by Nina Bruhns
“So, how did a mild-mannered car salesman end up with a penchant for guns and a bounty hunter for a daughter?”
Turning from the portrait, she took a pull from her own beer. “He likes deer hunting. And I’m adopted.”
He raised a brow at the casual admission. “Yeah, huh?”
She crossed her arms over her abdomen. “I was left sitting on a church pew in St. Louis when I was three. The Montgomery’s adopted me a year later.”
Again he wondered at the calm way she talked about such a traumatic, life-altering event.
“Have you ever tried to find your real parents?” he asked without thinking.
“The Montgomery’s are my real parents,” she said with a steely determination Philip guessed hid a whole lot of love, but probably a whole lot of hurt, too. So her calmness about the subject was a facade. Knowing you were abandoned couldn’t be easy, regardless of how much your adoptive parents loved you and vice versa.
“Real in every way that matters,” he agreed, kicking himself mentally for being so insensitive. Better get back to business. “So,” he said, “did you find out anything new when you called your boss?”
“No developments on that end. Tafota is still at large and the clock’s ticking on his bail forfeiture.”
“He’s just digging himself in deeper and deeper by not turning himself in.” Philip shook his head. “I don’t get it. He could lose his business over this mess.”
Luce toyed with a pen sitting in a holder on his desk. “I’ve long since given up trying to figure people out. Especially the ones in trouble. People do weird things under pressure.”
Didn’t he know it. He pulled up his keyboard. “Let’s try running his credit cards,” he suggested. “Check if they’ve been used lately. Maybe we’ll get lucky.”
“You can do that?” She came over to stand at his shoulder.
“Sure.” He winked up at her. “I’m the law.”
It was actually a bit more complicated than that, but he’d built up a good network of contacts over the years. Generally if you did someone a favor, they didn’t mind returning it. And he’d done quite a few favors in his eight years as sheriff and two as police chief.
He just wished Luce would do one for him now and not stand quite so close. It was hard to concentrate when he could smell her perfume and feel the heat from her body on his back. The memory of her taste rushed to his mouth, doubling his discomfort. Damn, he wanted to turn around and grab her.
Down, boy. He’d already tried that. The lady wasn’t interested.
He made himself concentrate and navigated to the Web site he needed, then typed in a password. With a few quick keystrokes he pulled up Clyde Tafota’s credit history and downloaded a copy. Clyde had two major credit cards and a gas card.
“I have contacts at all of these companies,” he said. “We can call them in the morning to find out his activity.” He outlined his conversation with Ted, the relevant bits anyway, then he handed her his earlier notes. “This is everything I found on the school. At least it’s still in business.”
Mercifully she took the printouts and notes over to his easy chair and plopped into it. He tried not to watch her as she read through them, but it was no use. It was like trying not to look in a bakery window when you were on a diet.
His gaze wandered over her body and, unbidden, the feel of the places he’d touched her echoed across his palms. He could still feel the lacy outline of her bra on his fingers, the pebbled tip of her breast on the pad of his thumb.
Damnation! He closed his eyes and tried to think of something else.
“Do you think we should— Philip?” Luce interrupted his inner frustrations.
He snapped his eyes open. “Yeah?”
“You okay? You look a little green around the gills.”
He sat up straighter. “I’m fine. What were you saying?”
She blinked, then all at once stood up. “I, um, think I’d better get going. It’s late and, um… It’s late.”
He regarded her. She was doing it again—reading his mind. Not that it would be so hard to decipher….
“You haven’t had your cappuccino yet,” he said, not wanting her to leave.
“That’s okay. Thanks for the beer.” She set the bottle down and edged toward the door.
“What about dinner? Aren’t you hungry?”
“Still stuffed from that incredible lunch.” She flashed a brave smile. “I probably won’t need to eat for days.”
“Luce—”
“I can call a taxi. You really don’t have to—”
“Luce. There are no taxis in Piñon Lake.” As he got up from the desk she took a quick step backward. He put his hands on his hips. “I’m starting to get a little insulted here.” He might be thinking it, but he wouldn’t ever do anything she wasn’t comfortable with.
“Philip—”
“Are you afraid of me?”
She gave her head a quick shake. “Not you.” But nevertheless took another step back when he moved toward her. Before he could decide if he should be angry, she said, “It’s me, Philip. I’m afraid if I stay, I’ll…” She licked her lips.
His brows shot to his hairline. “You’ll what?”
“Do something foolish.”
He couldn’t help it. He had to smile. “Yeah? Such as?”
That earned him an eye roll. Then she got serious. “Philip, I’m not going to pretend I didn’t like kissing you. Because I did. A whole lot. Which is why it’s so tempting to—” She waved her hand.
“Stay?”
“Yeah. Stay. But neither of us are looking for a relationship, and as I said, I don’t do—”
“One-night stands. I remember. But who said I’m not looking for a relationship?”
As soon as the words were out, he regretted them. Of course he wasn’t looking for a relationship! Other than the obvious. Hell’s bells.
Luckily, Luce came to his rescue. Her mouth had dropped open a fraction, as though she’d been taken aback, but now it closed and thinned. “Even more reason for me not to stay. I like my life just as it is. Uncomplicated and mobile.”
