The Stolen Bride

by Jacqueline Diamond

Although he carried a gun, he didn’t want to risk a shoot-out in the middle of nowhere. While he hated to lead whoever was tailing them to his house, his property would offer cover and a chance for Erin to escape inside.

  The funny thing was, the vehicle seemed familiar. Not just because he’d seen it earlier today, either. That particular make, that beige paint—well, they were common enough. The only thing he could say for sure was that the figure behind the wheel didn’t appear as large as Chet.

  Maybe it was another resident. Although the houses were set far apart, including vacation cabins that frequently lay empty, it was possible the guy lived nearby. Maybe that was where Joseph had seen the car before.

  They passed one driveway, then another. The vehicle didn’t turn. Finally, the only one left was Joseph’s.

  “Looks like we’ve got a visitor.”

  “Can’t you call someone?” Erin kept low, as he’d instructed. “Cops can call 911, can’t they?”

  “Sure. Or I could use my radio. But I’ve been out conducting an investigation against the chief’s orders, and I’ve got a feeling whoever’s behind us wants to talk about it,” Joseph said. “I’m not real eager to bring in the rest of the department unless things get sticky.”

  “Okay,” Erin said. “I didn’t mean to cause trouble for you.”

  “If there’s any trouble, I caused it for myself.”

  He hoped his decision not to call for help wasn’t putting her in unnecessary danger. For himself, Joseph never worried. Except for the pain it would cause his mother, he didn’t fear death nearly as much as disgrace or false imprisonment, the fate his father had endured.

  His driveway wound uphill through dense woods. Normally, Joseph enjoyed the sense of leaving civilization behind. In all but the worst weather, he rolled down the windows to enjoy the twitter of birds and the scent of pines. Not today.

  With Erin at risk, he had to assume that whoever was tailing them might turn nasty. He made some quick calculations.

  “You may have to duck inside,” he said. “There’s a spare gun in the bedroom, in the nightstand.”

  “I don’t like guns,” Erin said.

  “Ever fired one?”

  She nodded. “My dad took me to a shooting range a couple of times. He said I needed to know how to protect myself.”

  “Watch out for the recoil,” he told her. “It’s a .38. That’s powerful but we don’t know if this guy’s on drugs, so if you have to shoot him, fire at least two or three rounds. One bullet might not stop him.”

  “You’re scaring me.”

  “Don’t get scared. Get mad.” He’d adopted that slogan as a teenager, and it had served him well. “Okay, enough of the pep talk. When I turn off the motor, I’ll hand you the keys. There are two, one for the car, one for the door. Stay out of sight until I give the word, then bolt for the house. He may not know you’re here, so you’ve got surprise on your side. The bedroom’s the first door to the right.”

  “Thanks,” Erin said. “I’ll be okay as long as I know the plan.” She sounded steady and determined. Joseph respected people who kept their heads in an emergency.

  Cresting the hill, they came within sight of the cabin. A gravel clearing fronted the wood-and-stone building, which had a carport situated on the far side.

  “I’m going to stop in front of the porch,” Joseph said. “If you have to duck out the door, you’ll be right there.” Pulling into the carport would have given him more cover but would slash Erin’s chances of making it inside. “Don’t go until I tell you to.”

  “I won’t.”

  So far, there’d been nothing threatening about their pursuer other than the fact that he was following them. Unexpectedly, the other car jolted forward, almost hitting Joseph’s bumper. It felt like a threat.

  In the rearview mirror, the driver’s eyes met Joseph’s. Cold fury radiated at him.

  At least he understood why he’d recognized the car. The man behind the wheel was Edgar Norris.

  Judging by the chief’s taut jaw and the angry gesture with his car, he was royally ticked about having his orders disobeyed. That didn’t explain why he’d left the wedding and lit out after them. Or why he emerged from the car with one hand hovering near his gun.

  Eleven years ago, as detective lieutenant, Norris had headed the investigation into the robbery-murder of jewelry store owner Binh Nguyen. It was Norris who’d evaluated the evidence against Lewis Lowery, recommended that he be charged and sat at the prosecutor’s side during much of the trial.

