Hell, he’d done a few himself.
“Okay, why don’t we split up to make this faster,” Billy said, shaking himself out of his reverie. “Suzy, you and Robert take the gym and detached buildings, and we’ll search the first and second floors of the main building.”
Suzy didn’t even bat an eye at being paired up with Robert. By the hard set of her jaw, Billy saw that she was in work mode. They had a problem that needed to be solved.
Finding Bryan Copeland’s stash would solve it.
Robert followed Suzy, already babbling about something, while Mara turned her attention to him.
“You know, in movies, it’s usually a bad idea to split up,” she mused.
“Stick with me and you’ll be alright, kiddo.”
Mara was quick to respond with a wicked grin. It made Billy feel a lot of things he shouldn’t be feeling. Maybe they should be splitting up, after all.
* * *
IT WASN’T UNTIL they made it to a second-floor classroom that the idea of them pairing up showed itself to be a bad one.
Mara noticed a panel of ceiling tiles that were painted a different color than the many others they’d already seen. Since their motto was to leave no stone unturned, she pulled a table over and stood on top of it. She wasn’t short, but she wasn’t the tallest woman, either. She pushed one tile up but she couldn’t see inside the ceiling. She needed just a little more height.
“Billy, get up here and look.”
“I don’t think so,” he said seriously. “I’d snap that table in two.”
“Then—”
“It’s probably not the best idea for me to get on those chairs, either. Donnie Mathers tried to jump from one to the other in tenth grade and one broke from under him. Broke his arm, bone sticking out and everything.” Billy shook his head. “But what I can do without breaking anything is hoist you up.”
“Then how about we nix the table and chairs. You’re certainly tall enough to be better than a table.”
Mara didn’t wait to be invited to him. She jumped down and stood in front of him expectantly.
“Just like the time I helped you get that branch that was hanging off of your roof,” she said. When he hesitated, Mara feigned offense. “Unless you think I’m too heavy to pick up.”
“Don’t even pull that,” he said, but it got the job done. He wrapped his hands around her and hoisted her up until she was able to move a tile.
“A little more,” she said, trying to keep her mind on the task at hand and not Billy’s hands. He was quiet but adjusted to give her a little more height. It always amazed her how strong Billy Reed was. Mara brought her phone up and shone the light around inside the ceiling.
“Nothing,” she reported, not surprised. “At least we looked.”
Mara braced for Billy to let her down fast but, instead, he lowered her slowly. Like molasses crawling down a tree, her body slid against his until her shirt caught on him. It had dragged the fabric up to expose her bra by the time her feet were back on the floor. She moved to pull it down, but Billy caught her hand.
She felt her eyes widen and her breath catch. The heat of his hand burned into her skin, but it was his stare that almost set her ablaze. It pierced through the few inches of space between them, and frightened and excited her more than she wanted to admit. Mara couldn’t read what the man was thinking.
She sure found out.
He dipped his head down until his mouth found her own. But it was his hand that surprised Mara. While his tongue parted her lips, his hand let go of hers and traveled down to the cup of her bra. She let out a gasp as he thumbed her nipple until it hardened. It wasn’t the only thing. She could feel Billy’s arousal as he used his free hand to pull her flush against him.
It was fuel to their already burning fire.
Mara grabbed his belt and pulled the man closer, trying to show him she wanted him just as much as he wanted her. Right then. Right there. However, Billy surprised her by breaking their kiss. His hand dropped away, leaving her exposed skin cold.
Billy met her gaze.
Those green eyes spelled out one word to her.
Regret.
“I-I’ll check the rooms at the other end of the hallway,” she said, tugging her shirt down quickly. Before Billy could stop her, Mara rushed from the room.
But, with a heavy heart, she realized he didn’t even try.
Chapter Thirteen
Mara opened her eyes and tried to make sense of what she was seeing.
Her head pounded and her side lit up in pain. She sucked in a breath and regretted how much it hurt. She tried to move, if only to distance herself from the physical discomfort on reflex, but realized with panic that she couldn’t. Her eyes swiveled down to the object pinning her to the ground.
It was a set of metal lockers.
But why were they on top of her? And where—
Then it came back to her.
Mara moved her head from side to side to try and see the rest of the storage room behind her. Except for more lockers and cleaning supplies, she was alone.
She turned her attention back to the weight keeping her against the floor. Tentatively, she pushed her shoulder up to try and free one of her arms. Pain shot fast and hard through her side again but she managed to get her left arm free.
Mara hesitated as footsteps pounded the tile outside the closed door. Someone was coming toward it.
Fast.
Mara put her left hand under the top part of the locker across her chest. She started to push up just as the door swung open.
“Billy,” she exclaimed in profound relief.
The sheriff’s eyes widened in surprise and then almost immediately narrowed. He came around to her head.
“What happened? I heard you scream,” he said, already putting his hands under the top of the locker.
“I’ll tell you if you get this off me,” she promised, readying herself for the weight to be lifted. A part of her was afraid to see the extent of the damage done to her. She just hoped nothing was broken.
