“Figures,” Billy muttered.
He told Matt he’d done a good job and they talked a bit more about everything that needed doing the next day before Billy ordered the man to go get some sleep. He ended the call and figured he should take the advice himself. Being exhausted wouldn’t help anyone, especially when he needed to focus.
“Everything alright?” Mara whispered, surprising him when he’d lowered himself back into bed. He stayed on his back but turned to face her. Her eyes were closed and he suspected she wasn’t even fully awake. Still, he answered.
“Just found another connection to Beck,” he whispered.
“That’s nice,” she responded, the corners of her lips turning up.
Billy mimicked the smile. It had been a long time since he’d had a conversation with half-asleep Mara.
“We also caught the mayor hooking up with Will Dunlap,” he whispered. “It was a pretty big scandal but I got to tase them both, so that was fun.”
Will Dunlap was Mara’s ex-boyfriend and he’d lived in Kipsy most of his life. They’d stopped dating a year before she’d approached Billy in the bar. Mara had said that she’d broken up with Will because her father didn’t like him. In hindsight, Billy wondered if that had meant Will was a really good guy or a really, really bad one. Either way, Will left for Georgia after the breakup and Billy had checked into him in secret over the last two years. Trying to see if he had been working with Bryan, he told himself. But, if he was being honest, Billy had thought maybe Mara had gone to be with him.
Because, again, he still didn’t know why she’d left. Pregnant at that.
“Good,” Mara answered automatically. “I’m glad.”
Billy smirked, satisfied the woman wasn’t really coherent, and decided to try and get some sleep instead of continuing to mess with her. The last thing he needed to do was accidentally wake up Alexa, too.
“I missed you, Billy.”
Billy froze, waiting for Mara to continue.
But she didn’t.
Instead, she reached out her hand and found his, her arm going across Alexa’s chest. Neither one of them woke up from the movement. Billy stayed still, eyes wide, looking into the darkness, Mara’s hand in his.
Her skin was warm and soft.
Only when Mara’s breathing turned even again did he finally answer.
“Once you two aren’t in danger anymore you’re going to tell me everything, Mara,” he whispered. However, he couldn’t deny one poignant fact any longer. He dropped his voice even lower. “I missed you, too.”
* * *
SUNLIGHT CUT THROUGH the curtains with annoying persistence. Mara could only guess that the pervading light was what had woken her. She tried to ignore it and fall back to sleep—because if Alexa was still asleep it couldn’t have been past seven—but no sooner had she shut her eyes than she realized it wouldn’t happen, for two reasons.
First, the moment she had woken and stared up at the wooden beams that ran across the ceiling, she’d remembered exactly where she was. And what had happened the night before. Even as she shifted slightly in bed, Mara felt the familiar soreness of a night well spent with Billy. Just thinking about him taking her in the shower, both of them riding a wave of raw emotion, made heat crawl from below her waist and straight up her neck.
Second, when Mara turned to look at him, a different kind of pleasure started to spread within her. The sheriff was lying on his back, eyes closed and face relaxed, a sight Mara had seen many times during the time they’d been together. However, what she’d never seen before was Alexa tucked into Billy’s side, also sound asleep. His arm was looped around her back, protectively, while Alexa had her face against his shoulder, her wild hair splayed around them both.
Together, the three of them made a family.
Or would have, had Mara not left.
You had a good reason, she thought to herself angrily. You wanted to keep him safe, happy. Mara balled her fists in the sheets. Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes. You made a choice.
Alexa stretched her arm out across Billy’s chest and then gave him a knee to the side, as she usually did when she slept with Mara, but the sheriff took it without issue. In sleep he readjusted the arm around the little girl until both settled back to comfortable positions.
You made a choice, Mara thought again. But now it’s not just you anymore.
Mara felt her chest swell as the idea of the three of them together flashed through her mind. Was that even possible after everything? Did Billy even want that? Sure, they’d had quite the experience in the shower the night before, but that could be chalked up to the heat of the moment. But one night didn’t erase her abandonment.
Two thuds from somewhere in the house shattered Mara’s thought process.
“Billy,” she immediately whispered. She grabbed his arm but didn’t wait for him to stir. Trying to be quiet, she threw her legs over the side of the bed and ran to the bedroom door. It was already shut, but she threw the lock. When she turned, Billy was not only awake, but untangling himself from Alexa, trying to get out of bed.
“I think someone is in the house,” she whispered, coming to his side. Alexa rolled over to the middle of the bed and blinked up at the two of them as Billy stood. “Wait, is someone supposed to be in the house?” Mara asked, realizing with a drop of her stomach that maybe the night before had been just their heightened emotions and that Billy could have a lady friend who frequented his place.
“No one is supposed to be here but the two of you.” It was a relief that didn’t last long. Another noise sounded from the front of the house. “Take Alexa and get in the bathroom. Call Suzy.” He grabbed his cell phone from the nightstand and handed it to her. Then he opened the drawer and took out his gun. Mara grabbed Alexa, trying not to seem too alarmed. Thankfully, when the little girl first woke up in the morning, she was the calmest she ever was. She yawned and let herself be picked up.
