Cowboy Deputy

by Carla Cassidy

  Each and every person greeted her with open friendliness and sent home the fact that if she’d chosen differently, Black Rock would have been a wonderful place to call home.

  They were just leaving the café when at the door they met a big guy in overalls and a red flannel shirt. Benjamin introduced him as Josh Willoughby, the groundskeeper at the cemetery.

  “Hope you’re planning on staying in town,” he said to Edie. “I know Walt would love having you around.”

  “Actually, I’m on my way out of town in just a little while,” Edie replied. “This was just a visit gone crazy.”

  Josh smiled. “Seems to me the only one who went crazy is Jeffrey.” He looked at Benjamin. “I guess we’ve solved the mystery of the lights I thought I saw once in a while at the cemetery. Must have been Jeffrey skulking around the newest graves.”

  “Must have been,” Benjamin agreed. “At least this particular issue has been solved.”

  “Yeah, now all you have to do is figure out what happened to those missing girls,” Josh replied.

  Edie felt the weight of concern in Benjamin as he released a deep sigh. “Yeah, we definitely need a break where the disappearances are concerned.”

  Goodbyes were said and then Edie and Benjamin got back into his truck and headed for the ranch. They were both silent for part of the ride. It wasn’t a comfortable silence but rather one filled with tension.

  Telling him goodbye was going to rip out her heart, but she was determined not to change her course, not to alter her future.

  “So, what are your plans when you get back to Topeka?” he finally asked, breaking the miserable silence.

  “Find a job, find a new place to live,” she replied. “Those are my two immediate concerns.”

  “You’ll let somebody here know where you move? We might need you to come back when this goes to trial.”

  “You have my cell phone number. That won’t change, so you can get hold of me if you need to.” As the entrance to the ranch came into view she steeled her heart against a sense of homecoming.

  It felt like home. It looked like home, but she reminded herself it was just an illusion. Her grandmother had always cautioned her to love smart, but she’d already made the choice not to love at all. And that was the smartest choice of all.

  When they got inside she went to the bedroom where she’d stayed and began to pack her bags while Benjamin headed for the kitchen. She was grateful he didn’t hover near her as she placed the few articles of clothing she’d brought back into her suitcase.

  She took a clean pair of jeans and a long-sleeve emerald blouse into the bathroom and quickly changed, grateful for the clean clothes after being stuck in the others for two days.

  When she left the bathroom she nearly bumped into Benjamin. “I just wanted to let you know that I called Jacob and asked him to bring Tiny back. I thought you might want to say goodbye to the mutt.”

  A new ball of emotion swelled up in her chest at thoughts of the little dog. She nodded and walked back into the bedroom. She grabbed her suitcase but Benjamin took it from her and together they went to the living room.

  At that moment Jacob came in the door, Tiny in his arms. The dog vibrated with excitement at the sight of Edie and Benjamin. As Jacob placed Tiny on the floor he ran first to Benjamin and then to Edie.

  She scooped him up in her arms and hugged him as he licked the side of her neck. She smiled at Jacob, noting that the man looked rough with a whisker-darkened jaw and the darkest eyes she’d ever seen. “Thanks for bringing him here for a goodbye.”

  He nodded and then turned and left the house as Edie placed the dog back on the floor.

  “You’ll have to excuse my brother. He’s not the most social creature on earth,” Benjamin said.

  “That’s okay. Well, I guess it’s time for me to get on the road.” She didn’t quite meet his gaze.

  “Edie, if you ever need anything, if you change your mind about me…about us, I’ll be here.” The yearning in his voice nearly broke her.

  She picked up her suitcase and overnight bag and clung tight to the handles so that she wouldn’t be tempted to throw her arms around his neck and cling tightly to him. “Thank you seems so inadequate for what you’ve done for me and Poppy, but I’m so grateful, if this had to happen to us, that it happened here with you.”

