The Accidental Sheriff

by Cathy McDavid

  “Talk about sour milk.”

  Rowdy frowned at her when she didn’t respond to his jest and gave her a what’s-up-with-you look.

  She shrugged him off. “Authorities estimate another hour before traffic clears.”

  “Well, thanks for the update, Carolina.” His inflection more than his actual words dismissed her. “I can’t wait to check with you at nine.”

  She exited the control room a minute later. Rowdy had good reason to be annoyed with her. She’d been no more fun to work with during the four earlier reports she’d given. In fact, her entire family was fed up with her glum mood the past five days.

  Carolina had neither seen nor heard from Neil since leaving him behind on the foot trail at Bear Creek Ranch. Not that she’d expected to. Once he made a commitment, he stuck to it. Damn stubborn New Yorker. It was a shame his commitment hadn’t been to resolve the issues between them.

  She knew from her niece Briana that Zoey’s grandparents were in town visiting, because they were picking her up from riding lessons. How long had Neil said they’d stay? A few days? Zoey would be leaving soon, possibly forever. Carolina would have liked to see her before then to say goodbye but she doubted she’d get the chance. Too bad.

  For all of them.

  She made her way to her private cubicle, intending to enjoy it while it lasted. Now that she’d been demoted back to morning traffic reporter, she fully expected to return to her old cubicle, the one she’d shared with the afternoon traffic reporter.

  A painful lump lodged in her throat, but she didn’t cry. Been there, done that, thank you.

  The thing was, she missed Neil. And his daughter and the reports on the illegal mining. Other than a few scary moments—okay, hours—she hadn’t felt so good, enjoyed her life so much in years.

  She suspected it had been the same for him, too.

  “Hey, Carolina.” Ward stopped her before she entered her cubicle. “You have a minute?” He looked awful. Drawn, older. As if he hadn’t slept in days.

  “Sure.” She changed direction and followed him, expecting to be reprimanded for not playing along with Rowdy during the broadcast. Fine. Let Ward fire her. She didn’t care anymore.

  A bald-faced lie, but it sounded good.

  Ward led her to the conference room. Definitely a reprimand coming. He closed the door behind her, and they sat down at one end of the long table. Carolina couldn’t help but recall the last time she’d been in this room. It was right after she’d received the threatening e-mail. Neil had taken her home, and they’d spent the rest of the afternoon making love.

  Enough! She gave herself a stern mental kick and tried to concentrate on what Ward was saying. The poor man really did need to get some sleep before he fell apart. Even his hands were shaking.

  She decided to cut him some slack. “I promise I’ll joke more with Rowdy.”

  He gave her a blank stare. “What?”

  “Rowdy,” she prompted. “The traffic reports.”

  “I don’t care about that.”

  “You don’t?”

  “I want to discuss the, uh…” He took a breath, a shallow one. “I’d like you to do a final report on the illegal mining operation.”

  He was just full of surprises this morning. “Why? You said yourself it was too dangerous.”

  “This one will be different.” He spoke slowly, and his appearance became even more drawn. “The people responsible for the illegal mining will be behind bars soon.”

  “The authorities have caught them?” Carolina couldn’t believe it.

  “They’re about to.” His voice sounded odd.

  “Ward? Are you all right?” She was really starting to worry.

  “I’m very sorry you were shot at, Carolina. That was never the plan. Never what I agreed to.”

  “What are you talking about?” A sick, scary feeling formed in the pit of her stomach.

  “Last May, my son, Len, was driving home from his senior prom. He’d been drinking. Pretty heavily.”

  “I don’t understand what your son has to do with any of this.”

  “It all started with him and that night.” The battle waging inside Ward was evident on his face. “Len didn’t normally drink, but you know seniors and prom night. Sheriff Herberger was coming back from a call. He’s a big supporter of the school’s football program. He recognized Len and pulled him over. At the time, I thought it was the luckiest break in the world.”

  “How so?”

