The Sheriff's Secret

by Julie Anne Lindsey

  Tina scanned the nearly empty waiting area. No Cole. No West. Only half a dozen people in a room with three dozen chairs. Where were the Garretts? They’d only been a minute ahead of her.

  The room swayed, and she forced herself to fight another brewing round of panic. She rubbed a hand against the pain in her chest as she approached the admittance desk. “There was a deputy,” she told the nurse. “He came in right before me. The sheriff was with him. He had a gunshot wound to the arm.” She slapped her bicep to clarify the injury location.

  The nurse nodded. “Deputy and Sheriff Garrett. They never wait. They went right back and told me to send you ahead, as well.” She lifted a pen in the direction of two swinging doors.

  Tina broke into a sprint, trying not to think too long or hard about the nurse’s words. They never wait. How often were they here? And why?

  Her hands met the double doors with only one thing in mind. “West!”

  The impact reverberated through her palms and wrists.

  Locked.

  A moment later, the barrier parted. Cole stepped into view, motioning her back. “Come on. He’s fine. I was just on my way to meet you.”

  She followed him to a pale green curtain drawn around a bed and two silhouettes.

  Tina darted through the flimsy veil. Her heart soared at the sight of the only man she’d ever truly loved. “West.”

  A doctor on a rolling chair jammed a curved metal needle into West’s arm. He gave a tug and shot West a pointed look before tipping his head in Tina’s direction. “She’s with you?”

  “That’s right,” West said, his voice low and scratchy. His cocky smile nearly made her grin. “She’s with me.”

  The doctor pinched West’s puckered skin and laced another round of suture thread through. His white lab coat dusted the stool where he worked, shifting over his thighs with each move of his blue-gloved hands. He paused for a longer look at Tina. “You hurt anywhere?”

  “No.” Her heart and lungs needed to be reminded regularly of their duties, but other than that? “I’m fine.”

  Cole planted a hand on her shoulder. “Let’s get out of here so he can finish.” He nudged her back. Away from West’s side. “He’ll be fine. Carl’s rain barrel took the brunt of that shot.”

  Tina lifted a hand to West and the doctor, completely at a loss for words. Was it the lawmen in them that allowed them to speak so casually about things that crushed her lungs? She absently shook her head. Maybe it was the Garrett in them.

  She followed Cole into the waiting room and fell onto a chair. “This is my fault.”

  “Yeah,” Cole said sadly.

  She jerked her head around to find the same goofy smile on Cole’s face that West had worn a few minutes before. She dropped her head against the wall behind her chair. “What is wrong with you people? Your brother was shot. Why aren’t you more upset?”

  Cole took the seat at her side and placed one ankle over the opposite knee. “I don’t know. Probably because he lived.”

  Tina groaned and sunk low in her seat. “He was shot.”

  Cole hooked his elbow over the arm of his chair. “I’m sorry about what’s happening to you. No one’s trying to make light of it. It’s just our way of getting through. Gotta claim the victories, you know? Today, Carl Morgan set us up so he could try to kill my brother, but he lost.” He turned his hopeful face to hers and leveled her with the trademark Garrett stare. “It won’t be the last time we beat him at his game. Yeah?”

  She forced her swollen, sticky tongue to work. “Yeah.”

  “Good.” Cole rolled onto one hip and freed his phone from his pocket. “It’s Blake.” He walked several paces away to take the call.

  Tina twisted for a look at the motionless double doors separating her from West. She longed to return to him, or maybe sneak up on Cole and eavesdrop, but her legs felt like noodles. She refocused on the deputy, trying and failing to read his lips. His body language seemed at ease, maybe even disappointed, but his expression was stiff. Whatever had left him feeling let down, wasn’t anything too concerning. Definitely nothing to do with her directly. He hadn’t glanced her way once since taking the call.

  “Ready?” West’s voice sounded at her side.

  She spun in her chair. “You’re done?”

  “Yep.” He reached for her. The sleeve over his opposite arm was torn and dark with blood. “It’s going to hurt like hell tomorrow. You okay to drive?”