  She looked at him then, memorizing his beautiful brown eyes, the strong, handsome features that were permanently etched in her mind. Years from now on cold lonely nights she would remember him and the expression on his face and would be comforted by the knowledge that she’d once been loved.

  Together they left the house and he stood next to her car as she stowed her suitcase in the trunk. She dug her keys out of her purse, opened the driver’s door and then turned back to look at him.

  “Well, I guess this is goodbye.” She refused to cry in front of him even though tears began to well up inside her. “I hope you do take up ranching full-time, Benjamin. You come alive when you talk about it.”

  He nodded, his eyes filled with a sadness it would take her a long time to forget. “And I hope you find peace, Edie. I hope you find forgiveness for yourself, even though you did nothing to be forgiven for. Be safe, Edie, and try to find some happiness for yourself.”

  He stepped away from the car and she slid in behind the steering wheel and closed the door. As she started the engine, she swallowed hard against the tears that seemed determined to fall.

  Refusing to look in her rearview mirror as she pulled away, she kept her focus on the road ahead. Still, by the time she reached the entrance, her vision was blurred with the tears she could no longer contain.

  She believed she was doing the right thing and yet there was a tiny voice deep inside her screaming that she was making the biggest mistake of her life.

  “Shut up,” she muttered to the voice. Still the tears continued and she angrily swiped at them with one hand. There was nothing to cry about. This was her decision, the right decision.

  If you never looked for happiness, then you were never disappointed. If you never sought love, then your heart would always remain intact. It was the safest way to live, wrapped in a cocoon of isolation.

  By the time she reached the narrow stretch of highway that would lead out of town, her tears had stopped and she kept her mind focused on all the things she needed to take care of once she got back to Topeka.

  She was the only car on the road so it was easy to let her mind wander. She might try the apartments down the street from her current address. She was going to miss that smile of his. She tightened her hands on the steering wheel and consciously forced thoughts of Benjamin out of her head.

  She hadn’t driven very far when she saw a truck approaching fast behind her. As he got on her tail he honked and then shot into the left lane to pass her.

  When he got up next to her she recognized him as the man she’d met earlier at the café. Josh something, the cemetery man. He pointed at the back of her car and gestured wildly as if something was wrong.

  Terrific, just what she needed…car trouble that might keep her here for another day or two. She pulled over to the side of the road and Josh pulled in behind her.

  He got out of his truck as she got out of the car. “Your back tire is going flat,” he said.

  “Terrific, and I don’t have a spare,” she exclaimed. She walked toward the rear of the car and bent down to look at the tire he’d indicated. She frowned. The tire looked fine to her.

  Before she could straighten up, something slammed into the top of her head. She sprawled forward to the ground, as pinpoints of light exploded in a growing darkness. Her last conscious thought was that they’d all been wrong.

  It wasn’t over.

  Benjamin wandered the house like a lost man, Tiny at his heels. He’d been alone for most of his adult life but he’d never felt such loneliness.

  He’d told Tom he was going to take off the next couple days. With Jeffrey Allen behind bars and that particul
ar crime solved, there were plenty of deputies who could work on the disappearance of the women. He wasn’t really needed.

  She didn’t need you. She didn’t love you enough. The words whispered through his brain, bringing with them an ache he’d never felt before.

  He’d held out hope until the moment her car had disappeared from his view and it was only then that the last of his hope had died.

  He thought about heading to the cabin and talking to Jacob, but realized he wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone, especially Jacob, who seemed to hate life as much as he hated himself at the moment.

  There was plenty of work around the ranch that he could do and maybe that was exactly what he needed—physical labor to keep his mind away from thoughts of Edie.

  He wanted to make himself so exhausted that when he closed his eyes to sleep that night he wouldn’t think of her warm laughter, wouldn’t smell her enticing scent and wouldn’t remember how she felt in his arms.

  As he left the house and headed for the barn, his thoughts turned to his sister. He would always have a little bit of guilt inside him about the last conversation he’d had with Brittany, but he knew it wasn’t his fault that she’d gone missing.