“Me, too,” he assured her. “At least the uncomplicated part. It’s just…” He stuck his hands in his pockets. “You make my palms itch.”
Her lips tilted into a wry smirk. “Trust me, I know the feeling.”
“Good to know,” he said, and headed straight for the door. “Come on, let’s get out of here before it spreads.”
He heard her sigh as she followed behind him. “Too late.”
It took all his effort not to turn around and help her scratch.
The next morning Luce made sure she was dressed before Philip arrived. He hadn’t said he’d come, but she had a feeling he’d be there at the motel bright and early just like yesterday.
She was right.
“Hi,” he said, leaning on the door frame with a grin and a finger in the air when she opened the door.
“Hi, back,” she said, and glanced at the front of the door to see what he’d been fiddling with. The 9 had slipped down into a 6 again. “What’s going on?”
He dropped his hand. “It’s a long drive to Santa Fe, we better hit the road.”
“Ever heard of a telephone?”
He switched to prop his back against the frame. “Sure. But it’s always better to show up in person.”
She wasn’t exactly sure if he was referring to him being at her door or them driving down to the Indian boarding school. Take your choice.
In the first place, she wasn’t certain she wanted to work with him at all. And she definitely didn’t want to spend hours in his Jeep again with his knuckles brushing her knee and his shoulder bouncing off hers. That was probably what had made her lose her mind last night and let him kiss her.
She groaned inwardly. “Is it as far as the reservation was?” she asked.
“Not quite,” he said. “We should make it in less than two hours.
Two hours. Each way. That ma
de four hours. Not even counting the time in between, to make their inquiries.
Oh, what the hell. She was a strong person. She wasn’t going to let this stupid attraction beat her. Or make her miss out on information vital to completing her job.
“Okay. Just let me get my briefcase.”
“Have you had breakfast?” he asked as she went to the closet.
She shook her head. “Don’t generally eat breakfast. Just grab a cup of coffee.”
“Breakfast is the most important meal of the day,” he stated.
Like she hadn’t heard that one a million times before. “You sound like my mom,” she grumbled.
“Smart lady.” Suddenly he was next to her, looking down at her footwear. “You got any boots?”
She glanced at her perfectly fine sneakers. “No. Why?”
“If we’re gonna find that box canyon we’ll have to do a bit of hiking.”
She stared at him. “Hiking? As in out in the wilderness?”
“That’s generally where box canyons are found. Out in the wilderness.”
She was used to braving the urban wilderness of the big cities—St. Louis, Kansas City, Chicago. None of them gave her a moment’s pause. But this was a different story. “Are there snakes?”
“Yeah, and bears, too, I reckon. And mountain lions and probably—”
“All right, already. I get the picture.” She pushed past him and grabbed her Walther from the nightstand. “Good thing I’m prepared.”
“You think that pea shooter will stop a charging thousand-pound bear?” he asked neutrally.
“Hell, no,” she said. “But it’ll drop you long enough to distract it and let me get away.”
He banded his arms across his chest and made a pained face. “Nice.”
She batted her eyelashes. “A city girl’s gotta protect herself somehow.”
He stuck his thumb to his chest. “Just let me do the protecting around here, okay?”
She was about to make a “Yeah, right” kind of retort, but for some reason the words stuck in her throat. Following after him as he strode confidently out the door, she had the most peculiar feeling that she really could rely on Philip to protect her. From bears to bad guys or anything else that came along. For a woman who dealt daily with men who’d sooner put her six feet under as swat a mosquito, that was an unusual sensation.
And the realization that despite knowing him for less than two days, if it came right down to it, she would probably trust Philip O’Donnaugh with her life…now that was downright sobering.
Before leaving Piñon Lake, Philip stopped at a place called the Shamrock Slipper and asked a waitress named Betsy to fix Luce a large decaf and a cinnamon cruller to go. Luce protested the cruller, which was huge and incredibly sticky looking, but the bossy chief of police apparently had everyone in town singing to his tune.
“Breakfast is the most important meal of the day,” Betsy said with a motherly nod as she handed Luce the bag and a shamrock-printed napkin with her coffee.
“So I’ve heard,” Luce said, and forced a smile.
Betsy handed Philip a cup, too. “Black, no sugar, just how you like it, Chief O’Donnaugh.”
Oh, brother.
“Thanks, Betsy.”
“Will I see you for lunch?” she asked him, with a sideways glance at Luce.
“Not today, Betsy. We’re headed for the big city.”
“I see,” the waitress said knowingly. “Well, have a good time.”
“It’s work, Betsy. Part of the Soffit and Dickson robbery investigation.”
“Uh-huh.”
“You eat all your meals at the Shamrock Slipper?” Luce asked Philip as he was pulling out of the parking lot onto the highway.
“Nah. Just breakfast and lunch. I get my dinner to go. I like eating that at home.”
She sniffed at the bag. The cruller actually smelled delicious. “Sounds to me like you need to hire yourself a cook. I’m thinking Betsy would be a good choice.”
