The Lawman Returns

by Lynette Eason

  “Indirectly.”

  “Yeah.” His father resumed his rhythmic brushing. Clay stroked the animal’s velvety nose. “You can’t sell Nightshade.”

  “I can and I did.” His dad cleared his throat. “And I’d rather not talk about it.”

  “How much money are you talking about?”

  A sigh slipped from the man’s lips. He closed his eyes. “You’re not going to let this go, are you?”

  “Nope.”

  “A quarter of a million.”

  Clay swallowed. “Wow.”

  Silence descended for a brief moment. Then Clay snagged the pick from the bucket. He nudged the horse’s leg and started working on the hoof, digging out the packed-in dirt and other debris. “And you only told Steven. Why keep it from the rest of us?”

  “Because you kids couldn’t do anything about it. No sense in worrying you.” He shrugged. “I had to let Steven know where we were financially because he wanted the ranch. He loved being a cop, but his heart was the ranch.”

  “Yeah. I know.” He finished the last hoof, then put the pick down and straightened. “Fostering kids isn’t going to bring in the kind of money you need to keep this place going.”

  His dad finally looked at him. A small sad smile played on his lips. “Nope, but it keeps your mom busy and gives her someone to grandmother.”

  “Ah.”

  “Her cancer treatments sent us into a financial mess we’ve never been able to clean up. The insurance didn’t cover much. I mortgaged the farm to the hilt, and now I’m barely making the payments. The only reason we still have the place is because Frank Banner is my best friend.”

  Frank Banner, owner of Wrangler’s Corner’s one and only family-owned bank.

  “I see.”

  “But even Frank can’t give me infinite extensions.”

  “Right.” He paused. “We found Steven’s wallet.”

  His father flinched. “What?”

  “Ned’s investigating. Looks like someone took it from him when he was killed. We found it in a trailer on the outskirts of town.”

  “We? Who’s we? And what trailer?” His father’s voice had thickened.

  “Doesn’t matter. When this is all over, Mom will have it.”

  His dad sniffed. “She was going through some of his things just this morning. She has a special box, you know. One where she keeps everything he had on him at the time he died. The coroner gave them to us when we went to...ah...see him.” His dad coughed and his eyes reddened. “She keeps those along with a lot of his baby items. And his wedding ring.” Clay reached out to squeeze his father’s shoulder. “This morning she was just sitting on the bed crying, cradling each of the objects as though they were Steven himself.”

  Clay’s throat tightened. Before he could think of words that might offer comfort, he heard a car pull up on the gravel drive outside the barn. He figured Lance and Sabrina had arrived. He turned back to his father and cleared his throat. “I have a favor to ask.”

  “Name it.”

  “Can Sabrina stay here at the house?” The silence felt thick and Clay almost wanted to squirm. He resisted. “She’s in danger, Dad. I don’t want her alone.”

  “Your uncle would have a fit.”

  “Uncle Abe needs to grow a heart.”

  His father leveled him a steely stare. “Her mother is the reason his heart is hard as a rock. It broke in half, then froze that way.”

  Clay sighed. “I know, but this is your house, your land, not his. Will you do this for me? For her?” Still his father didn’t answer, and Clay wanted to growl with frustration. “I’ve never known you not to do the right thing. Let the past stay in the past. She needs help, so help her.”

  “Fine!” His father threw his hands in the air in surrender. “Fine. She can stay here, but she can’t stay at the house. Let her take your cottage. You can stay at the house. And if Abe comes by, she needs to make sure she makes herself scarce.”

  “The house would be safer, Dad.”

  His father’s eyes hardened. “The cottage. If she’s got danger following her, I don’t want it around your mother.”

  Clay nodded. “I understand. I don’t plan to let danger get that close to her, but thanks. I’ll let her know.”

  He left his father to his horses and went to meet Sabrina and Lance. She smiled when she saw him, but she couldn’t hide the confusion in her eyes. He helped her from the car. He looked at Lance. “Thanks. Anyone follow you?”

  “Not that I saw.”

  “What’s going on? Why did he bring me here?” Sabrina asked.

  “What do you think about staying here for a while?”

  She furrowed her brow. “Here? Where?”

  “I originally wanted you in the house with the family. But my father said no. He’s worried Abe will come by and find you there.” He frowned. “I’ve never known my father to care what his brother thought. This is very out of character for him.” He shook his head. “But you can stay at my place. I’ll move into the house and be nearby if you need something.”

  She shook her head before he even finished speaking. “I can’t. I mean, think of the imposition.” She cradled her wounded arm. “I don’t think so.”

  “You can stay.”

  Clay turned to find his father standing in the doorway of the barn. The man’s gruff exterior covered a heart as soft as a marshmallow. He knew this. He’d grown up with it. The hard shell and the soft interior. So his father’s determination to let Abe dictate how he ran his house bothered him. His father’s gaze locked on her arm in the sling. He shook his head. “Shooting a woman. Ridiculous,” he muttered.

  Clay’s phone vibrated, and he pulled it from his pocket. Before he answered, he looked hard at Sabrina. “Please stay.” The he checked the caller ID. “Excuse me.” He lifted the phone to his ear. “Starke here.”

