Cowboy Deputy

by Carla Cassidy

  Edie leaned back in her chair. She looked as pretty as he’d ever seen her in a deep pink sweater that enhanced her coloring. “I think it’s time I go home.”

  “Do you really think that’s a good idea?”

  “Whoever chased us the other night must realize by now that we couldn’t identify them. Plus I know that Poppy isn’t crazy and he’s insisting I go home.”

  He wanted to protest. He wanted to ask her if she’d stay for him. But they’d shared only a single kiss and he really had no right to ask her to stay.

  “So what are your plans?”

  “I’ll stop over at Poppy’s place in the morning and get my things and then head on back to Topeka.” She frowned. “I hate to leave him like this and I was wondering if it would be okay with you if Poppy remains here a couple of days. He is healing nicely, but I think the attack shook him up more than he’s saying. I tried to tell him I wanted to stay at least until he gets back on his feet, but he went ballistic.”

  “He’s welcome to stay until he feels like he’s ready to go home,” Benjamin said.

  She nodded. “I appreciate it.”

  “And if I need to talk to you? About the investigation?”

  “I’ll give you my cell phone number and when I get settled in a new place, I’ll let you know my address.”

  “I’ll be sorry to see you go.” The words escaped him before he realized he intended to speak them.

  Her gaze didn’t quite meet his. “You’re a nice man, Benjamin, and you deserve a nice woman in your life.” She got up from the table. “Believe me, I’m the last person on earth you need in your life in any way. I’m not a nice woman and it’s time for me to get back to my life.”

  Before he could respond she turned and left the kitchen.

  Chapter 7

  It was after eleven when Edie finally left Benjamin’s ranch the next morning. Margaret had insisted she have a big breakfast and it had been difficult to say goodbye to both her and Poppy.

  She might have stuck around if she thought that Poppy really needed her, but she sensed a bit of romance taking place between him and Margaret, a romance that could fill any loneliness Poppy might have entertained.

  Benjamin had already been gone when she’d gotten out of bed and she’d remained in her room the night before after she’d left him in the kitchen.

  She’d been afraid to spend any more time around him, afraid that somehow he’d talk her into staying, afraid that he might kiss her again and made her want him even more deeply than she already did. It was definitely time to get out of Dodge, but her heart was heavy as the ranch disappeared in her rearview mirror.

  She could have been happy there, she could be happy with Benjamin, if she deserved happiness. But deep in her soul she knew the truth.

  Still, she was grateful she hadn’t had to face him one last time that morning. It was easier this way, with no long, drawn-out goodbyes.

  By the time she entered the outskirts of town she was thinking of the problems that awaited her in Topeka. Thank God she had a little bit of savings put away, just enough to get her into another small apartment.

  She wasn’t too worried about a job. She’d flip hamburgers if necessary to get by until she found something more permanent. It would have been nice if she’d gone to college, but there had never been enough money at home, and the minute she’d graduated from high school she’d started working to help out her mother.

  When she reached Poppy’s place she parked in the driveway and got out of the car, surprised when a neighbor hurried out of his house and toward her.

  “Hi,” he said with a smile of friendliness. “I’m Bart Crosswell, Walt’s neighbor. I was just wondering how he’s doing. Me and my wife heard about him getting beaten up but we haven’t seen him since then.”

  Bart was about sixty with a broad face that looked as if it had never held a frown. “He’s staying with some friends for the next couple days,” she replied, “but he’s doing just fine.”

  “Glad to hear that. And I noticed you cleaned up the yard real nice. We didn’t want to complain or say anything, but it was obvious that it had kind of gotten away from him over the past few months.”

  “I’ll try to make sure that somebody is keeping on top of it from now on,” Edie said, grateful that the neighbor appeared to be a nice guy.

  “I don’t mind mowing it whenever I mow my own. I just didn’t want to step on Walt’s toes,” Bart said.

  “That’s very kind of you. When he gets back home maybe the two of you can work out an agreeable arrangement,” she replied.