“Mama,” she cooed.
Billy was about to say something else when a floorboard creaked in the hallway near the bedroom door. The handle started to turn. Mara remembered the lock was busted. Billy pushed Mara with Alexa behind him and raised his gun.
Mara’s heart hammered in her chest. Was Beck brazen enough to break into the sheriff’s house or send someone else to do it? Was the intruder there to take Mara? Or maybe find out what Caleb had told them at the station? What if the shooter was just there to clean house?
“I have a gun trained on the door and I won’t hesitate to use it,” Billy barked out.
Another creak sounded.
“Billy Marlow Reed, if you shoot me and ruin my favorite blouse, so help me I will come back and haunt you!”
Billy instantly lowered his gun but Mara didn’t loosen her stance. She didn’t recognize the voice. Another creak sounded and soon a woman was opening the door, a hand firmly on her hip.
“Sorry,” Billy said, sounding like it. “But next time, Mom, you’ve got to call before you show up.”
Chapter Eleven
What a sight they must have been for Claire Ann Reed.
Billy had a pair of flannel sleep pants on and a white T-shirt, and he had a crazy case of bed hair not to mention a gun in his hands. Alexa was in Mara’s arms and sporting equally wild hair and a Little Mermaid nightgown that went to her shins. And Mara? Well, she wished she could have met Billy’s mom wearing more than one of his old sports shirts, two sizes too big, and a pair of his boxers. Why she hadn’t declined the clothes he’d handed her after their shower and simply grabbed her own out of her bags, no more than two steps from the bathroom, she didn’t know.
“To be fair, I did call,” Claire said with a pointed glare at her only son. “Twice. And when you didn’t answer I decided to let myself in. And, to be fair again, I’m your mother, it’s Christmastime and
you should have known I’d come in early!” For the first time she looked at Mara and Alexa. Her demeanor changed from scolding to polite. She smiled. “Now, I have fresh coffee in the kitchen, if you’d like some.”
“Fresh coffee? How long have you been here?” Billy asked.
Claire laughed.
“Long enough to slice up some apples and oranges for a healthier breakfast than I’m sure you usually eat.” Claire looked at Mara. “Maybe the girl might like some?”
“Alexa,” Mara offered. “Her name is Alexa. And she does love oranges.”
Claire’s smile grew until she looked back at her son.
“Now get dressed and come explain to me why you almost shot me.” Her eyes turned to slits. “And why there’s no big green tree with ornaments and lights all over it in the living room.”
And then she was gone.
Mara and Billy stood still for a moment. Mara’s cheeks started to cool. She hadn’t realized she’d been blushing. While she knew the woman’s name and had heard stories, she’d never met Claire in person. Now the chance at a normal first impression was gone.
“Well, this was unexpected,” Billy finally said, moving to shut the bedroom door. He managed to look sheepish. “That was my mom.”
“I gathered that,” Mara said, putting Alexa down on the bed. Mara dragged her hands down her face and let out a long sigh. “Of all of the times I wanted to meet your mother, it wasn’t while I’m wearing her son’s boxers.”
That got the sheriff to crack a smile.
“At least we had Alexa with us,” he pointed out. “We could have been in a much more...compromising situation.”
He was trying to lighten the mood but the comment reminded Mara to ask an uncomfortable question.
“Does she know about us? Or did she?”
The humor drained from Billy’s face. He shook his head.
“She knew we were spending a lot of time together but I said you were a friend. I wanted to keep things under wraps during the investigation and trial. She doesn’t know you’re Bryan’s daughter, though.”
“Mama,” Alexa said again, drawing the word out. She knew what was next but kept her eyes on Billy. They had less than five minutes before Alexa started yelling for num-nums, her favorite phrase for food.
“And how do we explain us?” Mara asked.
Billy put a hand to his chin, thoughtful.
“We don’t,” he finally said. “Not yet. Not until we figure out what us is. And not until we get this Beck situation straightened out.”
It was a sobering statement but one Mara took with her chin up.
“Okay,” she agreed. “Then I guess I should change.”
Billy went to the closet next to the bathroom. Without looking back he said, “You look pretty good to me.”
* * *
MARA PUT ALEXA in her favorite blue shorts, a flowery shirt with the words The Boss across the front and tried to manage the girl’s thick hair into a braid. It was sloppy, at best, but the toddler was hungry and let her mama know quickly she wasn’t going to sit still any longer.
“I can take her out there while you get ready, if you want,” Billy said after surveying the process in silence. Though he had laughed when he saw what Alexa’s shirt said. Mara didn’t want the man and his mother to feel burdened by attempting to negotiate with an early-morning Alexa but she also wanted to look decent before she had to sit down across from Claire Reed.
“Good luck, then,” Mara said to the man. He smirked. The image sent a jolt through her. Billy Reed looked good no matter the time of day or situation. He was just one hell of an attractive man.
“Alexa, want to come eat with a crazy lady who likes to barge into houses unannounced?” he asked the girl with a slightly high-pitched voice.
