A Rancher’s Brand of Justice

by Ann Voss Peterson

  “You want me to tell you all the details, Melissa? Really?”

  “Why not? I doubt you’re planning to let me go. Was it you driving that red SUV last night, too? Where did you get it? Would the license number lead back to you?”

  He gave her a dismissive look and cranked the volume on the car’s stereo. The strong yet brutal strains of Wagner washed her questions away.

  Fine. She didn’t need the answers. Not from him. She’d figured out most of it anyway. After she’d gotten hold of that first piece, one thing had just led to another. Why she hadn’t seen it all before—before Jimmy and Essie had died, before she’d ended up at gunpoint, before Seth had set up Nick to walk into a trap—would haunt her the rest of her life.

  A span of time that promised to be pretty short.

  She spotted Nick before Seth did. There he was, in front of the historic Union Station, bent as if examining the day’s headlines in the newspaper vending machines out front. The box of Gayle’s papers sat at his feet.

  Seth made a strangled sound in his throat. “Damn it. Damn it. Where the hell is the kid?”

  She let out a breath she hadn’t been aware she was holding. So Nick was aware that something was wrong. She’d prayed he wouldn’t totally trust Seth. In the past couple of hours she’d reviewed every statement she’d ever made to Nick regarding the chief deputy, hoping she hadn’t conveyed her blind trust to him, hoping he’d see past her misplaced confidence.

  Seth piloted the car to the curb. He hit a button on his armrest. Her window lowered.

  The chocolate cakelike scent of malt from the nearby Wynkoop Brewing Company wafted into the car. The sweet smell she’d always found comforting now stuck in the back of her throat.

  Nick lifted the box with his good arm and approached the car. He stopped ten feet from the door. “Can you help me with this, Melissa?”

  “Get in the car.” Seth’s order rang out like a bark.

  Nick didn’t move. He focused on Melissa.

  She gave him what she hoped was a warning look.

  His expression didn’t change. “This damn box is heavy. I can’t get it into the car with one arm.”

  Seth raised the gun just enough for Nick to get a glimpse. “Melissa needs you to get into the car. You and the box. If you want to help her, you’re going to have to find a way to manage it.”

  Nick’s mouth flattened to a hard line.

  Seth hit a button on the dash. A click sounded in the back of the car. “Put the box in the trunk. And don’t try anything. Melissa needs you to be very careful in what you do. Remember that.”

  Nick circled to the back of the trunk and dropped the box inside. He used his good hand to slam it closed with a thunk.

  Seth peered into the mirrors, tracking Nick’s progress. His hand was tight on the gun, his knuckles white with strain. He was inexperienced with firearms. He didn’t have the training she did. If she could distract him, take his attention off the weapon in his hand, she might be able to disarm him. The trick was, doing it with her hands cuffed. And not getting shot in the process.

  “Get in. Make it fast,” Seth ordered.

  Nick opened the door behind her and slipped into the backseat.

  “Give me the handgun,” Seth said.

  “What handgun?”

  “The one stuffed in your waistband.”

  Melissa’s mind raced. So Nick had brought a gun? What gun? The only gun they had was the rifle he’d carried with him from the ranch. That and her handgun. The one that was now pointing at her chest.

  “I want the gun. And if you want to help Melissa or even just have her continue breathing, you need to give it to me.”

  A handgun clattered against the plastic console between the front seats. A handgun that looked awfully familiar.

  Seth grabbed it with his non-gun hand and tucked it away.

  Melissa glanced around the car. Surely someone had to see them. They had to question what was going on. But the construction barriers fenced most pedestrians off a distance away from them. And even if they did think they caught a glimpse of a gun out of the corner of their eyes, who would believe an ugly scene like this was going on inside a Mercedes like Seth’s?

  Seth tossed a set of handcuffs into the back. “Put these on. And Melissa needs you to get them tight.” Seth watched the mirror.

  Melissa heard the cuffs rattle in the seat behind her.

