Cowboy Conspiracy

by Joanna Wayne

  Jaci excitedly talked of going on the horseback ride Wyatt had promised over breakfast this morning. His effort to get to know Jaci had both surprised and pleased Kelly. She was glad they were going to town. He’d only been gone a few hours, but she couldn’t wait to see him again.

  The first person she saw when they pulled into the driveway of her house was Sheriff McGuire. He and Wyatt were near the spot where the fallen tree had once stood.

  “You go ahead and get whatever news the sheriff’s delivering,” Troy said. “I’ll watch Jaci.”

  “Thanks.”

  “We have an ID,” the sheriff said as soon as she walked up.

  “Who? Does he live in Mustang Run? Do you know where to find him?”

  “I think we’d best find a more private place before I start answering those questions you’re throwing out like a shiny-suited lawyer.”

  “It’s cool enough we can sit in my truck if we leave the doors open,” Wyatt said.

  Neither of them indicated by their tone or expressions that this was good news. The anxiety hit her all over again.

  “LIKE I JUST TOLD WYATT, the man who stole your car and the Corvette is Jerome Hurley.”

  Wyatt already knew what the sheriff had to say. But Wyatt was way ahead of him. He knew why Jerome was targeting Kelly and he knew that Emanuel was behind it. All he needed was proof.

  Wyatt had told Kelly from the beginning that his promise to keep secret her involvement with Leaky would cease to be binding if he found out that association had put her in danger.

  He was convinced now that it had. He wasn’t convinced that sharing that information with the sheriff was the best move. Wyatt trusted his own instincts and experience. He’d stop Hurley, dead or alive. Right now he didn’t much care which. He turned his attention back to the conversation between McGuire and Kelly.

  “He was convicted of raping a Mustang Run rancher’s wife fourteen years ago,” McGuire explained. “He’s only been out of prison for two months. The probation officer has already lost track of him, and it blows me up like a toad that nobody told me about that.”

  “Do you have any idea where to start looking for him?” Kelly asked.

  “His mother’s dead. His dad is in jail, so there’s no checking with either of them. But we’ll contact any of his old friends that we can locate, and we’re checking all the spots where the county’s lowlife usually hangs out.”

  The sheriff turned toward the backseat. “Did I cover everything with Kelly I covered with you and Dakota, Wyatt?”

  “I think so.”

  “This man’s dangerous, Kelly. We can assume he’s the one who broke into your house the other night and sent you that text. We just don’t have proof of that yet.

  “If you didn’t have the Ledgers looking after you, I’d see about putting you in some kind of protective custody until we arrest Hurley. But I can’t give you any better men to protect you than you already have.”

  “I realize that,” Kelly said.

  “If he shows his face anywhere in this county, we’ll arrest him,” McGuire said. “And I’ve notified every other county in the state, as well as the state troopers to be on the lookout for him, too.”

  “I guess that’s all you can do,” Kelly said.

  But it wasn’t all Wyatt could do. He was no longer a cop. The rules of warrants and illegal searches and questioning people without just cause didn’t apply to him. He’d start today, combing the area that Hurley could have walked to the night he left Kelly’s car in her driveway.

  “At least he knows who to search for now,” Kelly said as McGuire drove away.

  “That’s a start,” Wyatt agreed. He slipped his arm around her waist as they walked back toward the house. He considered telling her that he was almost certain that this was tied in to Emanuel Leaky, but there was no reason to frighten her any more than she already was. Not yet, anyway.

  “I’m glad we arrived when we did,” Kelly said, “but we actually stopped by to see if you and your brothers want to go to lunch with us.”

  “Dakota drove to the nearest fast-food joint and picked up Cokes and burgers about an hour ago.”

  But he did want to talk to Troy alone before they left.

  Wyatt cornered Troy while Kelly was talking about damage and repairs with Dylan. Dakota and Viviana had gone outside with the children.

