Elusive Identities: Cowboy Justice Association (Serials and Stalkers Book 1)

by Olivia Jaymes

  There were no feminine touches like throw pillows or afghans, and only two framed photos on the end table - one of Chris and Annalise, and one of a younger Chris and a devastatingly handsome older man that simply had to be his father. They were practically twins. If this was what Chris was going to look like in twenty years or more, heaven help the ladies of Seattle.

  "That's my dad."

  Oops. She'd been caught staring.

  "I didn't mean to–"

  "It's okay. I'm really proud of my dad. He's a small town sheriff back in Montana."

  She opened her mouth to tell him she'd known that but then snapped it shut. Should she admit that she'd had him checked out? Would he be angry? There was really only one way to know. Onward and upward.

  "I know," she admitted, heat rising in her cheeks. "I...had you and your consulting firm checked out. I needed to be sure that you were legit."

  Ella didn't say she was sorry though, because she wasn't. It was her job to be cautious.

  "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner."

  That she could say honestly.

  She hadn't upset Chris Marks in the least from the looks of him. If anything she'd amused the hell out of him. His smile had widened and his blue eyes twinkled. She breathed a sigh of relief that he wasn't the uptight type.

  "You did? That was smart. Lots of crazy people out there. What did you find out?"

  "That you are who you say you are. That you really work for JLJ Consulting and you really are Chris Marks."

  "I cannot imagine why anyone would pretend to be me," he laughed. "So you know about Jared, Jason, and Logan too, I would expect?"

  "Yes...and Wade Bryson."

  Just the mere mention of the serial killer's name wiped the grin off of Chris's face.

  "The world is a much better place without him."

  "Your dad helped bring him in the first time? And the second time?"

  "Logan did it the first time, but all the guys were there this time."

  She wasn't exactly sure who all the guys were but she had a feeling there was a story there.

  "Were you there?"

  He shook his head. "I was working as a sheriff in a small town in Wyoming then filling in for a guy who had been wounded on the job."

  "You must have some great stories from that."

  "Not really. Are you ready to go through these calls?"

  Dismissed. He hadn't been curt or surly about it but he'd been definitive. He wasn't talking about it and he sure as hell wasn't talking about Wade Bryson.

  "I'm sorry."

  He paused sifting through the stack of papers. "What are you sorry for this time?"

  "For mentioning Wade Bryson."

  "You don't have to be sorry. We can talk about it if you want but I don't have much to say since I wasn't there. I did hear all about it, of course, so anything I tell you would be secondhand. The press actually didn't do too bad of a job reporting the facts. He was hunting Logan and his family and he did kill a lot of people that didn't need to die. In the end, Bryson didn't want to go back to prison. It was suicide by cop. So the answer to the question you don't want to ask is no, Logan didn't shoot him in cold blood."

  Ella had read some of the news stories that had insinuated that Wade Bryson hadn't been armed when Logan Wright shot and killed him. Personally she hadn't put much stock in them.

  "I wasn't going to question you about that. I think everyone knows what Bryson was. He wasn't the type to give up." She held out her hand. "Now how about you give me half of that stack and we'll get some work done."

  They worked quietly for about an hour and a half, making notes on some of the tips and trying to prioritize the ones that sounded the most promising. Ultimately they would need to check them all out but there were a few that caught their eye right away. While they worked Annalise watched television and ate saltine crackers. She didn't puke.

  It was the growling of Ella's stomach that interrupted their productivity. She pressed a hand to her belly, appalled at her digestive tract's annoying behavior.

  "Wow, I'm sorry about that."

  Laughing, Chris hopped up from his chair and dug into a kitchen drawer, pulling out a couple of takeout menus and placing them on the table. "It's about dinnertime and I'm starved as well. These places are pretty good and Annie can get chicken soup at either. Which one would you prefer?"

  "Whichever you and Annie prefer. I'm not a picky eater."

