The Sleigh on Seventeenth Street (Three Rivers Ranch Romance Book 14)

by Liz Isaacson

  “Looking at the flooded houses,” he said. “Assessing the damage.”

  Dylan took a bite of his cheeseburger, his mind spinning. He decided to simply be frank. He put down his burger and took a long drink of his sweet tea. “Why would the architect need to assess the flood damage on the build? You design the houses, right? Isn’t your job long done?”

  Thomas trained his blue eyes on Dylan’s, lasers practically shooting from his gaze. “I have a keen interest in Rivers Merge.”

  “You do?” Dylan leaned onto one elbow and faced Thomas fully. “What is it?”

  “It’s private.” He turned his attention to his coffee and spooned sugar into the black brew, his demeanor closed and tight.

  “Where does your family live now?” Dylan turned back to his food, but his appetite had vanished.

  “Austin,” he said.

  “And you?”

  “I have offices in a couple of places.”

  Dylan heard the evasion in the man’s voice. He took another good look at him, wondering if he’d see the man’s face on the surveillance footage.

  Thomas’s food arrived, and he said, “Can I actually get it to go?”

  Dylan saw his window of opportunity shrinking, but he couldn’t think of any more questions to ask short of accusing Thomas of connecting the water pumps to the power supplies.

  “What’s your sister doing these days?” he asked instead, the question just there for some reason.

  “Lydia?”

  “No, the one just younger than you. She was my age, wasn’t she?”

  Thomas’s face hardened and his jaw jumped as he clenched his teeth. “Maisie. She, uh.” He cleared his throat and accepted the Styrofoam container with his sandwich inside. He looked right at Dylan, his gaze piercing and sending a liquid chill through Dylan. “She passed away about ten years ago.”

  Dylan flinched as regret lanced through him. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Yeah.” Thomas stood and walked toward the cash register, leaving Dylan to wonder what had just happened. He had more questions now than answers, and he mulled through everything he knew about the Martin family—which admittedly wasn’t much.

  He wondered how much information the Internet could provide, and he added it to his day’s to-do list as he mixed mustard and ketchup to make an orange sauce for his French fries.

  After he finished eating, he headed back to the police station, where he found Sheriff Bellsby with a grumpy look on his face.

  “What is it?” Dylan asked as he approached, his steps slowing the closer he got to the Sheriff.

  “There was just a man here, asking about the exact same tape you were.”

  “Who was it?” He braced himself to hear the name Thomas Martin.

  “A guy by the name of Wade Wadsworth.” The Sheriff paced, his frown stuck in place.

  “Well, you didn’t give it to him, did you?”

  “He said he was workin’ with you.” The Sheriff finally met Dylan’s eyes, panic and understanding parading through his expression at the same time. “He’s not workin’ with you, is he?”

  “I don’t even know who Wade—” His voice muted. He did know who Wade Wadsworth was.

  Cami’s abusive ex-boyfriend.

  He spun, his heart jackhammering in his chest. “Can you come with me to Rogers Plumbing?” He dashed for the door, not bothering to wait for the Sheriff to come.

  “Why?” The older man puffed as he came outside with Dylan.

  “Wade is Camila Cruz’s ex-boyfriend. She could be in danger.”

  “Where is she?”

  “Probably out on a job.” He headed for his truck. “Let’s go ask Dana at the plumbing shop.” He hated waiting for the slower Sheriff to climb into the truck, not when Cami could be in danger, not when Wade had the tape that could exonerate them both, not when Dylan felt like his entire life was hanging in the balance.

  Chapter Twenty

  Cami went through the motions of twisting off water mains, fixing the leaks, the faucets, the toilet seals, whatever the job required. She missed the blingy beep of her phone, alerting her to a text. She missed her ongoing conversations with Dylan, and she looked forward to seeing him after work, sharing her life with him.

  But her afternoon was silent except for the labored sound of her own breathing, and the scratching of pens as citizens wrote checks to pay for her services.

  She’d just finished at an apartment in the building next to Dylan’s, her arms loaded with her heavy equipment, when she burst out into the sunlight.