“Alright, get ready.”
Billy pulled up and soon the locker was hovering over her. Mara didn’t waste any time. She rolled over onto her stomach and dragged herself across the tile between Billy’s legs. The pain she’d felt before nearly bowled her over at the movement.
“I’m out!”
Mara turned back to watch the lockers crash to the ground. The noise rang loudly through the room and into the hallway outside. She’d been gone from Billy’s side for less than ten minutes. It had been more than enough time for trouble to find her.
“Get your gun out, Billy,” she said, a bit breathless. Bless the man, he didn’t hesitate. He unholstered his gun, kept his back to the wall and crouched down next to her.
“Someone pushed those over on you?” He motioned to the lockers.
Mara nodded.
“I was looking in them and heard someone walk up. I thought it was you but the next thing I knew I was waking up on the floor under them.”
Billy said a slew of curses that would make his mama angrier than a bull seeing red and pulled his cell phone from his pocket. He must have dialed Suzy, because she answered with an update already going, loud enough for Mara to hear. They hadn’t found anything yet in their search.
“Suzy, someone’s here with us. Tell Robert to lock himself in a room and you come up to the main building pronto. We’re on the second floor.”
“Want me to call in some—”
The unmistakable sound of gunshots rang through the air. Mara heard it through and outside of the phone. Billy stood so fast she couldn’t hear whatever it was that Suzy yelled.
But she knew it wasn’t good.
“Suzy?” he called. “What’s happening?”
Billy cursed again and pulled the radio from his belt. He called for backup using a tone that absolutely rang with authority. It inspired Mara to get to her feet, though it was a struggle.
Acute pain that made her inhale lit up her side—or, more accurately, her ribs. If she hadn’t broken any, she’d at least bruised them something mighty. No other part of her seemed worse for wear. Not even the knot on the back of her head where she’d hit the floor.
The moment Billy had finished his call, he turned to Mara. Surprise was clear on his face.
“I’m fine, let’s go,” she yelled, waving him toward the door.
He didn’t wait to argue with her. Instead, he tossed her his cell phone and then whirled back around, gun drawn.
“Stay behind me,” he barked.
Mara had no intention of doing anything else.
They left the supply closet and, when Billy was convinced the coast was clear, moved down the hall, heading for the set of stairs at the end.
The second floor of the school was two wide hallways in an L-shape with classrooms lining both sides. The stairs were where the hallways converged and Mara had marched by them when she was fleeing from Billy minutes before. She’d been so embarrassed, and filled with shame and loathing and a hundred other emotions, that she’d gone to the farthest room she could find. She should have been more careful, or at least cautious, but no one should have known about their search other than Matt, Suzy, Robert and a few deputies who’d been ordered on standby.
They should have been alone in the school.
Another shot rang through the air. This time, Mara didn’t hear the echo come through the phone. This time, the call ended. A cold knot of worry tightened in Mara’s stomach for the chief deputy and the principal.
Billy quickened his steps, moving with his gun high and ready. Mara sucked in a breath and started to follow when the sheriff stopped so quickly she nearly ran into his back.
“What—” she started, but Billy cut her off.
“Listen,” he whispered.
Mara froze.
The unmistakable sound of footsteps echoed up the stairs from the first floor. Someone was coming. And by the set of Billy’s shoulders, Mara knew it probably wasn’t a friendly. Without turning his back to the stairs the sheriff began to backtrack. Mara gasped as the quick reversal made the constant thrum of pain in her side triple.
The footsteps stopped but Billy didn’t.
He kept moving until they were off the stairs.
“Go hide,” he ordered, voice low. He nodded in the direction of the part of the second floor she hadn’t explored. But she wasn’t about to question him.
“Be careful,” Mara whispered. She tried to be quiet as she moved as quickly as she could toward the classrooms at the end of the hallway. She chose the middle of three and turned in the doorway so she could still see Billy.
He was looking at her. With a quick jerk of his head he motioned for her to get inside the room. So she went, leaving the sheriff alone.
* * *
THE BULLET GRAZED Billy’s arm, but it was the man lunging at him that made him lose his gun. It hit the tile and skidded away while his back connected with a wall. Billy took a punch to his face as the infamous Beck snarled, “Where is it?”
Billy pulled his head back up and slung the man off him. If Beck hadn’t shot half a magazine at him as soon as he’d seen Billy on the stairs, forcing the man to take cover long enough so Beck could run up, he wouldn’t have had the chance to question Billy. Let alone lunge at him.
Blond hair cropped short against his scalp, blue eyes that held nothing but hatred for Billy, and the thin, drawn face of a man who looked to be in his late thirties, all wrapped in a pair of khaki slacks and a collared shirt, Beck didn’t look nearly as threatening as Billy had imagined. Certainly not a man trying to create another boom in the drug industry of Riker County.
But neither had Bryan Copeland.
