The younger man’s closed expression changed to a look of surprise. “Still? It’s been a few years since Hugh was killed by that bull.”
Jess studied him thoughtfully as his mind automatically turned to Victoria. “Some people never get over losing a spouse or sweetheart. I suspect Maggie is one of them.”
“Like you?”
Like him, Jess answered silently. He might as well face the truth. He’d never gotten over losing Victoria. He never would. The only thing left for him to do was learn to live with the pain. Or try to win her back. But how the hell did he expect to do that when he’d gone out of his way to make her hate him?
You could tell her how you really feel, Jess. That you love her. That you’ve always loved her.
Shaken by the little voice in his head, Jess wiped a hand over his face. “Look, Daniel, I was divorced from Regina when she died in a car wreck. I was terribly saddened by her death. No one wants to see a life snuffed out at an early age. Especially someone you’ve been close to. But I’ve been over Regina’s death for a long time now.”
The deputy eyed him closely. “I’m not talking about your ex-wife. I’m talking about Victoria. She’s the one you’re carrying a torch for.”
Dear Lord, it was a torch all right. Even now, thoughts of the two of them making love were hot enough to scorch him with uncomfortable heat and remind him of how much he wanted her, had always wanted her.
Deliberately avoiding Redwing’s last comment, he handed a copy of the coroner’s report to his most trusted deputy.
“Here,” he told him. “Study that and then you can drive out to the T Bar K and interview the Ketchum widow.”
“Anything specific you want me to ask her?”
Jess settled back in his chair. “All I ask is that you go easy with her.”
Clearly offended, Daniel frowned at him. “What did you think I was going to do, throw a pack of cigarettes down on the table and shine a bright light in her eyes?”
Jess tried his best not to smile. “Just don’t badger the woman, Redwing. For information or a date.”
Starting toward the door, Daniel tossed over his shoulder, “Hey, I can see how miserable you are. I’m not about to start squiring a woman around on my arm. Even one as pretty as Maggie Ketchum.”
Victoria rarely went outside the clinic for lunch, but the day was hot and sunny and the four walls of her office were closing in on her. The morning had seen the waiting room spilling over with patients, yet in spite of the heavy load of work, Victoria had overhead Lois and Nevada discussing the murder case, not once, but three times.
Murder on the T Bar K! Even though the news had hit the local and state newspapers, it was still an idea she couldn’t quite fathom. Questions about the whole thing continued to pester her head as she walked down the street to a favorite, nearby café.
If the unknown dead man had been killed on their family property, who was he and why had he and the killer been on the ranch in the first place? she wondered. And if the murder had occurred somewhere else, why had the body been dumped in that particular arroyo? To Victoria, the whole idea was not only mind-boggling, it was also terrifying.
Three nights ago, after Jess had told her about the medical examiner’s report, she’d called Ross in hopes he’d drop the cattle convention he was attending and hurry home. But upon hearing the news, her brother hadn’t expressed that much shock. Nor did he seem overly concerned that a murder investigation was taking place on the T Bar K. Which shouldn’t have surprised her. Nothing shook Ross.
But the whole thing had shaken her and eventually she’d decided to make another call to their older brother’s home in Texas. Unfortunately, Seth’s answering machine had informed her that he would be out for an indefinite period of time. Which meant he was working some case away from San Antonio.
Being a Texas Ranger, Seth would know exactly what to do about this mess, she thought with desperate longing. Victoria was simply a physician who tried her best to keep people alive and well. She didn’t know anything about murder cases or how to protect her family from the ramifications of one.
Inside the busy café, Victoria found a seat at the long counter and quickly plucked a menu from its home between a napkin holder and a pair of salt and pepper shakers.
As Victoria’s gaze traveled down the listed items for lunch, male voices, coming from somewhere behind her, immediately caught her attention.
“—always knew old Tucker was a shady dealer. Now it looks like things have caught up with him.”
