by D'Ann Lindun
“I hope it doesn’t storm too badly.” January made him a cup of tea in the microwave. “Do you take sugar?”
“Two,” he said. “Why do you care if it storms or not?”
She handed the hot mug to him, trying not to flinch when his beefy fingers briefly covered hers. Thank you, Dominic, for making me afraid of all men. “Because I need to go the White Forest.”
He studied her over the rim of his cup. “Do you think that’s wise?”
“I go all the time.” She shrugged. “I’m not worried.”
“Take precautions and you should be fine.”
“I always do, Deputy.” January sipped her cooling tea. “Have you learned anything about what may have happened to my friend Monique? And the other girls?”
With a somber shake of his head, he said, “Unfortunately, no. Not a thing.”
“Would you tell me if you had learned something?” she asked pointblank.
“There’s nothing new to report,” he said. “I swear.”
January’s sixth sense told her he wasn’t telling the whole truth, but figured it was the old cop mentality of keeping everything to themselves.
“Have you seen or heard anything since she’s been gone?” He moved around the room, touching her books. After he left, she would run a dust rag over them. For some reason they suddenly seemed soiled.
“Nothing.” She squeezed both hands around her mug. “I was just thinking of Monique tonight, as a matter-of-fact.”
“Oh?” He stopped and looked her way. “Anything I should know?”
“No.” January shook her head. “Just how odd it is that she just up and vanished like she did.”
His friendly smile vanished. “She ever confide in you? Domestic problems? Something at work getting her goat? Anything like that?”
January frowned. How had a casual drop-in suddenly turned into an inquisition? “As far as I’m concerned, Monique couldn’t have been happier. She loved Joe dearly, and they both were over the moon about their new baby.”
He finished his tea in a gulp. “I thought a little time might have jogged your memory.”
“No.” She wished he would leave. “I told Sheriff English everything I could think of when she came to the book club meeting. I’ve told your department all I know. Several times now.”
“We’ve got to cover every angle. This is a murder investigation now—”
“Murder?” January’s knees went weak and she grabbed for the closest bookcase. “Who?”
“You haven’t heard? Kate Hollenbreck was strangled.” He sounded matter-of-fact, like he was discussing the oncoming storm, not a young woman’s death.
“I didn’t know,” January murmured. “That’s terrible.”
“Yeah, it’s rough.” He sounded anything but sympathetic.
“I didn’t really know Kate, but I saw her around a few times.” January’s knuckles turned white as she gripped the bookcase. “Dear God. What’s happening to our little town?”
“It’s a mystery all right.”
January’s stomach knotted. Fear like she hadn’t experienced in two years washed over her. She’d been able to convince herself that Monique’s disappearance, while mysterious, had been voluntary. Almost persuaded herself. In her heart of hearts, she knew something terrible had happened. Now, on top of that, a rancher who everyone knew and respected was dead? Horrible.
The safe cocoon she’d created for herself was unraveling around her.
She’d see how she felt after the fall cleansing ceremony. If still rattled, maybe it would be time to bid Confluence adieu. A pang of despair ripped through her. She loved her shop, the town and the people who had welcomed her with no questions asked.
But she couldn’t live where fear held her in its icy claws.
She had a good friend in the Caribbean…maybe it was time to make an extended visit. “I think I might go away for awhile and scope things out. See if I might want to live there.”
He opened his mouth to reply when his walkie crackled, interrupting whatever he planned to say. He reached for it, pushing the speaker button. A voice January didn’t recognize crackled over the air. “Deputy, you’re needed on County Road 2. There’s been a car accident.”
“On my way.” He rushed toward the door, glancing over his shoulder. “Don’t leave town without letting me know.”
“I won’t.” When he opened the door, a handful of leaves blew inside. January watched them dance across her floor, wishing she could be so carefree.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Before Jamie could ask Austin more about his late partner, her cell phone rang. She reluctantly picked up. She wanted to find out more about Austin’s past. “Hello?”
