Holding the Truth

by Calle J. Brookes

  "Jake loves me. And I love him. He, Bert, Liam, and Kyra—they are my family now. Anything else that's between Jake and me is just that. Between us. It's none of your business. Now...good night, Sheriff. I'll see you at nine in the morning."

  With that, she turned and walked away, holding another man's baby close to her chest.

  Clay just watched her, wishing he wasn't such a big damned coward.

  If he wasn't...he'd take that baby back to the kid's father, scoop that woman up, and carry her back to his house. Where they'd live out every fantasy he had about her. Live out every erotic dream that had plagued him since that very first moment less than a year ago when little Bailey Moore had walked into his office and declared she was his newest deputy, assigned by his boss out of Finley Creek.

  Little Bailey Moore, who he had known since she was all of nine years old.

  He hadn't realized she'd grown up until that day.

  Every nerve in his body had realized exactly that by the end of that first day.

  And they hadn't stopped shouting that fact at him since.

  Back then, she had just seemed so young. Like the world would chew right through her. Inexperienced in everything. He’d wanted to keep her safe. Especially from himself.

  Clay wanted to call after her, but once again, he took the coward’s way out. And kept his damned mouth shut.

  Chapter 17

  Verity Smalls was the unofficial ruler of Clayton Addy’s “roost.” Or so she liked to say. The afternoon dispatcher only worked four days a week, and she picked which days she wanted. Everyone said she’d earned that right, having worked at the Value TSP since she’d been a young girl in high school.

  Ten years before Bailey had even been born.

  Veri had taken it upon herself the first day Bailey had been on the job to make certain that Bailey found a place among the good old boys in the current administration’s roster. Bailey was the first woman they’d had on the team who wasn’t behind the dispatch desk. Veri had waited a darned long time for a female deputy to lighten the Value TSP up. It was about time.

  And Bailey was as sweet as could be.

  Getting everyone around here used to that idea had been Veri’s main goal for the past year.

  That hadn’t been an easy task.

  Clayton Barratt Addy was more stubborn than fifteen mules and a brick wall combined. And not just where Bailey was concerned.

  It had to do with more than that.

  Veri understood. How could she not?

  She’d been the dispatcher the first time Clay had called in for Bert Dillon’s help when he’d been no more than a boy. Ten years old and tired of what his daddy was doing to his momma.

  She’d never forget the night Bert had brought Clay to her to watch for a few hours while Bert took the boy’s mother to the hospital—and the boy’s father to the tank. Bert’s boy Jake had told his daddy what was going on, and Bert had stepped in.

  It had been the first of many times that boy had ended up in Veri’s care.

  She’d never had any children of her own, and at fifty-three she wasn’t going to.

  But she had Clay, who was as close to her son as he was anybody’s.

  That boy would never admit it, but he had her, too.

  So when she saw him acting like a wounded bear over her precious little cub, Veri had no compunction of calling him out.

  Those thirty-something hours little Bailey had been missing had proven to Veri just exactly much Clay cared for the girl.

  But he was far too stubborn and scared to do anything about it.

  She’d made a vow when she’d snuck into the ICU wing of the hospital—by pretending to be Bailey’s mother, of all things—to check on Bailey four months ago that she was going to do everything in her power to help the two of them figure things out together. So they could marry and make babies for her to spoil.

  She was mulling over how to do that when a call came in over the line.

  Another old pile of bones had been found. This time on the far edge of Barratt County, out by that ranch that Clay’s cousins ran.

  The last question Veri asked of Clay was whether he wanted her to pull little Bailey off her trip to Finley Creek to collect reports in person.

  His hesitation told her all she needed to know.

  Bailey had her boy churned up again.

  Veri just had to figure out how to make that work.

  Chapter 18

  The second body wasn't as nearly well concealed as the first. Located seven miles south of the Barratt Ranch—owned and operated by Clay’s mother’s family—the site wasn’t that much different than the one where the Kurtland Chase body had been found. This one was located on a small five thousand acre spread owned by the Thomas family.

  It had been found by their twelve-year-old son and his ten-year-old cousin.

  They still hadn’t received all of the forensics back on the Kurtland Chase body. It was going to take a while on that, and they still had an entire county to police.

  Yes, Barrattville City Police covered the immediate city limits of the larger town, but the TSP—Clay—was in charge of Barratt County.

  With eight total deputies and three dispatchers.

  And now he had two long-dead bodies to identify. He was going to give the bodies a few more days, then he had a judgment call to make.

  These victims had been in the ground most likely for decades. He had more immediate problems he needed his people to deal with.

  But first...this scene needed to be processed.

  That meant Bailey.

  Clay thought for a moment. Putting her on the two cold cases exclusively could keep her off the front lines. Make it easier for him to keep an eye on her.

  Until he was certain she was up to full speed again, anyway.

  It also meant the two cold cases would keep moving forward.

  And...Clay would admit it to himself—when it came to old puzzles like this, Bailey was probably the best deputy Clay had.

  Veri had already called Bailey in. It took her another hour to get to where Clay waited, getting a ride from the boy’s mother on an ATV.