  “Will do.” He lifted a hand in a friendly goodbye and then began to walk back to his house.

  Poppy would be fine, Edie thought as she let herself into the house. He had friends and neighbors that obviously cared about him. He didn’t need her. Nobody needed her and she didn’t need anyone, she reminded herself as she climbed the stairs.

  She pulled her overnight bag from the closet and set it on the bed. It wouldn’t take long for her to gather her things and leave town.

  Leave Benjamin. She couldn’t help the little pang in her heart as she thought about him. In another place, in another time, she might have allowed herself to care about him. But, she couldn’t think about that now.

  She went into the bathroom across the hall and gathered the toiletries she hadn’t taken to Benjamin’s and then returned to the bedroom and placed them in her overnight bag.

  Once she had all her clothes folded and packed away, she sat on the edge of the bed and allowed herself to think about Benjamin once again.

  He’d asked her if she’d considered relocating to Black Rock now that there was really nothing holding her to Topeka. In the brief time she’d been here as an adult, she recognized that Black Rock was a pleasant town filled with friendly people.

  It was easy to imagine living in Black Rock. She could get an apartment close enough to the downtown area that she could walk to the stores on nice days. She could enjoy regular visits with Poppy and build a pleasant life here.

  There was only one fly in the ointment: a hot sexy deputy with soft brown eyes and hot kisses that made her want to forget her vow of celibacy, forget that she’d given up on finding any real happiness.

  No, she wouldn’t even consider relocating here. Benjamin Grayson was too much temptation and believing she could ever have a loving relationship with anyone was nothing but utter foolishness.

  She rose from the bed and froze as she heard it—the soft, but unmistakable creak of the third step. Her blood chilled as she realized somebody else was in the house, somebody who hadn’t announced their presence but was quietly creeping up the staircase.

  Her breathing went shallow as she grabbed her purse and shot a wild gaze around the room, seeking something that might be used as a weapon.

  There was nothing. And as she heard the distinct creak of the seventh step panic clawed at her. There was no question in her mind that whoever it was had no good intentions, otherwise they would have said something to announce their presence.

  Clutching her purse, she silently moved across the room and into the closet. She closed the closet door and sat on the floor with her back against it and her legs braced on the other side.

  For a long moment she heard nothing but the frantic bang of her own heartbeat. God, she’d been careless. She hadn’t locked the front door behind her when she’d come inside. She hadn’t thought there was any danger.

  If it were Bart surely he would say something. Agonizing moments ticked by and she heard nothing. Her heart rate began to slow a bit. Had she only imagined those creaks? Had it just been the house settling?

  At that moment a fist crashed into the closet door. “Come out of there, you bitch,” a deep voice snarled.

  Edie swallowed a scream and pressed her back more firmly against the door. Help. She needed help. Oh, God, her cell phone.

  She wildly fumbled in the bottom of her purse for her cell phone. A deep sob escaped her as she scrabb
led to find the instrument that would bring help.

  He grabbed the door handle and turned it, then threw himself against the door with a force that shook the door frame. “You and that old man ruined everything! I’m going to make you pay if it’s the last thing I do.”

  Deep and guttural. She didn’t recognize the voice. As he slammed into the door once again she managed to get hold of her cell phone.

  “I’m calling the sheriff,” she cried out as she punched 9-1-1.

  When the operator answered she gave them Poppy’s address and then screamed as the door shuddered once again.

  “You won’t get away from me no matter where you go.” The voice shimmered with rage. “I’ll find you wherever you are and make you pay for screwing up my life.” There was a snap of wood as the frame broke and then silence.

  The only noise was her gasping breaths and un controllable sobs. Was he gone? Or was it a trick? Was he waiting for her to venture out of the closet so he could hurt her? She shoved the back of her fist against her mouth as tears blurred her vision.

  Who had it been? And what had she done to warrant such intense hatred? Would she be safe going back to Topeka or would he find her there to merit out some form of twisted revenge?

