Return of the Lawman

by Lisa Childs

  “You really love him.” She skimmed her hands up his arms and squeezed his shoulders.

  “He’s always been there for me, even before my parents died. He’s a good man.”

  “Rumor is he loved your mother.”

  “That was true.” Dylan leaned his forehead against hers. “He has my mom’s picture in his den among all the animal carcasses he’s had stuffed. She watches me, too. How can I question him on Chet’s murder?”

  The anguish in his voice pressed against Lindsey’s heart, and she wrapped her arms around his lean torso. “You’ll do it because it’s your duty.” She sighed. “You’ve always been big on doing your duty.”

  Dylan tipped her chin back to him and sought her lips. His kiss was long and gentle. Lindsey’s knees weakened as her pulse danced around.

  When he finally lifted his head, he said in a husky voice, “It’s my duty to get you safely back to Winter Falls.” He opened the passenger’s door for her.

  When he slid behind the wheel, he took her hand again. “How are you holding up?”

  Her heart clutched. “You mean, about my mother? I don’t know. I wasn’t really com fort able with her in the sanatorium. I couldn’t visit her there. It was too hard to see her like that. She didn’t know who I was. But it worries me that she’s alone, that she’ll hurt herself or someone else. I really don’t think she’d do it purposely,” she hastened to add, “but…”

  “I know,” Dylan said, and squeezed her hand. “I under stand.”

  And he did. He knew her as no other had, and it frightened her. How could he want to keep her when no one else ever had? He who knew her best?

  She noted that he didn’t promise to find her mother now. With the more time that passed, the harder it became. If she’d had any idea where to search, she would have been beating the bushes herself. But what if he was right, and she’d had help? Who? And why?

  But she had never really known her mother. The logical places—Arborview Sanatorium and the house—were being watched. All she could do was wait, and Lindsey didn’t do that well.

  She needed activity.

  As he steered onto the road leading back to Winter Falls, Lindsey reached over to run her hand up his thigh.

  “Lindsey,” he warned.

  Twenty minutes later he stopped the truck by the Gazette. “Stay with your dad, Lindsey. Stay out of trouble.”

  She kissed his cheek and squeezed his hand, knowing the ordeal he faced. But she wasn’t making any promises.

  THE SHERIFF PUSHED OPEN the screen door and stepped inside his house. His pale blue gaze focused on the evidence bag in Dylan’s hand and then on Dylan’s face.

  “You know.”

  Dylan nodded. “You need to see the search warrant?”

  The old man shook his head. “No, I trust you.”

  Dylan’s heart throbbed. He turned back to the den. “I found it.”

  “What?”

  He’d already taken pictures and cataloged what he’d found. He reached for the papers that sat beside his mother’s picture on the desk in the same room he’d been sleeping. When he’d been able to sleep…

  “Under those scrap books you’ve been keeping on my achievements, I found these. The township maps that Quade went over with Chet Oliver, the alternative sites for the mall. You would have lost millions.”

  The sheriff rubbed a hand over his stubbled chin. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Dylan. I never saw them before.”

  “Really? They’re spattered with blood, probably Chet’s. They were on his desk when he was shot. Now they’re on yours. What should I believe?” Not the evidence. He did not want to believe the evidence.

  His stomach constricted. From all those years ago, his father’s words echoed in his ears. “Shut it off, boy. Shut it off!” He had to detach. He had to treat the sheriff as any other suspect.

  “Believe in me, as I believed in you, Dylan.” The older man sagged onto the sofa bed. He rubbed his hands over his face. “I don’t know where those papers came from. You know I never lock the door. Heck, the whole town knows that. Probably even the newcomers.”

  “You mean Quade and Hutchins?”

  “They hang around Marge’s.”

  “Why?”

  “The food, I guess.”

  “Not them. You. Why didn’t you tell me about the land, about your part in this mall deal?” If he was just an officer interviewing a suspect, why did he feel so betrayed?

  The sheriff shrugged. “I’m staying in this town, Dylan. Chet wasn’t the only one opposed to the new development. The mayor is, too. And other people, my neighbors and friends. I didn’t want them mad at me.”

