StudinTexas

by Calista Fox

  Fool on me.

  Around the time the Casey James tour was winding down, Mac had been more and more on edge. Short-tempered. Assertive with her. He wouldn’t say where all the pressure and tension stemmed from, and she didn’t push too hard. Then he’d mentioned going into the studio. Sky had thought that had been the source of contention—the fact that he wanted her to help out a “buddy” with his new company while knowing Sky wasn’t all that interested in recording again.

  Mac’s angst had eased a bit though when she’d said yes. Sky had realized she’d actually been itching to write some new songs. But she’d also been a tiny bit fearful, because she’d been off the charts for some time. And what if she just didn’t have it in her the way she had the first time around?

  There was something about embracing a goal and striving to achieve it that gave her the confidence and drive to put her heart and soul into a project. Yet she’d always feared she couldn’t recapture that certain magic in a repeat performance.

  But she couldn’t deny that she’d enjoyed being a backup singer for Casey, and so she’d agreed to Mac’s deal. Had signed a contract and recorded a CD that—

  Holy shit.

  She all but slammed into a parking space in town and gasped for air.

  The bogus contract… The CD burned from the multi-track recorder…

  She’d stashed both in the expandable leather folio she’d had with her the night Mac had assaulted her. The folio had contained her sheet music. She racked her brain, thinking back. When she’d moved into the Luckenbach retreat, she’d done what with that folio?

  Left it shoved under the backseat of her Escalade.

  Dammit!

  The evidence had been with her the whole time! How in hell had she forgotten the rest of that night in the studio?

  Sky shook her head and ground her teeth. That was actually an easy one to answer. She’d pushed it from her mind. She’d been so shaken by the way things had gone so horribly wrong when Mac insisted he needed the sixty grand to finish the CD and promote it, that she’d tried to wipe out the memory as much as possible.

  It returned to her now. He’d zipped up, made some sound threats about what he’d do to her if she told a soul about what had happened that evening and had then stormed out, leaving her lying on the studio floor.

  But not for long. She’d hauled herself up and had rushed out of the room, something in the back of her head telling her to stop and check the recorder.

  Now she climbed out of her SUV, opened the backdoor, and slid her hand under the seat until she found the folio, wedged tightly against in a corner. She hurried down the sidewalk, bursting into the sheriff’s office.

  “Sky,” Ryan said as he jumped to his feet. “Something wrong?”

  “No. Yes. No.” Her hands flapped in the air as adrenaline pumped through her. “I’m okay.”

  “What is it, then?” the sheriff asked as he came out of his office.

  She said, “I know why Mac burned down my trailer. He was looking for something.”

  Ryan’s brow jerked up.

  Sky explained, “He wanted a fake contract and a CD. The contract because it proves he set up a phony recording session to swindle money from me. The CD because…” Her breath caught. “Well.” She wrung her hands.

  The sheriff covered them with his to still her. Calm her. “Sky, why the CD?”

  Ah Jesus. She had to do this again?

  She closed her eyes, prayed for extra strength, then opened her eyes and said, “Because we were still recording my track when he told his accomplice we were breaking for the evening, saying we’d finish up on our own. When we were alone, that’s when Mac said he needed the money. We got into a big argument about it. I had the contract with me and I all but shoved it in his face, saying I never signed on for funding the CD. I realized he was trying to rip me off and that the recording label must be an illegitimate one. I told you all what happened next. He attacked me.”

  A low hiss of breath blew through her parted lips. She feared Sam was right—this would never go away. She had to keep talking about it, over and over.

  But Ryan and the sheriff knew the details of the evening, so she cut to the chase and said, “I can’t explain why I grabbed the CD from the recorder, other than I guess I was thinking it was my material and since the contract was a sham, I wasn’t going to leave the CD behind. I’d forgotten about this, but now I distinctly remember having to shut off the equipment. Which means that everything he said and did to me in the studio ought to be on that CD.”