  Chris pointed to the brightly colored menu belonging to a mom and pop restaurant she'd never heard of. "This place is amazing. It's all homemade. I highly recommend it."

  His smiled dropped and he shoved his hands in his pockets.

  "I just assumed you'd stay and eat so we could keep working. You probably need to get home to your boyfriend or husband."

  Was Chris fishing for information? Was he attracted to her? She was definitely attracted to him, but hadn't given it much attention because they were working together. Her friends would have urged her to ask him out already. Make a move. As if she knew how to do that.

  "I don't have a husband or a boyfriend. I am babysitting a cat but he's used to eating dinner late when I get home from work. I've been wanting a dog but I work so much I don't think it would be fair, plus I don't even have my own place right now. So yes, I'll stay for dinner and keep working."

  Chris leaned forward and shook his head. "Don't say the d-word too loudly. Annie's been bugging me for a dog. She's also been bugging Stacey as well. One of us is going to cave before too long."

  "I had a dog when I was her age. It's a good lesson that your own needs aren't the center of the universe."

  Ella had to admit that she was extremely curious about Chris's ex-wife Stacey. What was she like? Was she smart and accomplished? Was she beautiful?

  I bet she is. Men as good-looking as Chris don't date ugly women.

  Not that Ella thought she was ugly. She wasn't. Television was a visual medium so she wasn't someone that needed to wear a bag over their head. She was attractive and if she really tried with hair, makeup, and clothes, she could look damn good. But she'd never considered herself...beautiful. Her nose was a little too big and her chin too pointy. She was tall and slender though, with long, thick hair. She was also smart and funny. She was a damn catch.

  If I do say so myself.

  "I work too many hours to get a dog," Chris was saying, pulling her from her thoughts. "I'd love to have one, though. Maybe..."

  His voice trailed off but Ella could finish the sentence in her head. He was thinking that if he had a partner living here it might not be so bad for the canine. She'd thought that a few times herself.

  Ella quickly chose a dish from the menu and Chris ordered dinner, which would arrive in a reasonable thirty minutes. At some point, Annalise had fallen asleep in front of the television so Chris turned it down slightly and let her snooze, tucking the blanket around her so she wouldn't get cold. If she was sick, she'd need the rest.

  They went back to working the stack of tips but were interrupted again, not by Ella's stomach but by Chris's phone. Grunting, he stood pushing back his chair.

  "I apologize but I have to take this."

  Ella caught a glance of the screen before he pressed the phone to his ear.

  Dad. Tanner Marks, small town sheriff extraordinaire was on the phone.

  "Hey, Dad. How's it going?"

  Chris hadn't spoken to his father in over a week, which was unusual. They tried to chat every three or four days, each one keeping the other in the loop of what was going on with their life. Chris would talk to his half-sister Amanda from his dad's second marriage - as much as one could talk to a small child - and his father would talk to Annie, promising her the world when she came to visit. Annie always spent a few weeks with his dad and Maddie every summer.

  "Good. It's all good," Dad assured him. The noises in the background indicated that his father was still on duty at the station. "I just got off the phone with Stacey and she said that Annie is sick and
with you. Is she okay? Did you want to talk to Maddie?"

  His father's wife was a doctor and the sweetest woman alive.

  "I've got this covered, Dad, but thanks. I think she just had a little stomach bug. She's sleeping–"

  "I want to talk to Grandpa," Annie demanded, jumping up and down next to him and trying to get Chris's cell phone. Obviously, she'd woken up and heard him. "Please. I need to talk to Grandpa."

  His dad was chuckling on the other end of the line. "You better hand me over before she excites herself so much she gets sick again."

  Shit, Chris didn't want that. He sat his hand on Annie's shoulder to keep her from jumping and calm her down. "I'll let you talk to Grandpa but you need to be a little quieter and calmer. Can you do that?"

  Immediately his headstrong daughter was all smiles and obedience. He ought to keep Grandpa on speed dial. "I can be very quiet."

