by Unknown
“From the time Cynthia was fifteen, she started coming to the house for riding lessons.” Duel’s green eyes sparkled with amusement. “Believe me she already knew how to ride. By the time my class all graduated, every senior boy had had a piece of Cynthia. One Friday night after the football game I had her to myself for the entire weekend. We stayed at Dad’s cabin. Come Sunday night, she still wanted more. I think she might have a problem.”
Danger shook his head. “Jesus.”
“Yeah, I can still hear her screeching Jaaaay Deeee every time I screwed her. After the weekend I spent with her was over, I took her home and never touched her again. It pissed me off she didn’t know who was boffing her.”
“You weren’t serious about her, were you?”
“Hell no, but I didn’t like being a substitute for my brother either. I told her when she could get my name right, let me know and I’d fuck her again.” He chuckled. “Guess she never got it right.”
Danger laughed. “What brings you into town?”
Duel frowned, his expression serious. “I reached a Detective Garrett in Reno. There was a note.”
“With the preacher?”
Duel nodded.
“And this detective just volunteered this information to you?”
“I have some pull with the detectives in Reno.”
“Do tell.”
“I can’t.”
“Shit.” Danger met his eyes. “Like that, huh?”
“Like that.”
“Does Jace know?”
“Not exactly.”
“What…exactly?”
Duel sighed. “I kinda hinted at what I’m doing when he was in Reno last month, but he blew me off. I couldn’t bring myself to come right out and tell him I work for the government. It would have meant confessing the casino I own in Reno is an undercover prop. I didn’t think he needed more things to worry about. And certainly now isn’t the time to tell him. He has enough coming at him.”
“God, Duel. Jace will kill you.”
“I know. Why do you think I haven’t admitted it to him? He still thinks of us as his babies and he has to protect us.”
Danger rubbed his forehead and cast a suspicious eye at Duel. “Why the hell are you telling me this shit?”
“You’re Jace’s best friend, if something happens to me, he’ll need you. I want someone to know the truth, in case I vanish off the face of the earth with no word.”
“And you want me to keep this from Jace?”
“Yes. In the event of my death, he doesn’t need to know the details.”
“Damn it, Duel. You’re going away on assignment?”
Duel nodded. “Don’t ask me where I’m going. Just suffice it to know we’re going in with no chance of coming out.”
“Fuck!”
“That’s about the extent of it, a very messy fubar. I was denied permission to tell you anything more. It’s a need-to-know mission.”
“Do I have a time frame?”
“I’ll let you know as soon as I know. I have some papers, letters for…uh, Jace and the others. My will is at Sanders Attorney’s Office in Helena, and the deed to my half of the Star is signed over to Jace, as well as a life insurance policy, but I’d like for you to hold the letters and give them to Jace if…uh…you know.” He cleared his throat and shifted, uncomfortable with their discussion. “Now, about this note.”
Danger sighed, accepting the change of subject. “What did it say?”
“He dared to make them one. For that, he died.”
“Jesus, that doesn’t leave much doubt the murderer’s the same man. Forensics can probably match the handwriting.”
“Yeah,”Duel agreed. “Now we just have to catch him, before he manages to kill someone else.”
* * * *
Tuesday 5:15 p.m.
Danger watched curiously as Mayor Clyde Hemphill leaned back against the closed door. Clyde was sweating so much, Danger wondered if the man was at risk of dehydration.
Clyde shuffled back and forth and licked his lips.
Danger arched a brow watching curiously as the Mayor wiped the sweat from his brow and turned three shades of green.
He hoped the man wasn’t about to pass out or hurl his cookies.
What the hell had Clyde in such a snit?
Danger stood up, nodded a greeting. “Clyde. Glad you made it back. I have a few questions.”
The mayor stood frozen against the door, blinking his bug eyes and sweating.
Danger frowned. Man, he’d never seen anyone this nervous—at least, not lately. “Sit down, Clyde, before you fall down. You want a glass of water?”
“What?” Clyde sounded distracted. “Oh, yeah. Sure.” He took the filled glass from Danger and literally dropped into the chair and gulped down the water. “I want to thank you for giving me this opportunity to confess without Cynthia hovering around to hear everything.”
