Always a Lawman

by Delores Fossen

  Jodi nodded. “That would be nice if it were all tied in a neat little package. But I doubt she left anything behind, and even if she had, the killer would have taken it.” She paused. “What about surveillance cameras at her condo?”

  “There weren’t any, but SAPD said they’d check traffic cameras. If we have video proof that either Hector, August or Russell was near her condo, that might be enough to get an arrest warrant.”

  Coupled with the other circumstantial evidence they’d found, it should be, but they were still a long way from putting someone behind bars. Plus, SAPD would have jurisdiction in this, so Gabriel might not be able to interrogate a suspect even if the San Antonio cops did manage to take someone into custody.

  “You want me to take you two back to the office or to your place?” Cameron asked.

  One look at Jodi, and Gabriel knew the answer. She was exhausted and probably hungry. “To my house.” Other than interviewing suspects, he could do pretty much everything else from his home office.

  Jodi moved back, resting her head against the seat, and she closed her eyes. Gabriel doubted she was actually sleeping. More like trying to get rid of the images of seeing a butchered woman. No way for him to get rid of it. Because it had triggered the memories of how he’d found Jodi.

  Since there was nothing he could say to her to help, Gabriel decided to get some work done. He texted Jameson to find out if he’d learned anything new on any of the legs of the investigation. No updates with the exception that his brother had managed to get access to Hector’s bank account. Since Hector was a security expert, Gabriel doubted he’d left a money trail, but if someone had used such a trail to try to set the man up, then that part of it might be traceable.

  The miles and minutes crawled by with Gabriel checking his phone while he continued to keep watch around him. Cameron and the other deputies were no doubt doing the same, but there wasn’t even a hint of trouble.

  Not until Cameron arrived at the ranch. That’s when Gabriel spotted someone he didn’t want to see on the front porch of the old house, the one where his parents had been murdered.

  August was waiting for them on the steps.

  His car was parked on the side by some shrubs.

  Jodi groaned, and that’s when Gabriel realized her eyes were not only open but that she, too, had spotted her uncle. “What’s he doing here?” she muttered.

  Gabriel didn’t know, but he intended to find out fast and then get rid of him. No way did he want one of their suspects hanging around Jodi or anywhere near the ranch.

  Cameron pulled to a stop, and Gabriel threw open the door. “Wait in the cruiser,” he told both of them. Cameron would, but he figured Jodi had no intention of doing that.

  August stood, staggering a little, and that’s when Gabriel noticed he had a bottle of whiskey on the steps where he’d been sitting. “You had Jameson haul me in like a common criminal,” August snarled.

  “Not common,” Gabriel corrected. “You’re a suspect in a murder investigation. That makes you far from common.”

  “Well, I didn’t do it.” His words were slurred, so he was clearly past the “having a drink or two” stage. He certainly wasn’t in any shape to drive, so that meant two deputies would have to take him home. Gabriel didn’t like to split his security detail like that, but he hadn’t planned on them staying once he had Jodi inside his house.

  “I didn’t have anything to do with those snakes,” August went on, “or with trying to hurt Jodi. I wouldn’t do that. Do you know how pissed off Travis would be with me if he thought for one minute that I’d tried to hurt his little girl?”

  “He wouldn’t be happy,” Jodi said, stepping from the car. “Now, what do you want?”

  “I want you to tell everyone that I’m not guilty of all this bad stuff I’m getting accused of. I’m just doing what you should be doing—busting your butt to clear your daddy’s name so he won’t end up dying behind bars.”

  “You sound like a man with a guilty conscience,” Gabriel remarked. He moved away from August so he could stand near Jodi. He also motioned for Cameron and the other deputies to keep watch. He didn’t want Jodi gunned down while trying to get info from a drunk man.

  August shot him a glare. It didn’t last because August staggered again and had to catch on to the step railing to stop himself from falling.

  “Russell’s wife came to see me this morning,” August went on. “Tracy. She’s a pretty little thing, but she was boo-hooing about her husband. She’s scared he’s going to be hurt or killed because of Jodi.”

  “Was Russell with her?” Gabriel asked.

  “No. And she said I wasn’t to tell him, that he wouldn’t like it if she stuck her nose in his business.”

  Interesting choice of words, but of course, Gabriel was hearing it secondhand, so there was no telling what she’d actually said. Still, it wouldn’t hurt for someone to question the woman. While he was at it, he could arrange for Hector’s employees to be interviewed, as well.

  “Take August home,” Gabriel instructed Cameron.

  August didn’t put up an argument. He started for the cruiser just as Gabriel went with Jodi to the second one.

  “I told Hector about you and Jodi,” August said, stopping in his tracks. Jodi quit walking, too.

  “Told him what?” she asked.

  “That you two were sleeping together.” August smiled, and it wasn’t a pleasant one. “Want to know what Hector said?” he continued before Gabriel or Jodi could say anything. “He called you an ungrateful bitch and said you’d be sorry.”

  * * *

  JODI HAD CERTAINLY been called worse than the B-word. But never by Hector.

  “August could be lying,” Gabriel reminded her.