  “We got him.” Ned’s voice rumbled with satisfaction.

  “Prescott?”

  “Yep. He’d stolen a chicken from the Harris farm and was cooking it down by the river when two hikers came across him. He didn’t see them, but they saw him and recognized him. We nabbed him just as he finished his dinner.”

  “Good, then the county doesn’t have to waste money feeding him,” Clay said. He glanced over at Sabrina and Lance. Sabrina had her phone to her ear, her expression dark as a thundercloud.

  Ned snorted. “Right. We’ve booked him and are holding him.”

  “I want to talk to him.”

  “Now, Clay, you know I can’t let you do that.”

  “Then I want to listen in when you question him. Please.”

  Ned’s loud sigh made Clay tense. If the man said no...

  “All right, but you stay out of sight.”

  “Thanks.”

  Sabrina was still on her phone, her hand pressed to her head.

  “Can you be here in about two hours?”

  Sabrina hung up and paced from one end of the car to the other. Lance placed a hand on her shoulder and Clay straightened.

  “Clay? You there?”

  “I’m here. You said two hours. I’ll be there.” He hung up. “Good news.”

  Sabrina turned, her eyes fiery. “Actually, bad news.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Someone just broke into my grandmother’s house and trashed the office.”

  NINE

  Sabrina wondered if her muscles would ever relax again. Her grandmother had assured her she was fine.

  “What happened?” Clay asked as he helped Sabrina into the front seat of his cruiser. Lance had already taken off toward the B and B.

  “Granny May had gone to the grocery store. Her boarders were gone doing whatever they do and when she got home, someone had gone in and wrec
ked the office.”

  “How did they get in?”

  “The door is unlocked during the day. Whoever did it just walked right in and helped themselves.”

  “Was anything stolen?”

  “Not that she can see.”

  Fear for her grandmother curled in her belly. What had she done to bring this down on the only family she had?

  When they pulled into the parking area of the B and B, Ned stood by his cruiser talking into his radio. Lance had parked himself on the front porch and Granny May huddled in her heavy down coat looking lost and alone. And mad.

  Sabrina launched herself from the vehicle as soon as Clay came to a stop. “Are you all right?” She raced up the front steps and hugged her with her good arm. “Let’s go inside.”

  “What happened to you?” Her grandmother touched Sabrina’s wounded arm.

  Sabrina winced. There was no way she could keep her grandmother out of the loop now. She needed to know everything. “Someone tried to kill me today, Granny May.”

  The poor woman shook like a leaf in the wind. “Oh, me. Oh, dear me.”

  Sabrina’s heart tightened. She couldn’t remember ever seeing the woman so upset. She led her inside and seated her on the couch in the living area. Clasping her grandmother’s cold hands in hers, she asked, “Did you notice anything stolen?”

  “No. Nothing.” She gave a shrug. “But I was only able to do a quick glance before they made me leave. It appears that was the only room that was disturbed. What do you mean, someone tried to kill you?”

  “Someone shot at me today. Thankfully, the bullet only grazed me.”

  “Why would someone shoot at you, Brina?” Disbelief shone in her grandmother’s eyes.

  “We don’t know. Clay was with me, and we think it may have something to do with Steven’s death.”

  Granny May gaped. “I don’t even know what to think.”

  “I know. I don’t, either.” Sabrina looked around. “But I know one thing. You’re going to have to start locking the door when you leave.”

  “But how will the guests get in?”

  “We’ll get a lock with a code. You can give your guests the code.”

  “And change it every week,” Clay said from the doorway.

  Sabrina stood as Ned appeared behind him. “I want to see the office.”

  Ned nodded. Clay motioned for her to follow him. “I’ll be right back,” she told her grandmother.

  Clay took some blue booties from Ned. “We’re going to do this right.” He slipped the booties on his shoes, and Sabrina did the same. Next, the gloves. She shook her head as he helped her slide her uninjured hand into one. Her grandmother’s house was a crime scene. Again. It was all too surreal.

  From the living area, she turned left to walk down the hallway past the stairs and into the first room on the right. Besides her bedroom, Sabrina loved this room the most.

  Or she had.

  She’d prepared herself for it to be bad, but this was— “Oh...wow.”

  Books pulled from the floor-to-ceiling shelves, the sofa upended, one of the lamps thrown on the floor—and it looked as if someone had had a temper tantrum on top of it. Drawers had been yanked from her grandfather’s antique desk and dumped, the contents strewn from one end of the office to the other.

  The laptop lay in the middle of the floor. Even one of the curtains had been pulled from the window. Sabrina blinked hard as tears raced to the surface.

  An arm slid across her shoulders. She knew it was Clay, and she wanted nothing more than to lean into his strength and cry out her anger. Instead she sucked in a deep breath. “Who would do this? Why?”

  “Looks like they were searching for something.”

  She gave a slow nod. “You think that’s why they’re trying to kill me? Because they think I have something or know something related to Steven’s death and they want to make sure I don’t...what? Talk about it? Surely they know if I knew or had something, I would have already told or given it to someone.”

  “Maybe you don’t know you have it.”

