Wild Horse Springs

by Jodi Thomas

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  DAN WALKED THROUGH the trailer park just before dawn on Saturday morning. He’d put in another late night shift, another night without seeing Brandi. It frustrated him that she was so close and he couldn’t be with her. Their time was short. In days she’d be gone. He’d be alone again.

  After Thanksgiving she’d be moving on to New Mexico to another engagement. She’d be out of his world, out of the state, out of his life. Maybe they’d try to keep in touch, but the absence of her would be painful.

  Dan forced himself to concentrate on his job as he walked through the poorly kept RV park that seemed to have exploded in size lately. He could smell trouble in the still air. The faint odor of marijuana blended with the stench of rotting food and spilled beer.

  In the summer there were usually families staying in the mobile homes. Cowboys working roundup often rented some of the trailers in the spring and fall. Oil-field workers building rigs might stay here during the week before heading back home on Friday after work. A few folks on vacation stopped over for a cheap place to hook up with water and electricity before they rolled on down the road south toward the coast or north to the cool of Colorado.

  But in winter, the homes on wheels were in poorer condition. Drifters stayed here when they couldn’t sleep outside. A hundred a month and free water and electricity if you weren’t too particular about it running regularly. The place was occupied mostly by men trying to earn enough to get back home. Dan rarely saw a family after school started.

  That’s why Thatcher telling him about a little girl here surprised him.

  Dan suspected a few of the strangers sold drugs to make ends meet, but he’d never been able to catch them. Locals didn’t buy, at least not in their own town, but crews doing construction jobs did, and he thought some of the drug business came from neighboring counties. People tended to drive outside where their family lived to commit a crime.

  As sheriff, he did the best he could to fight even petty crime with Deputy Weathers’s help. The two of them had to cover almost a thousand square miles counting land, water and canyons. And having a stakeout in a town this size would be impossible. So he walked at dawn and dusk, hoping to get lucky.

  Dan had put on an old black coat and a cap before he left the office. In the shadows, he might not be noticed.

  He circled one last time. Nothing. The sun would be up soon. With the light, he’d be recognized, even out of uniform. Dan had given up sleeping with Brandi tonight for not even one clue.

  Of course, sleeping with her was almost impossible. The Franklin sisters guarded their place like Pinkertons. He’d called her a few times when he’d been driving. Once when he went over to the Nowhere Club to see if there was any news. Another time when he borrowed a friend’s car and drove out to check on Thatcher. The kid was bored and calling in requests for books and food.

  It was the weekend now, so the construction crew working across from the jail was nowhere to be found. If Dan had to, he’d interview every one of them to find out if anyone had seen two men enter or leave the courthouse on Thursday morning. Between him and Weathers, they’d gotten statements from all but four men who worked Friday. Come Monday, he planned to get the rest.

  Dan unlocked the office door and went inside, just as a foggy sunrise lifted the night. He’d change clothes and still have an hour to be alone before anyone came in.

  If anyone came in. Some Saturdays were so quiet he went home at noon and fished the rest of the day.

  His cell buzzed, and he smiled when he saw Brandi’s number.

  “Morning, beautiful,” he answered.

  She laughed softly. “I thought you might be up. Without you to keep me awake last night, I went to bed early and now, a first in my life, I woke up early.”

  “Want to meet for breakfast?”

  “I’m at a bed and breakfast, Dan. I think it’s a requirement that I eat here.”

  “All right, meet me for coffee over at the diner. Consider it an appetizer for the grand breakfast that’s to come.”

  “I’m on my way.” The phone went dead.

  “Goodbye, darlin’,” he said to no one on the other end, then laughed. “You’re a fast woman, Brandi.”

  It might be the weekend, but he didn’t plan on being off duty unless Brandi had discovered a way they could be totally alone. What would be the point?

  When he walked over to the diner, Brandi pretended to be surprised to see him and invited him to join her for coffee. Sissie was still half-asleep and didn’t seem that interested in her first two customers of the day. If she thought their meeting was strange, she didn’t comment.

