparently the fuckwad reckons there’s some kind of conspiracy against him. Wants his attorney to put in a counter-claim against Steve Hutchings, saying he’s set him up.” He snickered. “How’d you get on here?”

  “The money’s right,” Officer Graves replied. “We just wanna take a look at that journal.” He nodded toward the Xerox.

  “I’m just taking a copy in case anything comes up we need to question her about,” Dyson explained to Biggleswade’s questioning look. “Makes sense if I can get things clarified over here if you think of anything once you’re back in Wyoming.”

  The sheriff was sure he saw a smirk on the older guy’s face as he nodded his head.

  “Good idea.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Carla sighed as she sank back into the window booth of the little diner. She had enjoyed a large meal and now didn’t want to move. She had been surprised at how friendly everyone seemed toward her, having feared that the whole town would think she was a thief.

  “I didn’t realize I was so famished,” she told Matt with a smile.

  He grinned down at her. “You should take these now, too,” he insisted, pulling the bottle of pills from his pocket. “I’ll get us some more coffee.”

  Aiden suddenly rushed in, almost knocking into the waitress as she brought their drinks over. He had an older guy with him that Carla didn’t quite recognize.

  “Hey, Aiden. Ben, I haven’t seen you in a while.” Matt greeted them as they slid into the seats opposite them.

  “Is your brother here?” Aiden’s voice trembled as he frowned at them.

  “Sheriff’s just arrived, boys,” Maisie, the waitress announced as she took away the dirty plates.

  “Good, he needs to hear this too.” Aiden looked stern and Carla felt a thud in her stomach. Judging by his and his friend’s expressions, something was very wrong.

  “Hey, Aiden. Thanks
again for your help yesterday.” Dyson smiled as he shook his friend’s hand. “Hi, Ben, long time no see. Have you met Carla?” The sheriff slid into the booth on her other side as the two officers pulled up a couple of chairs to join them.

  “Oh, yeah, this is Aiden’s brother, Ben.” Matt introduced them, and Carla smiled shyly up at the stranger. He was good-looking and now she could see the family resemblance.

  Ben was also introduced to the officers, who looked much more relaxed than Carla remembered from earlier.

  “There’s a couple of things,” Aiden began, frowning. “It turns out that one of the horses went missing yesterday. I found it on my way home, assumed it had just broken free or something. Anyhow, when my security guys were checking through the tapes they saw the horse being taken by some guy. Looks like that fuckwad Pearson. He must have found his way up to the ranch and followed me when I went after Carla.” He handed something over to the police sergeant, which Carla guessed must be the security footage.

  “So that’s how he found me,” Carla gasped. “I couldn’t figure out how he’d know where to look.”

  “Yeah, we’ve been wondering about that one ourselves,” Dyson told her. “I assumed the cops would find that out once they got to Sheridan.”

  “But why was he over at your place to start with?” Matt asked with a frown.

  “Ben’s got something to tell you.” Aiden looked serious and the two cops looked up as the waitress brought over more coffees.

  “I’m real sorry,” Ben blurted out. “I had no idea I was causing any trouble.”

  Carla felt both guys stiffen at either side of her and they eyed the poor guy suspiciously.

  “What did you do, Ben?” Dyson’s voice was deep as he stared at his friend.

  Ben swallowed, clearly aware that they were all gawping at him. Carla felt sick in her stomach, just knowing this wasn’t going to be good.

  “I happened to mention to an old college-buddy that my brother had a date with this hot girl,” Ben began. He looked sheepishly at Carla. “I had no idea he’d know you. I’m real sorry.”

  “Tell ’em who this ‘buddy’ of yours was, Ben.” Aiden spoke through gritted teeth.

  “Well, he’s not a friend, exactly, just someone I used to know. I got talking with him in a bar over in Wyoming a couple of days ago when I was visiting over that way.” Ben looked totally embarrassed.

  “Does this guy have a name?” Matt’s voice sounded tight as he asked, and Carla felt even more unnerved.

  Ben sighed. “Steve Hutchings.”

  Carla felt her stomach roil and she actually thought she was about to throw up.

  Ben looked beseechingly at Carla. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart. I had no idea the danger I was putting you in. It wasn’t until I met up with Aiden again this morning that he told me and…”

  She managed to smile at him. “It’s okay. You weren’t to know.”

  Sergeant Biggleswade narrowed his eyes at Ben. “So you mentioned to Steve Hutchings that your brother had a date?”

  Ben grimaced. “Yeah. I’d seen Carla before. She wouldn’t have noticed me but I just said ‘hi’ when she came up through town the other day. I thought she was real pretty, but a bit young for me, you know? Anyhow, when Aiden told me about this beautiful brunette he was taking out the following night I realized it had to be the same girl.”

  Carla gulped. She did recognize Ben. She now remembered him as the friendly guy who had greeted her when she first arrived in town.

  “I was at a bar over in Sheridan when I bumped into Steve Hutchings. I didn’t recognize him at first, it’s been a while, you know? Anyhow, we got talking and he asked about the family, just general stuff, and I mentioned that my kid brother had a hot date with this gorgeous new girl in town. At first I thought he was just being polite, you know—though I’d have to admit it’s not exactly Steve’s style—and he sounded quite interested so I described her to him.”