  "Now what do we say when we want something?"

  "May I please talk to Grandpa?"

  His daughter said it so sweetly butter wouldn't have melted in her mouth.

  "Yes, you may." He handed the phone to Annie. "Not too long though, because dinner should be here any minute."

  Too late. She was already skipping back to the nest on the couch, paying no attention to him. Grandpa was far more important. Chris could only wish that she was that close to his own mother, but that relationship was strained and might always be. Thank goodness for Maddie. She was a terrific stand-in grandmother despite her young age.

  Sighing, he sat back down at the table with Ella. "She's got a bad habit of tuning me out when she doesn't want to hear what I have to say. It's not so bad at nine but I'm guessing in a few years this could turn out to be a big problem."

  He feared the teenage years, remembering the trouble he'd given his own parents. Paybacks were a bitch.

  "She's seems like a normal kid, not that I know that much about children. I'm an only child and my family is very small." Ella smiled and nodded toward the living room. "You're good with her."

  He thought about what a mess he'd been when Annie was born. He hadn't been such a great dad then. He had a lot of making up to do.

  "I try."

  "I think you succeed."

  That might be one of the nicest things anyone had ever said to him.

  Ella Scott was becoming a dangerous woman and she wasn't even trying. She was smart, funny, ambitious, and most of all, she was kind. She looked damned good, too. It had been a long time since he'd met a woman who had caught his interest.

  This one had done it so easily.

  13

  As the evening wore on, Ella was feeling more and more guilty about not telling Chris the truth. The whole situation was incredibly personal and frankly, not one she really wanted to discuss with someone she'd met only recently. Heck, she was barely speaking to her own parents at the moment.

  But...

  He had no idea why this case was so important to her. He'd seemed genuinely puzzled when the delicious dinner was over and he'd put Annie to bed and Ella was still there at his kitchen table digging through all the tips that had come through. He had in fact made a joke about it being his job but that she just must be a glutton for punishment.

  It was a way to ask a question without actually saying it out loud.

  Why are you still here when you don't have to be?

  It didn't help that he'd been so sweet and open with her tonight. He'd welcomed Ella into his home like she was a real friend. She had the distinct feeling that wasn't something he did easily but he'd done it with her. He trusted her and she wasn't sure she really deserved it.

  So what do I do?

  "You really don't have to stay here and do this. You must be tired by now."

  This was about the third time he'd said this in the last hour and a half.

  "You have to be tired, too," she replied, dodging the bigger question between them. "If you want to go to bed, I can leave–"

  "No," he interjected swiftly. "I want to get this done. I just don't want my workaholic tendencies to make you feel you have to do something you don't really want to do."

  "I'm okay," she assured him, rolling her stiff shoulders. "I'm actually kind of impressed. You don't seem tired at all."

  He nodded toward the hallway that led to the bedrooms. "It's parent training. You don't get much sleep when you have a kid and you get even less when you're a single parent. Luckily I take after my dad. He never needed much sleep either."

  "What about your wife?"

  Shit, she didn't have any business asking a question like that, especially as she wasn't telling him the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

  "Stacey? She likes a good night's sleep but she was great when Annie was a baby. And for the record, she's my ex-wife. She has a new husband. In fact, she told me that they're going to have a baby."

  Studying Chris closely, Ella couldn't see that he was bothered by that information. She'd dated a few divorced men and one of them had definitely still been hung up on his ex.

  Wait, I'm not dating Chris. We're...colleagues. That's it.

  "That's wonderful for them. Does Annalise know?"

  "She does now. She's excited about it, of course." He grinned wickedly. "It's almost as good as a puppy but not quite."

  "Nothing is as good as a puppy."

  There was silence for a long moment. There were so many questions in Ella's head but she had no business asking any of them.

  "Ella, you look like you're about to burst. Just say whatever it is. It will be fine."