  “He could have given Len a DUI and hauled him to jail. He certainly deserved it—the kid broke the law. If Sheriff Herberger had, chances are Len would have lost his scholarship to ASU. Instead, the sheriff called me to come pick up Len and never reported the incident.”

  “That was nice of him.” Carolina knew from her own experience as an occasionally wayward youth that the sheriff had a soft spot when it came to children and teenagers. Maybe because he and his wife Patty weren’t able to have any of their own.

  “I told him if he ever needed anything, anything at all, he had only to ask me.” Ward cleared his throat. “I had no idea at the time what such an open-ended promise would cost me. What it might cost other people.”

  Carolina shook her head. None of this made sense.

  “Sheriff Herberger contacted me when he was still in the hospital after his heart attack,” Ward said. “He told me he was collecting on my debt. I couldn’t say no. Not after what he’d done for Len. And, at first, what he asked for wasn’t so bad.”

  “Which was…?”

  “Apply pressure to Neil Lovitt. Attempt to discredit him by doing a story on his involvement in his late wife’s death.”

  “Why?”

  “To distract him.”

  “From what?”

  “Investigating the illegal mining operation on your family’s ranch.”

  “I’m confused.”

  “Sheriff Herberger’s involved.”

  “You can’t be serious!”

  “He may even be the one behind it. I don’t know everything. He intentionally kept me in the dark.”

  She recalled Neil’s comment about the operation requiring brains and money and that the brains were local. No, it couldn’t be! Sheriff Herberger was a family friend. County Sheriff for over twenty-five years. “You’re wrong.”

  “I wish to God I were. He knew about the mine from old maps belonging to his wife’s family. He’s been sneaking onto your property for the past year. He even went so far as to help an engineer from Mexico cross the border illegally. In exchange, the engineer put the crew together and oversaw the digging.”

  Carolina lifted trembling fingers and pressed them to her mouth. The rational part of her brain wanted to reject everything Ward said. “What about the dead phone calls and the e-mails?”

  “I’m sure he’s behind those, too. And the shooting at the mine site. He had contacts on both sides of the law.” Ward’s eyes filled with despair. “When you, Adrian and Miguel were shot at, I knew Otis had gone too far.”

  “I have to tell Sheriff Lovitt.”

  “Which is why I called you in here. I want you to break the story wide open.”

  “What about Len?”

  “We talked for hours last night. He doesn’t like this any more than I do and is ready to deal with the consequences. He feels responsible for the predicament I’m in. If he hadn’t been drinking that night—”

  “He didn’t hire a thug to shoot at innocent people.” The idea that her uncle’s lifelong friend was capable of such an atrocious act horrified Carolina.

  “No, he didn’t,” Ward said, his voice thick with regret. “He’s a victim, like the rest of us. Which is why I’m telling you this now. Sheriff Herberger has got to be stopped.”

  “You might be arrested, too.”

  “At least I’ll be able to sleep at night again.”

  Carolina appreciated the sacrifice Ward and his son were making. Confessing their involvement took courage. “I’m going to call Neil right no
w.” She rose from the table.

  “Be careful.” Ward walked her to the door. “You have no idea what Sheriff Herberger is capable of, what lengths he’ll go to.”

  Something else Neil had told her. If only she’d listened.

  Still in a state of disbelief, she hurried down the hall to her cubicle. Lifting the phone, she called the sheriff’s office.

  “I’m sorry, ma’am,” a young male voice on the other end of the line said after she’d asked for Neil. “He’s not here.”

  “This is Carolina Sweetwater. It’s very important I reach him.” She almost said it was a matter of life and death. “Can you patch me through to him?”

  “I’m afraid not. He’s unavailable.”

  “Unavailable as in out of range?”

  “Can someone else help you?”

  “No, thank you.” Hanging up, she dialed Neil’s private cell phone.

  He picked up on the first ring. “Carolina.” It was clear he hadn’t expected to hear from her.

