The Texas Lawman's Woman

by Cathy Gillen Thacker

  The doorbell rang. Austin beamed and stood. “Deppity?”

  Sharing her son’s excitement, Shelley placed the last of the fried chicken onto paper towels to drain. She turned off the stove and hurried to get the door. Instead of the man she expected to see, a woman stood there, leather notepad in one hand, a badge in the other.

  “Shelley Meyerson? Ilyse Adams—we’ve met before. I’d like to talk to you about Colt McCabe, if I may.”

  All sorts of scenarios raced through Shelley’s mind, none of them good. “He’s all right, isn’t he?”

  Another official-looking smile. The kind that prefaced serious business. “I’m here about something else.”

  Stymied, Shelley ushered her in.

  Austin toddled over. “Not Deppity,” he announced unhappily.

  “No. Not Deppity.” Shelley resituated her son with his toys, and then asked Investigator Adams, “Can I get you something to drink?”

  She opened her notebook. “I’d prefer to get right down to business.”

  This was starting to sound scary, Shelley thought as she sat opposite her at the kitchen table.

  Ms. Adams turned on a tape recorder and set it on the table between them. “What is your relationship with Colt McCabe?”

  Wasn’t that the question of the day? Shelley mused. “We’re friends,” she offered casually.

  “Just friends?”

  Shelley’s gut tightened. “Close friends.”

  Her guest’s glance narrowed. “Are the two of you romantically involved?”

  Uneasiness sifted through Shelley. “That is none of your business.”

  “So you prefer not to answer that?” Ilyse Adams pressed.

  Shelley sat back. Determined to remain calm in the face of rising anxiety, she folded her hands in front of her. “What’s this all about?” She paused, letting her resistance to this line of questioning be known. “Why do you care who Colt is seeing in his private life?”

  Investigator Adams raised her brow. “Did you know he has a reputation for bending the rules to help people, in sometimes unorthodox ways, particularly when he feels he is rescuing someone?”

  Shelley shrugged. “That’s no secret. He’s always been a bit of a maverick.”

  A brief pause. “Why is that, do you think?”

  Shelley let out a long breath. “He’s not really the hall-monitor type. He doesn’t get a charge out of getting anyone else in trouble.”

  “So he has trouble arresting people, even when they do wrong. Is that what you’re saying?”

  Shelley shook her head. “He likes to let people off with a warning. Give them a second chance.”

  A tight smile. “Yet Deputy McCabe didn’t do that when it came to the attempted break-in of your former home.”

  Shelley blinked. This was really getting surreal. “What break-in?”

  It was the investigator’s turn to look surprised. “You didn’t know about the three teenagers who tried to use the residence for an underage drinking party?”

  Shock rendered Shelley momentarily speechless. “No.”

  “Or that Deputy McCabe caught them in the act, and called it in?”

  “No. He never said anything.” Which led Shelley to wonder what else Colt hadn’t told her.

  Ilyse Adams picked up on Shelley’s unease. “Can you tell me what happened with the auction of your home at 903 Spring Street?”

  “The house didn’t sell.”

  Investigator Adams studied her. “How did you feel about that?”

  Shelley glanced at her son, who was still playing quietly. Relieved he had no idea what was going on, she turned back. “How do you think I felt?” Her tone was a little curt. “Relieved.”

  “Did you have anything to do with the rumors about the purported condition of the house, started by Colt McCabe?”

  What rumors? “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “Did you ask Colt McCabe to infer there was something wrong with the property prior to the auction?”

  “No!” Shelley quickly denied. “Why would I do that when it’s clearly not the case?”

  A telltale silence fell.

  “Oh,” Shelley said heavily, feeling even more distressed. “You’re asserting that Colt did that.”

  The heavy silence confirmed that was so.

  Adams continued, “Did you offer Deputy McCabe anything in return for such activities?”

  “Like what?”

  Ilyse Adams shrugged, waited.

  “Money?” Shelley guessed finally.

  “Or something more personal,” Adams offered, her words rife with meaning.

  More personal. Shelley guessed where this was going. “Like sex,” she stated bluntly, glad Austin was way too young and innocent to understand what was being inferred here.

  Looking as if she believed that was indeed the situation, Investigator Adams gave Shelley a chance to expand on that statement.

  An angry flush climbed from Shelley’s neck into her cheeks. “No. I did not offer myself up in exchange for anything else. With Colt or any other law enforcement officer! I would never do that!”

  Investigator Adams tilted her head. “It’s common knowledge that you were pretty upset when Deputy McCabe posted the eviction notice and supervised the actual move-out.”

  This was getting ridiculous! “Well, duh! Of course I was.”

  “With him, specifically.”

  Embarrassed by her highly emotional reaction at that time, Shelley blew out a weary breath. “When I thought about it, I realized Colt was just doing his job.”

  “Yet, immediately after that, the two of you became...close.”

  The way the internal affairs officer said it made her liaison with Colt sound sordid and ugly when it hadn’t been. Shelley stood, went to the front door, and opened it wide. “I don’t know what you’re trying to do here, but you are way off target. Colt would never do any of the things you’ve insinuated.”

