Shelter ~ Jay Crownover

by Crownover, Jay

  She came around the side of the couch and took up the spot Sutton’s little girl had just vacated. She rolled her head to the side until we were looking at one another. A soft smile touched her mouth as she bumped her shoulder into mine. “How did you know to do that with her? I’ve never seen her lose it like that. Not even when Sutton started disappearing for days on end.”

  I sighed and touched my temple to hers. It felt familiar and safe. This was the way we used to be back before everything changed, when I craved closeness instead of fearing it. She was always there for me to lean on and I’d forgotten how good that felt.

  “Isn’t that what all women want? To know exactly what we’re dealing with, with no bullshit? She needed the information so she could make an informed decision on what to do with it. There was a good chance she would have freaked out even more once I laid it all out for her, but the kid has a spine made of steel. I think she’s tougher than anyone else in this house.”

  Leo nodded which bumped our heads together and made us both laugh. Our emotions were strung out and worn thin. It was either giggle hysterically or cry, and there had been enough tears shed between the two of us to last a lifetime. “She is. She takes whatever comes at her and keeps on going. I wish I’d been able to bounce back that way.”

  I sighed. “Me too.”

  Leo pushed away and turned so she was facing me. “So, you and Sutton? What’s that all about? I mean, I knew he was part of the reason you wanted to come back here, but I didn’t realize you two had the naked kind of unfinished business between you.” I should have known I wasn’t going to get off without the third degree after showing up at the funeral with him.

  I snorted out a laugh and laced my hands together over my stomach. “I didn’t either. All I knew was that I had to see him again. I had things I wanted to say to him. Like I told Daye, everyone wants to be understood. Where we left off after everything that happened on the mountain didn’t sit right with me. That wasn’t any kind of goodbye I was willing to accept from him. It wasn’t any kind of goodbye I was willing to leave him with, either. He saved my life, Leo.”

  “I know he did. So, is this you getting a handle on what you’re dealing with, with no bullshit?” She lifted her eyebrows as she tossed my words back at me. “Because I gotta tell you, as much as I love Sutton, he isn’t a good bet. The man walks on the razor’s edge every single day and you never know when he’s going to fall and cut himself wide open.”

  “I’m a bad bet.” I held up a hand when she automatically started to protest. “I know you love me and will defend me to the death, but you know it’s true. My track record is shit. I’m never in anything for the long haul. I cut and run at the first sign of trouble.”

  She let out a little bark of laughter. “You do realize that blond cowboy is nothing but trouble, right?”

  I rolled my eyes but couldn’t stop a grin from pulling at my lips. “I do.” His kind of trouble sucked me in and refused to let me go. I wasn’t struggling to fight my way free, I was sinking deeper and deeper every day. I was succumbing to it and embracing it. The last thing I wanted to do was run.

  “I always assumed you were refusing to settle, that you were biding your time until the right person came along.” She seemed genuinely surprised there was more to my serial dating and cold feet than being picky about whom I spent my time with.

  I shrugged. “I was too busy trying to fix all the wrong guys to look for the right one. It gave me something to do and filled a void in my life.”

  Her gaze sharpened as she leaned closer to me. “Don’t try and fix Sutton. He won’t appreciate it. He’s the kind of guy who’s gotta get where he’s going on his own. He won’t stop and ask for directions.”

  I felt my smile soften and my tone turned wistful when I told her, “I like him the way he is. I don’t need to fix him.” All his broken pieces made mine seem less jagged. I didn’t feel like I needed to be perfectly put together when I was with him. I could just be me. A little lost. A lot confused and someone who was still suffering. I didn’t have to be healed completely when I was with him, because his wounds were as raw and as fresh as mine.

  She looked like she was getting ready to give me more advice or launch into another set of warnings when her cell phone rang from inside her purse. She’d dropped it on the floor when she was trying to calm Daye down, so watching her trip over it and scramble to answer the call had giggles escaping once again. I could tell it was Cy on the other end by the way her voice softened and the way her lips lifted up in a smile. The conversation was brief and she seemed agitated when she returned to the couch.