  He didn’t say much to her when he arrived—just ordered her and Jeremy to get started.

  He wasn't expecting many results—not this late in the game. He'd have to get the forensics team out of Finley Creek on it as well. And the ME could give them an estimate on how long the body had been in the shallow grave. But Clay suspected it had been a long while from the style of the clothing, if nothing else.

  Damn it.

  The woman—or young male in a dress—hadn't deserved to be left in a damned shallow grave like trash. Neither had their Jane Doe from before.

  At this point, he didn't know if the two bodies were connected, but geographically, they were close enough. Disposal of the victims seemed similar. As did age of the burial site. Maybe.

  It was up to the ME to tell him if there were any other connections at this point.

  His people processed the scene for three more hours. At Bailey’s nod, he knew she’d found all she was going to. He’d have to get the Finley Creek crew out to do more.

  After another twenty minutes, in which he spoke with the property owners, he was ready to wrap it up.

  He shot a look around the site again, gaze landing on a familiar blond head.

  "Moore!"

  She immediately turned in his direction.

  "Let's go. Tolvert's going to handle this scene for the rest of the night." He needed to talk to her. Make her understand that he wasn’t pulling her off the street because of something she had done.

  He never wanted her to doubt his faith in her again, even if he did doubt how long she could do this job.

  But he didn’t want her thinking he was angry with her ever again.

  She didn't protest, just followed him to the waiting ATV.

  "Where are we going?" She was still subdued with him in a way he wasn't too thrilled with. His fault.

  It would
take him time to make it up to her, but he was going to give it his best shot.

  "Back to the station. Then to Finley Creek. To see your pal Marshall. Going to grab a few old case files his father worked on. See if there are any connections. We’ll be back late, so you might want to cancel any plans you’ve got."

  "Connections to what?"

  “To Barratt County. Tomorrow, I want you to call every county within a one-hundred-fifty-mile radius. See what they got. Any unsolved case that's open and any similar that's closed. Going back at least forty-five years.”

  "Kind of a long shot, isn't it? For all we know, these were two random events. But I’ll get you what I can find."

  He shot her another look. Seemed like all he ever did was look at her when she didn't know it. Sometimes looking at her was all that cleared his head.

  Bailey had a way of blocking out the world for him sometimes.

  "These are older dump sites, Sheriff. Shouldn't we be on more pressing cases? That White Horse case is going cold. I could—"

  "No. I want your attention on this one. They’ve been out there for a while, but someone somewhere may just be missing their loved ones. They deserve to know.” He studied her again. The Texas sun was peeking through the storm clouds overhead. It almost flirted with the gold of her hair. Clay’s palms itched with the urge to touch, to tuck that little strand that the paper hairnet she’d been wearing five minutes earlier had disturbed right behind her ear.

  But he didn’t.

  Once back at his truck, she was silent. He didn’t know if she was just thinking about the case or if she just didn’t want to talk to him. “The case is yours. Both bodies, until we prove they aren’t connected. Or are. Then we’ll reevaluate.”

  She nodded. "Ok."

  That was all he got from her for twenty miles or so. Her phone rang, and she checked the display quickly.

  Clay drove and listened as she spoke almost intimately with that asshole she lived with. Promised to bring home formula and diapers. Laughed low and sexy at something that asshole said. All domestic and sweet.

  Damn it, he hated Jake. Hated everything about the man. "All good on the home front?"

  "Just reminding me to stop at the store when I get a chance. If I get a chance. The baby has enough diapers and formula until tomorrow. I'm just trying to save Jake a trip. Getting the baby in and out in his van can be a hassle."

  He snorted. "Sure."

  No doubt, Jake was just checking on her. Reminding Bailey that he was still out there waiting for her. Putting himself right in her focus.

  Damn it. Jake was such an ass. A smart one at that.

  "What's that mean? I thought you and Jake were friends."

  "We are."

  Hell, Clay knew what his beef with Jake was right now. He was jealous as hell that Jake was making time with Bailey. But there was no damned way he was telling her that.

  "Sometimes I don't think you are. You haven't been out to see him in months until recently. Didn't you used to go out there all the time? I think Bert looked forward to it. He still loves to talk TSP. If he hadn’t been set up back then, he’d probably still be doing your job." She paused and looked out the window at the barren scenery they were passing. "Before..."

  "Yes. I did."

  "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get between you and Jake."

  Clay wasn’t certain he’d heard right. “You didn’t get between me and Jake. I didn't even know you were out there." He winced after he said it. That probably hadn’t been the best way to put it. “I...meant...I just haven’t had time to go out there lately. We were a deputy short, remember?”

  “Yes. You could have gotten someone from Finley Creek to fill in. I’m not sure why you didn’t.”

  “No. It was your position. And it was staying open until you got back.”

  “Why? Obviously the department functioned just fine without me.”

  “No. We didn’t.” He hesitated, but damn it, he was tired of his stupid words constantly hurting her. “I should have called you. Checked on you myself. But Veri...she told me how you were every time she visited you. I didn’t know you were with Jake, though. She didn’t mention that part.”