  He sat across from the singer and whispered as soon as the waitress was out of hearing distance. “Move your feet over here. I’ll warm them up.”

  She did, and his hand slid up her pant leg to feel her calf. The memory of how she’d propped her foot on his knee while he’d slipped her socks off returned. The thought of every detail of how she’d looked as she’d undressed made him hungry to get her alone. The need to have this sexy lady against him made Dan feel drunk on her nearness.

  “We’ve got way too many clothes on, Sheriff.”

  He tightened his grip on her leg and saw her eyes fire with need.

  “You’ll leave a bruise,” she said low.

  “Do you want me to ease up?”

  “No,” she said. “I’ll take all you got and wake you up for more.”

  “I know.” He moved his hand over her sock. “I remember.”

  “I look forward to seeing all of you. With all those clothes on, I can’t see that tattoo you have on your...”

  Sissie brought their coffee and stayed around to refill all the napkin holders. Their private moment was gone. He told Brandi about the investigation on the fire, and she told him she had a theory that whoever set the fire wasn’t interested in her, or Sorrel, but only the bar. This was coming into the holiday season. Lots of relatives home for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Maybe the club was taking away business from other bars?

  “A Texas Ranger suggested the same theory.” Dan didn’t buy into the idea. The only place around for thirty miles was the Two Step Saloon. Ike Perez had lost interest in the bar lately and turned it over to one of his sons. Word was the younger Perez was drinking up most of the profits.

  “It’s just an idea,” Brandi said as Sissie walked back into the kitchen, “but if I was setting a fire I wanted to burn a while before it was noticed, I’d set it at the back of the club.”

  “What about your van?”

  “I’ve thought about that. It was just in the way. Whoever was pouring the gas probably was drunk. He just got mad at my van for being in the way.”

  Dan smiled. “You interested in law enforcement?”

  “I’m interested in one man who wears a badge.”

  For a moment neither of them said a word. The silence was so loud he swore he could hear her thoughts. She wanted to go somewhere, anywhere, where they could be alone. For the first time in his memory, he wished his daughter were in Dallas.

  “I want to touch you,” Brandi whispered.

  “Where?” He grinned.

  “All over.”

  He spotted Sissie heading their way with the check. The sheriff stood and straightened, hoping he looked very official. “If you don’t mind, Miss Malone, there are a few more mug shots I’d like to show you. When you have a few minutes, I hope you’ll stop my office.”

  Brandi stood. “Anything I can do to help.”

  As he stepped to the front counter to pay, Dan thought he saw something red blowing across the street, almost like a piece of cloth rolling in the wind and disappearing behind the diner.

  He dropped a few bills and gave a quick sign to Brandi, silently telling her to stay put. Then Dan darted behind the co
unter and through the kitchen. As he quietly opened the back door, he glanced up and saw the cook staring at him, but obviously not interested enough to ask a question.

  A moment later Dan was in the alley behind the diner. What he’d actually caught a glimpse of was a small girl, now moving toward the gas station half a block away. She was wrapped in a filthy old red coat several sizes too big. It almost touched the ground in front of her as she hobbled on.

  Dan moved silently to intersect her.

  She didn’t look back, but he could see her limping, forcing her body to move. The child was hurt.

  He closed the distance between them with each step. At the curb, she stumbled and fell into a mound of snow someone had scraped off the gas station lot.

  He heard her whimper in pain as she fought to stand.

  Dan moved closer, and she saw him. Before he could help her up, she cried out and jerked away. In an instant Dan saw the terror in her big, dark eyes. She was more afraid of him than she was of the pain. Like a wounded animal, she backed away, scooting through the snow on her bottom. Pushing herself over frozen rocks.

  He didn’t know what to do. He wanted, needed to help her, but if he grabbed her she looked like she might shatter with fear. Even with her coat on, he could see bruises on her wrists and neck. This had to be the girl Thatcher kept talking about. The one he wanted the sheriff to help, but how?