“Sheriff, it’s Hattie. There’s been an accident on County Road 2. I’ve alerted Deputies Carver and Jenkins, but thought you ought to know. It sounds bad. A rollover. Possible alcohol involved.”
“Thanks, Hattie. I’m on the way. Are they on scene yet?”
“En route.”
“I’m coming now.” Jamie disconnected and filled in Austin. “We better go. There’s been an accident.”
He reached for the check. “Okay.”
They raced out of town toward the accident site. County Road 2 was on the edge of the county, leading toward the Arizona border. There wasn’t much out there, just a few ranches and open range where cattle and sheep grazed.
The red and blue lights of Carver’s Jeep lit up the night sky long before they reached the accident. Austin slowed, and Jamie took the opportunity to look along the road, although the moon had taken cover behind a wall of clouds, making it impossible to see much.
Austin parked out of the way, alongside the road, and they both jumped out of his truck, hurrying to the scene. The lights from the vehicles lit up the area like a football field. Silhouetted in the lights stood the ambulance crew apparently in no rush to load victims. Were there deaths, then? Jamie’s heart stuttered. God, she hoped not. Confluence couldn’t endure much more.
An older model blue pickup lay on its side in the middle of the road. The overwhelming stench of gasoline filled the cool evening air. Both of her deputies stood looking into the ditch alongside the road. Jamie stepped closer and put her hand on Jinx’s shoulder.
“What’s going on?”
“A wreck, but no victims.”
“Teenagers partying?”
He shrugged. “Possibly.”
“Do you think they ran off? Or are lying out there, hurt?” Sometimes accident victims staggered away from the scene, either injured or in fear of a DUI arrest. Especially kids who didn’t want to get caught with illegal substances.
“Looks like it,” Jinx replied. “But we didn’t pass anyone along the way. There are no bodies anywhere close.”
“Who is the vehicle registered to?” Jamie asked.
“That’s the funny thing. Whoever climbed out of that truck had the presence of mind to grab the registration.” Jinx frowned. “Either that, or they didn’t have one. The license plates are still on it, though.”
“Did Hattie say who called this in?”
Jinx shook his head. “No.”
Jamie noticed Austin at her side when he spoke. “Who got here first?”
“I did. Why?” Tad put his hands on his hips. “Jinx was right behind me.”
“Did you see anyone run off?” Austin asked.
“No. Nobody.” Tad fisted his hands. “You accusing me of something, Varner?”
“Should I be?” Austin tightened his lips.
The two men squared off like a couple of ornery bulls in a pen again.
“Stop this.” Jamie stepped between them. “We have bigger problems than your egos. Let’s spread out and search a little ways. See if someone collapsed out of the line of sight.” Without waiting for an answer, Jamie stalked down the road. What was with those two? She wasn’t crazy about Carver, but he really pushed Austin’s buttons. She needed to ask him why. What it was about the younger man that needled him so much. Once ou
t of reach of the vehicle lights, she switched on her flashlight and swung it in arcs back and forth across the road.
Heavy footsteps clunked up the road behind her, and she turned to see who it was. She recognized Jinx’s profile in the dim light. “Did you find something?”
He nodded. “Over here.”
Jamie followed him off the road, down into the barrow ditch, up the other side. He pointed to a burlap bag with the pointed toe of his cowboy boot. “This.”
“What is it?” She roamed her flashlight over the sack.
Jinx knelt and lifted an edge. A dark stain covered one corner. “Fresh blood. I’m guessing someone was in the back of the truck.”
“What?” Jamie looked from the bloody burlap to Jinx. “Why?”
“Because I tracked one set of prints to the burlap, and they weren’t losing blood until they got here. I think somebody bounced out when the truck flipped.” He shifted the beam of his flashlight and Jamie saw several small dark drops in the sand. “I’m guessing they pressed this bag against the wound. When they heard us coming, that person fled, dropping this here.”
“What makes you think so?”
