Fighting For Carly

by Deanndra Hall

  At five before ten, Jackson Coulter sauntered in, all ten-gallon hat, snip-toe boots, and bolo tie. Good lord, the guy wanted to make a fashion statement. Reba Leonard, the town’s mayor and post mistress, followed him in. The next person in the door was … Jack Riggs? Carly didn’t understand that. Jack was a local who was also a Texas Ranger. Maybe they were going to be assisting in the investigation. That would be fine with her. Besides, the involvement of a local who was also a Ranger would probably make the townspeople feel a little more secure. Behind them came a phalanx of reporters, and Carly could see the TV station vans outside through the glass in the front door. Circus—that’s what it was going to be.

  Newsom nodded as he went by, then gave her a covert thumbs-up. Well, at least she had their support. Louie had been flitting around all morning like he was the queen of England, according to the guys. At the very last minute, Carly went into the restroom, adjusted her tie, and made sure her hair wasn’t crazy. She’d no more than stepped back into the main office when she heard the cameraman from the TV station say, “In five … four … three …” and two seconds later, he pointed to Coulter.

  “Good morning. I’m Jackson Coulter, county judge of Bandera County. With me here today is Reba Leonard, the mayor of Tarpley. Today is a sad day for the Bandera County family, even more so for the sheriff’s department. We mourn the passing of Sheriff Charles Anderson, his wife, Adelaide, and their sons, Elliott and Camden. Rest assured, citizens of Bandera County, that we’re busy searching for the man responsible for this senseless act. We are in constant contact with and receiving assistance from the Texas Highway Patrol, the Texas Rangers, and the FBI’s San Antonio field office. We will apprehend the man responsible for this, Richard Harlan, whose photo you’re seeing now on your screens. We knew this man as Eric Cross, Bandera County’s county attorney, and we are all stunned and enraged that a monster like this could be hiding among our citizens, going about his daily business while plotting the demise of one of our own and his entire family.

  “One of the concerns of the citizenry of Bandera County has been continued sheriff’s department coverage until the next election. After consulting with the Commissioners Court, we have reached a decision.” Carly’s hands shook, but her fingers were crossed. “As of today, we have an acting sheriff until the next election. It’s my pleasure to introduce you to the newly-appointed interim sheriff of Bandera County, our current undersheriff, Lt. Luiz Guiterrez. We know Louie will be invaluable to us during this transition, and his expertise will come in handy during this investigation.”

  Carly’s heart sank. After all she’d been through, they’d done it. They’d actually bypassed her. It took everything she had to keep from bursting into tears, but she knew that kind of show of emotion would help no one, least of all the other guys. They had to work as a unified team if they were going to survive. Then she thought about Louie. She’d known him all her life. He was a good guy, and she was surprised he’d agree to be interim. Regardless, he had a tough job ahead of him, and he’d need all their support. Thing was, she wasn’t sure she could support him. Her disappointment was going to feed into everything she did, she just knew it. As hard as it was, she managed to stand there until the press conference was over, but she didn’t really hear a word Louie said after he was introduced. Her heart was broken. She was a woman in a man’s world, and they’d just managed to remind her of that all over again.

  When all the press was gone, Jackson Coulter took up residence in the sheriff’s private office, and he and Louie were in there for almost an hour, talking and looking things over. Carly just wanted to go home. “Hey, I’m not on shift until three. I’m going,” she told Danvers.

  “Carly, look, I’m sorry. They … I never dreamed …”

  “No big deal, Andy. I didn’t really expect anything anyway. I’m headed out. See you guys back here at three.”

  “Deputy Cross?” a voice called out before she could reach the door, and she wheeled to find Coulter standing at the head of the hallway. “Could I speak with you for a moment, please?”

  Fuck me. This is the LAST thing I need right now, a bitter voice in Carly’s head told her, but she walked down that hallway and into that office, biting the inside of her jaw to help her keep her mouth shut. “Close the door and have a seat, Deputy Cross.”

  “Yes, sir.” Once she was seated, Carly sat stiffly in the chair, waiting and seething.