  Benjamin was grabbing a quick cup of coffee in the café when he heard the call for a responder to Walt’s address. He tore out of the building and jumped into his car, his heart hammering so fast he could scarcely catch his breath.

  There could only be one person who would have made that call. Edie. He knew she’d be stopping by Walt’s on her way out of town, although he hadn’t known specifically what time she might be leaving.

  If anything happened to her, he’d never forgive himself. He should have talked her out of leaving town, insisted that she stick around until they had a handle on the whole situation.

  It took only minutes for him to arrive at Walt’s. He went through the open front door with his gun drawn, anticipating trouble.

  He heard nothing. The silence of the house thundered in his head as he slowly made his way from room to room. He didn’t want to call out. If somebody was inside, he didn’t want to announce his presence or exacerbate whatever the situation might be. He damn sure didn’t want to force somebody to hurt Edie.

  When he’d cleared the lower level of the house he crept up the stairs, wincing as two of them creaked beneath his weight. When he reached the first bedroom, his heatbeat crashed so hard in his ears he feared he wouldn’t hear anything else.

  He cleared the bedrooms and bathroom until there was only one left at the end of the hallway. His heart jumped into his throat as he saw Edie’s overnight bag on the bed. He finally called out, “It’s Deputy Grayson. Is anyone here?”

  She exploded out of the closet and into his embrace. Trembling arms wrapped around his neck and she buried her face in his chest and began to weep.

  He held her tight with one arm and his gun with the other. “What happened?”

  “He was here. He said I ruined everything and he was going to make me pay.” The words escaped her on a trail of tears as she squeezed her arms around his neck.

  “Who, honey? Who was it?”

  “I don’t know. I didn’t see him.”

  He felt her physically pull herself together. A single deep breath and she moved out of his embrace. But her face was achingly pale and her eyes were wide and red rimmed from her tears.

  “I had just finished packing when I heard somebody on the stairs.” Her voice trembled. “I got scared. Thank God I grabbed my purse and hid in the closet.” Tears welled up in her eyes once again. “I sat on the floor and braced myself as he started to slam into the door. I thought he was going to get in before anyone got here to help.”

  “Let’s get you out of here,” he said. As she grabbed her purse from the closet, he picked up her overnight bag and wondered who in the hell had come after her.

  “We’re going to the sheriff’s office to file a report and then I’m taking you back to the ranch,” he said once they were in his car. “You aren’t heading out of town by yourself until I’m certain that you’re no longer in danger.”

  “If you’re expecting an argument, you aren’t going to get one,” she replied.

  “You didn’t recognize his voice?”

  She shook her head. “It was just a deep growl.” She wrapped her arms around herself as if to fight off a shiver. “He sounded so angry, like he would easily enjoy strangling me to death with his bare hands.”

  Benjamin tightened his hands on the steering wheel as a rage began inside him. The idea of anyone putting their hands on Edie made a rich anger burn in his gut.

  When they arrived at the sheriff’s office, Tom sat down with them and Edie told him what had occurred. Tom immediately dispatched two deputies to Walt’s house to fingerprint the closet and talk to Bart. They hoped Bart might have seen whoever entered the house.

  Confident that the investigation side of things was under control, within an hour Benjamin and Edie were back in his car and headed to the ranch.

  “I know you were eager to return to Topeka and get things settled there,” he said.

  “Funny how somebody trying to kill you can change your mind.” She offered him a weak smile.

  A healthy dose of respect for her filled him.

  “I have this terrible fear that if I go back to Topeka now this creep will somehow find me there and I won’t have my own personal deputy to ride to my rescue,” she added.

  Benjamin tried to find a responding smile, but there was absolutely nothing humorous about the situation. “I shouldn’t have let you go,” he said. “I shouldn’t have let you go to Walt’s to get your things alone. I should have been with you or I should have talked you out of leaving altogether.”