  He’d never liked Joseph, but he’d always treated him fairly. In return, Joseph had given the chief the benefit of the doubt. Although he was certain his father had been framed, he’d assumed Norris simply failed to recognize that.

  Now he wondered if he’d been wrong. And whether his shortsightedness was going to get him and Erin killed.

  Chapter Five

  Joseph stopped in front of the porch. “Remember the plan,” he told Erin in a low voice.

  “You bet.” She didn’t chatter or seek reassurance. Not that he would mind comforting her, but not under the circumstances. “Can you tell who it is?”

  “It’s the chief.”

  “Why would he follow us?”

  He kept his face averted as Norris approached, so he couldn’t be seen conversing. He hoped the chief believed that he’d left Erin at her mother’s house, and he intended to keep it that way. “I don’t know. He looks mad.”

  “He wouldn’t shoot us, would he?”

  “Let’s hope not.”

  After slipping the keys to Erin, Joseph opened his door and eased out to face his boss. He had a good three inches on the chief, but you didn’t judge a man like Edgar Norris by his size. Or by the spare tire around his waist or the fact that he dyed what was left of his hair. He had kick-butt body language and the grit to back it up.

  Norris’s fist pounded Joseph’s trunk, making the car creak on its aging springs. “What the hell did you think you were doing when you barged into Erin Marshall’s dressing room?”

  “I wanted to wish an old friend well,” he replied evenly.

  “Don’t lie to me,” the man growled. “I told you to leave Alice’s case alone. You’re harassing one of this town’s leading families, and now you’ve managed to screw up the wedding of the year.”

  “I needed to clarify some points to wrap up my report,” he said. “I didn’t expect to discover that her fiancé had pulled a con job on her.”

  “Nobody forced that woman into a bridal gown.”

  “There’s more than one kind of force,” he said.

  “You don’t know understand the kind of fallout there’s going to be,” the chief snapped. “Do you have any idea how a public humiliation like this is going to hurt Chet Dever’s campaign?”

  “What does Chet Dever’s campaign have to do with the Sundown Valley Police Department, other than the fact that your son is managing it?” Joseph shot back. It wasn’t the smartest remark to make under the circumstances. Sometimes retorts flew out of his mouth before he could stop them.

  Although the chief’s face darkened, he kept himself under control. “You’re injecting your personal feelings into police business. When it comes to the powerful people in this town, there’s a chip on your shoulder and everyone knows it.”

  “Everyone being Gene?” He’d gone too far, Joseph thought. “I take that back.”

  “You’re going to wish you could take a lot of things back,” Norris said. “You’ve made enemies all over town, embarrassed this force and contradicted my direct order. As of right now, I’m busting you back to patrol.”

  “Wait a minute!” A demotion made it unlikely Joseph would ever advance in this department or, possibly, any other. Thank goodness the police union had established protections for its member. “I have the right to appeal.”

  “I’ll throw in a few more charges to make it look good.” Satisfaction was written all over the chief’s face. “Like the fact that you drew a gun on
me.”

  “I haven’t touched my weapon!”

  “It’s my word against yours. Who do you think people will believe?”

  Joseph’s passenger door swung open. Before he could call out that the situation might still be dangerous, Erin’s resolute face appeared above the car. “I think they might believe me,” she said. “I heard the whole thing.”

  The chief’s Adam’s apple performed a couple of rapid bobs. “Miss Marshall. I didn’t see you.”

  “So I gathered.” She studied him levelly.

  “This officer violated a direct order.” Norris recovered a trace of his bluster. “I have an obligation to discipline him.”

  “What I don’t understand,” Erin said, “is why you accused him of drawing his gun when I can see that it’s still in its holster.”

  She probably couldn’t see that, since Joseph’s holster was beneath his jacket. It didn’t matter. She’d made her point.

  The chief gritted his teeth. He wasn’t accustomed to backing down and Joseph knew he’d take his pound of flesh one way or another. Finally, he said, “You’re on administrative leave for a month, Lowery. Paid leave,” he said in Erin’s direction.