  "I don't have anything to say."

  She didn't sound convincing, though.

  "I think that you do. It's okay. I'm not an easily offended man."

  Oh, what the hell. It was late, she was tired and not thinking straight. She'd beg for forgiveness tomorrow in the harsh light of day when she made more sense.

  "I was just sort of wondering..." Now that she'd brought it up, she didn't know how to explain it. "I mean...Annalise is nine and you're not that old. You must have been married very young."

  "I was married young and that was the problem. Plus, in the beginning I was a lousy husband. It took my dad giving me some tough love for me to pull it together. It was just as we grew up, we grew apart. I still think she's a good person and a great mother. We get along pretty well, too. We didn't have one of those nasty bitter divorces, thank goodness. We try and keep it together for Annie."

  Ella's cheeks burned with embarrassment. "I'm so sorry. This is really none of my business. I don't know what's got into me tonight asking you all of these personal questions. It must be all of the caffeine I've drank today."

  They had put away quite a bit of coffee, although come to think of it, it had been Ella who had drank most of it.

  "I'm not bothered by questions like these," Chris said with a shrug. "It's not a huge secret, to be honest. I'm divorced and I spend most of my time working or with Annie. That's about it. I do like to watch football sometimes though, if I have the weekend off. I'm actually boring when you get to know me."

  Somehow Ella doubted that. Chris appeared to be intelligent and well-spoken, and a decent investigator. Definitely not a misogynist. Most men wouldn't have let her join the case. How did she know that? She worked with a bunch of guys that would have actively sabotaged all of her efforts. She'd learned quickly never to talk about her work or to trust that they just wanted to help her. And Galen had given juicy assignments to males much greener and less experienced than herself.

  "I guess I'm pretty boring, too. I work and hang out with friends or family. One of my girlfriends said I needed a hobby."

  "You don't have any hobbies? Not one?"

  "Do you have any?"

  A quick glance around his small living space didn't reveal a thing.

  "I like to fish. I like working with my hands, too. I used to refinish furniture when I had a big garage."

  Ella didn't hear much past the fact that he liked to work with his hands. Which, of cours
e, had her looking down at those hands. Large and strong with calloused fingers. Her mind instantly went to thoughts of an intimate nature and she had to take a gulp of her now cold coffee to cover her flaming cheeks.

  Don't think about the nice man doing naughty things. Bad Ella.

  "What about a girlfriend?"

  Jeez, what the hell was that? It was as if she was possessed and had no control over her own mouth. What she needed was to smack her forehead against the kitchen table. Repeatedly. Until she made better choices.

  Thank goodness the question didn't seem to faze him in the least. Laughing, Chris shook his head.

  "When would I have time? Between work and Annie that takes up most of it. Plus, most women don't like being dropped at the last minute so I can go chase a bad guy. My mom hated being the wife of a lawman and she never made any secret of it. The crazy hours and the crappy pay don't make for domestic bliss."

  "You must be doing okay. A two bedroom apartment in the Seattle area isn't cheap," she observed. "Not that I'm asking anything about your financial situation because I'm not. My parents always said not to talk about politics, money, or sex."

  Now she'd mentioned sex so it was back on her mind. Again. She was staring at his hands. Again. Shit. Clearly, she was delirious from too much caffeine and not enough sleep. She was acting like a woman that hadn't been around a good-looking guy ever in her life.

  "That's one of the reasons that I'd like to hold onto my new job. But seriously, I'd work for a lot less just to get to be close to Annie. I miss her when she's not here." He stood and walked to the sink, rinsing out his coffee cup. "I think I'll go check on her. I'll be back in a minute."

  Watching Chris disappear down the dark hallway, Ella took a deep breath and then let her head drop down into her hands. He'd been so friendly and open. No guile whatsoever. What she could see was what he was. He wasn't on some macho kick, he wasn't trying to prove her incapable. He only wanted to do a good job on this case and be a good dad.