  “Probably not. She...they...Veri doesn’t like Bert that much. She’d visit when he was at the halfway house on Thursdays.” She stared at the window, not looking at him. Clay fought the urge to shoot glances at her every chance he could. “It’s ok, Sheriff. I know...you and I aren’t exactly friends. You were under no obligation. Certainly not to me.”

  Everyone else in the damned office had known where Bailey was—except for the man who should have checked on her from the very beginning. He'd not been doing his job as her boss, then, either. He’d failed her on all sides lately.

  No wonder she could still barely look at him. "I didn't mean to abandon you."

  This time, it was Bailey who snorted. "Sure, you didn't. The moment they said I was going to live, you took off for the hills, leaving Veri if I needed anything. To abandon someone, you have to be with someone.”

  “It wasn’t like that. I had to get back to work.” Because he’d just walked away from the department and parked his ass at her bedside for eight days. Only a very specific call from Elliot Marshall had put him back where he was supposed to be.

  But he’d given Veri the week off to stay with Bailey if needed. She hadn’t. Bailey had made her leave.

  Clay wouldn’t mention that he knew that. But there was one thing he wanted her to be absolutely clear on. "I would have moved heaven and earth to find you that day, Bailey. You and Kyra. I wasn't going to stop."

  "I know. The way you do any victim. You wouldn't have left anyone out there like that." She shifted in the seat, crossing her arms. "Can't it all just be over? I don't want to think about it anymore.”

  “It wasn’t because it was just some random person out there, Bailey. It was because it was you. There was no way I wasn’t going to find you. I never would have stopped searching.” He’d have died trying to find her. It was as simple to him as that.

  But he wouldn’t tell her that part. Wouldn’t put her in the position of knowing just how he felt about her—and would never doing anything about.

  “I wish people would stop tiptoeing around me. Even you. Especially you. I can do my job without you watching me like I'm going to fall to pieces.” She tipped her head back, pride on her pretty face. “You want details on every unsolved dead woman in fifteen counties, I'll get them for you. Just like Jeremy or Bobby or Hank or Papa Smurf would. It's what I've been trained to do. Just let me do my job, and then forget that I even exist, Sheriff. I think we'd both be happy that way. If things would just quietly go back to the way they were before.”

  Clay whipped the truck to the side of the road. The semi behind them blared on by. "You really think that? That I'd be happy if you didn't exist? What kind of asshole do you think I am?”

  "I know how you feel about me. You think you’re the first in the TSP to make it known that you have no place for Lou Moore’s daughter on your team?”

  Clay’s hands flexed on the steering wheel as he gathered his words around him. “What the hell, Bailey? I have never held your father’s actions against you. Any more than I’ve held Bert’s against Jake. I don’t believe in that sins-of-the-father BS. I never have. And I never will.”

  “Then why have you made it clear from the very beginning that you don’t want me anywhere near you or the Value TSP? Just what have I done to you?”

  Chapter 19

  Bailey didn't know where the words were coming from, but once they started flowing, she just let them come. All of the questions she'd had for this man for months popped out. "Was it something I did to you when I was a kid? I mean, the last time I saw you I was like nine, right? What could I have done to you back then?"

  Green eyes stared at her. And stared, like he was trying to puzzle her out. "You have to realize that I do not, have never, hated you. I don't think it's ever been hate that I’ve felt for you." />
  She was so sick of his half answers. He was always telling her what things weren't, but the jerk never bothered to tell her what things were. "What else is it? What have I done?”

  "Do I really treat you that way? That I'm targeting you?"

  "Yes." She wasn't going to go into every single detail. There wasn’t a need. But she fully believed that. He did treat her that way. Almost sought her out to do it. Finding fault with everything she had done.

  Until her father.

  "Maybe it would be best if I took the transfer offer for Finley Creek." The words were more to herself than to him. But Bailey didn’t miss the way the man beside her flinched.

  "It would be more than an hour drive one way."

  "I know. I make it twice a week for counseling. And I did it for those two months."

  “I don’t want you to leave.”

  “I don’t really care what you want, Sheriff. I have to do what’s best for me. I’m not sure Value is it. I'm really not seeing much reason to stay here. Except that I'm actually in the field here. That's about the only positive I can see. And I'm closer to home. I like having that time with Jake and Liam and Bert.”

  She hated feeling so confused. One minute, she was fully confident in her decision to stay in Value; the next, she was sure Finley Creek would ultimately be the better choice.

  Sometimes she wondered why she didn't stay far away from Clay Addy and the Value TSP and just forget everything. She could get an apartment in Finley Creek, drive back to see Bert and Jake and the baby on her days off.

  Forget Value. Just put it all behind her.

  Make a new, better life for herself among people who wouldn't look at her and constantly see her father. Or see the results of what her father had done.

  Or take on guilt when it was necessary. Both Jake and Bert had told her that was a possibility. That as her boss, Clay would feel guilty for what happened.

  That was just stupid.

  She’d never blamed him. She’d made the decision to seek out Kyra that morning.