  Coulter took the seat behind the desk, leaned back in the big executive chair, and tented his fingers over his midsection. “I suppose you’re wondering why we didn’t make you interim sheriff.”

  Before she could stop herself, she announced, “I didn’t expect you would, sir.”

  He seemed a little surprised. “And why is that?”

  “Because no one seems to recognize any of the work I’ve done in this department, sir.”

  “You really believe that?”

  Carly leveled her gaze at him. “Yes, sir. I do.”

  “That’s not true. We know you’ve closed more cases in this office than any of the other officers. Matter of fact, you’ve closed more cases than a couple of them combined.”

  “I’m aware of that, sir. Why are you telling me this?”

  “Because I want to make sure you know I’m aware of it. So let’s get down to bare-bones honesty, shall we? The citizens of Bandera County need to have confidence in their sheriff. The Commissioners Court was afraid they wouldn’t be able to have that kind of confidence in someone who’d actually married a man who’s turned out to be a serial killer.”

  Carly’s jaw dropped and her eyebrows flew up. “I cannot believe you just said that to me.”

  “You have to look at it from the citizens’ point of view, Deputy Cross, and that’s what they see. Also, they see someone who knew this criminal well and detected nothing. That would seem like poor detective intuition, would it not?”

  “Do you know how many women every year discover their husbands are married to two or three other women? How many women discover their husbands have a drug, gambling, or alcohol addiction, and they had no idea? Do you know how many women are beaten to death or almost to death every year by a man they would’ve sworn would never do anything like that to them? Thousands. Tens of thousands.”

  “Yes, but those women aren’t sheriff of Bandera County.”

  “So, are you trying to tell me that some of the residents believe I was involved in this little scheme of his, whatever it was?”

  “Well, you were the first person on the scene.”

  Did the people around her really believe she had anything to do with that? She didn’t think so. What she really believed was that it was a claim he was using to make sure a man got the position and she didn’t. Maybe it wasn’t him. Maybe it was the Commissioners Court. Regardless, he had the power to overrule them, and he hadn’t. “I can assure you, Judge Coulter, I had nothing to do with any of that. Yes, Chuck and I had our differences, but I would’ve never, never done anything to hurt him, although he sure did enough stuff to me over the years. But if that’s what you want, that’s what you’ll get. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I came in early for this press conference and I’m not on the clock, so I’m going home to decompress and try to find a reason to come back this afternoon.”

  “Yeah, about that … Due to what you’ve been through the last couple of days, the Commissioners Court has requested that you take three weeks off and receive a psychiatric evaluation before returning to work.”

  Blinding anger fell over her and she could feel her skin heating up. “So you’re suspending me for three weeks for something I had nothing to do with, and you’re hampering my ability to help bring the person who killed the sheriff to justice? That’s rich. Will this be with or without pay?”

  “Oh, it’s with pay, as long as you meet the terms of the suspension, which is to meet with a―”

  “I heard you the first time. As I said, I’m going home to decompress and apparently take a vacation. I don’t
know if you’re counting today, or if you counted tomorrow, or what, so when you want me to come back to work, you just let me know, okay? Good day, Judge Coulter.” Carly rose woodenly, opened the door, and strode out, closing it behind her. She marched straight up the hallway and kept going, through the big room and out the front door. Newsom and Danvers tried to speak to her, but she just kept walking, not looking at or speaking to anyone. When she reached her SUV, she climbed in, put the key in the ignition, started it, and drove home. She had to drive straight there. She couldn’t break down before she got there or she’d never make it.

  Ross’s truck was sitting in the driveway when she pulled up. What the hell was she going to say or, rather, how was she going to tell him? She was watching her life go down the drain, and there was nothing she could do except to follow the swirling pattern and hope it eventually stopped.

  He sent a text to Michael: Hey, which TV channel is the local news? Five minutes later, the TV was on. Carly had said ten o’clock, and it was still a little early.

