Austin: Second Chance Cowboy

by Shelley Galloway

  With any other man, she would have bitten his head off. No way did she want to be considered weak or as needing a man to look out for her. But instinctively, she knew Austin’s concern was because he cared about her. It felt so genuine, she was tempted to accept his offer.

  It would be nice to have someone to lean on for the next few hours. The community’s nerves seemed to spike up another notch after every robbery, and there was no doubt in her mind that today’s investigation wasn’t going to be any easier. She didn’t blame the townsfolk, either. People had a right to be able to sleep at night and not worry that some stranger was going to trespass on their property and take their stuff.

  But she couldn’t start relying on him. She needed to stay strong, to stay confident.

  “Thanks for the offer, but I’ll be okay. If you wouldn’t mind, I need to get back to my car as soon as possible.”

  “Let’s do it, then,” he said, already leading the way out of the barn.

  He drove her back to town as she stared into space and mentally prepared herself for the next few hours.

  Not once did Austin act as if she wasn’t doing something important. Never did he make her feel guilty for ruining their evening together.

  When he dropped her off at her apartment, she already had her keys out and was prepared to do a quick dash upstairs, put on her tan uniform shirt, then hightail it to the Churchills’ property.

  “Thanks for taking me home, Austin.”

  “It was no problem.”

  Only when he pulled away did she realize that she should have spared a moment to thank him for showing her the puppies. And thank him for not minding that their plans had evaporated in an instant.

  Maybe then they could have spared just one more moment and shared a sweet kiss.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Mr. and Mrs. Churchill were fired up and their ranch hands were, too. The moment she pulled up to the barn and parked, the older couple trotted out to greet her, their three ranch hands right behind them.

  When she got out of her cruiser, they all started talking at once.

  She held up her hands. “Whoa. You know I can’t understand a thing y’all are saying, let along make any sense of it. Let me get my notebook and pencil out.” Feeling vaguely like a nursery-school teacher, she gave the group of them a hard look. “While I’m doing that, one of you may decide who’s going to speak first.”

  She bit her lip to keep from smiling as Mr. and Mrs. Churchill actually started arguing with the ranch hands about who was going to be the spokesperson. As she watched the lot of them, she noticed that two of the hands looked out of breath. Flushed. And Mr. Churchill’s jeans had been sprayed with mud.

  What in the world was going on?

  Taking more time than needed, she slowly flipped back the pages on her notebook, carefully dated the top of the page, then finally looked up. “So, it’s my understanding that y’all have had a robbery. Who’s going to fill me in?”

  Mr. Churchill inhaled. “This is my spread. I’ll talk.”

  “Okay, then. What happened?” When he looked so excited he was about to burst, she said, “Sometimes it’s easiest to start from the beginning.”

  “Okay.” Mr. Churchill took a deep breath. “The thing is…we got ’em, Dinah.”

  “What? Ed, what are you talking about?”

  “We identified the ranch robbers, Dinah!”

  “Are you serious?”

  “Serious as a heart attack! It’s Rory Clark and his idiot friend Tracy Babcock!” Casey Landis, one of the hands, announced.

  Dinah had known Casey almost as long as she’d known Austin. He, too, had been a part of their teenage wild bunch. Now he was foreman of the Diamond C, the Churchills’ ranch. “How do you figure that?”

  “Me and Garnet and Jimmy watched Rory’s freakin’ truck hightail it out of here.”

  Dinah looked at Garnet and Jimmy. “You sure about that?”

  Garnet took off her hat and nodded. “I know Rory’s truck, Sheriff Dinah. My dad’s worked on it a number of times.”

  Dinah remembered that Garnet’s dad owned a local auto shop. “Jimmy, what about you?” Jimmy was old enough to be her father, and she’d seen him plenty of times, helping with stock at rodeos.

  “It was Rory and Tracy, Sheriff Dinah. Their Silverado raced through here like a bat out of hell.”

  “Damn near hit a herd of cows while they were at it, too. Broke two fence posts.” Ed Churchill raised a brow. “Reckon they can be made to pay for that?”

  “If it’s them…yes.” As in hell, yes. She was so ready for the culprits to pay for all the damages they’d incurred. “Now, sorry, but I need to know more information. What was stolen? What exactly did all of y’all see? I need the whole nine yards.”

  Mrs. Churchill wrapped her arms around her middle and shivered. “Everyone, I say we can do this just as easily in the house around the kitchen table as out here under the carport.” She waved a hand, leading the way. “Come on, y’all. Follow me. It’s getting cold out.”

  Everyone seemed to be just fine with that idea, so Dinah followed the crew of them in. And then accepted a slice of peach pie and a cup of hot coffee, too.

  While she ate and sipped, she gathered information. And before long, she was just about as happy as the rest of the group.

  The Churchills had enough information in their stories to convince Dinah that they’d found the culprits. Quickly, she excused herself to call Judge Pruitt, explain the situation and ask for search warrants for both the Clark and Babcock homes. No way did she want anything to interfere with getting those boys locked up.

  After Judge Pruitt promised he’d fax over the signed warrant to the office, Dinah continued on with her information gathering.