  “Neil, I have to talk to you. Right away. Can we meet someplace?”

  “I can’t. I’m on my way to the school. They called. There’s a problem with Zoey. I don’t have all the details, only that—”

  “Sheriff Herberger is the one behind the illegal mining operation.”

  “What?” Disbelief rang in his voice.

  “It’s true.” She talked fast, recounting what Ward had told her.

  “I’ve got to go,” Neil said tightly when she’d finished. “I’ll call you later.”

  “Okay.” She disconnected and sat there, undecided about whether to begin work on her story or phone her family. Before she could make up her mind, her cell phone rang. The caller ID flashed Neil’s cell. “Hello!”

  He didn’t return her greeting. “I’m en route to the Payson Police station. I’ve tried reaching my in-laws but they’re not answering and Carmen’s in class. Would you mind going to the school and checking on Zoey for me? There’s no one else I trust to take care of her.”

  “Of course. I’ll leave now.” She opened her desk drawer and retrieved her purse.

  “Thank you.” He paused. “You have every right to tell me no after the way I’ve treated you.”

  “Zoey’s more important than any argument.”

  When Carolina arrived at the school office, she was immediately escorted to the office where a crying Zoey was waiting. The vice principal quickly advised Carolina of what had happened. She was surprised at the trouble Zoey had gotten into—pushing and shoving another student wasn’t like her—but not surprised at the reason. She’d warned Neil of this very thing.

  “I don’t want to go live with my grandparents,” Zoey wailed, clinging to Carolina. “He can’t make me.”

  NEIL FORCED HIMSELF to slow down as he drove the main road through Bear Creek Ranch. Though quieter than the other day, guests were still out and about, heading to their cabins as dusk faded into evening. It felt like months rather than days since he’d last been here. How would Zoey react when she saw him? How would Carolina?

  He didn’t deserve her kindness, not after the hurtful things he’d said to her. He’d have understood if she refused to help him. But she hadn’t. She’d put her personal feelings aside for Zoey. In hindsight, he’d been right to break off with Carolina, if only because he didn’t deserve her.

  She’d checked in with him twice since picking Zoey up from school, informing him that she’d been in a minor playground altercation. That fact alone stunned Neil. Zoey was the shyest, most complacent child he knew. Carolina indicated there was more to what happened but refused to go into details, insisting he take care of business first, then come to her cabin to fetch Zoey.

  “Business” had taken over six hours and would probably require months to wrap up completely. How long until the town recovered was another question.

  Carolina and Zoey were sitting on the porch swing, bundled up in what looked like an old quilt, drinking something out of mugs. Neil guessed hot chocolate. With her many nieces around, Carolina would have that on hand. When he stepped out of the Jeep, he detected a faint aroma of food coming from inside the cabin. Whatever she’d fixed for dinner—spaghetti?—smelled good.

  They watched him approach, Carolina with obvious relief and Zoey with trepidation. As he opened the gate, something small and furry sprang from the blanket, raced up the fieldstone walkway and greeted him.

  If gnawing on his bootlaces could be considered a greeting.

  “Where did you come from?”

  The little dog yipped loudly. No, not a little dog. A puppy. With oversize paws and ears and a tail that wouldn’t stop wagging.

  “Spike, down.” Carolina stood, pushing the quilt over Zoey.

  Neil kept walking. The puppy refused to let go. Growling, it hung on to his laces with sharp little teeth. “You went dog shopping.”

  “Seemed like a good idea.”

  “Spike?”

  “I wanted to give him a tough name to grow into.”

  “I can see the killer instinct already.”

  The puppy stopped chewing and gazed up at his new owner adoringly.

  “Zoey helped me pick him out.”

  In response, his daughter clapped and called, “Here, Spike.” The puppy spun around so quickly, he lost his balance, then raced back up the porch steps to leap into Zoey’s arms. She gathered him to her chest, nearly crushing him in the process.

  Separating them was going to prove difficult.

  “Is everything okay?” Carolina asked.