  Then Judge Coulter came on. Ross didn’t think he’d ever seen a more ridiculous-looking getup than what that guy was wearing. He looked like a commercial for a low-budget western wear store. Listening to him would’ve been easier if Ross hadn’t been able to see him, but that view made it hard to concentrate. At least their mayor looked like a kind, sensible person. Finally, after what seemed like forever, Coulter cut to the chase, and Ross held his breath as the judge executive spoke. “It’s my pleasure to introduce you to the newly-appointed interim sheriff of Bandera County, our current undersheriff, Lt. Luiz Guiterrez. We know Louie will be invaluable to us during this transition, and his expertise will come in handy during this investigation.”

  Oh, fuck. Oh, fuck, fuck, fuck. Carly’s going to be a wreck, he thought. He could see her in the camera’s view, off to the side, no emotion registering on her face. Hasn’t she been through enough? Couldn’t they at least throw her a bone? Apparently not. He couldn’t watch anymore, and he turned the damn TV off without seeing the rest of the press conference.

  That was at ten after ten. At twenty after, he wondered where she was. At ten thirty, he sent a text, but she didn’t respond. At ten forty-five, he’d started to get worried. She should’ve at least responded to his text, and yet he’d heard nothing.

  He was relieved at five after eleven when he heard a vehicle outside and looked out to find her SUV pulling up, a Texas Highway Patrol cruiser right behind it. Thank god she was home. She got out of the SUV, her face a blank slate, and meandered toward the house. When he opened the door, she looked up at him, and he didn’t think he’d ever seen eyes that looked so lost. “Baby, I’m so, so sorry.”

  She didn’t say a word, just climbed the steps and walked right into his arms. He was a little surprised—he’d figured she be crying, but she wasn’t. When she pulled back, she looked up at him and blinked oddly a couple of times. “We need to talk.”

  “Okay.” Taking him by the hand, she led him to the sofa and sat down, so he joined her. “What’s up?”

  Her voice was flat when she answered, “I’ve been suspended.”

  “What? Did you just say you’ve been suspended?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Care to explain?” She had to have misunderstood something. That couldn’t be right.

  “They didn’t want me as interim sheriff. Said the people of the county had no confidence in me, seeing as how my intuition didn’t pick up on Eric, er, Richard or whatever the fuck.”

  “What? That’s ridiculous!”

  “Oh, wait. It gets better. He said they didn’t want me as interim sheriff because I was the first person on the scene, and that looked suspicious. When I asked if he meant they thought I’d had something to do with it, he barely answered me.”

  Ross could feel rage building in his chest. How dare they talk to her that way! “Are you kidding me? Seriously? You’ve been trying to get that guy to leave you alone all this time and they think you were somehow in cahoots with him? That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard!”

  “Oh, yeah? How ‘bout three weeks suspension with pay and a psych eval.”

  “Holy fuck. You need a good attorney.”

  “No. Let it go. I’m going to. Three weeks off with pay. If they want to be short-handed, that’s their problem.”

  Ross was concerned. She was acting like it was no big deal, and he knew it was a huge deal to her. It was a bit unsettling. “So you’re not going to fight this?”

  “Why? So they can make something out of that too? I come in swinging, they say, ‘Did you kill Chuck so you could get his job?’ Because, yeah—that sounds like something they’d say.”

  He couldn’t believe it. “Is Tank aware of this?”

  “No. I haven’t talked to him. I came straight here after Coulter got finished insulting me, talking down to me, and basically telling me I’m worthless because nobody trusts me.”

  In absolutely no way could Ross ever have imagined that it would be that bad, but there it was. “Well, okay, do you want to go somewhere for the next three weeks and just get away from here?”

  “I can’t. I’ve got to go to their fucking psychiatrist to prove I’m not lying or crazy, I suppose.”

  “I was already planning to suggest you get some counseling because of what happened, but that’s a little over the top.”

  “No, that’s a lot over the top. I really don’t know what to do, Ross. This has been my whole life—my whole life—and now these people treat me this way?

  “Wait ‘til I tell Cruz and Dax about―”

  “No. They’ll still be working with that office, and I want Harlan brought to justice and dealt with. I don’t want to get in the way of that. No matter how Chuck and I felt about each other, he and his family didn’t deserve that.”