  “What’s going on here?” Nick asked, his voice a low growl. “I thought you were going to provide protection.”

  “I thought you were going to bring your son.”

  “It was Jason you wanted all along, wasn’t it?”

  “Melissa needs you to shut up.”

  Melissa’s throat felt thick. So Nick had figured it out. He’d known Seth was behind it all, and yet he’d come to this sham of a meeting anyway. Some investigator she’d turned out to be. Some protector. She hadn’t figured a damn thing out, even though the murderer was right in her own office. And when she had, not only had it been too late, she’d dragged Nick into this mess with her.

  Seth shifted the car into gear. He drove through city streets, calm as if on a Sunday drive. But if she looked close, she could see his lower lip and chin tremble. Both the knuckles of his left hand on the wheel and his right on the gun showed white. His voice had a desperate edge, as if he was trying hard to portray a command he felt was slipping away.

  Melissa scanned the landscape outside. Seth was on the edge. The disheveled look. The desperation bubbling under the surface. The complete failure of coping with her questions back at the office. He was like a cornered animal, his whole carefully constructed scheme coming down around his ears. And that made him more dangerous and unpredictable than ever. People walking on the streets outside, people driving their cars, children in the backseat, all of them could become victims if she wasn’t careful. All of them could pay the price for her mistake of trusting the wrong person.

  She held her breath, willing Nick to keep quiet, to not say anything to agitate Seth until they were clear of so many potential victims.

  “Those guys I saw. You paid them to kill Jason. And when they shot Jimmy instead, you decided to pin the whole mess on him.”

  Seth said nothing, but his fingers tightened further. The lines bracketing his mouth dug deep as ravines.

  “You often kill your mistresses? Keep them from talking?”

  They hummed onto the highway. Cars swirled around them. A compact pulled alongside, a mother with two toddlers strapped in the backseat. A wheel jerked to the side or a bullet fired through the door, and their busy morning would instantly become a tragic one.

  “You often pay losers to kill a four-year-old? Or just if you have to keep him from telling anyone that you hurt his mommy?”

  Seth took an exit that led to the area where they’d met Marris yesterday. He drove past the tavern and wound up the mountainside.

  “You’re man enough to kill a woman and try to kill her kid, and yet you can’t even own up to what you’ve done?”

  Melissa shifted in her seat. All drive long, Nick had been provoking Seth, needling him as if trying to get a reaction. He wouldn’t do that for no reason. He wouldn’t meet Seth and get into the car in the first place if he didn’t have a plan. Not Nick. He didn’t lash out blindly. He wasn’t like that at all. He was a man one could rely on.

  A man she could trust.

  Shivers flooded her skin. She was so stupid. She was so blind. When she should have been skeptical, she’d taken Seth at his word. And when she should have trusted, she’d pushed Nick away.

  She glanced in the back.

  A blue-jeaned thigh shifted into view. He scooted his body toward the center, only an inch, but it was enough to show her what he intended to do.

  It was risky, she knew. She could end up dead. In this terrain, they all could. But she sure as hell didn’t have a plan. And if she didn’t trust Nick’s, the two of them would wind up dead for sure.

  “Jimmy figure
d it out. Or at least he was going to.” Melissa took a deep breath and pressed on. “With all your experience in the system, all the criminals you’ve prosecuted, I’d think you’d be better at pulling something like this off.”

  “I fooled your precious Jimmy for a long time, and I sure as hell fooled you.”

  “And now you’re going to kill Nick and me?”

  In the backseat, Nick shifted a little more.

  She wasn’t sure how he was going to do anything with one arm broken and his hands cuffed. She swallowed into a dry throat. “I don’t know what good you think this is all going to do, Seth. Too many people are figuring things out. It’s not just us.”

  He glanced her way. Beads of sweat hung at his hairline. “Like who?”

  “Ben Marris.”

  “I wasn’t kidding when I said we have evidence that Marris is being paid off. You were right about Jimmy Bernard. But Marris? Dirty as a damn whore.” He took a hairpin turn. A canyon opened up to the right of the car.