  After writing the rest of the information down, as well as everyone’s names and cell phones, she got ready to go inspect the barn. But there wasn’t a whole lot of need. The Churchills had a photo of the saddle that was stolen. That was enough proof.

  She slapped her hand on her thigh before getting up. “It all makes sense. Those kids have been a burr on my side for quite a while now.”

  “They’re a handful,” Ed Churchill agreed. “Of course, they always were. Their fathers never saw a lot of need in letting them be disappointed.”

  “Ever,” Jan Churchill agreed. “You should have seen them in the school sports. Even back in middle school, if Rory wasn’t picked to be quarterback, I swear, Farley thought the world was going to end.”

  “Before long, he’d be so in the coaches’ faces, I reckon they thought their world had ended,” Ed agreed. “Bad blood, there.”

  Casey nodded. “Spoiled rotten.”

  Dinah stood up. “I just wish I’d caught them a few robberies ago. Their shenanigans have brought a lot of people a lot of aggravation.” She couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened to her and Austin if she hadn’t accused him of the robberies! “I’m so irritated, I could spit.” Especially since Farley had been one of the men suggesting that a woman wasn’t fit for the job and that maybe Duke would be a better sheriff!

  Mr. Churchill patted her on the back. “Don’t worry, Sheriff Dinah. We still believe in you. And now that we know who’s been pulling this, I have to say that it’s good you have eyewitnesses like us. If it was just conjecture, the Clarks and Babcocks would be gearing up to give you the runaround for sure.”

  “And you all feel up to getting the runaround?” It wasn’t like
they had a choice, but Dinah felt obligated to warn them. Accusing a doting father’s son of a crime didn’t always garner a person many favors.

  Casey scoffed. “Heck, Dinah. I’d need someone a whole lot scarier than two uppity kids who are budding felons to take me down. I absolutely cannot wait to tell whoever whenever what we saw.”

  “Me, too, Sheriff,” Garnet said. She smiled shyly. “A woman wouldn’t last long around here without learning to stand up for herself.”

  * * *

  DINAH WAS STILL CHUCKLING about Garnet’s quip when she pulled on her seat belt. To her way of thinking, she and Garnet were dealing with a lot of the same things. Both were in what was usually referred to as a man’s job—at least in Montana.

  And, since Garnet hadn’t been shy about voicing her opinion and the other members of the crew hadn’t done a thing but look at her with respect, it looked as if she and Garnet were both managing to do okay in their chosen occupations, too.

  As she was pulling out, her phone rang. “Please be Duke,” she murmured to herself as she picked up. “Hello?”

  “Dinah, what’s going on?”

  No voice ever sounded so good. “I’m so glad I’m talking to you.” She might have been in charge, but she knew her job wouldn’t be the same without Duke. He really was the steadying force in their partnership. In addition, he’d put in as many hours on this case as she had. He wanted the culprits caught as badly as she did.

  “What happened? Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. Actually, I’m great,” she said with a smile as she pressed her foot on the gas and let her cruiser fly. “Where are you at?”

  “Sitting at home with Angie and Luke, watching Star Wars.” His voice turned anxious. “Now tell me…what’s up?”

  “I was wondering if you were up for doing a little police work tonight.” She knew she sounded giddy, punchy even.

  “Tell me what the heck is going on. Now, cousin.”

  “Duke, we’ve got arrests to make!” Briefly she filled him in on the Churchills’ stories and what they saw. “Isn’t that something?”

  “It’s better than that. Shoot, if I had been there I probably would’ve ended up hugging Casey.”

  She grinned as she slowed the cruiser and approached the turn into town. “I almost did,” she confided.

  “Angie made the best dinner in the world. I didn’t think anything could make me happier. But this has got to beat it.”

  Dinah laughed as she heard Angie good-naturedly tease him in the background. “Sounds like it’s been a red-letter day for you all around.”

  “Yep. Though just about all of them are now.”

  The sentiment was so sugary-sweet, she knew she should want to gag. But instead, Dinah felt herself feeling more than a little jealous. It must be real nice to have that kind of relationship, where just having a home-cooked meal with the person you loved made the day complete.

  Thinking about Austin, and about the closeness that was growing between them, she wondered if they were ever going to have that kind of relationship.

  Or were they destined to always have so much baggage between them that they risked straining their necks just looking at each other over it?

  She gripped her steering wheel hard. “Duke, can you meet me at the office in ten? Judge Pruitt is faxing over warrants that we need to pick up. I also want to call Deputy Beck and let his office know what we’re doing. Just in case we need some backup.”

  “That’s a good idea. Those boys are big, and I don’t think they’re going to take being arrested all that kindly.”

  She heard some rustling in the background and guessed Duke was already putting on his uniform shirt. “See you in fifteen.”

  * * *

  IT WAS LESS THAN AN HOUR later when they got to the Clark residence. At first glance, it seemed quiet, too quiet for anyone to have been tearing through another ranch’s land on an escapade. And she wondered suddenly if she’d been a fool to trust Casey and the rest of the Churchill crew the way she did.

