Shadow Valley

by Kate Sherwood

  “Everything okay here?” Tina eased cautiously into their conversation. “Joe, can I get you anything?”

  He looked as though he was going to say no, perhaps sharply, but instead he nodded. “Yeah. Club sandwich with fries, please.” He turned his attention back to Megan. “Let’s get a table. We can continue our conversation.”

  It sounded ominous, but that didn’t account for the way the hair on Megan’s arms was standing up. She wasn’t scared, she was excited, and there was definitely something wrong with her because this guy was clearly bad news, no matter how handsome he happened to be. Still, she stood up almost automatically and trailed behind him over to the farthest table in the place. He sat down and waited for her to do the same, before leaning forward and speaking in a quiet voice.

  “Do you see why Alex can’t be seen talking to you?”

  And suddenly she did. She’d been looking at things from her perspective and based on her background. But Alex was a Cody and this was Shadow Valley. “Does it make it look like he’s working with the police?” she asked. “But that doesn’t make sense. I’m not a cop, I’m—I don’t know, a bureaucrat without a bureau.”

  “You really think anybody up here is keeping track of the fine distinctions of your job?” He shook his head emphatically. “Keep things clean and simple. Stay away from Alex. If you have a question, you can ask me.”

  “And you’ll answer it?”

  She finally saw the quick grin she’d begun to crave. “Probably not,” he admitted. “But nobody’s going to get upset about the two of us talking.”

  “Why not? Because you’re so totally trustworthy? They couldn’t possibly imagine you saying anything that would give anything away?”

  Another quick grin. “If they see us talking, they’ll just figure I’m trying to get in your pants.” He said it so calmly that it took a moment to register.

  “But that’s out of the question, obviously.” If she sounded a little snarky, she didn’t really care. “You wouldn’t be interested in someone like me.”

  He frowned. “What are you getting bent out of shape about? I mean, it’s not like you’d be interested in me either, right? Classy woman like you, with your education, your career. What would you do with a dumb grunt like me?”

  There were quite a few things she could imagine doing with him, but none of them were appropriate to discuss in a relatively public space. Besides, she couldn’t afford to let the conversation move in that direction. “So we’re both happy then. Why don’t we talk about meth for a while?”

  He raised his eyebrow and took a moment to catch up to her shift in the topic of conversation. “We can talk about it if you want, but I won’t have much to say.”

  “Because you’re so discreet?”

  “Because I don’t know anything.”

  “So your family isn’t a major player in the Shadow Valley meth trade?” She tried to remember what little she’d learned about cross-examination at law school. It didn’t feel right to be treating the man who’d saved her life as a hostile witness, but she tried to ignore that aspect of things.

  “As far as I know, my family isn’t a player of any size in the Shadow Valley meth trade.” He looked her straight in the eye and, damn it, she wanted to believe him. “Now, bear in mind, it’s a big family. I can’t take responsibility for every little thing they all get up to. But I think I’d have heard if any of them were deep into meth.”

  “So who is producing it and dealing it?” She had no idea what she was doing, playing cop, but the opportunity seemed too sweet to ignore.

  Unfortunately, Joe just shook his head. “I don’t know. I’ve been away a while. I just got back, and I’ve been busy with family stuff.” He leaned forward and looked her dead in the eye again. “But if you hear about Alex or any of the Cody kids getting mixed up in that crap, I’d certainly appreciate a heads-up.”

  He sounded like any other concerned father figure, and she really didn’t know if it was genuine or not. It felt real, but that might just be her hormones talking. Just because he was beautiful and magnetic, it didn’t necessarily follow that he was honest or a good person. She kept repeating that to herself and could only hope that one of these times, she’d be persuaded.

  Their lunches arrived, and Megan tried to distract herself from the man by focusing on the food. She wished she’d ordered something juicier. Half a turkey sandwich with a side salad was good for her health, maybe, but she was jealous of Joe’s fries.

  “You came all the way over here for a snack?” Joe asked, looking at her plate. “You going to have lunch later?”

  She needed to stop feeling like a high school girl, glowing with happiness because the boy she liked was teasing her. “There’s no gym in town. I need to cut back.”

  He looked incredulous. “No gym?” He nodded out the window toward the nearby mountains. “What the hell do you call those?”

  “I’m not a mountain climber.”

  “You tell me one exercise you can do at the gym that you can’t do up there.” He took a satisfied bite of his sandwich and then set it down on his plate. Megan tried not to be distracted as his tongue darted out to catch a bit of mayonnaise on his lip. And not to notice the muscles of his face shifting as he chewed. Apparently she should have been talking instead, because he swallowed the mouthful and grinned triumphantly. “Can’t think of one?”

  She tried to remember what the hell they were even talking about. Oh, exercise. “Okay, running, I get. Biking, fair enough. What about weights?”

  “You want to lift weights, you come over to my place and stack some firewood. You want to work your legs, that’s good too, ’cause I’ve got a flight of stairs to carry the wood up.”

  She dismissed the notion that this was a real invitation to his home. “Swimming?”