  She dropped the folio on Ryan’s desk, unzipped it and whipped out the disk. “I’ve had it all along…I just didn’t recall it until now.”

  The sheriff nodded. “If you’re right, Sky, this will do nicely for the proof we need to bust him.”

  “He thought you had the contract and the CD in your trailer, so he burned it down?” Ryan ventured.

  “Easiest way to destroy them. And if the firemen hadn’t been so diligent with searching Luckenbach, they likely wouldn’t have found the containers of gasoline. It wouldn’t be arson and he could breathe a sigh of relief, thinking all the evidence was gone.”

  Yeah, that desire to kick him between the legs just burned stronger and brighter.

  She pushed it aside and said, “Since my Escalade wasn’t out front at the time he set my trailer on fire, he could have broken in and stolen my gun. I’d say chances are good he’s armed. But he would have had no idea when I’d be returning, so torching the place was a lot quicker than searching it.”

  This was all conjecture, she knew, but it seemed to be the best theory she had to go on.

  Continuing, she said, “For all I know, he just did it to piss me off. He knew all along I wasn’t going to the police. Mac knows how I feel about the press getting hold of my personal business. I didn’t call 911 after he’d…raped…me.” There. She’d said the word. “And so I’m willing to bet he thinks he can get away with whatever he wants where I’m concerned. That I’m going to keep it to myself.”

  “His fingerprints weren’t on the gasoline containers the firefighters found,” Ryan said. “So he must’ve been wearing gloves. But there were footprints all over your dirt yard. Much too big to be yours. There’s evidence there.”

  “Yet he’s still probably working under the assumption that all of this is my word against his,” she concluded.

  “Not if the CD has the last portion of that night in the studio on it,” the sheriff said.

  Sky swallowed a lump of emotion. And pride.

  “You’re going to have to listen to it, Sheriff. Without me. If it’s not all you need to arrest him, then I’ll find some way to get a confession out of him.”

  “Oh no,” the sheriff shook his head. “I want you to stay away from him, Sky. No phoning, no texting and sure as hell no seeing him in person.”

  “But I can easily arrange for us to meet in Luckenbach. I can convince him I’m going to give him the money and—”

  “Absolutely not.” The sheriff pinned her with a hard look. “Get that idea right out of your head, Skylar Travis.”

  Sky plunged forward. “Look, I understand that you care about me and don’t want anything to happen to me. I appreciate that. Yet the fact is, something did happen to me. It’s still happening to me. I want it to stop. Not only for my sake, but for Sam’s sake as well. I might have just met him a couple weeks ago, but that really doesn’t matter to me. Counting days means nothing when you spend all of your time with this one person who can’t get a moment’s peace because he’s so worried about you.”

  Tears pooled in her eyes. She angrily whisked them away. She wasn’t trying to tug heartstrings. She wanted to make a point. The fat drops kept rolling down her cheeks anyway.

  Sky said, “I made a mistake trusting Mac. I’ve made a couple other mistakes in my life. This time around, I got it right. With Sam. And I can’t live another day, sitting idly by, while he’s so tormented. I need your help,” she pleaded again.
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br />   “Go back to the ranch.” The sheriff put his foot down. “We’ll handle it from here, Sky. I’ll call you this afternoon.”

  Her jaw clenched. She knew him well enough to know that he wouldn’t budge once he said no.

  “I’ll walk you to your vehicle,” Ryan said. “Then you’ll go straight to the Painted Horse.”

  “We’re doing everything we can, Sky. Working with the authorities in Fredericksburg, and Deputy Baker is out on patrol, searching for Willet’s car. Ryan was just heading out as well. We’ll be in touch.”

  Sky was certain the sidewinder was still in Wilder—and prayed someone from the sheriff’s office bagged him soon. Because her hands were clearly tied.

  Chapter Eleven

  Sky needed something to distract herself so she returned to the ranch and found Dalton and Sam in the stable. “I’d like to try the bridle again.”

  “Wouldn’t hurt anything,” Sam said.