  “Dakota told me that Jerome Hurley is behind this,” Troy said. “He was bad enough before he went to prison. Looks like he came out of the slammer even more rotten. I wouldn’t put anything past him.”

  “I agree. I have something I have to do for the next few hours. I’d appreciate it if you’d keep an extra close watch on Kelly and Jaci until I get home.”

  “I’d planned to do that without you asking.”

  “Going to lunch is fine as long as there are people around. It will take her mind off things. I’ll be back at the ranch before dark. If there’s trouble…”

  “I know what to do if there’s trouble. Take care of the man causing it. I’d like nothing better.”

  “I don’t expect trouble at the ranch. This guy isn’t looking for a fight. He wants to catch Kelly alone.” And leave no witnesses.

  “And this is what you like about law enforcement?” Troy asked.

  “No, but catching the bad guys makes it all worthwhile.”

  IT WAS NEARLY TWO in the afternoon when they finally made it to Abby’s Diner. Kelly was glad they were running late. With the lunch crowd having thinned out, it would be easier for her to grab a few minutes alone with Abby.

  Even with Kelly’s current crisis gearing up for a possible arrest, she couldn’t get her mother’s decades-old engagement picture out of her mind. The latest nightmare wasn’t helping.

  She wouldn’t pry for gossip about her mother. But the engagement had been announced in the newspaper so it wasn’t a deep, dark secret. All Kelly wanted from Abby was the intended groom’s name.

  The name of the man who could possibly be her biological father.

  On second thought, maybe she should just leave the past in the past.

  The same hostess met them at the door, but without the extra sway to her hips or the flirtatious smile she’d had for Wyatt. The restaurant was less crowded but more noisy. All of the activity seemed to center on one of the back tables.

  “Who’s the celebrity hidden by the fawning crowd?” Troy asked as they were seated in a window booth.

  “Senator Foley. We weren’t expecting him. He just showed up. Can you imagine the man who may be the next governor of Texas just showing up at Abby’s Diner? Abby’s not impressed. She hasn’t even bothered to come out of the kitchen to talk to him.”

  “Abby’s known him since long before he was a senator,” Troy said. “And it takes a lot to impress her.”

  Once the hostess left, Kelly craned her neck for a better view but still couldn’t see the senator through the crowd. “My mother was on his staff for his very first campaign,” she told Viviana.

  “You should go talk to him,” Viviana said.

  “I’m sure he wouldn’t remember me and maybe not my mother. That was twenty years ago, or close to it. Besides I didn’t get a very warm reception from his ex-wife when I met her in the horse barn.”

  “That’s just Ruthanne,” Troy said. “The senator will give you a warm greeting whether he remembers you or not. He’s looking for votes.”

  The waitress came with their drinks and after she took their orders, Kelly stood up from the table.

  “If you don’t mind, I think I’ll go over and say hello while we’re waiting for our food,” Kelly said. “Jaci, do you want to go with me to meet Senator Foley?”

  Jaci twisted her mouth in a bizarre shape. Briana laughed out loud. “I’ll stay here. Briana likes my faces.”

  “Okay. I’ll be right back.”

  She anticipated having to inch her way past a crowd of people to get close enough to get his attention. But he saw her approach and stood to greet her. Well
, not greet her exactly, but openly stare. Not particularly politician cool.

  She extended a hand. “I’m Kelly Burger. I know you don’t remember me, but I met you years ago when my mother was on your very first campaign staff.”

  “Linda Ann Callister.”

  “Yes, but how did you know that’s who I was talking about?”

  “You look so much like her I did a double take when I saw you. Sit down,” he said, motioning to the empty chair kitty-corner to his. “It was great talking to all of you,” he said to the crowd around him, “but I haven’t seen this young lady in a very long time and we have some catching up to do.”

  “I can only stay a few minutes,” Kelly said. “I’m having lunch with friends and they’re watching my daughter while I came over to say hello.”

  “Which one is your daughter?”