  Squinting, she noticed two figures standing next to Penny. She automatically stopped, though her arms screamed at her to hurry up and put down this toolbox!

  “Cami!” Dylan waved at her as if she couldn’t see him. He hurried toward her and took the heavy tools from her. “Are you okay?”

  “Why wouldn’t I be?” She glanced past him to find the Sheriff a few steps away. “What’s going on?”

  “Wade’s in town,” Dylan said as Sheriff Bellsby arrived. “Have you seen him?”

  Cami’s insides iced despite the warm afternoon. “Not today.”

  “When’s the last time you saw him, ma’am?” the Sheriff asked.

  “A few weeks, maybe a month, ago.” Cami swallowed as she looked from Dylan to Sheriff Bellsby. “He was leaving the build site at Rivers Merge. I hid in my van until he left.” She’d never told Dylan about her sighting of Wade. She didn’t think it necessary.

  “He took the surveillance footage of the build site.” Dylan exhaled and turned away from her, wiping his hand through his hair. “I can’t believe this.”

  “Do you think it was him?”

  “I don’t know.” Dylan looked like a lost child, and the agony in his eyes made Cami’s heart squeeze tight. Too tight.

  “But someone hooked the pumps to the power, and it wasn’t me and it wasn’t you.”

  Pieces clicked around in Cami’s head. He was trying to make it right. Figure out who had sabotaged those three houses. Clear her name.

  A swelling of love filled her, and her throat turned thick.

  “I’ll find him,” Sheriff Bellsby said. In the next moment, he had his radio off his hip and was speaking police codes into it at a rapid clip.

  “Dylan,” she started.

  “Later, Cami.” He gave her a half-daggered look and followed the Sheriff back to his truck. “Well, c’mon!” he called back to her.

  “I have Penny.”

  Dylan practically stomped back to her. “I’m not letting you out of my sight, not even for a ten-minute drive back to the police station. Penny can stay here. She likes it here.” He grabbed her hand and towed her after him.

  “Dylan.” She shook her hand out of his but kept going. “I’m fine.”

  “Your abusive ex-boyfriend is in town, and he lied to the Sheriff so he could get that tape.” Dylan’s brilliant blue eyes shone like glass. “Please, Cami. Don’t make me beg you. Just get in the truck and stay by me, okay?”

  She wanted to apologize. Wanted to tell him she loved him for what he’d done and what he was doing. Wanted to stretch up and kiss him, transfer some of her fear onto him. He’d take it, she knew. And he’d take it gladly.

  Instead, she slipped past him and climbed into the truck, sandwiching herself between Dylan and the Sheriff for the ride back to the police station.

  She called her remaining two appointments for the day and explained something had come up and she wouldn’t be able to make it. Dylan didn’t get out of the truck at the police station, but simply dropped off the Sheriff.

  “Where are we going?” Cami asked.

  “My apartment.” He worried his lip between his teeth, something she’d never seen him do. In fact, this was the very first time Dylan had ever been anything less than cool and calm and collected.

  And that scared her more than anything. This was real.

  “Gerald isn’t going to fire you or replace you,” he said as he drove. It seemed like his mouth n
eeded something to do to calm his nerves. “He still wants you to finish the build. Said to come get your specs.”

  Her blood started to boil, and Cami folded her arms to try to contain her annoyance.

  “He knows—everyone knows—it wasn’t your fault those houses flooded. I didn’t realize they were blaming you, Cami. I swear I didn’t. When I found out, I did the only thing I could think of—I went to the police and asked if there was any way that area had been recorded.”

  Her emotion welled inside her, causing her chin to shake and her eyes to sting with unshed tears.

  “And Sheriff Bellsby said it would take a couple of hours to pull the tape, so I went to the diner. And Thomas was there—and that guy’s creepy. He’s got something going on with him, but I don’t know what.” He sighed as he turned into the parking lot at his building. “Anyway, when I got back to the station, the Sheriff said Wade had taken the tape. Claimed to be working with me and took the tape.”