Cringing inwardly, her gaze remained fixed on the menu as she debated whether to turn and face the man attacking her dead father or to wait and listen for what else might be said.
Before she could decide, a different voice spoke up which was clearly male and just as insulting as the first one had been.
“Damn right, Porter. And it’s about time those Ketchums get brought down from their high horses. When an operation gets as big as the T Bar K, you just about know all that money isn’t coming in from cattle sales. There’s no telling what Ross is into. Money laundering, probably. If you ask me, he’s just a carbon copy of his old man. He wouldn’t think twice about shutting someone up with a bullet to the head.”
“But nobody’s asking you, Jay. So I’d advise you to keep your mouth shut. Unless you want to be sued for harassment.”
That was Jess talking!
Victoria’s heart leaped as his hand settled warmly over her shoulder. Turning slowly, she gave him a strained smile.
“Hello, Jess.”
He squeezed her shoulder in acknowledgement before he turned to face the two gossiping men. Victoria could see the pair were sitting in a booth directly across from her barstool. It was no wonder she’d heard every word they were saying.
In a steely drawl, Jess said to the two men, “I guess you two didn’t see Ms. Ketchum walk in and sit down. Maybe you’d like to take this opportunity to apologize to her. Especially you, Jay.”
Victoria’s troubled gaze wavered wildly back and forth between Jess and the two men. The one called Jay appeared to be in his forties with a slab of excess weight around his middle and a lack of hair on top of his head. The other man, Porter, was younger and blond. His fearful expression told Victoria he’d had dealings with Jess before and he wasn’t looking forward to having any now.
“Well, well. Now isn’t this something.” The one called Jay sneered. “San Juan County’s big, bad undersheriff cozying up to a Ketchum. Guess we won’t have to wonder how this murder investigation is going to turn out.”
Anticipating his reaction, Victoria grabbed Jess’s arm at the same time he made a lunge toward Jay. “Jess, don’t,” she pleaded in a low voice. “It isn’t worth it.”
By now the entire café was watching the scene taking place, but Jess seemed not to care. “Get out of here,” he ordered the two men. “You’re breathing up too much oxygen for my liking! And if I hear either one of you lipping off again, I’m going to personally have Ms. Ketchum file charges against you.”
To her relief, both men got up and silently left the café. Even so, when Jess turned back to her, she was outwardly trembling in the aftermath of what had just taken place.
Grimacing at the sight of her white face, he took her by the arm. “Come on,” he said gently, “let’s go back here.”
She let him lead her through the maze of midday diners, all of whom seemed more interested in the sight of them together than the food on their plates.
At the back of the room, he helped her into a quiet booth. The two of them were hardly settled in their seats before they glanced up to see a waitress hovering over the table. From the apologetic look on her face, she’d witnessed the unpleasant scene along with the rest of the diners.
“What can I get you two to drink? Something cool?” she asked, glancing pointedly at Jess.
“No, ma’am. You might as well bring me coffee so I can get good and warmed up.”
The waitress giggled and Victoria ro
lled her eyes and smiled in spite of herself. “I’ll take coffee, too,” she told the blonde.
After the young woman was out of earshot, Jess said, “I’m sorry about that, Victoria. Sheriff Perez issued a statement to the paper about the murder earlier in the week. Now that the news is out, everyone is talking. But Jay is a loudmouth and he obviously didn’t know who you were. Just goes to show you he doesn’t know your family either.”
The fact that he was being so gallant caught Victoria off guard. Normally he’d jump at the chance to bad-mouth the Ketchums. Instead he’d just defended her and her brother and she couldn’t imagine why.
“I have a feeling Jay’s the sort that would have said all those things whether I’d been sitting there or not,” Victoria told him. “But thank you for sticking up for me.”
One corner of his mouth lifted into a wry grin. “It’s my job to defend innocent ladies.”
Her brows arched with a measure of mockery. “Innocent? You mean you don’t believe I’m the killer?”