  “Cy hired some big shot lawyer out of Casper to represent Sutton. The guy won’t be here for several hours and Sutton won’t talk to Rodie until he shows. That means he’s probably spending the night in interrogation. Rodie kicked Cy out of the sheriff’s office. Apparently told him his intimidation tactics needed some work.” She sighed. “He’s on his way home. Nothing we can do now but wait.”

  I huffed out an annoyed sound and looked up at the ceiling. “I hate waiting.”

  “Me, too.” I turned to look at her when she touched my arm with her fingertips. “Just so you know, it’s the longest odds that have the biggest payout so two bad bets could easily turn into the kind of jackpot people dream about hitting.”

  I threw my arms around her and gave her a hug that had her struggling to breathe and pushing playfully against me. “You always know the exact right thing to say, Leo.”

  She poked me right where my heart beat more steady and sure than it had in ages. “I learned from the best, Em. You give everyone exactly what they need. It’s time you get some of that for yourself.”

  I was working on it.

  For the first time in my life I knew what—or rather whom—I wanted and I knew exactly what I was supposed to be doing. It was my mission to show Sutton Warner he was worthy of having a good woman stand by his side, that he was wanted and needed no matter how off track he might get. He should know he deserved someone willing to fight for him and desperate to protect him. I wanted to prove to him and to myself that I wouldn’t fold every time we were dealt a bad hand. I wanted him to see that we could do this, that we could work, that we could show up for each other even if things went sideways on us. We could be together for the long haul if both of us wanted it badly enough.

  Someone’s Out to Get Us

  Sutton

  “Don’t leave town, Sutton.”

  Rodie’s tone was aggravated, and he looked as tired and as angry as I was. He’d lost his hat and unbuttoned the top buttons of his typically pristine uniform hours ago. He was stressed out, and the slick lawyer that Cyrus hired hadn’t made things any easier on him. The guy in the tailored suit and shiny shoes was probably close to Lane’s age. He took one look at Rodie and decided he was nothing more than a small-town sheriff who was trying to hold me on trumped-up charges and a bunch of circumstantial evidence. The lawyer was quick with his words and seemed to have an answer for every question Rodie threw at me. He didn’t let me answer anything he thought was leading or tricky. If I wasn’t furious at my old friend, I would have told the younger man not to underestimate him. Rodie was a former Marine and extremely dedicated to his job; there was nothing small town about him when he was in his element.

  However, there was no way the sheriff could fight the facts. My hat might have been found at the scene of the woman’s murder, but when Rodie finally asked me where I was during the night Cyndi was murdered, I had an airtight alibi. I’d been balls deep in Em. When the sheriff gave me a skeptical look, knowing the history Emrys and I had between us, I took great pleasure in informing him that I’d also bumped into one of Lane’s conquests early that morning on the way back to my room. If he thought Em might lie to cover my ass that was one thing, but there was no reason for some chick my brother had screwed to take up for me. The lawyer seemed pleased to have witnesses to my whereabouts in place. Rodie appeared concerned because it meant he still h
ad someone out there mercilessly dropping bodies on his watch.

  It was clear I was the common denominator between the two murdered women. Rodie poked and prodded trying to find any way I might be connected to them. I repeated that I had no idea who Cyndi Hammond was; I’d never even met the woman. I couldn’t fathom how my hat ended up at the crime scene, especially since the damn thing had been missing since the night at the bar. The young lawyer jumped on that and asked if Rodie had bothered to look at video surveillance from that night since it was the last place I remembered seeing my hat. He asked if anyone checked to see if Joel Hammond might have grabbed the hat in the shuffle when the paramedics showed up to rush me to the emergency room.

  Rodie had the good grace to flush. He replied that no one was aware the hat was out of my possession until they picked me up at the funeral. He’d sent a deputy to the Big Horn to ask Burke for the tapes of the fight, but the bartender had yet to hand them over. In fact, Rodie’s guys were having a hard time tracking Burke down. After the funeral, the man had gone missing. They figured he was out at his favorite fishing spot or camping on his family’s land somewhere. That was what most of us did around these parts when we wanted to get away for a few days of R & R.