  “You’re going to become a millionaire but stay here?”

  “I lead a simple life, Dylan. I wasn’t going to change that.” His pale blue gaze traveled to the picture of Dylan’s mother. Moisture welled.

  “Then why sell the land to them? Why do you want all that money if you’re not going to spend it?”

  The sheriff pushed himself to his feet. “It wasn’t for me.”

  Dylan’s hands trembled in his latex gloves when he slid the documents into the evidence bag. For him. The old man wanted the money for him. “I—I don’t know what to say.”

  “Are you arresting me?”

  LINDSEY TAPPED AWAY on her computer keys, then promptly deleted the story. She was too responsible a reporter to write an article on unconfirmed information. But she doubted Dylan would corroborate. She had to wait.

  Her dad stepped into the office and dropped a bag on his desk. Dark circles under lined his tired eyes. “Hey, brat. You get anything from Quade this morning?”

  She shrugged. “Nothing I can use.”

  “Want a cinnamon roll?” He reached into the grease-stained bag.

  Her stomach pitched. “I’ll pass.”

  “You have to eat something.”

  “But Mom…”

  “They’ll find her, Lindsey.” He patted her shoulder. “What you working on?”

  Shift her mind to work. She had gotten that from her father. “I should go over to City Hall, talk to the mayor. I want his reaction…” She couldn’t say it. She’d have to fish, see if the sheriff had put any pressure on the mayor to change his mind about the mall.

  “Still feels funny thinking of him as mayor. He used to be the judge.”

  “That’s right.” As a reporter, her father had done an excellent job keeping her informed while she’d been away. “An old bachelor judge who retired, then was too bored, so he ran for mayor.”

  “He was the judge who sentenced Steve Mars.” Will Warner sighed. “What a tragedy.”

  And another line of questions she needed to ask. But first, her father… “Dad, why didn’t you mention what Chet said in the diner the day Dylan came back to town?”

  He raised his gaze from the grease-stained bag. “About?”

  “The letter Steve Mars left for Dylan.”

  He pushed a hand through his gray hair. “Honestly, brat, I just forgot.”

  “You forgot?”

  He chuckled. “You’ve been gone awhile, Lindsey. I’ve gotten old. I forget things.”

  Lindsey studied the lines in his face. Her father had a lot on his mind. She could forgive his lapse. But she couldn’t stop pursuing the story. “I’m heading over to City Hall now.”

  “The mayor just left Marge’s. He was heading home.”

  She grabbed her leather bag, slinging it over her shoulder. “I’ll go there, instead. Where’s he live?”

  A smile tilted her dad’s mouth when he gave her directions. She got as far as the door, then turned around. “Dad, can I use your car?”

  He tossed her a key ring. “Use the delivery truck.”

  She laughed. “You trust me with it?”

  “It has a governor on the speedometer. Doesn’t go over forty. That’s the only vehicle I trust you with.”

  “Yeah, yeah…”

  “Be safe, sweet heart,” he called a
fter her.

  DYLAN MANEUVERED HIS Expedition onto the mayor’s street. Although he wore his uniform, he’d not bothered to get his squad car. He passed a delivery truck for the

  Winter Falls Gazette that was a couple of feet from the curb and pulled into the cement drive of the mayor’s brick ranch.

  Through his wind shield he caught a flash of red and black as Lindsey bounced from foot to foot on the front steps. He pushed open the door and stepped onto the drive.

  “Lindsey, what are you doing here?” He’d come to warn the mayor again. He’d already talked to the old man once about his opposition to the mall, and the target his stance had possibly made him. Now he had some questions for the retired judge. And, as usual, Lindsey Warner stood in his way.

  “Hey, Deputy!” She wagged her fingers at him and jumped off the steps.

  “Lindsey, I told you to stay out of my investigation.” He pushed a hand through his hair, exhausted, both physically and emotionally. She’d contributed to both.

  “Are you okay, Dylan?”