“Yeah,” Alexa shot back with her own high octaves.
“Then let’s get out there, partner!”
Alexa was so excited by having someone seemingly on the same wavelength that she reached for Billy’s hand. He grabbed hers without skipping a beat. But Mara saw him stiffen, if only for a moment. She realized that it was the first time he’d held his daughter’s hand. As they disappeared from view, Mara couldn’t help but feel the weight of guilt crushing her heart.
The sheriff was too good for her.
* * *
BILLY WAS HELPING Alexa with her orange slices and Cheerios when Mara came into the kitchen frowning. She’d put her hair into a ponytail and was wearing a white blouse and a pair of jeans that hugged her legs.
Those same legs had been wrapped around his waist last night while hot water ran across nothing but naked skin. Maybe when he’d gone into the bathroom to talk to her he hadn’t expected or planned for them to end up having sex.
But that didn’t mean he hadn’t enjoyed it.
He cleared his throat. Sitting in between his daughter and mother was not the place to be thinking such thoughts. Instead, he focused on Mara’s downturned lips.
“What’s wrong?”
“I hope you don’t mind, but Suzy called and I answered,” she said, holding out his cell phone. His mom showing up was enough of a surprise to make him forget he’d left it with Mara. He wiped orange juice off his hand and took the phone.
“Suzy?”
“Billy, we’ve got another problem,” the chief deputy said without missing a beat. “I suggest you go into a room Alexa and your mother are not in so I can use profane language.”
Billy stood and held his index finger up to Mara.
“How did you know my mom was here?” he asked. He walked to the bedroom and pushed the door almost closed behind him.
“When you didn’t answer, she called me. I told her you should be at home.”
“Thanks for that,” he said, sarcastic.
“No problem, boss.” There was no hint of humor in her tone. Whatever news she had, Billy was sure he wouldn’t like it.
“Okay, I’m alone now. Go ahead and get your frustration out and then tell me what’s going on.”
Suzy took a moment to spew some very colorful words before circling back to the reason she’d called.
“Bernie Lutz’s girlfriend is dead.”
Billy paused in his pacing.
“Wait, what? How? Wasn’t the local PD holding her on reckless driving until the sketch artist could get there? Did they let her go?”
“No.”
“But then, how was she killed?” Billy put his hand to his face and closed his eyes. “Tell me she wasn’t shot while she was in the police station.”
“She wasn’t.”
Billy opened his eyes again and looked at the wall of his bedroom as if it would make sense of everything. It couldn’t, but Suzy could.
“Okay, tell me everything and I’ll hold my questions until the end.”
* * *
“I HAVE TO go visit our neighbors in law enforcement,” Billy said when he came back into the dining room. He was already wearing his gun in his hip holster, badge on his belt and a button-up shirt beneath his dark blazer. His cowboy hat was even in its position of honor atop his head.
“What happened?”
“Bernie Lutz’s girlfriend was supposed to talk to a sketch artist today about the man who was with Beck when he threatened Bernie.” Billy went into the kitchen and came back with one of his to-go coffee mugs. “She was in the county over, being held at their police station last night, when a fire behind their building made them evacuate. By the time everything calmed down they realized she was gone.”
“She escaped?” Mara asked, surprised.
“That’s what they thought. Until a jogger found her a few miles away in a ditch.”
“What?” A coldness started to seep into Mara’s skin. “So, as far as we know, two of only three p
eople who have had direct contact with Beck have been killed.”
Billy shared a look with Mara that she couldn’t define. He nodded.
“It looks that way,” he said. “I’m going to head out there with Detective Walker to see if we can find anything to help us nail down Beck or his friend.”
“Is Beck the man who shot poor Cassie?” Claire asked. She had set down her food to listen when Billy had come in.
“How the heck did you know about Cassie?” Billy asked. “We’ve been stonewalling the media until we figure out who’s doing what.”
If Claire was offended by her son’s bluntness, she didn’t voice it.
“Betty Mills, you know, that nosy old coot who lives in the house behind the Red Hot Nail Salon off Cherry, called me after she talked to her daughter who has a son who works with you—”
“Dante,” Billy guessed.
“I suppose so. Anyways, he had the decency to call his mama to let her know he was okay because word got around that two people had been shot, including Cassie, at the department. I figured I’d have better luck communicating with you if I came to town a day earlier instead of waiting by the phone.” Claire didn’t give her son any room to apologize for not calling her. She turned to Mara. “I was here when Cassie first got accepted as a trainee. She was so nice and bubbly.”
Guilt dropped in Mara’s stomach. She realized she hadn’t asked about the woman’s condition when Billy had come home the night before.
“How is Cassie doing?” she asked, hoping the answer would ease some of her worry.
“The surgery was a success yesterday, but she hadn’t woken up yet by the time I got in last night.” Billy’s shoulders stiffened. No doubt thinking about one of his own being shot in his domain. “Her sister said she’d keep us updated, though.”
Small-Town Face-Off Page 9