  Maybe she was on another wild-goose chase, and this time she’d decided to drag Duke and another sheriff’s office into it. Just imagining getting this wrong made her stomach hurt.

  “There’s Rory’s truck,” Duke said, pointing to the tricked-out silver Silverado. “And dang if it doesn’t look like it’s recently driven through a muddy field.”

  There were mud splatters all over the truck. And to Dinah, so much mud had never looked so good.

  “Duke, I think we’ve got him.”

  “I’m as pleased as you are, Dinah. And relieved. All I can say is that it’s about damn time.”

  She parked the cruiser. “Ready?”

  “Always.”

  Their arrival was definitely noticed because a trio of floodlights illuminated the home when they pulled up.

  When Dinah had called Deputy Beck he’d been almost as pleased as she’d been. “I’ll come on out your way and alert another officer to stay near the phone here in case you need more backup. I can’t wait to hear you’ve got those SOBs under lockdown. They’ve sure given us a run for the money.”

  Now Deputy Beck was getting out of his own truck and standing next to the Silverado.

  Dinah was about to knock on the front door when it opened.

  “What’s going on, Dinah? Duke? Another robbery nearby?” Mr. Clark had just enough contempt in his voice to set Dinah’s teeth on edge.

  “As a matter of fact, yes. Where’s Rory?”

  Mrs. Clark came out and stood beside her husband. Dressed in a brown velour sweat suit and with next to no makeup on, she looked younger than usual. “He just got home a few minutes ago.”

  “We need to see him,” Duke said.

  “Can’t it wait until tomorrow? He’s getting ready to go to bed.”

  “It can’t wait.” Duke stepped forward. “Dinah, want me to go on in?”

  “Hold on.” Mr. Clark had his arms crossed over his chest and his somewhat insulting manner turned defensive. “There’s no way I’m going to let you inside this house.”

  “I’m afraid that isn’t your call,” Dinah said as she motioned for Farley to step to the side.

  Duke’s phone buzzed as yet another vehicle pulled into the drive. “Clyde called us, Sheriff,” the deputy said as he walked over to join them. “These boys have been such a pain in our backside, we thought we’d come out to give you some support.”

  “I’m obliged. If y’all wouldn’t mind taking pictures of the truck, Duke and I will go get Rory.”

  In the living room she found Rory eating ice cream on the couch as though not a single thing in the world could ever bother him. When he saw Dinah and Duke, his spoon clattered to the bowl, but he kept up his cocky attitude. “What are y’all doing here?”

  “Rory, stand up. I’m bringing you in for questioning.”

  “What? Why? What for?”

  Duke smirked. “He’s got all those questioning words down pat, D.”

  “Don’t you know it.” Turning to Rory, she repeated herself. “Come on, now.”

  His father appeared at the door. “Dinah, you can’t manhandle my son like that. And there’s no way in hell I’m going to let you take Rory anywhere. If you want to talk to him, you can talk to him here. Or better yet, you can ask his mother and me. He doesn’t keep any secrets from us.”

  Over Rory’s head, Dinah exchanged a look with Duke. “You sure about that, Mr. Clark?”

  “I’m absolutely positive abo
ut that.”

  Duke chimed in. “Well, sir. If you are part of your son’s thieving, we’ll be needing to take you on in, too.”

  Paling, Farley Clark took two steps back. “You can’t do that.”

  “Oh, yes, we can.” Dinah smiled tightly. Really, she was so darn tired of getting the runaround from these folks. “I’m the sheriff.”

  “Not for long. Not if I have anything to do about it.”

  To their surprise, Rory pulled out of her grip and actually looked as if he was contemplating making a run for it.

  And that was the final straw. She spun on her heel, grabbed the young man’s elbow, twisted it behind his back and pulled his ankle up with her foot.

  Whether Rory was shocked—or she was still a fairly decent calf roper—Dinah wasn’t sure. But whatever the case, in no time, she had him flat on the floor with his wrists and ankles pinned as if he was competing in a hog-tying event—as the hog.

  After she read him his rights, Duke knelt down and clipped a pair of handcuffs behind the guy’s back. Once the cuffs were clicked in place, Duke grinned her way. “Impressive, Sheriff.”

  She nodded her thanks. It really had felt good to be the one doing the takedown. She might not be as strong as her deputy, but she was certainly as scrappy!

  Then Duke pulled Rory to his feet and started out the door.

  Dinah couldn’t help but take pride in the latest turn of events. She and Duke had been so frustrated for so long, it felt beyond good to prove her merit.

  Mr. Clark didn’t feel the same way, however. Pointing a finger at her chest, he said, “I’m going to make sure this costs you the election, Dinah. You made a serious breach in judgment coming over here and manhandling my boy.”

  Gosh, even though the writing was pretty much on the wall, Farley still didn’t get it. “Mr. Clark, we have eyewitnesses who saw your son rob another ranch. He and his buddy Tracy Babcock, who is going to be arrested next, are our thieves. I’m going to pin your son with enough charges that he’s going to wish he’d never begun this ridiculousness.”