  “It’d be nice to get Midnight out of this stall,” Dalton added. “He’s got to be ready for a different view and more exercise than pacing in here.”

  He retrieved the hackamore while Sky collected the brush and opened the stallion’s gate. The horse’s head bobbed and he neighed softly.

  She ran her hand along his nose. Holding up the brush, she asked, “What do you say? My ninth or tenth time might be the charm?”

  He didn’t back away. Taking that as a good sign, Sky slowly tended to his neck and Midnight let her.

  From behind her, Dalton said, “Well, lookey there. A breakthrough.”

  Midnight allowed her to do a thorough job, then she held the bridle in her hands for him to see and sniff at. He turned his head away.

  “Rome wasn’t built in a day,” she muttered.

  “But we are seeing progress, so that’s something to be pleased about.”

  “You’re right,” she concurred in a more optimistic tone.

  She turned to leave, but the horse nudged her shoulder with his nose.

  Sky smiled as she faced him. “You trying to tell me not to give up on you so easily?”

  She held up the bridle again and this time Midnight didn’t shy away. So she slipped it on him. No one said a word as the horse moved about his stall with the hackamore on, as though testing his thoughts and feelings about wearing it. Then he returned to where Sky stood and he let out a soft neigh.

  Sky’s chest pulled tight with emotion as she stroked his neck. “You just made my whole month,” she told the horse. “You trust me now, don’t you? You know I’ll never hurt you.”

  “Maybe he’s more ready for a walk then we’d suspected,” Dalton said.

  “I’ll go with you,” Sam told her. “Hold the reins loosely and walk alongside him, not leading him or tugging on him.”

  The men stepped out of the stall and Sky did as Sam instructed. To her delight, the horse moved with her, in no particular hurry, but at least he was comfortable with her. Feeling safe, even.

  She took him to the trail that wound through the trees and down to the lake. Sam strode casually beside her, his hands in the front pockets of his jeans.

  “Where’d you go so early this morning?” he asked in a low tone. “And without me.”

  “To see the sheriff. I have some evidence I remembered. And I also suggested I could set up a meeting with Mac in Luckenbach and make him think I was going to give him the money, then get him to confess to everything while the sheriff and Ryan were close by. They could easily blend into the crowd during an outdoor concert.”

  She spared a glance his way and found Sam’s jaw set in a hard line.

  “I’m not good at just waiting around, waiting for the other boot to drop, Sam. Even now it’s killing me to not do something. I have his cell number. I know what he wants. It doesn’t make sense to just keep quiet when I can call him and tell him I went to the authorities and that they’re looking for him. That he should turn himself in.”

  With a sharp laugh, he said, “And you really think he would?”

  “No, I don’t. But at least he’d know I was serious about getting him out of my life. That I absolutely am not giving him the money, now that the sheriff’s office is involved. And if everything’s on the CD that I’m thinking is…”

  He shot a curious look her way. “What CD?”

  “From that night in the studio. We were still recording when everything happened.”

  They reached the sandy shore and stared out at the water, a few boaters enjoying the long, deep stretch of lake.

  Sam remained silent for a few moments, and she glanced up at him. He wore a worried expression, tinged with anxiety. His entire body was rigid and he emitted such a massive dose of consternation, it seeped deep into her soul. Disturbing her greatly.

  Still gazing out at the lake and not at her, he said, “Don’t go off on your own again. Whatever ideas you get into that pretty head of yours, tell me about them. And if you must go into town, I’ll go with you.”

  Guilt ribboned through her. “I’m not trying to do anything stupid, Sam. Or get myself hurt. I’m terrified that something will go wrong around here because of me. Not to mention, I can’t stand seeing you so tense. It radiates off you—and it’s driving a huge wedge between us.”

  “Hey,” he said as his fingers swept through her hair. He kissed her on top of the head and told her, “I’m still here for you, darlin’. All the way.”

  Tears stung her eyes. “I know. It’s just that—”

  “Don’t go making too much out of this, Sky. Everybody goes through a rough patch. We’ll get through it.”