  “You need to rethink your priorities,” he continued, turning toward Joseph, “and decide whether you’re ready to follow the chain of command or whether you’d rather work somewhere else.”

  “And when I come back?”

  “There’ll be no action taken unless you do something else to deserve it.” Shutting off further discussion, Norris returned to his car. He gunned the motor, shot backward and spun away. Gravel spattered off Joseph’s car.

  The chief’s order took a minute to sink in. Joseph was on leave. His pressing cases would be reassigned and disposed of. Especially the Alice Bolding case. But at least he wasn’t busted back to patrol.

  “Did I do more harm than good?” Erin asked.

  “No way. You got me a month’s paid vacation.” He summoned a grin for her benefit. “What’s to complain about?”

  Joseph retrieved her suitcase and overnight bag. If the chief’s gravel shower had left a few new dents in the car, it was impossible to tell, he reflected as he slammed the trunk.

  But he hadn’t told the whole truth. Chet Dever wasn’t the only guy around here who’d been humiliated today. By Monday, every cop in Sundown Valley was going to know that the son of the town’s most infamous ex-officer had screwed up.

  ERIN FOUND the inside of the house brighter and warmer than she’d expected. From the rough-hewn front, she’d formed a mental image of small, undistinguished rooms, but Joseph opened the door into a large chamber that stretched the depth of the house to a rear wall composed mostly of glass.

  The huge window showed a grassy rear yard dappled with wildflowers. Beyond it lay a vista of raw, plunging canyon depths in one direction and, in the other, a gentler, wooded slope. Even with twilight closing in, the scene took her breath away.

  Inside, soft colors rippled through the room as if a sunset had floated there. From the modern furnishings to a block-glass bookcase that partially divided the room, nothing hindered the flow of light.

  “This is gorgeous.” Erin touched the velvety texture of the couch, which faced an entertainment center. “Don’t tell me you designed this yourself.”

  “Not all of it. I had a female consultant.” Before she could draw any inference, Joseph added, “My mom.”

  “How is she?” Erin asked.

  “Incredibly busy,” he said. “Happy, too, I think.”

  He hefted her luggage through a doorway to the right. That, Erin remembered from his earlier instructions, led to the bedroom.

  As soon she was alone, scenes from the past few hours sprang vividly into her mind. Chet, all wounded pride and self-importance. Lance storming past her mother. The chief threatening Joseph. Which of them were her enemies? Did one of them want to kill her?

  You’re getting paranoid again. Put a lid on it.

  Squaring her shoulders, she followed in Joseph’s wake. As soon as she crossed the threshold, she registered that this was unmistakably his room. She knew it not only from the masculine furniture and high school wrestling trophies, but from the heady male scent in the air.

  He’d set her stuff on the bed’s bright comforter and turned away to clear space in the bureau. Where he’d removed his jacket, she noticed his tailored white shirt clinging to a muscular back and broad shoulders.

  Awareness sizzled through her body. Softly swollen breasts and a speeding pulse tempted her in ways she hadn’t been in years. This was dangerous, alluring, crazy.

  The temptation to curve herself against Joseph nearly overpowered Erin. She fought it and won, because she had to.

  “I can stay in the other bedroom,” she said.

  “There is no other bedroom.” Joseph removed linens from a drawer and set them on the queen-size bed. “The previous owner turned the back bedroom into part of the living room. Not very practical but I like the expansiveness.”

  “I’ll sleep out there,” Erin said.

  “No.” His tone brooked no argument. “It’s easier for me to protect you if I’m out there. By the way, don’t open the door to anyone or answer my house phone. I’d rather as few people as possible know where you are.”

  “I can’t imagine anyone harming me here.”

  “There’s always a risk.” Joseph shoved his clothes to one side of the closet. “I want to keep the blinds closed throughout the house so no one can get a fix on you.”

  “A fix? As in a rifle sight?”

  “Forget I mentioned it.”