  He parked a little roughly and got out of the truck without a pause. She followed him, glad when he waited for her. He didn’t reach for her hand, though, and the loss of his touch tortured her. She walked a few steps behind him, hung out at the back of the elevator, and stepped off to suffocating silence.

  He unlocked his door and went inside, locking them back behind the solid wood. “Did you eat lunch?”

  She hadn’t, but she couldn’t stand to have him cook for her. Honestly, he wouldn’t cook, but she didn’t want him to go to any extra trouble because of her. He’d already done so much.

  Her eyes landed on his Christmas tree. “You have a tree up?” At only three feet, it hardly counted as a tree, but still. She wandered over to it.

  “Just trying to keep busy,” he said. “That tree inspired me to call the Sheriff, so you best be nice to it.”

  Cami smiled at his cowboy drawl. Though he didn’t wear his hat at the moment, he was a Southern boy through and through. Her Southern boy.

  She touched a red ball on the tree limb, and her gaze drifted to a ring box sitting on the table under the tree. She reached for it at the same time Dylan lunged toward her. “Don’t touch that.” He sounded panicked, and she jerked her hand back like the ring box would electrocute her. He was an electrician, after all.

  “What is it?”

  He almost leapt over the couch and swiped the ring box away. “It’s a gift.”

  “For who?” Cami eyed the box as he hid it behind his back.

  He stared at her, sheer determination in his eyes. In a single breath, his demeanor changed and he brought the box out from behind him. “For you.”

  Cami’s entire body lit up. He’d bought her a ring? What kind of ring? And how should she react when he gave it to her?

  He set it back on the table under the tree. “It’s for later.”

  “Later?” Not the answer she wanted, and her curiosity carved a hot path through her bloodstream. She collapsed on the couch. “Dylan, I’m really sorry about this morning.”

  He sat tentatively beside her. “You believe me when I say I didn’t know how the homes had flooded, right?”

  She looked at him, right at him. “Of course.” She sighed and dropped her eyes to his carpet. “You know I have a bad temper, right?”

  His arm broke the physical barrier between them, sliding across her back and settling over her shoulders. “I like your fire, Cami.”

  “Fire burns.”

  “I’m used to dealing with electricity. I can handle you.”

  “I’m water; you’re electricity. We don’t go together.”

  He put his hand under her chin and gently pushed it up, forcing her to face him. “We absolutely belong together.”

  Those pesky tears burned her eyes now. “I really am sorry.”

  “I know you are.” He gave her that swift, sexy, perfectly in control smile she loved so much. “We’re going to figure out what happened at Rivers Merge.”

  “Thanks for that,” she said, laying her head on his shoulder. “You sure I can’t see the ring right now?”

  “How do you even know it’s a ring?”

  She rolled her eyes. “I’ve seen ring boxes before.”

  He chuckled and ran his lips along her browline. “It’s a Christmas gift,” he said. “You’ll have to be patient.”

  His phone sounded, the crack of a baseball bat echoing through the apartment, and he reached for it. “It’s Sheriff Bellsby.” He stood, his eyes shining as he read. “He found Wade.” He was already moving toward the door. He had it open before he realized she wasn’t with him. “You’re not coming?”

  “I haven’t seen Wade in four years,” she said, a slight tremor in her chest that matched the one in her voice.

  “You don’t have to be afraid of him.”

  “I’m not afraid of him.” She shook her head. “I’m afraid of myself. Of what I’ll do to him.”

  “You won’t do anything,” Dylan said. “You’re not that kind of person.” He reached for her hand, and she stepped over to him to slip her fingers through his. She went with him, down the elevator, into the truck, his words tumbling around inside her head.

  She wasn’t a malicious person. She hadn’t gone after Wadsworth Plumbing after she’d been forced to quit. And she’d had cause. No, she simply wanted to move on with her life, find somewhere to belong.

  And she had. Not only did she belong in Three Rivers, she belonged to Dylan Walker.

  He pulled into the police station and started to get out, but she put her hand on his arm. “Wait.”

  He turned back to her, an expectant look on his face. “Yeah?”