  “Ward was brought into the station.” Neil spoke softly so Zoey didn’t hear. “Based on his statement, Otis was arrested.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  They all were. “He’s refusing to talk, even with his attorney present.”

  “What will happen to him?”

  “He’ll strike a deal, eventually. Name his accomplices. His wife’s apparently involved.”

  “Patty!”

  “When she heard about Otis’s arrest, she turned herself in.” Neil was still trying to wrap his mind around that.

  “I’ll go inside and set the table,” Carolina said, “so you and Zoey can talk.”

  “I’d rather you stayed.”

  “Seriously?” She seemed to be asking more than the obvious question.

  He hoped his reply conveyed more than the obvious answer. “Yes.”

  Zoey, with Spike in tow, scooted to the far end of the swing. Neil sat down. The chains holding the swing creaked under his added weight.

  “You want to tell me what happened at school today?” From the corner of his eye, Neil saw Carolina retreat to a dark corner of the porch.

  “I pushed Hayden down on the sidewalk.”

  “Why?”

  Spike offered his support by raining dog kisses all over Zoey’s face.

  “Cuz he’s a brat and said mean things to me.”

  More taunts about him shooting Lynne? Poor Zoey.

  “Even so, you shouldn’t have done it.” He might be sheriff, but apparently his daughter felt entitled to take the law into her own hands.

  All at once, she started to sob. “I don’t want to go away with Grandma and Grandpa.”

  Okay, that came from left field. “Who told you?”

  “Grandma. She said I had to start packing when I got home from school today.”

  Damn. He wished his mother-in-law had waited for him to break the news to Zoey. Well, nothing he could do to change that now. He tried for a positive slant.

  “You always like visiting them.”

  She flung herself at him, trapping Spike between them. “I don’t want to go.”

  “Is that why you pushed Hayden down?”

  “He told me good riddance to bad rubbish.” Zoey raised a woeful expression to him. “What’s rubbish?”

  “Nothing you have to worry about.” He stroked her hair and patted her back until she stopped crying.

  “I like it here,” she said around a hiccup after her cry
ing ceased. “I don’t want to move.”

  How did she know his plans? More grandparent interference? “I like it here, too.”

  “Then let’s stay.”

  “It’s not that simple.”

  “Grandpa says moving isn’t the…” She scrunched her mouth to one side. “The slu-tion to everything.”

  He needed to speak to his in-laws about what they discussed with Zoey. “It isn’t. I just want to keep you safe.” And other people safe. “My job is dangerous.”

  “Carolina says you caught the bad guys.”

  Was everyone having conversations with his daughter now? Conversations, he realized, he should be having with her himself.

  “The bad guys aren’t all caught, but they will be soon.”

  “Then we can stay,” Zoey announced happily.

  “Oh, sweetie.” He hugged her again, tighter this time.

  “I don’t believe you shot my mommy.”

  “Were the kids at school teasing you again?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, if we move, they won’t anymore.” Until someone else found out about Lynne.

  “What happened to my mommy? How did she die?”

  “I told you. It was an accident.”

  “Were you there?”

  “Yes.”

  “Was I there?”

  He glanced over at Carolina. She leaned against the railing, all but her face hidden by shadows. He didn’t know it was possible, but the love and devotion shining in her eyes changed his entire way of thinking in the span of a single heartbeat.

  He didn’t want to leave, either. If he were honest with himself, he’d admit that what he longed for most was a permanent home. A caring wife, one who both delighted him and drove him nuts. Another kid or two. To be sheriff, a job he’d be damn good at. And, okay, it was true, a dog. Preferably one that didn’t chew on the end of quilts or drink out of mugs.

  If he looked around him right now, all those things were within easy reach. He just had to let go of the past and embrace the future.

  It wasn’t nearly as hard as he’d imagined.

  “Yes, Zoey, you were there. You were just a baby, sitting in your stroller. You, your mommy and I were having breakfast at an outdoor deli.”