  She smiled at him, her beautiful face soft with understanding. If he had a heart left, he knew he’d give it to her.

  He glanced behind her at the brick house just as the world exploded into noise and glass and flying debris. He leaped forward to knock her to the ground, but she’d already fallen and rolled partially under the front of his Expedition.

  Her beautiful dark eyes closed, and blood trailed down her cheek from a cut on her forehead. Bits of glass and building had tangled in her curls.

  He dropped to his knees in the glass and reached under the bumper for her wrist. Knowing he couldn’t move her, he fought the urge to pull her into his arms. He had to leave her where she’d fallen in case she was seriously wounded. With shaking fingers he searched for her pulse.

  And then he did something he hadn’t done since he’d been a boy trapped in the backseat of a wrecked vehicle watching his mother die. He prayed.

  Chapter Ten

  THE PAIN ROLLED AROUND in Lindsey’s head like a bowling ball over glass figurines. She figured all her brain matter had shattered. With a groan, she forced open her eyes.

  The tilt and sway of the white walls all around her caused the same sensation in her stomach. Had she died and gone to heaven? Even the bright light, a single beam, speared her eyeball.

  “She’s awake,” someone bellowed.

  Lindsey winced. “Jeez, take it easy,” she whispered. Noise assaulted her over sensitive ears. The cacophony of a busy hospital played out. Food trays rattled down the hallway. Machines sent out cryptic messages in assorted beeps. Under it all droned muted voices of concern.

  “So I’m not dead?”

  A man chuckled, but her heart sank. It wasn’t Dylan.

  “You’re not dead,” the person with the light assured her as he clicked it off.

  “But I wish I was,” she grumbled, and closed her eyes. “How’s Dylan Matthews?”

  “Dylan is all right, honey,” said her father, as his rough hand gripped hers on the bed railing. “Someone else has come to see you. Evan Quade.”

  “Where’s Dylan?” She hated the desperation in her voice, but she had to be sure he was all right.

  “He’s investigating the explosion, honey.”

  “Explosion?” What an in credible story! Her fingers itched to get the details down on paper.

  “Yeah, the one that knocked you into his truck. You’ve gotta let this go, Lindsey. You have to see how dangerous it is. What’s more important is that now he’s seen it, too.”

  She winced over the condemnation in her father’s voice. “That’s why he’s not here, Dad. He’s protecting me again.”

  “And doing a piss-poor job of it.” Evan Quade threw in his unsolicited two cents.

  Lindsey pried open an eyelid to glare at him. “What are you doing here?”

  “You’re here.”

  “You don’t even know me.” She narrowed her eyes on his handsome face.

  “I heard about the explosion on the radio. Stopping here was on my way home. You’re in Traverse City. They flew you here by emergency ’copter.”

  “For a bump on the head?” She snorted and ran shaking fingers over the bandage on her forehead. Beneath the gauze, the raised flesh throbbed.

  Her father squeezed her free hand. “A bump on the head can be serious, you know, honey. They had to check for swelling on the brain.”

  “At last, everyone will know what a big brain I have.” She teased a smile out of her father.

  He shook his head, but his smile stayed.

  Quade cleared his throat. “When I heard about the explosion and the injuries, I came to the hospital.”

  “To check your investment? I assume the mayor’s dead?” The grim faces of both men confirmed her suspicion. “The mayor and Oliver are both out of the way. The rezone’s a done deal now, the mall as good as built.”

  Quade’s dark eyes didn’t blink. “The sheriff will be a rich man now.”

  And if this man’s suspicions were correct, Dylan would be crushed that his child hood hero was a killer. She had to go to him.

  She glanced around, even though the room spun crazily at her sharp movement. The white-coated doctor was gone.

  “Dad, find the doc, and spring me from this place, okay? There’s too much going on. We can’t be away from Winter Falls now.”

  Her father shook his head. “You need to stay here.”

  “If you don’t spring me, I’ll walk out with my hospital gown flapping open behind me.” She rose from the pillows, but the effort left her dizzy and queasy. She fought to hang on to consciousness.