  Was he bluffing? She didn’t think so. With any luck, it wouldn’t matter. “How about Calhoun? He’s an ass, but he can be a good investigator. He’s going to add things up.”

  “Calhoun will spend the rest of his career trying to prove Jimmy Bernard was on the take. You think I was driving that witch hunt, as you put it?” He shook his head. He steered the car around another tight curve.

  Melissa could see the guardrail whizzing by on the left, nothing but air behind it.

  “An investigation into Jimmy Bernard is Calhoun’s wet dream. He’s never going to even glance at anything that ruins it for him.”

  He was probably right. “Tammy won’t rest. Not until Jimmy’s cleared.”

  “Tammy Bernard?” A smile spread over Seth’s lips.

  A smile that made Melissa’s blood chill to ice. What had she said? What had she done?

  “Tammy Bernard. How very convenient. Finally I can tie up the last of the loose ends. Tammy Bernard. Why the hell didn’t I see it before? I’ll bet she makes a wonderful babysitter.” Seth glanced up into the rear view mirror. His smug expression flashed to startled.

  He’d seen Nick, noticed he’d moved behind Seth in the backseat.

  Using her two hands together like a club, Melissa struck at the gun.

  A shot exploded, the sound cracking through Melissa’s ears, her head, her whole body. The gun skittered to the floor, hitting hot on her ankle.

  Seth’s head slammed back against his head rest.

  “The wheel!” Nick yelled. “Grab the wheel.”

  Not even thinking, Melissa lunged for the steering wheel. Hands bound, she struggled to right the car, a tight bend in the road coming up fast.

  A gurgle ripped from Seth’s throat. He thrashed his arms, beating at the back of Melissa’s head and shoulders. He jammed his feet down on the floorboards.

  The car accelerated.

  A scream caught in Melissa’s throat. She couldn’t think. She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t even pray.

  The guardrail rushed at her.

  She yanked the wheel to the side.

  Tires shrieked. The car swayed. Something hit the back fender.

  She countersteered. The car fishtailed and straightened. They’d made it. They were alive.

  Another curve rushed up fast.

  A blow from his fist clanged into her head, her shoulders. Another. Another. Faster. Harder.

  The car bulleted for the next hairpin turn.

  She had to get Seth’s foot off the gas, but how? With her hands bound, it was all she could do to steer.

  They screeched around the second turn, the back end whipping almost into a spin. Something crashed behind them. The guardrail.

  Oh, God.

  Seth’s blows grew weaker. The car started to slow.

  As Melissa piloted them around one more turn, the acceleration and Seth’s fists stopped. Using both hands, she shifted the car manually into second gear, into first. Finally she guided the car into an overlook and jammed it into Park. They jolted to a stop.

  She sat up, panting, and looked at Seth’s purple face.

  Nick released the ends of Seth’s red tie and slumped forward against the back of her seat.

  Chapter Eighteen

  As much as Nick had wanted to kill Seth Wallace when he threatened Jason’s life, he was relieved the man wasn’t dead. After Melissa stopped the car and Nick released the necktie, they’d located the handcuff keys in his pocket. They released themselves and cuffed him, getting both wrists and ankles for good measure.

  It was right, seeing Seth Wallace trussed up like a rodeo calf. It was right he was still alive and on his way to prison. Death would be too easy for a slime like him. No, he deserved the humiliation of going through the system he’d tried to manipulate. He deserved the headlines exposing the sleazy underbelly of his life. He deserved to be locked away with all the scumbags he’d put there before him.

  He deserved justice.

  And lucky for them, he had a GPS service in his fancy car.

  They didn’t have to wait long before the narrow over look was flashing with lights from sheriffs’ cars and an ambulance. Just a short time later, detectives rolled in. People he didn’t know, but Melissa did. People who did the job because it was important, because it helped people.

  People like her.