His eyes widened.
Confess?
Well, shit! What now? Maybe he’d been wrong. Maybe he hadn’t given Clyde enough credit for having the balls to off Rodney for screwing his wife.
“All right, Clyde. Tell me everything.”
“First, swear you won’t tell Cynthia.”
“Clyde, I can’t swear to something I might have to testify to in court. I can only say if at all possible, I’ll keep what you tell me confidential.”
“I couldn’t stand the fact Cynthia was diddling Rodney Blake. And she’s pregnant again for the fourth damn time by the bastard. I couldn’t bear the thought of looking at another miniature Rodney. I can’t stand the sniveling brats. They look and sound just like him. I wanted to get even with Cynthia for wronging me. I’ve been getting even with her for years.”
Danger blinked and reached for a tablet and pen. “Getting even?”
The mayor nodded. “Yeah, she has no clue. She thinks she’s the only woman in Rimrock with a hot snatch.”
“Okay.” Danger blew out a puff of air. So sniveling, little Clyde had a super-sized set clanking between his legs. What were the odds?
Clyde licked his lips, drew in a deep breath, and rushed into his words. “Our affair started years ago. We met every day for two, three hours. I gave her two babies. She aborted both of them. But not this last time, this time, for some damn reason, she wanted it. She told me she was going to trap Jace Remington with my baby.” Clyde paused long enough to wipe the sweat off his face and cough. “She was so beautiful. So perfect. I worshipped her, worshipped her body.” He sighed. “Of course, I was never enough for her. I knew that. I understood her needs. After all, I had needs, too. I couldn’t believe she let me touch her. But she let me do anything to her I wanted. She never objected. I bit her, she loved it. She let me slap her, tie her up, whip her. Hell, I even choked her sometimes. She loved my leather whip and didn’t mind when I marked her flesh with it and, well—” he hesitated, swallowed hard. “You get the picture.”
Loud and clear.
Danger wondered just how far the bdsm went. Had the mayor been a bit too heavy handed? He thought the man was going to burst into tears. Hell, he thought he was going to burst into tears.
“When exactly did your affair start with Jillian?”
Clyde looked ill. “She’d just married Jace Remington’s father. She came to my office shortly after their wedding, locked the door behind her, and stripped naked. Needless to say I was shocked. Jillian said she liked to make friends with the officials where she lived. We spent the entire afternoon going at each other. I met her every day from then on. Jillian sucked the starch right outta me.”
“Jesus.” Mystery solved, at least one of the mysteries. Limp dick Hemphill had been doing Jillian, even knocked her up? Three times? If Clyde rode Jillian everyday for all these years, no wonder he couldn’t get it up for Cynthia. Unbelievable.
Clyde swallowed. “It wasn’t my fault, Sheriff. Jillian was a sex addict. She wore me out. By the time our lovemaking sessions were over, I could barely move. I couldn’t get a hard-on th
e rest of the day. Can I have another glass of water, please?” He squeaked the request and mopped his red face.
Danger bit his bottom lip to keep from laughing at the guilty expression on Clyde’s face. He handed the mayor a glass of water and tried not to sound too shocked. “Let’s hear the rest, Clyde.”
“I knew if Cynthia found out I was screwing Jillian for so many years, she’d leave me and take the boys. I’d be all alone. I’d be lonely.”
“Uh…right.” Danger held up his hand. “So you killed Jillian to shut her up?”
“Kill her? Lord, no, Sheriff. I loved her. She was everything to me. Do you have any idea how hard it is to stay with Cynthia after having a woman like Jillian?”
“All right, Clyde. I think I’ve heard all I need to hear.”
“Bu–but…you have to believe me. I didn’t kill Jillian. I swear. I wanted to marry her. I offered to leave Cynthia and marry my beautiful Jillian. I–I asked her to be my wife and she laughed. She laughed and laughed and said what makes you think I’d ever marry a fish-face pencil-dick like you? I want a man who’s hung and has lots of money. That leaves you out on both counts.”
Danger choked on the swallow of coffee he’d just taken.