  “Pity it had taken a couple of days before we arrested the fucker,” Officer Graves moaned. “They’d damaged the CCTV once they realized they were being recorded, but we managed to get it fixed eventually. None of them had got too far as they were too busy fighting over the missing cash. That, and they were stupid enough to think they’d got away with it ‘cause we had no proof. The poor old guy was too badly shaken up at first to help with descriptions so we just had to play it by ear for a while.”

  “So you told Steve and he told Jerome where I was?” Carla frowned.

  “Yeah, looks that way. I’m real sorry, sweetheart. I had no idea I was putting you in any kind of danger. I didn’t even realize he knew you—he never said. It was only when I mentioned to Aiden today that Steve had asked after him that he told me what happened yesterday. I would never have…”

  “No, hang on.” Carla’s mind whirled as she tried to piece it all together.

  Matt frowned in confusion. “So, do you know Steve Hutchings, Aiden?”

  “No, he was at college with Ben, that’s all,” Aiden replied with a sigh. “We never met.”

  “Yeah, we just knew each other—not exactly what you’d call best buddies or anything,” Ben explained, seemingly anxious not to be associated with the guy. “I knew he had a younger brother and I just asked after his family—just being neighborly, you know? He knew a little about my folks so he did the same. It was just small talk, really.” Ben shook his head sadly and Carla’s heart went out to him.

  Something had occurred to her, though. “But if they were all still arguing about the missing money, then why would Steve tell Jerome where I was? If they all thought it was a put up job, like you said”—she turned to the cops—“then surely Steve would already assume that Jerome knew where I was?”

  Dyson seemed to have picked up on her train of thought.

  “Just a minute,” he turned to the uniformed officers who were still enjoying their coffees. “When you questioned Carla last night didn’t you say that Steve Hutchings had alleged that she and Pearson were in on this together?”

  “Oh, shit!” Biggleswade clearly caught on quick. “So the fuckwad’s right—it is a conspiracy.”

  “The clever bastard!” Dyson exclaimed, shaking his head.

  “Are you gonna enlighten the rest of us or do we just assume you’ve all gone mad?” Matt asked with a withered look.

  Dyson chuckled. “Pearson reckons he only knew Carla was here ‘cause of an anonymous tip off on his cell phone. The cops at the station had one too, pointing them toward Cavern County. We’re tracing the cell that was used to make the calls, but I’d bet my life on it the dang thing’ll have Hutchings’ prints all over it.” He shook his head incredulously. “Then, when the cops catch Pearson with her they’re meant to assume that the reason he knew where she‘d be was that they were in on it together. Ever since we took him in Hutchings’s been bleating on that Pearson had planned for Carla to take off with the cash and arrange to meet up with him later.”

  Carla looked horrified.

  “It’s okay, darlin’. No one believes a word of it, do they, guys?” Matt stroked her hand gently as he turned to the cops, who were shaking their heads.

  “Not for a second,” Sergeant Biggleswade confirmed, throwing Carla a wink.

  “I don’t want to be the one to tell Turner that the fuckwad’s right about Hutchings trying to do a number on him.” Officer Graves chuckled as they all stood up.

  “I think we’ll hold that little ace up our sleeves just a little longer, don’t you? It’ll be fun to watch Pearson sweat a while.” The sergeant grinned wickedly as they all strolled back toward the sheriff’s office.

  Dyson opened the safe where he had hidden the cash and Sergeant Biggleswade’s briefcase.

  “Well, thanks for all your help, Sheriff. We’ll be in touch.” The sergeant shook everyone’s hand before they all made their way back out to the parking lot
.

  “You take care, missy.” Officer Graves actually gave Carla a quick hug after saying his good-byes to the others.

  “I always knew there was something odd about Steve Hutchings,” Carla told them as they parted company. “I even wrote about it in my journal.”

  “I think that journal’s gonna prove real useful in convicting them all,” the sergeant told her with a smile of approval.

  “I can’t wait to see what else it’ll be useful for finding out,” Dyson whispered into her ear and she felt her stomach lurch. She turned back to Sergeant Biggleswade, who was about to climb into his car. “You are taking it with you, aren’t you, sir?”

  The officer tapped his brief case. “Oh yes, miss. I think it’ll be our most useful piece of evidence in this whole case.”

  She smiled, content that Dyson wouldn’t get his eyes on her private thoughts. She was surprised to see how smug he appeared, though, when she turned back to him.

  “How are you feeling, darlin’?” Matt asked as they all piled back into the sheriff’s office.

  “I’m fine,” she assured him, relieved that it was finally all over.

  “I really am sorry,” Ben said as he and Aiden went over to her.

  “It’s fine. You probably did me a favor,” she told him with a smile. She gave him a hug, just to reassure him. He really was remorseful.

  “We’ll catch up with y’all later. Maybe a drink tonight?” Aiden asked as he put his arms around her.

  She immediately looked over to the twins for an answer, and was surprised how unhappy they looked. In fact, they were both seething. Was it because she was in Aiden’s arms? Or because she’d just hugged Ben?

  “Yeah, we’ll meet you in the bar around seven,” Dyson replied abruptly in a deep voice.

  Carla clenched her thighs as she felt the effects in her groin.

  Aiden threw her a wink as he left with his brother.

  “Am I free to go now?” she asked once they were alone again. She was astonished at the dismayed looks the guys suddenly gave her. She frowned. “I mean, I’m not under arrest or anything?”