  It was obvious at that point that Cyndi’s husband could be another viable suspect, and I was being held as the scapegoat. Rodie couldn’t have the folks in town hearing about another dead woman and not appear like he was taking care of the situation. He’d been doing his job by hauling me in and asking about my hat and my whereabouts, but doing it after Alexa’s funeral and making a production of holding me and raking me over the coals had been all for him. First, the drug dealers had torn apart the mountains and scared off a good number of tourists. Now, major crime had found its way into town and the natives were restless. It was his job to keep the streets safe and the inhabitants secure. Lately, that task had been harder and harder. There was no doubt Rodie was feeling the pressure and thinking about how all the recent activity would affect his reelection when the time came. He was covering his ass, but after my lawyer was done with him, it was clear I was going home and that he better not come at me again unless he had some rock-solid evidence.

  Cy clapped a meaty hand on my shoulder as he glared at the sheriff. My older brother was in full-on protector mode and I vaguely wondered if Rodie had considered what it would be like to run for sheriff without Cy’s support. People in this town listened to him, and if he didn’t back Rodie, there was a good chance the man was going to lose the career he was working so hard to maintain.

  “Sutton isn’t going anywhere. He’s going to be right here, waiting for you to bring Alexa’s killer to justice.” The message was clear. Rodie needed to quit chasing his tail and get on finding the real suspect. “If you have any more questions for my brother, contact Mr. Scott.”

  Rodie muttered something under his breath and plowed his fingers through his messy hair. He looked chagrined when our eyes met but I was no longer feeling any loyalty born from a lifetime of knowing one another. I’d been locked in an interrogation room overnight and hauled away from my ex-wife’s funeral. I was already battling small-minded opinions and big-mouthed bullies. He’d purposely given them more fuel to feed the gossip inferno so I didn’t owe the man anything, including patience and understanding. He hadn’t done me any favors.

  I shook hands with the young lawyer and let out a relieved breath when he assured me there was nothing that Rodie could feasibly hold me on. The sheriff’s case was weak and we all knew it. He told me he would need to follow-up and get witness statements from the women I mentioned. I’d never been so glad to have given into the temptation that was Emrys. The woman always seemed to be pulling me out of whatever mess it was I found myself in.

  As soon as we stepped out into the bright afternoon sunshine, we were greeted by angry shouts and a furious cowboy who looked like he hadn’t slept in a week.

  Joel Hammond stumbled out of his truck where he had clearly been waiting for me to be released or led away in handcuffs. He was breathing hard, sounding like a bull that was about to charge at a waving red flag. His eyes were bloodshot and he smelled like a brewery. All his anger was directed right at me and I put up a hand up when Cyrus automatically moved to stand protectively in front of me as Joel stormed across the parking lot in our direction. I heard Rodie swear from behind me, but before he could interfere, I held up my hands and took a step down so I could face off with the enraged man.

  “Before you take a swing, you gotta know I never met your wife. I couldn’t pick her out of a line-up if my own life depended on it. I didn’t sleep with her and I didn’t hurt her.”

  The other man roared, my words having no effect on him at all. This time when he lunged at me I was ready for it, not drunk and doped up. He was a big guy, but not nearly as big as my brother, so I managed to keep upright when his arms locked around my waist and he tried to barrel me down to the ground. I braced my feet and put a hand on the center of the man’s back. I felt him shaking uncontrollably under my palm. His wife may not have been faithful but that didn’t stop him from caring about her . . . loving her. I knew all about that.

  “I lost someone who was important to me as well, Hammond. She didn’t always treat me right, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt like hell to say goodbye to her. I would never wish that on anyone else. I would never put another man in that position. I swear on my daughter, I didn’t have anything to do with what happened to your wife.”