  She shrugged heavy shoulders. “I don’t know. I guess I’m in better shape than you.”

  “Sold.” He wound his good arm across her back.

  “I can’t believe I just watched you get shot.”

  He headed for the automatic doors. “You watched me get grazed. That rain barrel was the one who got shot.”

  “Right. I almost forgot. You’re perfectly fine,” she deadpanned.

  “Well, I mean, I am kinda bummed my jacket has a hole in it.”

  Tina released a heavy breath. The more she protested, the harder West would work to convince her there was nothing wrong. They’d done this dance before.

  “Wait up!” Cole jogged to West’s side before they reached the exit. “FBI tracked the ATV to a main road. They’re running on the theory he used the truck to transport the ATV, but that road isn’t regularly traveled. No cameras. Maybe he’s staying nearby and using the ATV for transportation. No one’s looking for him on a four-wheeler.”

  “What about the property?” West asked. “Any barns or other structures on the map?”

  “No. The dogs and search team have finished walking the area. No additional buildings or shelters were found. They’re moving into neighboring parcels now.”

  Tina watched as West processed the new information. His jaw clenched and popped. A vein pulsed in his temple. She wrapped herself tightly with trembling arms. “What about Lily?”

  The men turned their eyes on her.

  “Is he riding around on a four-wheeler with my infant? Or leaving her alone somewhere?” She pulled her shoulders up to her ears, fully ready to explode from the pressure in her heart. “If he’s out joyriding and taking shots at the sheriff, then who’s watching my baby?”

  Cole tucked the phone back into his pocket and pulled out his keys. He gave Tina a sad smile.

  No one knew. She understood that. But the concerns were valid, and she could only hope Lily was still alive to be watched at all.

  Vomit rose in her throat.

  Cole moved his full attention to West without responding. “Carl’s trailer is sitting on a hunk of ground that isn’t listed as his on the auditor’s site, so I’m going to see what I can find out about the owner.”

  “Good idea,” West said. “Maybe the owner can give us some insight. Emergency contact info, prior addresses, anything we don’t already have on Morgan.”

  “I’ll keep you posted.” Cole saluted and left.

  Tina touched West’s fingers where they rested on her hip. “Can we check on Mary before we leave? I’ve been worried about her tests.” She’d feel a lot better knowing Mary was healing, and that she wasn’t any more injured than the doctors had originally suspected.

  She’d also like to know if Mary had thought of anything else that could help them find her daughter.

  “Sure.” West dropped his arm from her waist and led her down the hallway toward an elevator bay. He leaned against the wall inside the car.

  Tina scrutinized the blank cop expression on his face. His skin had lost its healthy glow. He was being brave for her sake. Even if he wasn’t scared or worried, he was hurting. Just too stubborn to admit it. “You lost a lot of blood. You should eat and rest. I’ll bet that’s exactly what the doctor said before he let you go. Isn’t it?”

  West forced a weak smile. “The doctor said if I didn’t get your number and ask you out, then he would.”


  She smiled. “Did not.” Handsome as he had been, the doctor had seemed far more interested in West’s injuries than in her.

  “True,” he admitted, “but when I saw him looking at you that way, I set him straight before he got any gutsy ideas.”

  Tina laughed. She gave West her most enticing smile, enjoying the unexpectedly flirtatious moment before life came at her again. “How was he looking at me exactly?”

  West’s smile faded. His gaze heated her skin and parted her lips. A set of chills coursed over her, rousing a blush on her cheeks. “Like I do.”

  Her toes curled inside her sneakers. She looked at him like that, too.

  * * *

  WEST SLID INTO Mary’s room on Tina’s shadow. He waited while the ladies hugged, then pulled up a chair and reintroduced himself.

  “I remember,” Mary said. She latched her drifting gaze onto West’s damaged sleeve. “What happened to you?”