Billy knew that bad men didn’t have just one look. Bad men were just men who did bad things. Whether one wore a suit or a wifebeater, it didn’t matter.
While Beck tried to regain his balance, Billy threw his own myriad punches. One connected with Beck’s jaw, another with his ribcage. The latter blow pushed his breath out in a wheeze but he didn’t go down. Instead, he used Billy’s attack against him. Bending low, Beck rammed his shoulder into Billy’s stomach, throwing him back against the wall.
“Where is it?” he roared again. Beck’s anger was getting the better of him. The man took the time to rear his fist back, like he was winding up for the big pitch.
It gave Billy time to bring up his own fist. Hard. It connected with Beck’s chin with considerable force. The man made a strangled noise and staggered backward. He held his jaw with both hands. Billy didn’t waste time watching what he did next. He turned to look around for his gun.
It lay beneath a water fountain a few feet away.
Billy was running for it, already mentally picking it up and swinging it around on Beck, when he registered a new noise. Footsteps, coming fast.
Could Mara have tried running up to help?
But it wasn’t Mara.
He turned in time for something to slam against his head.
Then everything went dark.
* * *
“WHERE’S BILLY?”
Matt Walker stood in the doorway, a frown pulling down his lips. Sirens sounded in the distance.
“He’s okay, but—”
“But what?” Mara walked past him, pain be damned.
“Mara, I need you to stay, just in case,” Matt tried, but she was already looking for the sheriff.
“Billy!”
Billy was on the ground. Sitting up, but still, on the ground. He had a hand to the back of his head. His face was pinched. He was obviously in pain.
“I’m okay. Got caught by surprise. Apparently Beck’s friend is here.” His gaze shot to her side. Mara realized she’d been clutching it. The pain kept intensifying the more she moved.
“Bruising, that’s all,” Mara said. “What happened out here?”
“I turned my back on the stairs and I shouldn’t have.” Billy looked to Matt. “One minute I was fighting him and then the next I got slammed with something. Then I could hear the sirens. Beck and his buddy must have run.”
“Did you pass out?” Mara asked, worry clotting in her chest. She put her hand to the spot Billy was holding to inspect it closer. There was blood.
“For a second,” he said dismissively. The detective must have cleared the other rooms down the hallway she’d been hiding off and jogged back to them. “Matt, Suzy should be outside at one of the buildings. She had Robert with her. Someone was shooting at them.”
Matt nodded and grabbed his radio. He told everyone who was listening to keep their eyes out for two suspects and to find Suzy. Apparently he had no intention of leaving Mara and Billy. She was glad for the detective’s company. Billy wasn’t looking too hot.
“Don’t move,” Mara chided when he tried to stand.
Billy, of course, tried anyway.
Mara rose with him, hands out to steady the sheriff if needed.
“I’m fine, I promise,” he said, swatting at her. As soon as his hand cut through the air, though, he started to sway.
“Billy,” Mara exclaimed. She grabbed his arm and gasped at the pain from her ribs.
“You both need seeing about,” Matt said.
“I’m fine,” Billy tried again. He steadied himself. The hand he’d had against the back of his head was red with blood. Mara pointed to it.
“That isn’t fine, Billy.”
He shook his head a little, trying to be dismissive again.
“I j
ust need to take a seat—” he started. But then the man tipped backward.
“Matt,” Mara squealed, trying to keep Billy from hitting the tile floor. Matt was fast. Between the two of them they managed to stop the sheriff’s fall. They eased him back down to the tile as gently as they could.
“He’s unconscious,” Matt said, reaching for his radio again. However, before he could call anything in, a voice was already yelling into the airwaves.
“We need a paramedic!”
Chapter Fourteen
The ER nurse was brisk when she told Billy he had a concussion and needed to take it easy. At the very least, for the rest of the day.
“I have a job to do,” he objected, already slipping his badge back on. His cowboy hat soon followed.
“So do I,” she retorted, her brows drawing together. The effect made her look severely disapproving. “And it’s to tell you that you need to rest. Sheriff or not, you’re just as human as the rest of us.”
Billy was getting ready to harp on the fact that he was a human who happened to be a sheriff when Matt walked around the privacy curtain. He gave a polite nod to the nurse who, in turn, smiled.
“I’ll go check on my other, less stubborn patients now,” she said before throwing Billy a parting look of annoyance. Then she turned to Matt. “I’m going to tell you what I told him. He needs rest.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Matt responded, dutiful. Billy rolled his eyes.
She pulled the curtain back again so they were out of sight of the rest of the nooks that lined the emergency room. Thankfully, it wasn’t crowded.
“I thought everyone was supposed to love the sheriff,” Matt said with a smirk the moment she was gone.
Billy shrugged.
“Apparently not everyone got that memo.” The nurse had been more kind to Mara when he’d insisted she get checked out first. Then, when the tables had turned, Mara wouldn’t stop fussing. It wasn’t until she went upstairs that Billy realized the nurse wasn’t going to cut him any slack. “So, what’s going on?”
Small-Town Face-Off Page 11