  Taking the hint, Adams stood and politely gathered her belongings.

  Shelley noted the tape recorder was still on.

  “Are you sure about that?”

  That was the hell of it. Right now, given all she had just learned, Shelley honestly didn’t know what to think. She did know, however, that Colt McCabe had a lot of explaining to do. And it wouldn’t be done in front of her son.

  * * *

  MYSTIFIED, COLT PUT DOWN the phone and looked at his canine companion. “Change of plans, fella. Shelley wants to meet us here.”

  Five minutes later, Shelley parked her Prius at the curb. Colt had only to look at the way she carried herself to know she was really upset. But then, he had gathered that on the phone, although she hadn’t given him a clue why. Her face a blotchy pink, she marched to the door. Unable to mistake the boiling fury and resentment in her eyes, Colt stepped out to greet her. “Where’s Austin?”

  “With his babysitter. I didn’t want him to hear what I had to say.”

  Colt moved to usher her inside. She remained on the porch, arms crossed in front of her. “Ilyse Adams, from the Laramie County Sheriff’s Department, visited me this afternoon.”

  Like lightning, the guilt that had been weighing on him since the inquiry began came back to haunt him.

  “Are you under investigation?” Shelley snapped.

  Knowing nothing would be gained by becoming overemotional, Colt took her by the hand and led her into his home. “Yes.”

  Shelley got as far as the foyer, then sank down on the steps, leading to the second floor. “Why?”

  Colt sat beside her. “It appears I’ve broken too many rules,” he confided.

  She grew even more distraught. “Regarding me?”

  Colt knew she was going to put the pie
ces together eventually. “Sort of.”

  She waited.

  Exhaling deeply, Colt continued. “The night of the wreck I didn’t follow procedure when I rushed you and Austin and Mr. Zellecky to the hospital. A complaint was lodged against me by the out-of-towners—they said I gave preferential treatment to the town residents over them.”

  Shelley leaped to her feet, fists at her sides. “That’s not true.”

  Colt stood, too. “It doesn’t matter.” He followed at a distance as she paced to the fireplace. “It was enough to spark an internal affairs investigation into my behavior that has since been expanded.”

  Misery turned the corners of her lips down. “To me, too. Ilyse Adams thinks I slept with you so you’d spread rumors about my house to keep it from selling at auction.”

  Colt swore heatedly.

  “Naturally, I told her it wasn’t true. That I hadn’t offered you a quid pro quo for anything.”

  Colt worked to contain his own temper. “I can’t believe this.”

  Shelley edged closer, studying him with a critical eye. “But you did start the rumors, didn’t you?”

  Colt winced. “Not on purpose.” Reluctantly, he pushed on. “Mitzy Martin stopped by to inquire about the house. She wanted to see it so she could decide whether or not to make a bid. But the rules governing property set for auction by Laramie County wouldn’t allow anyone to set foot inside the home once the foreclosure and eviction were complete, so I had to refuse her request.”

  Shelley’s brow furrowed. “But you did bend the rules the night Austin lost his little red truck!”

  Colt shifted uncomfortably. “That was different.”

  Shocked and dismayed, she concluded, “Because it was for me and Austin. Not Mitzy...right?”

  What could Colt say to that? It was true. He hadn’t been applying the rules fairly. Still, Shelley deserved to know how the rest of the situation had come about.

  “That day, Mitzy also asked me a ton of questions about the condition of the interior of your home. For the same procedure-related reasons, I couldn’t answer any of them. As a result, she jumped to all sorts of conclusions, which I again could not correct.” He cleared his throat. “Next thing I hear, her version has hit the local rumor mill. Everyone is speculating you let the house go because it required so many expensive repairs, it just wasn’t going to be worth it.”

  Shelley sighed. “Which was why no one bid on it.”

  “Probably, yeah.”

  “And now the Internal Affairs of Laramie County Sheriff’s Department thinks I had something to do with that, too!” Shelley cried. “That I may have acted improperly in collusion with you to prevent the auction of my house!”

  Colt swore again. What a mess. “I’ll set them straight. I promise, you won’t get in trouble over any of this.”

  She scoffed and stalked away from him, even more indignant. “That’s not really the problem here, Colt.”

  This was not the way he’d seen the day going. “Then what is?”

  Shelley swung around again. “Why didn’t you—or anyone else in Laramie, for that matter—tell me my house was nearly broken into?”

  Colt returned her scowl. “Several reasons. The property wasn’t yours anymore—you’d been evicted, so technically it was no longer any of your business. And probably no one else mentioned it because they didn’t want to upset you.”

  But the hell of it was, Colt realized in retrospect, she was upset. More so now, probably, than she would have been then.

  “And the internal affairs investigation?” Shelley asserted tightly. “I assume this is a pretty big deal.”

  Enough to cost me my career. Enough to prompt me to go to an attorney for advice.

  Unfortunately, he hadn’t followed the counsel he had received from Travis Anderson. Instead, he had listened to his heart. And his heart had taken him right back to Shelley, and her son, and his need to protect them both.

  Shelley fixed him with a coolly assessing look. “Why didn’t you tell me about that?”