  Nick pulled the tape recorder from his pocket and handed it to the first detective on the scene. “It’s all there. Seth Wallace telling us what he did in his own words.”

  Melissa’s eyebrows arched. A hint of a smile touched her lips for the first time since they’d said goodbye last night. “You recorded it? All of it?”

  “Tammy’s idea. If it was up to me, I would have just borrowed her gun and rushed in like a bull.”

  “Her gun. I knew I recognized that gun.”

  The detective left them with strict instructions to stay and wait for more questions. Nick nodded dutifully. Lovely.

  He lifted his hat, forgetting he had no functioning second hand to rake through his hair. With nothing left to do, he plopped it back on his head and looked down at Melissa.

  He had so much to say to her. So much he wanted her to know. But now, standing here, her beautiful eyes peering up at him, he had no clue where to start. He didn’t remember any words. Not a single one.

  She was the one who spoke first. “I’m so stupid. You saved me. I’m so stupid, and you saved me.” Tears filled her eyes, spilled over and trickled in little rivers down her cheeks.

  He had to smile, his own eyes getting a little watery. “You’re as tongue-tied as me? This is one for the books.”

  “You’re laughing at me?”

  “Laughing with you, sweetheart.” He reached out for her with his good arm and gathered her close. “Laughing with you. That’s all I want.”

  He wanted to say more, to explain his change of heart, to make his case. But he could sense this wasn’t the time for making decisions about the rest of their lives. It was the time for holding each other. For being grateful they were alive. For counting all the blessings of this world.

  She craned her neck and looked up at him, and he brought his lips down to hers. Salt and warmth and Melissa. If he could kiss these lips forever, he’d be happy to the end of his days.

  He just had to find a way to convince her of that.

  AFTER ALL THE questioning and the follow-up and all the other details Melissa had had to tend to, two days passed before she was able to spend some time with Jason and Nick. Tammy had insisted on putting them up at her house, and Nick had given in. The arrangement had been good for all three of them. Melissa could see it in their faces when she’d come to dinner the second night. Nick and Jason had someone to dote on them after all they’d been through, and Tammy had someone to serve. All three looked happy. At peace for the first time since this mess had begun.

  Melissa only wished she was in such good shape.

  She’d spent most of the night playing with Jason, and all of them
had gotten so wrapped up in the fun that they’d almost forgotten to eat. Jason settled for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and was now getting pajama-ed with Nick and reading with Tammy, whom he now called Mee-Maw. Their nightly routine, two nights old. Melissa had set to grilling three steaks for the adults’ dinner.

  “You’d make a great cowboy.”

  His voice startled her. She hadn’t heard the door slide open. “A cowboy? How so?”

  He walked across the deck, his boots ringing hollow on the wood. “Lots of grilling under the stars in the guest-ranch business.” He smiled. “Kidding. I know you love your job, that you love it here in the city.”

  She glanced around. The buildings of downtown glowed in the distance, the shadows of mountains looming beyond. But up above them, the sky stretched like a blank slate, waiting for the stars to write something new.

  “So Jason and I have talked about another possibility.” He stopped next to her and pulled his hat off by the crown with his good hand, his good arm, the other now properly set in a cast. He fidgeted with the brim, then adjusted it back on his head. “I want you to take a second to just hear it out, if you would.”

  She watched him closely, a hum settling over her nerves. “Sure. What is it?”

  “We’re talking about moving. Here.”

  “To Denver?” She squinted up at him. She couldn’t have heard him right.

  “Is that a problem?”

  “Yes.”

  “Yes? Why?”

  “You’re a rancher. You love the Circle J. You’d be miserable living in the city.”

  “I’d be more miserable without you.”

  She blinked her eyes, chasing back the surge of tears. There could be nothing in the world more romantic than a man willing to give up everything he owned, everything he was, so he could be with you. But as lovely as the feeling was, it wasn’t what she wanted. She’d fallen in love with him. Nick Raymond, the man. And if she took the ranch out of Nick, eventually there’d be nothing left of that man he was.