  “There’s a pond at my grandmother’s farm, or if you’re woman enough, there’s a few gorgeous lakes I could take you to. Ice-cold but crystal clear, and if you’re lucky you can swim with a bear or an elk instead of a bunch of flabby guys in Speedos.”

  Again, not a real invitation. She tried to make her brain behave. “Yoga?”

  He looked at his plate, and a smirk started to form. “Well, I expect we could find reasons for some of the poses…” His gaze cut to hers and he seemed like a mischievous boy.

  She was not charmed. She wasn’t. “Zumba,” she said, and raised her eyebrow in challenge.

  “Zumba? That’s like dancing, right?” His yoga grin hadn’t faded away yet, but now it shifted into something just a little bit sweeter. “You going to the barbecue tonight? There’ll be dancing there.”

  “Barbecue?” She’d heard a few mentions of the event, but had assumed that it was a private party. Now that she thought about it, it seemed a bit early in the year for grilling. “I don’t think I’ve been invited.”

  “No?” He raised an eyebrow. “Well, if you want to worry about that, you can come with me. But you really don’t need an invitation. Ten bucks at the door, all the turkey you can eat. Side dishes too.”

  “Wait, turkey?”

  He nodded as if she was a little slow. “It’s a celebration of the start of hunting season. Used to be all wild turkey, but I heard they broke down and started buying Butterballs a few years ago.” He shrugged. “But the boys are out hunting today. We’ll see what they come back with.”

  “The boys? Not you?”

  “Well, no. I’m here with you.” His smile was just as charming as before, but there was something in his eyes that made her wary.

  She looked at the remains of her sandwich. “Turkey, huh? I had turkey for lunch.”

  Joe just shook his head. “That? That ain’t turkey.”

  “Uh, I think it is.”

  “Well, if you think that, then you’d absolutely better go to the barbecue tonight so you
can get yourself a little education.” He pulled his wallet out of his jacket pocket and found a few bills, then tucked them under his plate and stood up. She hadn’t even noticed him eating, not after she got over her obsession with watching him chew, but somehow his plate was empty. “You’re still at the motel, right? How ’bout I pick you up about six o’clock?”

  She stared at him. Of course she couldn’t go to a public barbecue with him. He was a murderer, a drug dealer. He was the prime suspect in half the crimes in town it seemed, and she was there working on the side of law enforcement. She’d made a stupid mistake with a man in the past, but she’d learned from it. She couldn’t do this, no matter how tempting his little smile was.

  But she didn’t have to worry about that temptation anymore, because the smile was gone from his face. He leaned down, brought his face close to hers and almost whispered, “It’s just locals—you don’t have to worry about running into the feds.” He straightened up. “If that’s what you’re worried about.” His expression was beginning to shift a little. Instead of looking disappointed in her for letting herself worry about appearances, he appeared almost hurt. But that expression faded fast, and his face went back to nearly neutral, one eyebrow raised to show how unimportant all this was to him.

  “I can’t.” It was the right answer, the only one that made any damn sense, so she had no idea why it felt so wrong.

  “’Course not,” he agreed calmly. And that was it. “See you around, then.”

  Joe turned and headed for the door. He nodded to Tina, and then he was gone.

  Megan was left behind in a diner that suddenly felt colder and dingier than it had just felt moments before.

  Chapter Eleven

  Megan went back to the motel room at the end of the day, alone. She’d thought about getting out of town for the weekend, but she really had nowhere to go. Sad, but true, and there was no point in pretending otherwise. She took a shower and knew she should put her pajamas on, but instead she pulled out a long, gauzy skirt and one of her new Walmart tops. It was actually really cute—a nice, rich blue, with a wide, square neckline that made her feel like Audrey Hepburn. And the skirt had been one of the few items she’d managed to salvage from her soaked luggage, but it seemed a bit too frivolous for office wear. It looked good with the top, though. Not that there was anyone around to appreciate her fashion sense. She poured herself a glass of wine from the bottle she kept in the mini-fridge, and then sat down on the bed. Time for TV, she supposed.

  When there was a knock on the door just past six o’clock, her stomach jumped in anticipation. Joe had come for her. He was going to try to persuade her, and damn it, she was going to let him. She gave herself a quick once-over before hurrying to the door.

  She opened it to find the sheriff standing there with Shirley Dade, the owner of the motel. She hoped that her look of confusion would cover her totally irrational disappointment. “Hi,” she managed.

  “Hey, sweetie.” Carson’s smile was as warm as ever. “You ready to go?”

  “Go?” Had she forgotten a meeting? She was sure she hadn’t. And why would Shirley be a part of that?

  “To the barbecue,” Carson clarified, his voice easy.

  “Wait. Did we talk about this?”

  “Talk about it? No, why would we need to? It’s the best food in five counties, so obviously you’re going. And you don’t really know many people, so obviously you’re going with us. What’s to talk about?”

  “Carson…”

  “No, sweetie, don’t argue. Come out. Meet some people, have some fun. You can’t live in a cave forever.” He winced as Shirley backhanded him in the chest. The woman was a good size, and her swing had strength in it.