  “Before we go in there, I need you to know something.”

  “All right.”

  She twined her fingers through his again, looking at their joined hands. Warmth filled her, and sweet peace, and freeing forgiveness. “I love you, Dylan.” Feeling brave and empowered, she looked up into his face.

  He blinked once, twice. “I’m sorry. It sounded like you said you loved me.”

  She smiled and swatted his chest. “Come on.”

  He leaned close, closer, his eyes crinkling with a smile. “I love you too, Camila.” His eyes drifted closed, and Cami dropped her gaze to his lips. Then she kissed him, pressing right into him and taking her time to explore his mouth.

  He ducked his head and chuckled. “Okay, so that’s out of the way. Let’s go see who sabotaged those houses.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Dylan’s step felt like he was walking on marshmallows. Cami’s hand in his seemed like magic, and it wasn’t until he pushed into the police station that he remembered why they were there.

  Sheriff Bellsby waved to them from the mouth of a hallway, and Dylan led Cami in that direction. “Did you get the tape?” he asked the Sheriff when he was close enough.

  “I’m afraid not.” Sheriff Bellsby looked halfway between angry and annoyed. “And the man’s not talking.”

  Frustration rose through Dylan. He just wanted to know who’d tried to get Cami fired. Or maybe they were trying to get him fired. Either way, he didn’t like not knowing. Didn’t like that Gerald didn’t really care who was at fault.

  Her phone rang at that moment, and she pulled it from her purse. “It’s Gerald.”

  “I already told you what he’s going to do,” Dylan said.

  “I’m going to take it anyway.” She swiped on the call. “Hello, Gerald.” She walked away from Dylan and the Sheriff.

  “Didn’t you say she has some sort of history with Wadsworth?”

  “Her ex.”

  “He asked for her.”

  Dylan’s heartbeat rippled like a flag in a stiff wind. “She’s not going in there alone.”

  “Funny you should say that. He specifically requested she go in there alone.”

  Dylan started shaking his head before the Sheriff stopped speaking. “No. Wade was abusive. He’ll—”

  “He’s handcuffed. He can’t hurt her.”

  Still, Dylan did
n’t like the idea of Cami being thrown to a wolf. Didn’t like it at all.

  She returned, a half-smile on her face. “You were right. Now I have six days to get all the gear I need for phase two.” Her mouth was tight and she shook her head.

  “I’ll help you,” he said. “Sheriff Bellsby has some good news and some bad news.”

  The Sheriff looked at him in surprise. “I do?”

  “Yeah, and they’re the same. Wade’s asked to see you alone.”

  Cami’s eyebrows rose. “Is that the good news or the bad news?”

  “It’s both.” Dylan sighed. “See what you can get him to tell us about the tape, the flooding, any of it.” He stepped closer to her and dropped his voice. “You know him. He hasn’t changed since you guys dated.” He skated his lips across her temple, almost hating himself when he added, “Push his buttons. Get him to talk.”

  He pulled back and gazed at Cami, hoping she’d see and feel his desperation. They needed that tape, and Wade was their only link to it.

  She nodded, the understanding and spark between them as strong as ever. “Where is he, Sheriff?”

  Sheriff Bellsby lectured her about how far to stay from Wade, but that she wasn’t in any danger—he and his officers would be right outside, the conversation would be recorded, the whole nine yards.

  Dylan couldn’t detect an ounce of insecurity in Cami as she stepped up to the one-way glass and looked into the room where Wade sat. She held very still, and Dylan didn’t think he could stand to see her go in there with Wade alone.

  She finally turned toward the Sheriff. “I’m ready.” She didn’t look at Dylan, didn’t even so much as twitch toward him, before walking into the room.

  “We’ll be able to hear her, right?” Dylan rushed toward the glass, his eyes only trained on Cami.

  His question was answered when she said, “Hello, Wade,” and he could hear her voice, albeit tinny and stretched thin.

  Wade didn’t answer, and Cami gave him a wide berth as she pulled out the chair opposite him and sat down. “What brings you to Three Rivers?”