He scowled at her. “No. I don’t think you are, or could ever be, a killer. You know that.”
Heaving out a heavy breath, Victoria ran a helpless hand through her loose, dark hair. “Oh Jess, this is a nightmare. It’s all I hear at the clinic. And what those guys were saying a few minutes ago is probably just a drop in the bucket to what’s being said around the county, and the state for that matter.” She lifted sad eyes to his face. “Until a few moments ago, I didn’t realize my family was so hated. Although, I should have had some clues. You tried to tell me—especially about Daddy.”
At one time Jess believed he’d wanted to see the look of anguish on Victoria’s face. At one time he’d blamed all his miseries on Tucker Ketchum and the Ketchum family. But in these past few days, he was beginning to see how narrow-minded that thinking had been. He wanted to forget and move forward. Question was, would Victoria want to move forward with him?
“Your family isn’t hated, Victoria.”
Disbelief widened her eyes. “You heard those men, Jess! If that wasn’t hate, what was it?”
“Envy and ignorance. Your family has been a strong focal point in this county for years. Let’s face it, your old man had clout. He could pull strings with his political friends in the state capital. A lot of people around here resented that. Especially the local politicians. They don’t like anyone going over their heads. Besides all that, you’re rich. That always makes tongues wag in the wrong direction.”
She studied his rugged face, and as she did her conversation with Alice slipped into her thoughts. From the time he’d been a small boy, Jess had lived in the shadows of an alcoholic father and a mother who’d deserted him. It amazed her that he’d grown up so strong and true to his convictions as a lawman and a father. She admired his strength. Yet she had to admit she also feared it. Because she knew Jess wouldn’t stop until he had the culprit of this murder behind bars or dead. Whichever came first.
“Does that mean you believe my family isn’t involved in the murder?”
“I don’t—” he stopped abruptly as the waitress suddenly appeared at their table and plunked down two mugs of steaming coffee.
The weary blonde looked from Victoria to Jess as though she needed to remind them they were here to eat. “Ready to order now?”
Once Jess had showed up in the café, Victoria had forgotten all about studying the menu. But then Jess had always had the ability to scatter her senses. “Just give me the special,” Victoria told her.
“Make that two,” Jess added.
The waitress scribbled down their order, then moved on to another table. Victoria arched a brow at Jess.
“You were saying,” she prompted.
He glanced around to make sure no one was listening to their conversation. “I don’t know who’s involved, Victoria. I just hope, especially for your sake, that any of the Ketchums or your employees on the ranch aren’t involved.”
Leaning toward him, she lowered her voice. “You’re talking like a lawman, Jess.”
His eyes slowly searched hers, then dropped to settle on her moist lips. “I am a lawman, Tori.”
She swallowed as heat traveled from the center of her body outward to her arms and legs. “Yes, but I want you to talk to me like a—”
“Lover?” he finished wryly.
Yes! She wanted him to tear open his heart, to expose what he was really thinking. Not just about the murder case, but about his feelings for her, too. But maybe he’d already done that, she thought with defeat. Maybe she needed to realize he didn’t have any feelings for her. At least, not the special kind.
Tilting up her chin, she asked, “Isn’t that what we are—were?”
He stared at her for a long time as he tried to decide if now was the time for him to lay his cards on the table, to tell her that he needed her. No, this wasn’t the place for it, he thought. He wanted to be able to say all the things he needed to say without being interrupted.
“We, uh, were a lot of things. Once,” he said carefully. “But I—”
“Damn it, Jess!” she hissed under her breath. “I wish you’d quit talking in the past! That’s all over with! This is now.”
His gray eyes slid back to hers and narrowed with a look of warning. The last thing he wanted now was to argue with her. “I didn’t come in here for this, Victoria.”
Drawing in a bracing breath, she straightened her shoulders. “What did you come in here for? This is one of my favorite eating places. I don’t ever see you in here. Were you following me?”