Clyde stood up, straightened his shirt and tie as though he knew the sheriff was on the verge of collapsing with laughter and huffed. His body stiff, Clyde said just as stiffly, “She told me she was going to marry Jace Remington. That she was only screwing Rodney because she didn’t want anyone thinking I’d put a kid in her. When she could prove it wasn’t Rodney’s brat, Jace would be the number one suspect, no matter what the DNA results were. Since it wasn’t Rodney’s, everyone would always think it was Jace’s because she’d keep saying it was his. She had it all planned out.” Clyde snorted and mopped more sweat off his face. “I would have been proud for everyone to know my baby was in her. That would have showed Cynthia up good, but Jillian wasn’t having any part of the story. She said no one would ever believe I put a kid in her. What she really wanted was to trap Jace into marrying her. Imagine having sex with her stepson and wanting to marry him. She was one crazy bitch!”
Clyde exited the sheriff’s office, slamming the door behind him in righteous indignation.
Danger sat there blinking and feeling a bit numb. “Yeah, well she wasn’t the only crazy one.” He stared blankly after Clyde’s departing, scrawny ass. Danger buried his face in his hands and laughed so hard, his shoulders shook. He wiped the tears that streamed from his eyes and blew out a deep breath. “Jesus,” he muttered, between bursts of laughter.
Hell, Jillian wasn’t the only crazy one. Clyde and Cynthia Hemphill were right up there weighing in equally with the recently departed, Jillian Remington.
No matter how he figured it, the mayor just moved to the long list of suspects. The man had loved Jillian.
Unfortunately, it left Kaycee still in the number one spot on the short list and Jace in second.
Chapter Twenty-Six
The best way to behave is to misbehave.
~Mae West
Dancing Star Ranch
February 6, Friday 8:00 a.m.
Jace placed the phone quietly on its hook and turned to face his family. These days, everyone hovered. He felt like he was suffocating, no space, no privacy, no time to do anything with his wife. It was driving him nuts.
Christmas had come and gone, a miserable time for all of them knowing a killer still lurked out there somewhere waiting for an opportunity to strike. The waiting made them all nervous and tense.
Kaycee was at the beginning of her fourth month. She was still sick a lot. The medication the doctor had given her for nausea hadn’t helped at all. Her belly was already rounding. Swear to God, she peed more than any one he’d ever seen. They never had a quiet moment alone, and he’d had enough of it.
He’d always wanted his family around, had thrived on having them underfoot, but no more. All he could think about now was getting them the hell off the ranch, escaping them, and going somewhere alone with his wife.
Yeah. Maybe he’d do that. He’d take Kaycee somewhere. Anywhere. God, he didn’t care where. He was sick and tired of all the inquisitive eyes and ears. And then there was Taylor. The man was a royal pain in everyone’s ass. His brother-in-law had made it his goal to latch onto Kaycee like a friggin’ bulldog. He stayed close to her and kept all the rest of them at a distance.
It wasn’t something he was going to tolerate. Kaycee was his wife. It was time both Spencers accepted the fact that nothing stayed the same.
He had to do something to get Taylor away from Kaycee.
Jace sighed, hating to be the bearer of bad news. “That was Raider calling from Australia. Aunt Marion had a massive heart attack a few hours ago and died. He’s pretty tore up. He’d like some of us to fly over and be with the family for the funeral services.”
Dianna gasped. “Aunt Marion? Oh, Jace. I’ll go. I can leave today.”
Jace studied his sister’s pale face and had his doubts she needed to be flying anywhere. Dianna lifted her chin. Damn, she’d read his mind.
“Please, Jace. I can fly. I’ll be all right.”
He nodded. “Take Taylor with you.”
“What!” Both Taylor and Dianna’s surprised shout blended together.
“I’m not going to Australia, especially not with your sister,” Taylor yelled.
“Yes, you are,” Jace replied in an icy voice.
“The hell I am. I can barely tolerate being in the same house with the spoiled bitch, let alone cooped up in a frickin’ plane for hours.”
Wild surged to his feet, blue eyes hot and fierce. He clenched his fists, a muscle ticking in his taut jaw. “Watch your mouth, Taylor. I don’t give a damn if you are Kaycee’s brother, and I don’t give a shit if you’re a cripple. You don’t talk about my sister like that. Ever!”
