LITMIR.BIZ

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      “My job, exactly what you should be doing, too. She told me you hadn’t questioned her about Dalton’s injuries.”

      “She said it was an accident and that’s all I needed to know.”

      Buck hooked his thumbs in his pockets and stared him down like he was thirteen, not thirty-one. “Doesn’t matter what she said, boy. You have to get all the facts to put into the report.”

      Chase pointed in the direction of the dining room. “That’s Jess in there, Dad. The same girl who used to come with her folks to our house for Sunday dinner and dominoes.”

      “Yeah, and you’re too close to the situation. That’s why I called in Barkley to assist me. He should be here in about five minutes.”

      That only increased Chase’s wrath. “Barkley can’t find his way out of a feed sack. He’ll arrest Jess first and ask questions later.”

      Buck raised a brow. “Any reason why you think Jess should be arrested?”

      He reflected on Danny’s reaction and decided to keep his mouth shut for now. “Like I said, she claims it was an accident, and I have no reason to believe it wasn’t.”

      “You know the procedure,” Buck said. “I still have to take an official statement.”

      “Then do it in the morning after she’s had some time to recover.”

      “That’s not the way it works, son.”

      “Make it work, Dad. Right now she needs to rest.”

      “She can’t stay here, Chase. We’ll need to gather evidence in case Dalton dies during the night.”

      On one hand, he didn’t give a rat’s ass if Dalton died. On the other, he had to consider what that might mean for Jess. “She can stay with me tonight and I’ll have her at the department first thing in the morning.”

      “She can get a room at the motel.”

      He had no intention of sticking Jess in some seedy, pay-by-the-hour dive on the outskirts of town. “She’s in shock and so is her kid. She needs to be in a place where she’s comfortable.”

      Chase could see Buck’s frustration beginning to build. “And you think that’s with you? Best I recall, she hasn’t come around once since you’ve been home.”

      Understandable why they’d been avoiding each other, but he’d be damned if he let his father in on a ten-year-old secret. “She’s been busy getting rid of Dalton.”

      Chase realized how questionable that sounded when Buck said, “Maybe that’s what she did tonight, got rid of him once and for all.”

      He couldn’t quite understand why his father was bent on treating Jess like some black widow lying in wait to off her former husband. Buck might be one of the good guys, but he could be an obsessed hard-ass when it came to the job. If serving as sheriff for thirty some odd years did that to a man, Chase wanted no part of it, even if that’s exactly what was expected of him.

      “Tell you what, Sheriff,” he said. “If you’ll stop jumping to conclusions, then I’ll have Jess to you bright and early. But if you’re not going to stick to the innocent until proven guilty clause, then I’ll be damned if I’m going to continue to work for you.”

      Chase could see the cogs spinning fast in Buck’s head. Placid had suffered a deputy shortage for years, and there sure as hell wasn’t a long line waiting to sign on. If he up and resigned, he’d leave his dad high and dry and working longer hours again, which sure wouldn’t set well with the missus.

      Buck took on a look of reluctant submission. “Okay, you bring her home and have her in my office no later than 8:00 a.m. And have her boy there, too. Maybe between the two of them, we can shed some light on this thing.”

      As far as Chase was concerned, having Danny put through the wringer was entirely up to Jess, at least for now. “Fine. You can go. I’ll handle it from here.”

      “I’ll go outside to wait for Barkley until you leave with Jess.” Buck turned toward the door then stopped and pointed at Chase. “8:00 a.m. sharp or I’ll come down to the cabin and get her myself.”

      “I’ll have her there, Sheriff.” And he would, right on time. He didn’t sleep much these days anyway. Too much on his mind. Too many nightmares to count.

      After his dad had finally left the immediate premises, Chase made his way to the dining room, only to find it deserted. Jess would’ve had to walk past him to go up the stairs, which made him wonder if she’d headed out the back door. With that major dilemma in mind, he strode to the back of the house and came upon a rear staircase adjacent to the top-of-the-line kitchen. Hopefully that had been her escape route, if in fact she felt the need to escape.

      He opted to give Jess the benefit of the doubt and headed to the second floor. As suspected, he discovered her in Danny’s room, perched on the edge of the bed, sifting her hands through her son’s hair.

      Chase paused a moment to take in the subtle alterations in Jess’s appearance. She’d cut her long auburn hair to her shoulders and she wore the kind of loose-fitting clothes designed to hide her figure. At five-foot-three, she’d always been small in stature but tough as barbwire. But the most noticeable change could be found in her light amber eyes when she leveled her gaze on him. The former outgoing cheerleader, who could talk the bark off a tree, looked lost and defeated. He damned Dalton Wainwright for that. Damned him for sucking the life out of Jess. Damned himself for staying away from her because of his own guilt.

      Chase remained in the doorway and in a low tone said, “Pack a bag for you and your son. You’re going to stay with me for a few days.”

      “Why?”

      “According to procedure, you have to leave the premises until you give your statement. And even if you could stay, do you really think that’s a good idea?” He nodded toward Danny.

      “No,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “But I don’t want to put you out, Chase. I can call around and find somewhere to stay. Maybe with Sam and Savannah or Matt and Rachel.”

      He prepared to shoot down her protest with logic. “First of all, Savannah and Sam are in Hawaii and won’t be back for a couple of days. Secondly, I figure Rachel’s on her way to the hospital to see about Dalton by now.” Blood ties trumped friendship any day of the week, even if Rachel and Jess had been friends for years and Rachel’s brother was about as sorry as they came.

      “As far as the rest of the town goes,” he continued, “do you want this getting out any sooner than it has to?”

      She shook her head. “No, I don’t.”

      “Then it’s settled,” he said. “I’ll wait downstairs while you get your things together.”

      She twisted the ruby ring that once belonged to her grandmother round and round her right ring finger, a habit she’d developed long ago. “I appreciate your hospitality, but we’ll only stay until I can make other arrangements.”

      Funny, they spoke to each other like they were strangers. Like they’d met for the first time tonight when in reality they’d known each other for a lifetime. “You’re welcome to stay as long as you need to, but we’ll work it out tomorrow.”

      Before she could make up another excuse to refuse the offer, Chase walked out of the room and went back downstairs to wait.

      He needed to hear the truth from Jess, but he also feared what that truth might be. Feared that he would have to testify against her if she’d attacked Dalton for whatever reason. Justified or not, her cold-blooded father-in-law would see to it that she paid dearly, and he had the political pull and financial means to do it.

      When Chase had signed up for the job, both as a soldier and deputy sheriff, he’d sworn to uphold the law. But experience had taught him sometimes justice could be bought by the

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