  As if that were possible! Erin dropped onto the edge of the bed.

  This morning, she’d awakened with her head full of wedding plans, the whole day and possibly her life laid out before her like a garden path. She’d been sleepwalking, of course, but there’d been comfort in that. “I wish I were numb again,” she blurted.

  After pushing the suitcase aside, Joseph sat beside her. His hands chafed her smaller ones, making her realize how cold she was.

  “Scared?” he asked.

  “Petrified. That remark about someone getting a fix on me wasn’t exactly comforting.”

  “I’m not here to comfort you. I’m here to keep you alive.” His breath whispered across her cheek.

  “I didn’t realize you’d volunteered to be my bodyguard.” She fought the impulse to turn and touch her lips to his.

  “I guess I have, by default.” He shifted away. Perhaps he was battling the same urge, she thought “There’s a positive side to my being on leave. Since I won’t have to work, there’s no danger of leaving you here alone.”

  “Does that mean I can stay?” Erin asked, elated. Then, guiltily, she added, “But I’m putting you out of your bed. Once I meet with Stanley, I should be able to move somewhere else.”

  “If you like, I can put you in touch with a top-level security service.” He fingered a loose strand of her hair. “Or you can stay, if you prefer.”

  She did prefer. Very much. “Yes. I’d rather be with you.”

  “We can handle this investigation together. After that stunt Chet pulled with the hurry-up wedding, I have to believe something’s seriously amiss. Whatever it is, we need to find out.”

  She remembered the chief’s threat. “That might get you fired. I’ll hire a private detective.”

  “Like hell you will!” Fervor lifted Joseph to his feet. She missed his warmth. “It’ll take him days or weeks to get up to speed. Besides, this is my case. With or without you, I’m using this time to find out what’s going on. The more the chief orders me to back off, the more I want to find out what he’s hiding.”

  “This is my battle,” she insisted. “And he might not be hiding anything. He’s always tried to stay on my family’s good side.”

  Grabbing a cane-bottom chair, Joseph swung it backward and sat facing her with his arms folded on the chair rail. “Out there, I saw something in the chief’s face that stopped me. Rage.
The worst kind of rage, the kind that stems from fear. I want to know why.”

  “What could the chief have to fear?” Tina’s father had always moved with a swaggering confidence a bit like his son’s. To Erin, he seemed unshakable.

  “He headed the investigation that sent my father to prison,” Joseph said. “What if he wasn’t just doing his job? What if he did something back then that he’s ashamed of and I’m the one person who can bring it to light?”

  “You think he railroaded your dad?” Although she’d never entirely liked the man, she’d never doubted his integrity “And that this is somehow connected to his not wanting you to investigate whether somebody tried to kill my mother and me?” She braced her hands against the bed as if afraid she might lose her balance. The implications were bizarre. And terrifying.

  “I guess it does sound far-fetched,” Joseph said.

  “I hope so.” She blinked, and discovered that her eyelids were heavy. Apparently, the nap in the car hadn’t taken the edge off her weariness after all. “Just because the guy’s short-tempered doesn’t make him a criminal.”

  Joseph shrugged. “I’ll admit, the chief doesn’t need an excuse to dislike me. It’s no secret that he didn’t want me on the force. Like father, like son, he figured. Your dad felt the same way.”

  “Whoa!” His words stopped Erin cold. “Are you saying he objected to the police department hiring you? I can’t believe that. I mean, that was, what, six years after your father’s trial? And my dad never blamed you.”

  “He must have found it painful even to hear my name. Don’t forget, my father was his employee. It was like a betrayal,” Joseph said.

  “What makes you think he had anything against you personally?” Erin asked.

  “Rick overheard a conversation between the old chief and Norris about my application. That’s back when Norris was still a captain.”

  Chief Manuel Lima had retired three years ago, Erin remembered. “They discussed whether to hire you, right out in the open?”

  “Rick was in an alcove in the break room, getting coffee,” Joseph said. “You can’t see somebody in there. Can I tell the story or are you going to keep interrupting?”