  “It’s a nice room, not a cave,” Shirley said. “But he’s right. You should get out.” She reached forward and gently touched Megan’s fingers. “It’ll be fine.” Somehow, it was more persuasive coming from a woman. Shirley had to know why Megan felt like hiding, and she almost certainly knew the town well enough to know whether Megan’s apprehension was justified. “And Carson’s right about the food. It’s a hell of a feed.”

  “I don’t want to intrude,” Megan protested. She had no idea what the relationship was between Carson and Shirley, hadn’t even known that there was one, but they seemed comfortable with each other.

  Shirley just laughed. “If that’s your best argument, you should get your shoes on. You’re coming.” She peered into the room. “Have you got a warm coat? We’ve got the hall if we need it, but the food’s outside and so’s the best dancing.”

  “It’s April. In Montana. You guys are really going to hang around outside?”

  “That’s where the stars are,” Shirley said reasonably.

  Hard to argue with that. The whole thing was hard to argue with. Yeah, Megan was a little tentative about going out in public, but she couldn’t hide forever. She smiled. “If you’re sure you don’t mind, it sounds great.” She turned to find her shoes, and reminded herself that she was going out to be social with friends, not to look for Joe Cody.

  The three of them walked the few blocks to the old high school, which had been turned into a sort of community center when the school closed down, and Megan could hear the party before she could see it.

  “It sounds like a lot of people,” she said.

  “The whole town, pretty much,” Shirley agreed. “Plus some extras from out in the country. It’s been a long winter, and this is the first big event all year.”

  “I heard it’s a celebration of the start of hunting season?” Megan didn’t divulge just who had given her that tidbit of information.

  Carson said, “It used to be. Still is, technically, I guess. But most of these folks aren’t serious hunters. They just want to see their neighbors, and have something to drink.”

  The smell of barbecue reached them as they entered the parking lot, and Megan could see huge grills set up along the wall of the school. There were tables stretched out perpendicular to them, covered with assorted soft drinks and huge bowls that Megan assumed held side dishes. Folding tables and chairs were clustered in the middle of the parking lot, and on the far side there was a makeshift stage with a band setting up.

  “This is quite a production,” she said.

  Carson nodded proudly. “It takes some work to organize, but there’s always lots of volunteers to help with the setup.”

  “Cleanup can be a bit of a problem,” Shirley added. “But it gets done sooner or later.”

  They joined the short line of people waiting for food, and Carson gallantly paid for his two guests. When they got to the soft drink portion of the table, Megan watched as Shirley took a gulp of her Coke and then passed the can to Carson. He pulled a flask from his jacket pocket, topped up the can, and swirled it gently before handing it back to her. Then he raised the flask questioningly in Megan’s direction.

  “Sure, why not,” she decided. “It’s rum?”

  “Medicine, sweetie. But you may find that it tastes a bit like rum.” He filled her can and returned it, and they moved on to the next station.

  An hour later, Megan was full of grilled turkey and three different kinds of potato salad, and just tipsy enough to be ready to dance when the band started playing. Carson took her for a spin, and he was light-footed for a man of his size, but she was able to keep up. When he and Shirley stood up for the next song, Megan was left alone at the table, but she didn’t really mind. People had been stopping by and chatting with Carson and Shirley all night, and none of them had been anything but friendly toward Megan. Being left alone didn’t feel like she was an outsider. It just gave her a chance to catch her breath.

  And she wasn’t alone long. She didn’t think she’d met the handsome young man who eased into the seat next to her, but she’d been introduced to so many people that night that she couldn’t be sure.
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  “Having fun?” he asked with a smile.

  “Absolutely. The band’s great.”

  “They sure are.” He stuck his hand out, and she shook it. “I’m Bruce.”

  “Nice to meet you, Bruce. I’m Megan.”

  He nodded. “You feel like dancing?”

  “That sounds like fun.” She wasn’t sure who this guy was, but he seemed nice enough, and it wasn’t like they were going off somewhere private. And he turned out to be a pretty good dancer. They chatted as they moved around, and after the first song they stayed on the floor for another, and after that they went and got Cokes together.

  “So what do you do, Bruce?” she asked as they found a free table and watched the dancers.

  He looked like he was thinking over his answer, and finally he smiled and said, “Well, it’s funny you should ask.” He leaned in a little. “Don’t you think it’s about time the world heard your side of the story?”

  She was too surprised to respond immediately. Was he talking about what she thought he was? “What do you mean?”

  He leaned further toward her. “We’ve all heard the governor’s side of things, but what about yours? I think it would be a great idea for you to get your story out there. They send you off into the wilderness like you did something wrong? He was the one who was married, right? What did you do that was so bad? But you’re the one being punished for it.”

  “Who are you? What do you want?” She stood up abruptly.

  He rose as well and reached a hand out to her elbow. “I could be a really valuable friend, Megan. The people I work for are willing to pay generously for an interview with you, and the benefits wouldn’t just be financial. It’s in your best interest for people to hear your side of the story. Hiding away like this just makes you look guiltier.”

  She pulled her elbow away and stepped back. “I’m not interested. Leave me alone.”