  “But they know I have it and want to get it back before I find it?”

  “Possibly.” He pursed his lips and looked around.

  “And they think it’s in here?”

  “Apparently.” He blew out a breath. “It’s all just speculation, of course, but I really don’t know what else to think. You and Steven worked with some of the same kids. Steven talked to Jordan and wound up dead, but you spent a lot of time with both Jordan and Steven, so maybe the people after you think one of them told you something.”

  “But they’re not sure, so they set me up at the trailer.”

  “And when that fails, they keep following you and wait for a good time to strike.”

  “Like when we were up at the caves.”

  “And since they’re not being very successful at killing you, they go looking for whatever it is they think you have.”

  “Which brings us back to this office.” She looked around and shook her head. “I’m clueless.” Sabrina scrubbed her rubber-encased palm down her cheek as she tried to process everything.

  Clay pinched the bridge of his nose. “Do you work at home?”

  “Yes. Sometimes.” She pointed to the laptop on the floor. “And that’s what I use. Or did use.” With a gloved hand, he picked up the laptop, set it on the desk and opened it. Sabrina moved closer to him. “They weren’t after that. They would have taken it.”

  He lifted his gaze to hers. “You’re probably right.”

  “Do you think they were looking for something that would tell them where Jordan went?”

  “It’s possible.”

  She bit her lip. “We better check on his grandparents.”

  “I’ll take care of that.” He got on his cell phone and called one of the other deputies on duty. After a short conversation, Clay hung up. “Leighann Sims is going to check on them.”

  Sabrina nodded. She knew Leighann well. “Good. Thanks.” She bit her lip. “I’m worried about him.”

  “We’ll find him.” He glanced at his watch. “Why don’t you pack a bag and explain what’s going on to your grandmother? She can come with us and the two of you can stay at my place. I’ll move back into the house, and you two can have the cottage.”

  Sabrina shook her head. “My grandmother will never agree.”

  “She will if it means keeping you safe.”

  Granny May put up an argument, and Sabrina had to pull out the big guns. Guilt. “I won’t go without you, Granny May. I won’t leave you here alone now. I thought staying away would keep the danger from you, but it’s not working.”

  “And you think if I come with you, the danger will stop?”

  “No, I honestly don’t, but at least we’ll be surrounded by people who will do their best to keep us safe. If we stay here, we’re pretty much sitting ducks.”

  Granny May twisted her fingers together, her anxiety level obviously through the roof. “What about my guests? I have to be here to cook for them.”

  Sabrina thought fast. “It’s just breakfast. We’ll have it catered. Mrs. Anderson can take care of the food for tomorrow. This may not take long—I pray it doesn’t—but I do think it’s the wise thing to do.” She gestured toward her injured arm. “Someone is serious, Granny May. I don’t want to see you get hurt next.”

  Granny May brought her hands up to cup her cheeks before she let out a low sigh and nodded. “Well, if it’ll keep you safe...”

  “It’s the best shot we’ve got.” She paused and touched her arm. “No pun intended.”

  “But what will I do all day?”

  “Act like it’s a vacation. Put your feet up. Relax.”

  Granny May stared at her as if she’d lost her mind but said nothing m
ore about not going. She simply shook her head. “I’ll go pack and call Daisy Ann about feeding the guests in the morning.”

  Relieved, Sabrina hugged her grandmother. “Thank you.”

  After the woman disappeared to go pack, Clay tapped his watch. “I’ve got to go. Lance can take you two out to the ranch.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “Prescott’s in custody. I’m going to watch the interrogation.”

  “What? Well, why didn’t you say so? Let’s go.” She grabbed her purse.

  “Wait a minute. There’s no reason for you to go. You can just head out to the ranch, and I’ll be there after I finish talking to him.”

  Sabrina pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes. “No way. If Stan had something to do with shooting me, I want to hear him say it.” She clasped her hands in front of her. “In fact, I might just ask him myself.” She knew Ned probably wouldn’t let her anywhere near Stan Prescott, but that wouldn’t keep her from trying. “I want to know if he knows where Jordan is.”

  “All right, I don’t have time to argue with you. I’ll call my dad on the way to the station and tell him what’s going on.”

  “Wait a minute. If Stan Prescott’s in custody, then we don’t need to worry about inconveniencing you. Granny May can just stay here.”

  Clay hesitated. “But what if he’s not the one?”

  She ran a hand through her hair. “Why don’t we wait and see?”

  Minutes later they were in his cruiser heading for the police station. The station now occupied the renovated former train station. Six years ago the town had voted to move the police headquarters to a more centralized location. The train station had undergone a one-million-dollar face-lift thanks to fund-raisers and private donations. Now it was a tourist attraction that found its way onto the lists of a lot of people who stopped in Wrangler’s Corner simply to see the place.

  Clay parked, and she could feel the energy radiating from him. He was eager and ready to face the man he thought might be the one trying to kill her.

  Ned met them near the interrogation room.

  The two-way mirror provided privacy for Sabrina and Clay. Stan Prescott sat at the table, hands clasped in front of him, head bent. Sabrina couldn’t read him. He didn’t look mad, guilty—or not guilty. He looked...blank.