  The man shook even harder and suddenly crumpled to his knees at my feet. He put his head in his hands and his shoulders were shaking for a different reason altogether. He was crying, loud and uncontrolled. I patted his shoulder awkwardly and took a step away from where he had fallen.

  I was getting ready to step around him and let Rodie deal with him when his head lifted and his tear-streaked face turned toward me. He sucked in a breath and ran a rough hand over his haggard face. “I know you weren’t the one she was fooling around with. I talked to her after that night at the bar. I told her we needed to get things straight. Cy told me if I didn’t get my shit straight he would make sure none of the ranches around here did business with me anymore, which was way scarier than him threatening to kick my ass. Bad enough my marriage was falling apart, I didn’t want to lose my livelihood, as well.” He sucked in a breath and slowly climbed to his feet. “Cyndi told me she reconnected with her college boyfriend on Facebook. The asshole got a job up in Billings and they started seeing each other behind my back a couple months ago. I’m pissed because I was the one who tied the two of you together, Warner. I’m the one who made a scene and called you out in front of half the town. If I hadn’t done that, maybe she would still be alive. Maybe whoever killed the last woman you cared about wouldn’t have gone after Cyndi next. I fucked up.”

  It was my turn to suck in a sharp breath as Cyrus and I exchanged a look that spoke volumes. It sucked, but there was a good chance Joel was right about his wife. The only reason anyone would harm her was to try and frame me, and the only people who would know about his accusations had been at the bar that night.

  Cyrus shifted and shot Rodie a hard look. “You need Burke to get you those videos from the bar.” Alexa and Cyndi’s killer was on that surveillance tape somewhere.

  Rodie nodded stiffly and offered Joel a hand up. He patted the other man on the back and gave me a look that was part apology and part frustration. “I’ll be in touch once I track Burke and the tapes down. Joel, come inside with me and clean up. After you have a cup of coffee, let’s talk and see if you can remember anything else about the night you tried to take Sutton down. Sometimes even the smallest detail can break a whole case open.”

  We all split off without any unnecessary goodbyes.

  It was quiet in the car on the way back to the ranch. Cyrus was silently seething and I was wondering about that damn hat. I vaguely remembered pulling it off my head and putting it in my back pocket. But everything after that last shot was a blur. It
probably fell out when I hit the floor or when the paramedics hefted me up onto the stretcher. I knew there were mostly regulars hanging out that night, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t pull up any faces other than Burke’s and the angry cowboy. Certainly, there was no one there who had it in for me. I hadn’t pissed anyone off that badly, at least not that I could recall. There weren’t any strangers I could place who were seeking revenge. All the bad guys I’d run up against lately were either in jail or dead.

  “Maybe getting out of town is exactly what you need.” Cy’s voice was raspy and low, like each word was weighed and carefully chosen.

  I snorted and leaned my head against the cool glass of the passenger window. “Yeah, right.”

  “I’m serious, Sutton.” He used the big brother tone that indicated he wanted me to pay attention to what he was saying and not blow him off like I tended to do when we disagreed about something. “You haven’t been happy here for a while now. Things were never the same after Dad died and left me in charge. You never approved of the direction I wanted to take the business in and we both know you’ve been phoning it in for years.”

  I stared at my brother in shock. I wasn’t exactly quiet about my disinterest in the tour business, but I’d always pulled my share of the weight when it came to getting the job done. He’d never seemed like he was anything but appreciative for my help. It stung to hear him say he thought I was slacking. “What are you talking about, Cy? I show up every single day and break my back, the same as you and Lane. Sure, I’ve been laid-up lately but I’m almost back to normal. I’ll be out on the trail before you know it.”

  Cy grunted and cut me a sharp look from under his dark eyebrows. “I’m not talking about the ranch. I’m talking about half-assing it in when it comes to living your life. When was the last time you had a really good day, Sutton? When was the last time you woke up excited about everything waiting for you? Somewhere along the line you started going through the motions and I want more for you than that. I don’t want you to resent me or your legacy. I want my family to be happy and I think you’ve forgotten what that feels like. There is more to living than mouths to feed and bills to pay.”