“Because whoever that was took off into the desert. The driver followed. You can see the tracks for a short distance before they get lost in the sand.”
“Why not a passenger inside the truck?”
“Because only one set of tracks hit the dirt beside the truck. Whoever’s hurt was in the bed of that truck, not the front seat.”
She trusted Jinx. He had been Big Jim’s right hand for most of his career. He wouldn’t lay a false trail. “Okay, bag the evidence and let’s tell the others.”
Together, they returned to the accident site as lightening lit up the night sky.
Jamie waited until Austin and Tad returned, then said, “Jinx found something. There’s a gunnysack with blood on it and a little on the ground. Looks like there may be a victim out there.” She took a deep breath. “Jinx, get a tow truck out here and go over the pickup for evidence. Tad, I want you to find out who this truck belongs to. Austin and I will track the driver and anyone else who was in the truck. Anybody finds out anything, let me know ASAP.”
They broke apart without further discussion.
Tad roared off in his Jeep; Jinx climbed in his Durango and spoke into his walkie.
Jamie grabbed a bottle of water and her jacket from the front seat of Austin’s pickup. He followed her and strapped on his shoulder holster. She followed suit. “Do you have a raincoat in here? It’s going to rain before the night’s out.”
He reached behind the seat and pulled out a bright yellow slicker. “There’s another one on your side. I also have hat covers in the glove box.”
Jamie tugged a raincoat free from the stuff piled in the back seat. Too small to fit across Austin’s broad shoulders. A woman’s. His old partner’s? The one who’d died? She didn’t have time for jealousy right now and shrugged off her questions. She folded the slicker into a tight square and stuffed it into the pocket of her coat, then carefully pulled one of the clear, plastic hat covers over her Stetson. She tossed the remaining one to Austin.
“There’s some trail mix and jerky in the backseat on your side, too.” Austin covered his own white hat. “Better grab it just in case.”
“Got it.” She crammed both items into her empty coat pocket. “Ready?”
His grin flashed in the dark. “Born ready.”
She sniffed. “Good. Let’s find out who was in that truck.”
~*~
The Kentucky boy knew how to track.
Jamie wasn’t the pro Big Jim was, but he’d taught her well enough she could clearly see Austin knew what he was doing. He followed the people who had fled the scene of the accident with ease. The first one staggered, fell and sometimes crawled. The second one stayed in tight, steady pursuit. Their trail reminded her of a terrified animal with a predator on its heels.
Thunder rolled loud as a cannon volley followed by a flash of lightning.
Austin paused. “We ought to be catching up to these people any time now.”
A drop of rain hit Jamie’s nose.
“Or maybe not.”
Austin slipped into his raincoat. “We’re going to get soaked.”
“Yes.” Jamie kept moving, passing him, pulling on her borrowed slicker as she walked.
“You still seeing blood?” Austin asked from behind her.
“Yeah, quite a bit, actually.” She paused and pointed to several large spots. “See?”
The raindrop turned into two, then three.
“I’m going to lose the trail if we don’t hurry,” she called over the rising wind. They stood in a sandy arroyo, the sides lined by scrub cedar trees.
The words had barely left her mouth before rain poured over them in a freezing torrent. Jamie ducked her chin into her collar and kept trudging. Not too far, though, before her trail vanished beneath a rush swirling, ankle deep water.
“Austin! Get out of here quick!”
He didn’t waste time asking questions and they scrambled up the bank, using the small cedars for leverage. At the top, they fought to catch their breath, watching a wall of brown water crash by them, carrying debris, including small trees.
“The trail’s gone for good now,” Austin said grimly.
“Our lives are intact, but I can’t be so sure about the people we’re trailing. If they don’t know about flashfloods…” No need to explain. They’d be finding bodies…if they found anything at all. She shivered.
“You cold?”
“A little,” Jamie admitted. Now that she thought about it, she realized her hands were like two chunks of ice. She stuffed them in her pockets.
“Let’s hole up and build a fire.” Rain dripped from the brim of his hat.