  Just like it wasn’t Edie’s fault that her baby had been stillborn. He couldn’t imagine the anguish of a woman who had carried and loved her baby for nine months, gone through the agony of childbirth and then ended up with nothing.

  An experience like that could definitely scar a heart, but it wasn’t supposed to destroy a heart. He shook his head as he opened the barn door. Edie had allowed the tragedy and her misplaced sense of guilt to define her, and there was nothing he could do to change that.

  Always before he’d found peace and comfort in the barn where the air smelled like leather and hay and horse, but this time there was no peace, no solace to be found. The only scent he wanted to smell was the sweet fragrance of Edie and she was gone from him.

  He pulled out his saddle, deciding to oil the leather. He didn’t know how long he’d been working when his cell phone rang. He fumbled it out of his shirt pocket and answered.

  “Benjamin, we’ve got a problem.” Caleb’s voice nearly vibrated with tension. “Is Edie with you?”

  Tension filled him. “No, she left here about an hour ago. She was headed back to Topeka. Why?”

  “Her car is out on the highway, but she’s not around.”

  Benjamin’s heart crashed to his feet. “I’ll be right there.” He clicked off and then hurried for the house and his keys.

  He was on the road in minutes, telling himself to calm down, that there had to be a logical explanation. She had car trouble or she ran out of gas and took off walking back to town, he thought.

  But she had your phone number. Why wouldn’t she have called for help? Surely she would have put all personal issues aside if she’d needed help.

  By the time he pulled to the curb behind her car, he was half-wild with suppositions. Both Tom and Caleb were there, their cars parked in front of Edie’s vehicle.

  “There’s no damage to the car,” Caleb said. “And the keys are in it. I started it up and the engine purred like a kitten, and the gas tank is full.”

  His words shattered Benjamin’s hopeful speculations. His panic must have shown on his features. “There’s no blood inside, no signs of a struggle,” Tom said.

  “There weren’t any signs of a struggle in Brittany’s or Jennifer’s car,” he said. Was it possible she’d become the latest victim to a madman who was collecting the young women of the town? “We have to find her,” he said with an urgency that made him feel half-sick. He’d lost her because she didn’t love him, but he couldn’t imagine losing her to this kind of fate.

  For the next two hours the three officials walked the area, seeking some clue that might lead to her whereabouts. Tom had people checking in town to see if anyone had seen her. During that time Benjamin’s mind raced as his heart grew heavier and heavier.

  What were the odds that they’d keep her safe from one madman only to have her fall prey to another? It looked as if she’d pulled the car over on her own. What or who would make her stop?

  Was it possible this wasn’t another disappearance, but rather tied to the case they’d thought was closed? But Jeffrey had confessed to everything, he reminded himself.

  Dammit, he’d thought she was safe, that the danger was over. He looked at Tom, who hung up his phone and shook his head. “Nobody has seen her in town.”

  “I want to talk to Jeffrey,” Benjamin said.

  Tom looked at him in surprise. “Why? He’s locked up and couldn’t have anything to do with this.”

  Benjamin frowned thoughtfully. “I know that, but I’ve known Jeffrey all my life and I’ve never seen him lose his temper, never seen him hurt a fly.” His head was a jumble of thoughts, ones he should have entertained the minute Tom had told him Jeffrey had confessed.

  “The beating Walt took was vicious and Edie said the man who tried to get at her in the house was filled with rage. That just doesn’t sound like Jeffrey. Besides, you said he readily confessed to the experiments and illegal dumping of the body parts yet was reluctant to confess to hurting Walt and attacking Edie.”

  Tom raised a dark eyebrow. “Are you thinking about a partner?”

  Benjamin nodded. “Maybe somebody he’s trying to protect or somebody who scares him more than time in jail.”

  “Let’s go have a talk with him,” Tom replied.