  “Well, okay, but I can tell you they’ll be getting in touch, and you’ll have to explain all this to them.”

  “I’ll deal with that when it happens.”

  Ross saw movement through the front glass. “Don’t look now, but it’s happening as we speak.” Cruz and Dax were making their way toward the house, and Ross met them at the door. “You guys aren’t going to believe what’s happened.”

  Twenty minutes later, Cruz wiped a hand down his face and sighed. “Wow. Small town politics at their finest. But you do realize, the Commissioners Court was the one who voted to hire Harlan as county attorney.”

  “I thought of that,” Carly admitted.

  Cruz grimaced. “Yeah. Now they’re getting fallout from that, so putting you in that position would’ve been another nail in their coffin.”

  Carly’s voice was laced with bitterness. “That’s their fault for not doing their due diligence.”

  “They could say the same about you,” Dax said, his voice sympathetic and low. “Don’t get me wrong. I think it’s bullshit and it’s not right, but I think their feet are already to the fire. They’re doing damage control. That’s what this is about. You’re just in the crosshairs, Carly. That’s all. He tried to make it personal, but really, it’s not.”

  Her eyes drooped and to Ross she looked completely defeated. “Sure feels that way.”

  “Look at it as a time to rejuvenate, a time to rest up. This has been trying enough as it is,” Cruz said. “And I have to say, if they chose Louie, they could’ve done a lot worse. He’s a good officer and he knows his stuff. The sheriff’s department will be in good hands with him.”

  Ross had started to panic when he realized what it all meant. “But if she’s not working, what about protection for her? That guy is out there somewhere, and she’s been the target of his attention all along.”

  “That we can’t handle. That’ll have to come from local, and it sounds like they’re not willing to engage in that. You can ask, but I think I know what they’ll say,” Dax said, frowning.

  “I’m afraid you’re right.” Ross meant that literally. When it came to Carly’s safety, he was genuinely afraid. />
  Chapter 17

  He was watching the news while she cuddled up against him, reading a book with a throw over her legs. “And tonight, look for strong thunderstorms and damaging winds of well over fifty miles per hour. A low of …” Ross had already lost interest. Carly was a week and a half into her suspension and pissy as hell. He was having to keep a close eye on her to make sure she was safe, and she tried to thwart him at every turn.

  The good news, if it could be called that, was his call to his doctor’s office. That leg was still bothering him, and the doctor told him to stay off work another four weeks without so much as another X-ray. He’d talked to the station, and they had no problem with it. “You about finished with that book for the night?” he asked as she turned another page.

  “Two pages from the end of the chapter, if that’s okay with you,” she answered a little sourly.

  “That’s fine, babe. I can’t think of anything I’d rather be doing than sitting here with you.”

  She stopped reading and looked up at him. “Ross, I’m sorry I’ve been such a bear. I’m just so mad and so disappointed and, well, everything.”

  He wanted to say, Does that mean you’ve given more thought to going to Kentucky with me? but he didn’t dare. At least she wasn’t snapping his head off at the moment. That was something. “It’s okay, baby. I know this has been hard on you. Do you think Dr. Kirkland is helping you at all?”

  “Not really. Some things you can never unsee, and that sight is one of them. I just have to make peace with it as best I can and go on. You know what? I think I just want to go to bed. This book will be here tomorrow. I’d rather be in bed with you.” There was a look in her eyes that he hadn’t seen in a few days, and it gave him hope.

  “Sounds good to me. Let me lock everything up and I’ll be right there.” They’d fallen into a comfortable routine, one that he loved, and he hoped she loved it too. Four more weeks. That’s all they had before something had to give.

  They made love for at least an hour. The shine hadn’t worn off yet, but they weren’t clawing at each other frantically anymore. There was a sweetness about their couplings that gave Ross peace. Yeah, sometimes they got crazy and fucked each other’s brains out, but they enjoyed the quiet, simple moments of being together and loving each other. Falling asleep in each other’s arms, sated and happy, was something he’d never tire of.