  “Flesh wound.” He smiled. He and his brothers had used the phrase all their lives. Those two little words had stopped their mom from worrying and their dad from digging too deeply into whatever shenanigans they’d been into when the injury occurred. It was a wonder they weren’t all as good with a bandage as Cole. They’d all taken their share of licks on ill-fated Garrett boy adventures. “Have you had any other visitors since we left?” he asked Mary.

  “No. None. Why?”

  Tina set a hand on her friend’s arm. “We’re just checking in.”

  West had seen her encourage and uplift lots of people when they were young. It was a trait he appreciated even more today. When he’d told her he blamed himself for letting Carl get away, Tina hadn’t agreed, but she’d let him say it anyway. She’d let him put it out there without chastising him for a moment of lost composure. It was nice to be real with her, no pressure to put on the Good Sheriff Show. She’d always taken him as exactly who he was. Junk parts and all.

  He rolled his shoulders in search of a comfortable position for his aching arm. “Have you thought of anything else?” he asked.

  Tina’s attention snapped to him. “I was going to ask her that.”

  He smiled. “Then ask.”

  Mary pressed her lips into a thin white line. “I’ve been mentally replaying the attack and those moments when he was in my home. Something that keeps going around in my scrambled thoughts is how he seemed so confident and casual about the whole affair. If not for the stutter, I’d have thought he was perfectly at ease breaking into my house and stealing a child. Who does that?”

  “A very troubled man,” Tina said.

  West shifted in the chair and winced. Between his bruised ribs, knot on the head and a fresh gunshot wound, he was a mess. Thankfully, neither woman seemed to notice. “We think he’s been planning this for a while. Was there anything else? Additional physical description. Clothing. Scent. Anything like that?”

  Deep creases ran over Mary’s brow. She chewed her lip for a long moment before answering. “I’ve seen the news. Saw the reports. The photos of Carl Morgan.” She wet her lips and shifted her gaze from West to Tina. “I think I recognize him.” Her voice was barely audible, even in the silent room. “I’ve seen him in your neighborhood and at the park where I take Lily for stroller rides.”

  That, too, fit perfectly with the scenario they’d developed. Carl had been plotting his actions. Choosing when and where to strike. West could only hope that he’d become overconfident and would make a mistake soon.

  “Sometimes he was with another guy,” Mary said. “The other one has red bushy hair and a beard. He wore old band T-shirts and looked like someone out of the 1960s.”

  Tina gasped. “Did he wear glasses? Round wire rims?”

  “Yes.”

  West felt his blood pressure rising, heating his muscles and pounding in his head. “You know him?”

  She lifted her hand from Mary’s and set it on his chair. “I think she’s describing Tucker.”

  The other patient who’d been suspiciously absent from her group on the day of the shooting.

  West dialed Dispatch. His fingers curled tightly around the phone, thinking again of all the ways he’d like to make someone pay for this stress and heartbreak. Tina didn’t deserve any of this, and neither did that poor sweet baby. “Tell me you still have Tucker Bixby in detainment.”

  “Um.” The deputy fielding calls at the station hesitated. The telltale sounds of a keyboard clicked in the quiet background.

  Maybe the stars had aligned to deal them a good hand for once today.

  The keyboarding sounds ended. “No, sir,” Dispatch reported. “He sobered up and Deputy Neely drove him home a little while ago.”

  “Get someone to his place. Right now. Pick him up and hold him there until I arrive.” West disconnected and sent texts with the new information to his team and Blake’s. They’d hear it from Dispatch, but he wanted to be sure they knew it came from him and he wanted to be kept apprised.

  He pushed onto his feet, feeling stronger by the minute. “I’m sorry to run, Mary, but we’ve got to go. You’ve been very helpful.”

  Together, he and Tina fled the hospital. She drove like a NASCAR driver all the way to Tucker Bixby’s place and jammed it into Park beside a deputy’s cruiser.

  The home was small and yellow. A bungalow with a hibachi grill on the front porch and two camping chairs leaned against the railing. It wasn’t much to look at, and a few years late on a much-needed coat of paint.

  The front door opened, and Deputy Neely poked his head out. He cast a weary gaze at West and Tina, then motioned them inside. “This way.” He led them through the silent home to the kitchen, then lowered to the floor beside a motionless Tucker.