  As Benjamin got into his truck to drive back to town, he prayed they'd find some answers that would lead back to Edie. He prayed that it already wasn't too late for her. He prayed that she wouldn't become another missing woman, that she wouldn't just seemingly disappear off the face of the earth and he would never know what happened to her.

  Chapter 12

  Edie regained consciousness in pieces of confusion. She moaned as a sharp pain raged in the back of her head and then realized moaning was all she could do because her mouth was taped closed.

  Panic pumped her heart in a frantic rhythm as her eyes snapped open. Her ankles were tied, as were her hands behind her back. She sat on the dirt floor of a small shed and for several agonizing seconds she couldn’t remember how she’d gotten there.

  Then she remembered being in the car and heading out of town when Josh the cemetery man had caused her to stop. But why had he done this? What did he want with her?

  She struggled in an attempt to free her hands, but they were bound tight and her efforts only made the ties tighter and cut off her circulation.

  How long had she been unconscious? Minutes? Hours? Did anyone know she was in trouble? Was anyone even looking for her?

  Benjamin. Her heart cried his name. Had Josh taken the other women, as well? Would she become just another woman in the town of Black Rock who had disappeared without a trace?

  Tears welled up in her eyes, but she shoved them back, afraid that if she began to cry she’d choke. If her nose stuffed up she would suffocate. She would have laughed out loud at this thought if it were possible. Which would she prefer, suffocation by tears or death at the hands of a crazy creep?

  She couldn’t wait for help to come. It might never come. She needed to do something to help herself. Wildly she looked around the dim, dusty shed. There were picks and shovels leaning in the corner, but nothing that appeared sharp enough to cut the ropes that held her.

  There was a machine standing nearby, bigger than a lawnmower and with a small bucket on the front. Her blood went icy cold as she realized it was probably used to dig graves.

  Was that what had happened to those other women? Were their bodies under the ground, hiding in a secret grave that Josh had dug on the cemetery property?

  A new panic seared through her. Maybe she could use the blade of one of the shovels to free herself, she thought. At least she could try. She attempted to scoot across the floor but instantly discovered that her hands were not only tied together behind her back but were also anchored to something t
hat held her in place.

  Frustration added to her fear as she realized there was no way she could do anything to get out of this mess. She was at the mercy of Josh and fate.

  She froze, her heart nearly stopping in her chest as she heard somebody approaching. Please, please let it be somebody here to rescue me, she thought. Please, let it be Benjamin or one of his lawmen brothers who walks through that door.

  The door creaked open and her heart fell as Josh walked in. She raised her chin and gave him her best stare of defiance. He laughed, an ugly sound that twisted in her guts.

  “You can glare at me all you want,” he said as he leaned against the door and eyed her in amusement. “But the way I see it, I’ve got the upper hand here and you should be begging me for your life. Not that it would do any good.”

  His pleasant expression morphed into one of rage as he took a step closer to her. “You stupid bitch, you and that old man of yours ruined everything!”

  He began to pace just in front of her. “Jeffrey Allen was on the verge of producing a product that would have set the cosmetic industry on its ears. I was supplying Jeffrey with body parts and he’d agreed to pay me half of whatever he made.”

  He stopped in front of her, his eyes wild with hatred. “You know how much they pay me for my work here in the cemetery? Next to nothing. I got to work another job just to put food on the table. I was going to be rich but you and Walt had to stick your nose into things.”

  He leaned down so close to her that if her mouth hadn’t been bound she would have bitten his nose off. In his eyes she saw not only a deep-seated rage but also a hint of insanity.

  “You screwed up my plans.” His breath was sick, fetid in her face. “And the price for that is death.” He straightened and walked back to the door. “After dark tonight I’m going to do a little work in the cemetery. That gives you several hours to think about what it’s going to be like to be buried alive.”

  Horror washed over her, making her slump back against the wall as he left the shed. She wondered what time it was, how many hours she had left before darkness fell.