  “First, I was told by the department to keep it quiet. They didn’t want it hitting the press or becoming public knowledge. Second, I was trying to protect you. You already had so much to deal with...I didn’t want to burden you with my problems.”

  Hurt overrode her resentment. “It didn’t occur to you that I might have wanted to know something like that? That I’d want to support you?” Her voice quavered. “Because that’s what people do, you know, people who are close. They turn to each other. Or is our relationship always going to be one-sided?”

  He hadn’t seen her look so vulnerable since the first time they had broken up. He took her into his arms. “You’re being unfair.”

  Tears glistening in her eyes, she whirled away from him. “I’m being forthright,” she countered. “Something you obviously know very little about!”

  Her accusation stung, but he didn’t argue the point.

  With a moan of frustration, Shelley threaded her hands through her hair. “I can’t believe I’m in the same situation all over again!” She shook her head, looking even more flummoxed. “Just with a different man.”

  Colt grimaced. Now he was the one getting really ticked off. “Tell me you’re not comparing me to Tully.” Because, by heaven, if she was...

  Shelley advanced on him, not stopping until they were nose to nose. “He used to say the reason he didn’t tell me things was because he didn’t want to worry me, either.”

  Colt folded his arms in front of him. “We’re not the same,” he reminded her flatly.

  She stabbed a finger at his chest. “Aren’t you?” She shook her head in wordless remonstration, bitterness and hurt tightening the contours of her soft lips. “I’m not going to be with someone who deliberately deceives me, no matter what the excuse!”

  Gut tightening, Colt recognized the walls around her heart. “What are you saying?” he asked.

  “Exactly what you think.” Her tone steely with resolve, she slayed him with a glance. “You and I are finished, Colt. I don’t ever want to see or speak to you again.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  “I thought you’d be happier,” Liz told Shelley Tuesday afternoon. “The bank not only accepted Mr. and Mrs. Laffer’s prompt reimbursement of their son’s debt and all associated fees, they’ve deeded the house back to you, effective immediately.” She handed over the key. “You can move back in today if you like.”

  Except that would mean getting the stuff out of Colt’s garage. And that, in turn, would mean talking to him without breaking down in tears.

  Misunderstanding the reason for her melancholy, Liz continued, “Charges against Tully were dropped, and he has been released. So you no longer have that weighing on you.”

  Shelley nodded. Maybe it was foolish, but she had never wanted to see her ex-husband in jail. She had just wanted the wrong corrected, and that had happened, thanks to the quick private settlement Liz and the other attorneys had worked out.

  “And, last but not least, in exchange for you voluntarily dropping the charges and waiving all rights to future litigation on the matter, a cashier’s check arrived today from your ex-in-laws to help with all your moving and legal expenses.” Liz rocked back in her chair. “So you can take that right over to the bank and deposit it. And call it a day on the whole matter.”

  Shelley smiled in relief. “I am happy about all of that.” It had been the best possible solution to a very messy situation.

  The attorney continued to study her. “Then...?”

  Liz and Shelley had been friends long before Liz had become Shelley’s attorney. Which made it easier for Shelley to confide, “Colt and I broke up. Again.” And it hurt worse this time than the last, which was saying a lot.

  A mixture of surprise and heartfelt compassion glimmere
d in Liz’s eyes. “Why? You two looked so happy at Kendall and Gerry’s wedding!”

  “We were.” Shelley slid the check into her purse, then fit the house key onto her key ring. “Until I found out everything that had been going on, anyway.” Briefly, she explained about Investigator Adams’s visit on Sunday afternoon.

  Liz shook her head as if unable to believe it. “Ilyse Adams actually thought you slept with Colt in exchange for his help?”

  Shelley nodded miserably. And that line of questioning had sparked an onslaught of uncertainty within her.

  The only thing she knew for certain was that real lasting romantic love had never entered their conversation. Turning back to her friend, she reflected on a soft exhalation of breath. “It’s all such a mess. I think all the drama lately may have just clouded our thinking and magnified our feelings into something that wasn’t quite real...”

  Liz made a skeptical face. She came around her desk, sat down in the other client chair and took Shelley’s hand in hers. “I understand why you’re hurt. Colt should have confided at least part of what was going on with you.”

  Shelley’s throat felt tight. “I felt like such a fool.” Here she’d thought they were so close. Only to find out...they weren’t. Otherwise, Colt would have told her something.

  “As for the rest...” Liz continued briskly. “Professionally, Colt really couldn’t discuss the actual internal affairs investigation, without getting into more hot water than he was already in.”

  Shelley nodded, agreeing in retrospect about that much. She couldn’t really blame him for trying to save his job.

  Liz’s brows knit together. “How did that investigation turn out, by the way?”

  An answering worry spiraled through Shelley. “I don’t know.” Yet perversely she wished she did.

  “He’s still on mandatory ‘vacation’?”

  “Until tomorrow. Then he meets with the sheriff and Ilyse Adams to discuss Internal Affairs’ findings.”

  Silence fell.

  Eventually, Liz blew out a breath and raked a hand through her hair. “You really compared him to Tully?”