To her surprise a blush crept up from the collar of his khaki shirt and spread across his square jaw.
“Not exactly.” But he had been, Jess thought guiltily. He’d seen her walking down the sidewalk, her straight white skirt molded to her curvy bottom, her nearly black hair pinned into a messy twist atop her head. She didn’t have to work at looking sexy. She was sexy and the sight of her had turned him into a hound dog trailing after the luscious scent of a rabbit. Now he had to admit, even if it was only to himself, that she was the reason he’d decided to forgo a sandwich at his desk.
“I happened to be driving down the street and saw you walk in here. So I figured it would be a good chance to talk to you.” And it was true that he’d wanted to speak with her today, he thought. But he’d planned to simply call her at the clinic once he figured her patient load was winding down. Seeing her on the street had quickly changed that plan.
Victoria studied him skeptically. “What did you want to talk to me about?”
Anything, he silently answered. Just hearing her voice filled him with ridiculous joy. And ever since she’d walked away from him the other evening on the Hastings ranch, he’d been miserable. The fact that she’d carried his baby and ultimately lost it was still all new to him, still an open wound in his heart. Over the past days, regret over the loss had alternated with the foolish idea he could somehow make it all up to her.
And let her reject you, hurt you all over again.
The inner voice scared him, but it also stiffened his resolve and he leaned back in the booth and sipped from his coffee cup.
“Yes, I’d planned to call you later this evening.”
She looked doubtful. “Oh.”
“Yeah,” he went on as casually as he could, “I wanted to let you know I was going to be coming out to the T Bar K this evening.”
“Ross still isn’t home.”
“Ross wasn’t my reason for coming.”
Her stomach tightened and her whole body grew hot as she noticed a subtle smolder in his eyes. “Jess—I’m not going to fall in bed with you again! Sex between us is…wonderful. But—”
“Damn it, Victoria, this isn’t the place to be talking about sex!” Especially when just hearing her say the word made his body hard.
Even though his voice had been low, Victoria couldn’t help but glance toward the front of the café where the bulk of midday diners were sitting. The two of them had already created one scene with Jay
the loudmouth. She didn’t want to add more fuel to the gossip.
“I agree,” she said stiffly. “So can we change the subject, please?”
Before he could reply, the waitress appeared with their plates of meat loaf and accompanying vegetables. Once she’d served them and went on her way, Jess said, “As much as I’d like to make love to you, Tori, that’s not why I’d planned to visit the ranch this evening. I’m going to ride out to the arroyo where your cowhands found John Doe’s remains. I thought you might like to ride along with me.”
Make love. She was so caught up with those two words she almost missed the last. “Did you say ride with you?” she asked, her face a picture of disbelief.
His lips suddenly twisted into a goading grin. “You do still know how to ride a horse, don’t you?”
Victoria’s medical practice kept her too busy to find much time for horseback riding, but she’d hardly forgotten how to keep her feet in the stirrups. “Better than you,” she retorted.
“Then you’ll join me?”
Still puzzled about his motives for the invitation, she asked, “What are you going to do out there? I thought the medical examiner and his staff had already combed the place.”
“They did. But I want to look for myself. Just in case they might have missed something. And you’ve always been eagle-eyed. Maybe you’ll find a clue that will help put this whole thing to rest.”
She inwardly smiled at the thought. It would be wonderful to find information that would clear away the cloud of suspicion hanging over her family’s head. “I’d like that,” she admitted.
Picking up his fork, Jess dug into the food in front of him. “I’ll bring my own mount,” he told her. “Just have one for yourself saddled and I’ll try to be there around six. Is that too early for you? If you have late appointments, I’ll wait.”
He’d wait? Something was wrong, Victoria thought. Jess wasn’t a patient man. And he didn’t need her to help him hunt for evidence. So why did he want her to join him on this ride?
Should Have Been Her Child Page 16