  So why was her stomach twisted in knots?

  She didn’t say anything further as they walked Midnight back up to the stable, the pretzel low in her belly coiling tighter.

  * * * * *

  Through the window in his office, Sam saw the sheriff’s SUV coming up the long gravel drive and pulling in front of the inn. He stepped outside and crossed around in a semi-circle as the sheriff alighted.

  “Sky inside?” Sheriff Johnson asked.

  Sam nodded. “She said she went into town to see you this morning.”

  “And she knew you’d be upset when you heard about it.”

  “Worried’s more like. But she does have a few valid points. She feels like a sitting duck when she could be doing something—at least…” he said when the sheriff’s shoulders stiffened. Sam lifted a hand to placate him. “In her mind, there’s something to be done.”

  “She tell you that she wanted me to let her arrange a meeting with Willet?”

  “Set me off a bit, I’ll admit. On the other hand, I can’t discount her courage. Or the fact that she’s concerned about everyone out here at the ranch, including the horses. She doesn’t want to darken any doorways. I can’t blame her for that.”

  “Well, then y’all be happy to hear my news.”

  “Let’s go inside.”

  They climbed the stairs to the veranda and entered the lobby. Sky was just coming in from the back deck and caught sight of them. She hurried over, a hopeful look on her face that made Sam’s spirits rise.

  “You found him,” she said to the sheriff without preamble.

  “We found his car and the place where he’s been holed up a few miles down the lake. He wasn’t there, but I suspect he’s close by, so I want you to stick around the ranch and stay with Sam.”

  Her hopeful expression vanished. “You think he’s close by?” She repeated his words with a hint of fear in her voice.

  Sam wrapped an arm around her waist to steady her.

  “Just give us a little more time, Sky,” the sheriff said. “We’re all searching and we’ll come up with him soon. Deputy Baker is staking out Willet’s car and shelter, and if Ryan and I don’t find him, we’ll catch him when he returns for his car.”

  “He loves that car. Clearly, he’s saving it as a last resort if he doesn’t get the money from me. It’s not worth enough to cover the sixty grand he’s looking for from me, but he won’t sell
it unless he absolutely has to, so you can be sure he didn’t just abandon it.”

  “I figured as much. So either way, he’s ours now.”

  She let out a long breath, full of relief. Yet she asked, “Is it still my word against his, when all’s said and done?”

  “No,” the sheriff said. “Not anymore.”

  She paled. Sam swore under his breath. He immediately deduced that the CD was a double-edged sword. The evidence needed to nail Mac, but a permanent reminder of the fact he’d raped her. Would it be used during a trial, for the judge, jurors and others to hear? For Sky to hear—and live through the ordeal all over again?

  He fought to tamp down the agony he felt on Sky’s behalf, but also for himself because this whole thing was ripping him to pieces. Not just because of the strain it caused her, but because there was nothing Sam could do to help her.

  The sheriff left the inn and Sam bucked up, telling Sky, “This’ll be over soon, darlin’. The sheriff and his deputies know what they’re doing. They did a fine job the last time they were on the hunt for some shifty characters, remember?”

  “Sure. The guys who robbed Ginger.” Though she didn’t sound wholly convinced, likely because she placed so much responsibility on herself for the way the entire situation with Willet had unraveled.

  “Why don’t we have dinner with Reese and Caleb?” he suggested.

  “Yeah, that’d be nice. It’s pretty quiet in the dining room tonight.”

  They ate out on the back deck and then Sam escorted her down to the cottage. They strolled along the event lawn, the moon lighting the way, though Sam always carried a small flashlight, along with his handheld radio, which was hooked to the waist of his jeans.

  Sky asked, “How long do you think it’ll be before we hear from the sheriff? Mac had to have gone back to his car by now.”

  “No telling where he might be. For all we know, he followed you to the sheriff’s office, knows the heat is on and had no choice but to ditch his car. Maybe steal another one and get the hell out of Dodge.”