Duel locked both his arms around Wild’s chest from behind, pinning his brother’s clenched fists to his sides and hissed in his ears, “Shut up, Wild. Let Jace handle this.”
Wild struggled to get free of Duel’s hold. He tried to butt Duel with the back of his head. “Turn me loose! I swear I’ll knock you into next Sunday.”
Duel grinned and relaxed his hold. Wild whirled to face him.
“Go for it,” Duel chided. “You’ve wanted a piece of me for years.”
Wild snorted and stepped away from him. “Maybe I have, but I’ll choose my own time and place.”
“Anytime. Anyplace.”
“That’s enough,” Jace bellowed. “Christ! We have enough on our plates without fighting among ourselves.” He turned to Taylor. “You’re going with Dianna and that’s the end of it. Raider needs help with his ranch accounts. Dianna doesn’t need to fly that far by herself.”
“What? You want me to hold her hand while she’s sitting in the pilot’s seat? I’m not going.” Taylor used the strength from his arms to push himself upright. He stood up slowly, awkwardly. His body was stiff, jerky with the strain of attempting to walk the three steps it took to reach Jace.
Shocked silence lay heavily in the room as they watched Taylor take those three unsteady steps.
Taylor locked both his fists together and swung with an upper cut to Jace’s right jaw. Jace, taken aback by his brother-in-law’s ability to walk waited too late to duck the clumsy punch. He staggered backward, flipping heels over head over the back of the sofa.
Taylor swayed unsteadily.
Dianna and Kaycee rose to their feet. They shot each other an astonished look, their mouths dropping open in shocked little ‘O’s as they hurried to help which ever man needed their assistance the most.
“Why, you sneaky little bastard,” Wild shouted. He leaped on Taylor’s back, swinging his fists, pounding Taylor on the back of his neck and back. “No one punches Jace and gets by with it!”
Taylor’s weak legs buckled beneath the strain of Wild’s unexpected attack. They both hit the floor, rolling and scuffling among curses.
&nb
sp; Duel yanked Wild off Taylor, then helped Taylor off the floor.
Taylor stood there weaving unsteadily, his mind whirling.
Sneaky little bastard?
Hell, he was six-foot-two in his stocking feet. There wasn’t a damn thing little about him.
Wild stood there in front of him, breathing hard. He wiped blood from his nose. “I’m gonna stomp your scrawny ass, brother-in-law!”
Taylor grinned, because he’d waited a long time to punch Jace and if Jace’s brother wanted a piece of the action, well then, that was fine with him. And he sure as hell wasn’t as scrawny as Wild. But he wasn’t as strong either, at least, not on his feet.
“I’m not your brother-in-law, jerk wad.”
“Semantics,” Wild replied, swinging his arms. His fist connected with Taylor’s nose.
Blood flew. Taylor staggered back, plopping onto the floor on his ass.
Duel pounced on Wild, once again pinning Wild’s arms to his sides. “Leave it be, Wild. Jace isn’t hurt. He can fight his own battles.”
Wild twisted free of Duel. “I’m not fighting Jace’s battles. I’m fighting Dianna’s. Besides, the bastard called me a jerk wad.”
Dianna’s eyes widened even more. Wild had never taken up for her before. He’d always been the loner of the family. Never had much to say, and never defended any of them, except for Jace.
Jace crawled out from behind the sofa. He stood up, wiped a smear of blood off his mouth. “Why the hell did you hit me, Spencer?”
Taylor flashed him an angry glare from his electric blue eyes. His chest heaved with labored breaths. “That’s for blacking my sister’s eye and putting those bruises all over her. You ever hit her again and—”
“You hit your wife?” Wild shouted. “Man, she’s going to have your babies. Why I outta punch you myself!”
“You hit Kaycee?” Dianna cried.
Duel grinned and folded his arms across his chest.
Both Wild and Dianna jumped on Jace. Wild punched while Dianna kicked his shins with the toe of her boots. Jace flipped over the sofa again. This time when he came up, he was groaning. Blood trickled from a cut over his left eye and from his nose.