“I’ve tried, believe me. She refuses to leave the Slipper.” He tossed her a grin. “Interested in applying?”
She snorted. “The only thing I hate worse than cooking is washing dishes.” She bit into the doughnut and let out a hum of appreciation.
“Ah, well. Betsy tells me I need a wife, anyway.”
“Nothing wrong with having both. Not that I’m interested in either position,” she quickly added.
“Not the settling-down type. I remember.”
“Right,” she agreed.
But as she said it, she felt a weird pinging in her stomach. She looked over at Philip and, for the first time ever, had the fleeting thought that if she found a man like Philip to settle down with, a man who would protect her and make her laugh, one who fed her hot kisses at night and warm crullers in the morning, well, maybe settling down wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe someone like that could keep her eternal restlessness at bay.
She polished off the pastry and wiped her mouth with the napkin. Then again, she wasn’t used to such rich food this early in the morning. That pinging sensation was probably just a sugar rush or a twinge of indigestion.
Better to leave the care and feeding of Chief O’Donnaugh to others, and get her badly wandering mind back on the job. She had work to do, a box canyon to find and a paycheck to earn. In order to do that, she had a man to catch.
And that man was definitely not Philip O’Donnaugh.
Chapter 5
To Luce’s surprise, when they got down the mountain to Taos, Philip pulled over and asked if she’d drive the rest of the way.
“I want to call Clyde’s bank and credit card companies,” he explained. “They weren’t open earlier. And I need to be able to write things down.”
“Sure,” she said enthusiastically. She’d always wanted to test drive a Jeep. “Are you sure it’s okay?” At his puzzled look she pointed to the rack of police lights. “I’m not a cop.”
“Ah. That’s easy enough.” He selected the Jeep key on his key ring and touched each of her shoulders with it. “I hereby dub you my deputy officer.”
After a second of disbelief she grinned and swiped the keys from him. “Hokay, then. Which way?” He pointed and she pulled back onto the highway. “So, does this mean I get a badge?”
“No problem,” he said, dialing his cell phone. “Pull in to the next Dollar Store and we’ll get you one.”
She laughed and settled back in the bucket seat, adjusting the mirror to her height. And for the next half hour she listened as he schmoozed his way into getting four different people to run Clyde Tafota’s recent bank and credit card activity, taking a few notes on the printouts he’d brought from last night.
He was good, she had to admit. As good as she was. He had just the right friendly attitude, with just enough professionalism thrown in so the person on the other end didn’t think they were being manipulated. She knew legally he needed a subpoena to obtain that kind of personal financial information, so it was quite impressive that he managed to find out anything at all.
When he was finished, he pursed his lips. “That’s a bit troubling,” he said.
She glanced over. “No activity?”
“Not since last Tuesday.”
“How much did he take out then?”
“Fifteen hundred dollars from his bank account. Nothing on the cards.”
“Fifteen hundred will get you a long way if you’re careful,” she observed.
“Yeah. But where would he go? His family and friends are all here.”
“Spending your life in jail is a powerful motive to make new friends.”
He tapped his pencil on the papers. “Hopefully his sister has already told him that’s not going to happen.”
“And if she hasn’t, maybe it’s because he’s hiding out in that box canyon with a dead cell phone.”
“Which means we’d better find it and let him know.”
“My thoughts exactly,” she said. “Did you talk to your friend at the Taos
Sheriff’s Office?”
He told her his friend, Ted, hadn’t been able to find any records of the 1934 incident in the files, but that he’d keep looking and let them know. Hopefully they’d have better luck at the school.
Meanwhile it was turning into another spectacular day, sunny and warm, and laced with the ever-present aroma of sage and pine. Today she’d been smart and worn her T-top under a loose flannel shirt, which she’d peeled off earlier when they stopped. She took a sidelong glance at Philip, who looked sexy as ever in his short-sleeved black cop shirt and snug jeans. Today he’d holstered his Beretta on his hip, though he’d made her put her Walther in the strong box under the back bench. He probably thought she’d been serious about that bear remark.
At her grin he said, “What’s funny?”
“Just enjoying myself,” she said, and realized with a start that she actually meant it. “I’m not used to having company on a job. It’s kinda nice.”
“Not worried about me stealing your collar?”
“Ha.” She snorted. “You and what army?”
He grinned back. “Pretty spunky for a city slicker. We’ll see how spunky you are when you meet up with your first wild animal.”
She slanted him a look. “Thought I did that last night,” she teased.
Ohh, big mistake. His grin turned wicked. “You were pretty wild yourself, doll.”
She felt the tips of her breasts tighten in response to his slow regard. Why, oh, why had she said that? One look at the man and her brain just vaporized, like some teenager with her first crush. She caught herself swerving off the road and steered the Jeep back to the center of the lane.
“It’s this state,” she lamented. “I haven’t been myself since setting foot in it.” Actually since meeting the man sitting next to her, but she’d bite her tongue off before admitting that.
“Well, if it is New Mexico, I like what it’s done to you. That was one hell of a kiss last night.”
She took a deep breath to shake off the swirly feeling of desire that suddenly spun through her body. “Yeah.” Damn. “Do we have to talk about this?”