  If he grabbed her arm and she jerked, she might break a bone.

  Suddenly, someone brushed past his shoulder and knelt in front of the child.

  Brandi.

  “Come here, sweetie,” she whispered, as only a mother could. “I’m not going to let anyone hurt you.”

  Dan watched in surprise as the tiny little girl climbed into Brandi’s waiting embrace. Her dirty, birdlike arms wrapped around the singer’s neck and held on for dear life.

  “It’s all right, baby. You’re safe now,” Brandi whispered as she rocked the child. “No one is going to hurt you. I won’t let them.”

  He didn’t move as she picked the child up and slowly walked toward the front of the diner. Dan followed as Brandi hummed and the little girl held on tightly to her.

  “Don’t you worry, sweetie. I’m going to take you somewhere warm, and we’ll have something to eat.” Brandi’s voice was as smooth as silk. “If you like, we could ask your mother to join us.”

  The child shook her head. “I don’t know where she is.”

  Brandi hugged her close. “We’ll find her. How about we have pancakes while we wait. I know how to make a smiling face on the pancake.”

  Dan followed, trying to get a grip on what had just happened. In a low voice, he said, “I’ll get the nurse from the clinic and meet you at the B and B.”

  Brandi looked up at him and nodded. He couldn’t miss the tears running down her face as she whispered to the little girl. “You’re safe now, baby. No one is going to hurt you. I promise. I’ll carry you all the way to my place, and we’ll get warm.”

  As Brandi walked down the still-sleeping street, Dan ran to his car and headed toward the clinic. He drove, hitting the number for the clinic and swearing while he waited for an answer. After several rings, the nurse practitioner picked up. She ran the clinic only until noon on Saturday, so she always came in early to have everything ready.

  When he explained why he needed her, she said she’d be waiting on the porch. When he pulled up a few minutes later, she was taping a note to the door.

  An hour later, after the child had been examined, bathed, doctored and fed a few bites, she fell asleep with her head on Brandi’s lap and her thin hand wrapped tightly around two of Brandi’s fingers.

  Dan forced himself to leave them and stepped into the hallway with the nurse. The little girl who’d been so afraid of him had trusted Brandi immediately, and the singer had a way with the child that seemed magic.

  As soon as Dan closed the hallway door, the nurse began her report without waiting for him to ask questions. “The child was beaten. I’ve seen belt marks like that across a child’s back before. Only these go down her legs, as well. Some cut so deep they broke skin, and they’re now infected. As near as I can tell from the dried blood, the wounds have had no care. They haven’t even been washed. Another day or two and we’d have real damage here.”

  “Did she say anything?”

  “Not a word.” The hardened nurse was fighting back anger and tears. “She’s showing signs of being starved. No one, Sheriff, is looking after this kid. No one who has an ounce of human being left in them.” She lifted her cell. “I took pictures. I’m betting you’ll need them.”

  “Have any idea why she was out in the cold?”

  The nurse nodded. “We found scraps from the diner trash in her pocket.”

  “I’ll call family services. They’ll send someone to get her.”

  The nurse shook her head. “She won’t let go of that lady in there. Let the child rest and heal a little before you make the call. Right now, she’s been hurt so badly I’m afraid she’s more animal than human. If you pull her away from the one person she trusts, I’m not sure what might happen.”

  Dan dealt with a load of shit sometimes in his job, but this...this made him furious. “I’ll give it time. If there is a parent or anyone who cares about her, they’ll drop by my office or call 911.”

  The nurse shook her heard. “I’m betting no one will be looking for her.”

  The words Thatcher had told him one of the kidnappers said echoed in his head. The guy bragged that they took turns beating the kid for letting Thatcher follow her home. The kidnapper Thatcher had called Shorty had sounded disappointed when he’d told Thatcher that she wouldn’t even scream by the time it was his turn to beat her.