  “You’re such a brat,” he grumbled, and ran his hand over her messy hair. Then he walked out.

  “You can leave,” she told Quade.

  He opened his mouth, but the ringing of the phone stopped whatever pronouncement he’d been about to make. As if he had every right, he reached for the phone on her bedside table.

  “Hello. Yes, this is Quade.” The dark-haired man smiled, and Lindsey’s un easiness increased.

  She held out a hand for the phone.

  “Deputy Dylan,” he said as he passed it to her.

  “You’re okay?” was his first question.

  Lindsey’s heart softened. “Yes.”

  “What the hell is he doing there? You’re not alone with him?”

  His harsh tone stung. As always, she reacted to pain with sarcasm. “At least he’s here with me.”

  Dylan growled. “Don’t push me, Lindsey. I was thinking of your safety.”

  She laughed. “Protecting me again, Dylan? You think he’s going to smother me with a pillow?”

  “I can’t believe the mayor’s house blew up. You shouldn’t have—” His voice broke with emotion. “I didn’t—”

  She melted into the pillows, her pain for got ten. “I know you didn’t, Dylan. It wasn’t your fault.”

  “That’s not what your father thinks.”

  “I take it he came to the scene?”

  “Yeah, but it doesn’t matter. He’s right. You don’t belong in the middle of a dangerous police investigation.”

  “Thank you for telling me that. But I’ve been there before.” And her ex-fiancé had had no problem with her handling the dangerous end of research. He’d taken the glory by putting his byline on a story he would not have had without her legwork.

  “I wasn’t with you in Chicago. But I am with you now. You’re not going to get hurt because of me!”

  Before she could respond to that, the connection broke. He’d hung up on her.

  “Damn him,” she muttered, and slammed the receiver down with the little strength she had left.

  “The lawman laying down the law?” Quade quipped.

  “Cute.” She closed her eyes and ran her fingers over the gauze again. “I thought you were leaving.” It wasn’t a question.

  He shrugged. “I might wait to see what the doctor has to say about your injuries.”

  “
Why?” Her eyes snapped opened, and exasperation had her sputtering. “I don’t get it. You don’t even know me. Why are you here?”

  “You’re going through a rough time. I’m human. I care about people.”

  She laughed. “Pull the other one.” Her mirth faded fast. “I need to be home. My mother’s missing. Since you seem to know everything, you must know that.”

  “Yeah, I know that.” A hard edge brought bitterness to his response. He turned to the window, presenting her with the back of his expertly tailored suit.

  “So you know I need to get out of here!” In Lindsey’s mind there was nothing more frustrating than helplessness. And she’d been frustrated most of her life. “Why?”

  “Why what?” she snapped, and fought to pull away from the pillows again. Her carnival ride picked up so much speed, she couldn’t see the scenery. She subsided against the stiff pillows.

  “Why do you act as if you care about your mother?”

  “Act? What?”

  “I mean, you and your dad put her in an insane asylum, and in all these years, how many times have you visited her?”

  “What do you know about it? It’s not any of your business! Just who the hell do you think you are?” Her shouting nearly shattered her head, but anger had her by the throat. And guilt flooded it all. “Your brother.”

  “You’re insane!”

  He turned back to her then, and although he wavered in and out of her distorted vision, she realized how very serious he was.

  THE HOUR WAS LATER than sensible for a jog, due to the dim light of dusk, but Dylan needed the slap of his running shoes against the pavement. He needed the rhythmic noise of the rubber soles against the asphalt. He needed the burn in his lungs and shins.

  But still he couldn’t outrun his demons. He’d handed her to Quade. While Dylan should have been at her bedside, holding her hand, promising to cherish her for the rest of his life, Quade was there instead. Moving in.

  And Lindsey was moving on. She wouldn’t stay in Winter Falls. She’d stated that, had been honest and up front.

  He was the one who’d broken the rules. He, the lawman. He’d fallen in love with her. He’d probably always been in love with her, even when she’d been a feisty teenager. Perhaps that was why he’d never allowed himself a serious relationship.