  “The one making faces.” Kelly pointed her out. “Her name is Jaci.”

  “She has the Callister good looks, as well.”

  “Thank you.”

  “How is Linda Ann?” he asked.

  “She’s doing great. She recently retired from her position as dean of a small women’s college in the Northeast and she and her husband have moved back to Texas.”

  “Where in Texas?”

  “Plano.”

  “Then she’s happy?”

  “I think so.”

  “Would you tell her I said hello the next time you see her?”

  “I’ll be certain to.”

  “Tell her I still think of her often and that the ridiculous statue she won at the State Fair still sits on my desk.”

  “I will.”

  “How does she feel about your moving back to Mustang Run?”

  “She doesn’t know yet. I thought I’d surprise her after the move was made and I’m settled in enough to insist she come for a visit. How did you know I was moving back?”

  “Word gets around.”

  “Ah, yes. Small-town news distribution. The thing Mother disliked most about Mustang Run.” She glanced back to check on Jaci. “They’ve served our food, so I’d best go eat before it gets cold.”

  He stood with her, took her hand and held it for a tad too long. “Thanks for stopping by. It meant more than you know.”

  He had seemed glad to see her, almost too glad. And he remembered her mother extremely well, right down to the cheap prize she’d won at a fair that he still kept on his desk.

  Kelly wondered exactly what had gone on between him and her mother during the time she worked for him. She suspected that it went beyond a typical employee/employer relationship.

  No wonder Ruthanne had taken an instant dislike to her.

  Kelly was beginning to think she didn’t know her mother at all. But she wouldn’t bother Abby with her question about the broken engagement. The answers should come directly from the source.

  RILEY WATCHED KELLY walk away, amazed at how much she looked like her mother. She had the sway to her hips. Classy, yet subtly seductive. Back straight. Head high. An air about her that snared men’s attention and didn’t let go.

  Even her nose was the same, tilted just enough to make her appear beguiling, yet mischievous. Perhaps the most striking feature they shared were the full, soft lips that had once driven Riley mad with desire.

  If he’d ever truly loved anyone in his life, it was Linda Ann.

  That was a lifetime ago. He’d been a nobody then. Now he was rising to the top like cream—or like a dead fish. Next stop, the governor’s mansion. And then, if he played his cards right, it could be on to the White House.

  Reason enough that his past had to stay buried. People these days might forgive a politician an indiscretion or two, but some things would never be forgiven.

  He’d passed that line almost twenty years ago.

  WYATT GRABBED his work-worn Stetson from a hook near the back door, stomped down the back steps and strode toward the woodshed. They weren’t short of logs for the fireplace, but he needed the release of swinging an ax.

  He’d gotten nowhere that afternoon. If anyone he’d questioned had seen Hurley since his release, they’d done a good job of lying. And Wyatt could usually detect a liar before the words left their mouth. It was in their eyes, their expression, even the movement of their Adam’s apple.

  He picked up the ax and began to swing, furiously splitting logs until sweat began to pour down his forehead and into his eyes. He buried the point of the ax into a log and stopped to yank his black T-shirt over his head. Wadded, the shirt made the perfect handkerchief for wiping his brow.

  The temperature had climbed to seventy today. Two days from now a new cold front was expected, this one bringing a slight chance of snow. Even for the Texas Hill Country, the weather this January seemed out of sync.

  Wyatt remembered going horseback riding with Troy one year when a light snow was falling. They’d ridden to the bluff on the far northern end of the spread and found a deer that had gotten tangled in the limbs of a downed mesquite tree. Wyatt had helped free the frightened doe.

  When they’d returned to the house, he’d heard Troy tell his mother what a fine man Wyatt was becoming.

  That was before everything had fallen apart.

  When it had, Wyatt hadn’t been a man at all. He’d tried to keep his brothers together, had begged and finally cried when his grandparents had separated them and farmed them out to any relative who’d take them. When his brothers had needed him most, he’d had no power to help.