  Crimes were piling up in Dan’s county, but right now, this one was his top priority. If he found the man who tried to kidnap Thatcher, he’d also have at least one of the men who’d beaten the child.

  He looked back in Brandi’s room and saw the woman he thought of as wild. She was tenderly moving her hand over the child’s hair as she hummed a gospel tune, and he knew that if he even thought of taking the girl away, he’d be fighting her as well as the kid.

  There was far more to Brandi Malone than a wild side, and Dan found himself wanting to get to know her from all sides.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  WHEN THATCHER SAW the sheriff’s number, he answered his phone on the first ring.

  “We got her,” Brigman shouted. “The little girl in the red coat. She’s at the B and B. She’s safe.”

  “Thank God.” Thatcher pinched his nose to force back tears. “Is she all right? I’ve been worried. If they could get to me in the jail, no telling what they did to her.”

  “She will be. They must have beaten her the day they saw you talking to her. She could barely walk when I saw her, but I had the nurse treat her cuts and she’s resting now. She’s in good hands.” Dan let his words sink in before he asked Thatcher, “Did she talk to you? We can’t get her to say a word.”

  “Not much, Sheriff. She told me that she missed her mommy and her dolls. When I asked, she said the man she’s with says he’s her daddy, but she doesn’t think he is. She said her mommy always said she didn’t have a daddy.”

  “Why?” Brigman shot the question.

  “That’s what I asked. She said it was because when he took her away, her mommy was crying.”

  “Did she tell you her name?” Dan needed a direction, a clue.

  Thatcher shook his head, then remembered he was on the phone. “Nope. I asked twice, too. Said she wasn’t supposed to tell people her name or that she was from Oklahoma. That’s all I know, Sheriff.”

  “You did good, Thatcher. I’ve got a lead.” Dan changed the subject. “How are things where you are?”

  “Pretty crazy. I’ve neve
r seen married people yell so much. They act like they’ve never had a conversation before. Cody’s in a hell of a bad mood, and she don’t take no lip.”

  Dan laughed. “Wait until you’re in their place one day, son. The first year of marriage isn’t always easy, but it’s interesting.”

  Thatcher snorted, then groaned when he bumped his elbow on the couch’s arm. “I think the Civil War was quieter than this place. It might be because they’re both rangers and used to being bossy as hell. The last fight was because he wouldn’t sit down and rest. Cody’s got a leg in a cast, broken ribs and who knows what else, but he hasn’t stopped marching around like a handicapped sentry on duty. The fight this morning was over her alphabetizing the canned goods. He yells about her running his life, but from what I see he hasn’t been doing much since he was shot up three years ago. And Tess is one of those women who is always busy. Gives me the feeling I’ll be swept under the rug with the rest of the dirt if I don’t keep moving. When she’s not telling Cody what to do, she’s doing something to make the man furious.”

  “True love doesn’t always run smooth, Thatcher. My wife and I fought our whole first year of marriage. Only problem was, we never stopped.”

  “Smooth, hell. If Kristi ever calls me back, I’m going to break up with her. I don’t think my ears could take this kind of true love. Sheriff, I don’t want to be ungrateful, but do you think you could come get me? I’d rather take my chances with Slim and Shorty than stay around here.”

  “I don’t hear any yelling now, Thatcher. Are you sure you’re not exaggerating?”

  “Maybe a little, but not much. They went in the bedroom to fight it out. She said she was going to organize his drawers and he said, ‘Over my dead body.’ I haven’t heard anything for a while, so I’m guessing one of them killed the other one. I’m so bored I’ve started talking to the bull snake in the box by the door.”

  Dan laughed. “Hang in there, kid. I’m working on getting you out of there. While I’ve got you on the line, I want you to think about every detail when you took that little girl home. Describe the trailer she was standing in front of. What color was it? Any markings? Any cars in front? Any sounds you heard? I know you left out details because you thought you were protecting her, but she’s safe now. I need to catch these guys and to do that I need the whole story.”