  He could be. In fact, he probably was. But there was some truth in what he was saying. If Hector did indeed believe that Gabriel and she were lovers, then he wouldn’t be happy about that. Jodi had seen how he’d behaved in the past couple of days, and plain and simple, he was jealous.

  “I need to find a new job,” she said as they made their way into Gabriel’s house.

  He immediately set the security system and moved her away from the windows. She was already heading away from them anyway since she wanted to sit down on the sofa. Her legs no longer felt steady.

  “I could hire you as a deputy,” Gabriel offered.

  She looked at him and saw that he was already regretting that. “I doubt it would work out. Since you’d be my boss.”

  No need to say more, because it was clear that this attraction wasn’t going away. Best not to bring that into the workplace. And if she worked for him, that would put them in constant contact each day. He wanted that contact but didn’t especially want her to have a job where she could be required to put her life on the line.

  Gabriel glanced out the window and gave a thumbs-up to Deputy Jace Morrelli, who’d be patrolling the grounds. There was a lot of ground to cover, which meant all of them were far from safe, but they couldn’t keep everything fully guarded.

  “Besides,” she went on a moment later. “I have that badge-phobia thing.” She was only half kidding, but the thought kept coming back to her—badges hadn’t done a darn thing to keep his folks from dying or her from being attacked. “I need to find something that doesn’t involve Hector.”

  Jodi cursed when her voice cracked. Cursed even more when the tears burned her eyes. “I’m not crying about Hector,” she insisted. “I just hate knowing that I dragged you into this.”

  There was suddenly a lot of cursing going on, and it was coming from Gabriel. He sank down next to her. “Whatever you’re thinking, the answer is no. You’re not going to make yourself bait to protect me, and you’re not going on the run to try to distance me from the danger.”

  Since those were the exact things she’d been thi
nking about doing, she just gave him a flat look. Well, as flat as she could manage, considering she was very close to tears again.

  “I’m so tired of being afraid,” she admitted. Of course, that wasn’t the right thing to say to help with the tears or to steady her nerves. But Gabriel had something that worked.

  He kissed her.

  Even though he was already right there next to her, she hadn’t seen the kiss coming, and despite the sizzle of heat she instantly felt, it didn’t seem to be one generated by passion on his part. She figured that out when he pulled back, and she saw his eyes.

  “You’re distracting me,” she said.

  He certainly didn’t deny it. “Did it work?”

  It did. And there was no need for her to confirm that with words because the corner of his mouth kicked up. The smile didn’t last, but he did brush his fingers on her cheek. Then, groaned.

  “Eventually we’re going to land in bed.” His voice was a husky whisper. “I’m just trying for it not to be now. I don’t think you could handle now.”

  Jodi wanted to assure him that she could, but that was attraction nudging her in his direction. The truth was, she could have a panic attack when they were only a few kisses in. She’d had attacks triggered by far less contact.

  He didn’t say anything for several moments, but she could see the debate he was having with himself. A debate he apparently lost.

  Because he kissed her again.

  This time she didn’t feel the doubt or hesitation. And it didn’t seem to be a distraction, either. Gabriel kissed her, sliding his hand around the back of her neck and pulling her to him.

  Her stomach fluttered. Her heart began to race. It took her a moment to realize that it wasn’t the beginnings of panic, but rather, it was pleasure.

  Mercy, was it ever.

  The heat from his kiss warmed her from head to toe, and she let that silky feeling wash over her. It both calmed and excited her, and it didn’t take long before Jodi put her arms around him.

  “You can stop this at any time,” he assured her.

  His voice only made her hotter. Of course, the kiss that followed his “stop” reminder probably had plenty to do with that increase in heat. The old feelings returned. Those days when she’d daydreamed about being with Gabriel just like this. Her, in his arms. Him, kissing her.

  He lowered his hand from her neck to her back, all the while nudging her closer. Definitely no feelings of panic from this kind of contact. It felt natural.

  Necessary.

  As if she’d been starved for a very long time and was finally getting what she needed. And apparently what she needed was Gabriel.

  He lowered the kisses to her neck, pausing between each one, no doubt to give her a chance to tell him to stop. But Jodi couldn’t see herself saying that anytime soon.

  She moved her hand, too. To his chest, and she slid her fingers over the muscles there. All toned and perfect, Gabriel had always had a great body. She got to see some of that body when she undid the buttons on his shirt. Then, she touched bare skin and got a nice reward when he grunted with pleasure.

  So, she touched him again. While he took those wildfire kisses lower, to the tops of her breasts, she pushed open his shirt. He was still wearing a shoulder holster, so she couldn’t get it all the way off, but she saw enough of him to kick up her pulse another notch.

  “Remember, we don’t have to keep doing this,” he repeated. He slipped his hand under her shirt and did some touching of his own. Each stroke of his fingers created new fires and sent her soaring.

  Jodi forgot how to breathe.

  And didn’t care if she ever remembered.

  He didn’t take off her top. Maybe because he knew it would bother her for him to see the scars, but Gabriel did lower his head, and he kissed them, one by one. But he didn’t stop there. He kept kissing, going lower to the front of her jeans.

  Oh, man.