“In this?”
He pointed. “No, that.”
Her gaze followed the direction of his finger. About a hundred yards above the arroyo a couple of juniper bushes almost concealed a rocky overhang sheltering a ledge about six feet wide. Without more discussion, she nodded and they began to climb.
Before they entered the fissure, Austin checked the corners with his flashlight. No animals lurked there and Jamie crawled in with a sigh. With the junipers blocking the front, it was sheltered from the storm and pleasantly dry.
Jamie took off her hat, placed it between her knees and sank against the back wall. She hadn’t realized how tired she was until she sat. Austin began breaking off small branches from the tree and placed them in a pile. She should help him, but her body refused to move. He pulled a little can of sterno from his pocket and poured it over the twigs before tossing a match on them. A flame instantly blazed, lighting the small cave.
Jamie stretched her hands over it. “That feels good.”
Austin sat next to her, his leg brushing hers. He removed his Stetson and set it aside. “It does.”
“I could go for a cup of coffee right now,” she said.
“Dinner is kind of a dim memory,” he agreed.
Digging in the pocket of her coat, Jamie pulled out the trail mix, jerky and bottle of water. “I brought the stuff from your truck.”
The little fire quickly warmed the cave, making it a cozy blanket against the still pouring rain. Austin shrugged out of his raincoat and reached for the trail mix. He ate a couple handfuls and leaned back with a sigh. “Long night.”
“Yeah,” she agreed. “And it’s an even longer walk back to the truck.”
Stirring long enough to break a few more branches off the trees, Austin again relaxed. “I’m not looking forward to slogging through the mud.”
“Me, either.”
The crackling fire warmed her cold hands and Jamie slipped out of her raincoat. “This would be nice if it were different circumstances.”
“Yeah. A vacation in the Bahamas would be great about now.” Austin offered her the trail mix and she shook her head. He closed the package and set it aside.
“I’ve never
been there. Have you?”
He nodded. “A few times.”
“Lucky you.”
“I suppose.”
Jamie yawned. “I’m tired.”
Austin slipped his arm around her shoulders. “Lean on me and rest for awhile. We might as well wait out the storm.”
Surprised, Jamie glanced at him. Their eyes met and held. Jamie’s chill vanished. She shivered, but it had nothing to do with cold. The look in Austin’s silvery eyes made her nipples harden and her stomach go all twisty inside. She touched her suddenly dry lips with the tip of her tongue.
“Austin, I—”
He silenced whatever she was going to say as his mouth covered hers in a hard, harsh demand that left no doubt in Jamie’s mind how much he wanted her. His tongue pried her lips, teasing them open. Then darted in and out, leaving her breathless.
His hand tangled in her ponytail, holding her still as his mouth plundered hers.
He lay back on his raincoat, pulling her with him, so that she lay across him. He kept his mouth locked to hers as if he’d never let her go. Her breasts crushed into his chest, her thighs melded to his. His erection pushed against her belly.
Oh my God.
She straddled him, her knees on either side of his narrow hips. His erection stirred. Her panties dampened. Too many layers between them. She longed to rip off her clothes and ride him until dawn.
Her hands shoved at his coat, pushing it from his shoulders.
Dimly, she realized his hands were on her hips, not guiding her primal thrusts, but lifting her off him. She pulled her mouth from his and made a questioning noise.
Embarrassment flooded her. She slid off him, turning her back.
“Jamie.”
She ignored him and tossed a piece of wood on the dying fire.
“Jamie, come here.” His hand slipped around her arm and tugged her back toward him. “This isn’t the time or place.”
“I know.” She let out a shuddering breath. “I was out of line.”
“Look at me.” His grip tightened.
Reluctantly, she glanced over her shoulder. “What?”
“I want you, but not here on the floor of some muddy cave. You’re too special for that.” His voice was husky, deep. His eyes were dark, steel colored. “When I make love to you it won’t be in the dirt like some rutting animal.”