  She reached out and placed her hand on his arm. “How could you know that I might be in danger? Who could know that he’d be after revenge for me somehow screwing things up for him. I just wish I knew what it is he thinks I messed up.” She removed her hand from his arm.

  “If we knew that, we’d probably have all the answers.” Benjamin wheeled through the entrance that led to the ranch. He didn’t want to tell her that the thing that worried him now was that whoever had come after her would eventually know she and Walt were staying here.

  If it came down to him doing his job or keeping her safe, the job could go to hell. He’d already lost one woman in his life. Brittany. He had no hope of ever seeing his sister again.

  Edie had made it clear to him that she didn’t want him in her life on any kind of a romantic basis, but his heart was already taken by her and the idea of anything happening to her nearly shattered him.

  “You’ll be safe at the ranch, both you and Walt. I’ll make sure of it,” he said firmly.

  “I don’t doubt that at all,” she replied.

  As Benjamin parked in front of the ranch his mind whirled with all the ways he could assure their safety. Tom certainly didn’t have men to spare given the magnitude of the current investigation.

  Maybe it was time to have a talk with Jacob, see if he could enlist his brother’s help in keeping an eye on the ranch.

  When they got into the house Benjamin sat down with Walt, Margaret and Edie and told them how important it was that the house remained locked at all times, that they keep an eye out for trouble and that obviously the threat to Edie and Walt wasn’t over.

  He didn’t anticipate any trouble immediately, so after making sure all the doors were locked up tight, Benjamin left to go talk to his brother.

  Jacob had holed himself up in a small cabin on the property almost three months earlier. He’d quit his job in Kansas City with the FBI and had come home with deep haunting shadows in his eyes and had refused to discuss with anyone what had happened to him.

  The only thing he’d told his brothers when he’d arrived in Black Rock was that he didn’t want anyone to know he was back. He lived like a hermit and Benjamin and Margaret provided the supplies he needed.

>   It took only minutes for Benjamin to pull up in front of the cabin that was nearly hidden in a thick grove of trees. At one time this had been a caretaker’s cabin, but during Benjamin’s childhood it had been used as a guest cottage and an occasional romantic getaway for his parents.

  He found his brother where he always found him, in the small living room in a recliner with a beer in his hand and the television playing.

  Jacob’s cheeks and chin were covered with whisker stubble and his dark hair was longer than Benjamin had ever seen it. He looked like a man without pride, a man who had lost the ability to care about anything.

  “You look like hell,” Benjamin said as he came through the front door.

  “And a good afternoon to you, too, little brother.” Jacob gestured him into the chair opposite him and turned down the volume on the television. “What’s going on?”

  “I need your help.” Benjamin eased down into the chair.

  Jacob raised one of his dark eyebrows. “I hope it doesn’t require me leaving this chair or my beer.”

  A flash of irritation swept through Benjamin. He’d always looked up to Jacob but the shell of a man who had returned to the ranch was nothing like the man who had left.

  “Actually, it does require you getting away from the beer and out of your chair,” Benjamin said.

  “Then the odds of me being able to help you out are pretty slim.”

  “For God’s sake, Jacob. Pull yourself together,” Benjamin exclaimed with a burst of uncharacteristic anger. “I need you to help me keep a woman safe.”

  Jacob took a sip of his beer and eyed Benjamin with interest. “Something in your voice tells me this is a special woman.”

  Benjamin felt a faint heat crawl into his cheeks. “She’s in trouble through no fault of her own. Somebody attacked her today and I don’t think the perp is finished yet. I’ve got her at the house but I’d like an extra pair of eyes watching things there.”

  “Does this have to do with the Moreland mess?”

  Benjamin nodded. “I’ve got both Walt Tolliver and his granddaughter at the house.” He leaned back in the chair and released a sigh. “I’d assumed since they couldn’t identify the culprits that they were safe from harm. But I was wrong.” He told his brother what had taken place at Walt’s house.