  That was what she wanted, and it didn’t take much of that before Jodi was searching for his zipper. He stopped her by unzipping her first. The touches on her stomach were mild compared to what she felt when he slid his hand into her jeans. And then her panties. He pushed his fingers through the slick heat he found and nearly caused her to scream.

  In a good way.

  The pleasure soared, so intense that Jodi wasn’t sure she could take it. But she did. And Gabriel clearly had plans to do more than touch.

  “Should we stop?” he asked.

  “No.” She didn’t have to think about that, either.

  She wasn’t sure if he was relieved, but he did start to shimmy her jeans off her. Jodi helped, though she was trembling now. Not from fear or panic but because Gabriel kept adding some of those slick strokes in between the undressing.

  By the time he had finally removed her jeans and panties, Jodi was more than ready to have him haul her off to bed. But he didn’t do that. He hauled her onto his lap instead. She was about to protest, but then he kissed her again, and that rid her of any doubts that this was the right way to go.

  She reached between them, finally locating his zipper, and she freed him from his boxers while he fumbled in his pocket. Then, his wallet. To take out a condom, she realized. Jodi had been so caught up in the heat of the moment that she’d forgotten all about safe sex. At least Gabriel had remembered.

  There was just a jolt of panic when she saw him put on the condom, but again, that vanished when he kissed her. He also reminded her once again that they could stop. That’s when Jodi took matters into her own hands. Literally. The moment Gabriel had gotten the condom on, she took hold of him and guided his erection inside her.

  She got another jolt. Just a quick pinch of pain—that she ignored. Because there were much, much better feelings to focus on. Like this heat that was burning her from the inside out.

  Gabriel didn’t move. He gave her a moment, probably to adjust, but it wasn’t a moment she wanted. Jodi started to move, and even though she didn’t have a clue what she was doing, she went with what felt right.

  He helped. Gabriel caught on to her hips with one hand, and he slid the other one between her legs. At first she had no idea why he’d done that. But she soon found out. He used those maddening touches in just the right place while the strokes inside her continued.

  It didn’t take long for her body to respond to that. In fact, it was too short. She wanted to hang on to this moment for a long, long time. But there was no way she could last. Gabriel made sure of that. He kept touching. Kept moving inside her. Until everything pinpointed to just him.

  He pushed her right to the point where she could take no more. And then with one last touch, Gabriel sent her flying.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Gabriel hadn’t remembered a mistake ever being this good. But despite the slack feeling he had from the great sex, he still had enough common sense to know that he shouldn’t have done this.

  This was a complication neither of them needed.

  And it would be a complication all right. Not just because here he was holding her in bed but because he wanted to keep holding her.

  He couldn’t, and that’s why Gabriel forced himself from the bed so he could pull on his jeans and go back into the living room to check his laptop. Even though it was already after regular duty hours, there could still be reports coming in. Updates. Hell, the world could have ended in the past couple of hours, and he wouldn’t have even noticed it.

  That’s because he’d made another mistake by taking Jodi a second time.

  She definitely hadn’t said no, and he’d been counting on her doing just that. Because he certainly hadn’t had the willpower to turn her away—as he’d done ten years ago.

  He put on his shoulder holster—old habits—and grabbed a slice of leftover pizza from the fridge before he sat down to boot u
p his computer. Six emails from Jameson and all of them were about the dead lawyer. The first two weren’t good news, either.

  SAPD hadn’t been able to find a security or traffic camera yet that had been at the right angle to see who’d gone into Mara’s condo complex and knifed her to death. Jameson had managed a phone conversation with Russell’s wife, Tracy, but it’d been a bust because Russell had told his wife to hang up—and she had. Russell might have just wanted to protect her, and he might not know that Tracy had paid August a visit.

  Gabriel went to the next message. Photos of both Billy’s and Mara’s crime scenes. Photos that Jodi wouldn’t be seeing. The next email was a lab report on the drugs Billy had been given, and which caused him to overdose.

  And then Gabriel got to the last email.

  Hell.

  It was yet another picture, and according to Jameson, it was a note that the cops had found beneath Mara’s body. It was just two words, scrawled on a piece of paper.

  For Jodi.

  If Gabriel had had any doubts that Billy’s and Mara’s deaths weren’t connected to what’d happened a decade ago, that would have cleared them up. Because it was linked even if it was solely due to someone trying to cover their tracks.

  He heard Jodi stirring in the bedroom and immediately closed the email. A moment later, she came in. She yawned, pushed her hair from her face and smiled at him.

  She’d gotten dressed, but she still looked rumpled. Damn attractive, too. The woman certainly knew how to make his body notice her. He also noticed her weapons. She had put them on, as well. Apparently, he wasn’t the only one with some old habits. But despite the fact that they were behind locked doors and the security system was on, it still didn’t feel safe.

  Maybe no place would.

  “Apparently, sex is the cure for panic attacks,” she said. “Or maybe you’re the cure. Either way, I’m hungry.” She started toward the kitchen but then stopped. Probably because she’d noticed the worried expression on his face.

  “What happened?” she asked.

  It was a cheap, dirty trick, but he went to her and kissed her. He thought maybe she still had enough post-sex haze for it to work at distracting her. It didn’t.