  And now he was here on a mission that might destroy their lives all over again.

  But he was beginning to see why his brothers believed in Troy’s innocence. Wyatt had to admit that Troy’s research was much more detailed and comprehensive than he’d expected.

  But even if he bought into Troy’s innocence for the sake of argument, Wyatt didn’t buy into Troy’s random murder scenario, at least not yet.

  Wyatt heard footsteps and looked up to see Kelly walking toward him. The late afternoon sun turned her hair the color of a strawberry field. When she smiled and waved, he almost choked on the desire that swelled inside him and the ache from knowing there was almost no way this relationship could ever work out.

  She was infatuated with her protector the same way she’d been infatuated with her husband before she’d married him. She saw in Wyatt only what she wanted to see, instead of the hard-edged cop he’d become. He’d be a damn poor catch as a husband.

  He picked up the ax and swung as hard as he could to release the fury and frustration that burned in his gut.

  KELLY STOOD FOR A MOMENT, watching the flex and release of Wyatt’s muscles as he wielded the ax. When he buried the blade of the ax, she stepped into his arms, relishing the thrill of his kiss before she backed away.

  She splayed the palms of her hands across his chest. “You are the most gorgeously virile cowboy I have ever slept with.”

  “You need to get around more.”

  “No, I’m happy right here.”

  “But you know I’m not really a cowboy,” Wyatt said.

  “You walk like one, talk like one, look like one and you sure fit in well on Willow Creek Ranch.”

  “I have to admit I like the pace of this lifestyle—but only to a point.”

  “You can’t miss being a cop. You still are one, just without the badge. I know you spent the afternoon attempting to track down Jerome Hurley. And you’re driven to find your mother’s killer.”

  “True, but what would I do with myself once they’re behind bars?”

  “Sheriff McGuire appears to stay busy. Not that I’m trying to get you to change your lifestyle.”

  “Troy tells me you had a chat with Riley Foley today,” Wyatt said.

  “I did. I was surprised at how well he remembered my mother after all those years.”

  “When was it you said she worked for him?”

  “Nineteen years ago.”

  “The same year my mother was killed. Riley had already been elected and had taken office when his wi
fe testified at Troy’s trial.”

  “Was she a character witness?”

  “She was my mother’s best friend who I told you gave damaging testimony against my father.”

  “That’s surprising.”

  “Why?”

  “When I met her in the horse barn, she was coming on strong to Troy and acting very possessive in case I had any ideas of moving in on her territory.”

  “According to my brothers, she’s been trying to snare Troy ever since he was released from prison. They say he’s not interested.”

  “Released, but on a technicality,” Kelly said, thinking out loud. “Kind of odd for her to be making a play for a man that her testimony helped send to prison for killing his wife.”

  “It doesn’t make a lot of sense, does it?”

  “No.” But neither Ruthanne nor the senator were the reason she’d come looking for Wyatt. “I’m thinking of driving up to Plano to visit my mother tomorrow. I’ve already talked to Julie. She’s agreed to watch Jaci for me and to let me use her car. It’s only a three-hour drive. I’ll be back long before dark.”

  “I thought you said you didn’t want to worry her.”

  “I don’t plan to mention Jerome Hurley or even that my car was stolen. I found something in one of the boxes Grams left for me that I need to ask her about.”

  “Do you want to talk to me about it?”

  “I wouldn’t mind getting your take on it.”

  “Fire away.”

  Kelly explained the engagement announcement and the significance of the date. She didn’t mention the nightmare or the lullaby that wouldn’t let go of her.

  “Don’t you think this can wait until Jerome is arrested?”

  “I can’t explain this in any way that makes sense, but I feel that I have to talk to Mother now.”

  “In that case, I’m going with you.”

  She never doubted for a minute that he would.

  JEROME REACHED for his phone on the first ring. “Hello.”

  “I’m ready to talk terms, but not on the phone.”