  Tina gasped. “Is he dead?”

  “No.” The deputy’s Adam’s apple bobbed slowly. “We released him not too long ago. He’d sobered up, and I brought him home. He was drunk when I found him at the park. Maybe high. He had a tent all set up. Said he wanted to be alone.” Deputy Neely rechecked Tucker’s vitals as he spoke. “When I drove him home he said he didn’t want to be here. I didn’t ask why. What if he was trying to tell me something? You know. Like a cry for help.”

  West circled the room, taking inventory of the scene. “And now?”

  The deputy turned his attention toward the budding sound of a distant ambulance cry. “He’s nonresponsive. Breaths are shallow. Pulse is slow and thin but there.” He rubbed his forehead. “Possible overdose. Suicide attempt. I’m not sure. I checked his vitals, got him on his side and called 911.”

  Tina’s knees buckled. She slid onto the floor with a thud. Mouth open. Eyes heavy with tears. “I don’t understand. He’s been doing so well. Making so much progress. He hasn’t struggled with drugs in a long while, and he told the group that his drinking was under control. He was proud of his positive strides. He was changing his life. Why would he do this?”

  West wasn’t sure if she meant the overdose, the potential involvement in Carl’s scheme or both. As for the overdose, West wasn’t convinced it was intentional. It’d been a long couple of days, especially for someone already suffering from anxiety and instability. “I’d like a look around.”

  The deputy stepped away. “There are bottles and paraphernalia on the table. Nothing at first glance to determine the time of the OD. I got here about four minutes ahead of you. Door was open. I didn’t touch anything except him, looking for vitals. I called the ambulance a minute later when I found him.”

  West dashed the toe of his boot against the floor. “Door was open when you got here. Why?”

  The deputy raised his brows.

  West swore. “Carl had something to do with this.” He lifted his eyes to the deputy. “Radio Dispatch. Get people out here looking for evidence of foul play and some way to prove Carl Morgan was here. If Tucker was part of Carl’s plan and he went rogue, tried to run off or back out,
then I’m willing to bet Carl would’ve had an opinion about it.”

  The ambulance pulled onto the curb with one final cry.

  West led Tina back to his cruiser and helped her inside. “I’m going to take a look around the house, talk to the EMTs and wait for the crime scene folks.”

  Then, he and Tina could head back to his place where he could take some more aspirin and wait for prelims and toxicology on Tucker.

  Tina sat limply in the passenger seat and palmed his keys. “I think it’s your turn to drive.”

  He accepted the offer. “I’m sorry this is happening to another member of your group.”

  She blinked a tear loose.

  The near-death of Carl’s possible partner in crime was far too convenient to be anything other than attempted murder.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Tina stripped out of her clothes inside West’s bathroom, her body running more on autopilot than intention. Steam hovered over the surface of her bath like an apparition, as if the ghosts of her day had gathered in one spot to torture her. She sunk deep into the water until only her face remained dry. Her thoughts returned to Tucker. Had he been involved in the things that had happened to her? Had he wanted to die and failed? How long had he been using again, and how had she missed the signs?

  Tina closed her eyes. Slipped completely beneath the surface. And the world went silent. She counted slowly to ten, releasing small bubbles of air, and reorganizing her thoughts before reemerging. Sadly, she couldn’t live underwater, so she’d have to figure out her problems on land. She filled her lungs with oxygen, then coiled wet hair into a knot on top of her head.

  She needed to talk to Tucker as soon as he woke up. There were so many questions to be asked. Most important, did he know where Lily was?

  She rested her back against the smooth white surface of West’s tub and prayed Tucker wouldn’t die. For his sake and for hers.

  She couldn’t help wondering what else would go wrong. How much worse would things get before they got better? She kept thinking the worst had come, then something else would happen. A patient would overdose. The man she loved would be shot. Her heart ached at the thought. She loved West. Had denied it for years, but the reality of that love was too much to ignore, and she was tired of walking away from the thing she wanted most for herself. Him.