An Officer and a Maverick

by Teresa Southwick

  Russ shook hands with all three then made introductions. “This is my father, John,” he said, indicating the older man with dark, silver-streaked hair. “My brothers, Micah and Carson.”

  When he moved closer to shake her hand, she noticed Micah’s expression was just this side of wary, and he had a limp. She couldn’t help wondering about it. The twinkle in Carson’s brown eyes reminded her of Travis’s mischievous streak, and she pegged him as the youngest of the boys.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet all of you.” Lani smiled.

  “Tell me you’re staying for dinner. Both of you,” Teresa said.

  Lani looked at Russ, giving him a look that said it was time for him to take the lead. “I don’t know—”

  “It’s been a long time since you were here for Sunday dinner, Russell James.”

  “Uh-oh,” Lani said. “It’s never good when your mom uses both names. When I hear Lani Elizabeth it makes me want to put myself in time-out.”

  Everyone laughed, including Russ, and the tension she’d sensed in him eased.

  “Yeah, Mom, we can stay. I’d like that if it’s not too much trouble,” he said.

  “Of course not. I always make too much food.”

  A little while later, after extra places had been set and drinks handed out, they were sitting around the dining room table, passing fried chicken, mashed potatoes, salad and corn. When plates were filled they started eating, and the interrogation commenced.

  “So, how did you and Russ meet?” Teresa asked.

  Lani probably would have choked if she’d been chewing food. She should have expected the question. Her bad. But now she had to wing it, no pun intended to the chicken.

  “It was on the Fourth of July. There was a wedding reception going on in the park, and Russ was on duty.” That was the truth, but not the whole truth.

  “You all know I fill in when needed,” he said. “Gage Christensen has been my friend for a long time, and he’s the sheriff of Rust Creek Falls. With one deputy short, he asked for my help.”

  “Gage is a nice young man. I bet he’s as glad to have you back from Colorado as we are,” his mom said. “And it’s about time you brought a young lady to Sunday dinner.” She turned to Lani and whispered, “He’s been lonely since things ended with Alexis.”

  Lani saw his mouth pull tight. She wanted to hear about this probably way more than he wanted to talk about it.

  “That woman was a witch,” Addie said. “Probably still is.”

  At the head of the table John was nodding. “You dodged a bullet there, son. And leaving Denver was probably a blessing in disguise. Colorado’s loss is our gain.”

  Russ shifted in his chair. “Dad, I—”

  “Aren’t you conducting a special investigation in Rust Creek Falls?” Micah asked, bailing out his brother.

  “Yeah.” Russ sent him a grateful look.

  Lani figured that level of gratitude over changing the subject meant Russ would rather take a sharp stick in the eye than talk about either of those subjects. That made her curious and even extra determined to find out the details, maybe discover what made Russ Campbell tick. But he was off and running with an explanation of spiked punch and small-town anxiety. This wasn’t the time to question him.

  After the table was cleared, dishes cleaned up and leftovers put away, Teresa suggested Russ take Lani for a walk—show her around the property—and he jumped at the chance. It might have been about being alone with her, but she figured he just wanted to steer clear of their references to his past.

  Side by side they walked up the road leading to the outbuildings, and he showed her the equipment and machinery that made farming on such a large scale possible. He pointed out where the different crops were planted, but that was only what they could see from this vantage point. Not too far from the house he stopped beside Boulder Creek, a valuable water source for the farm.

  It was also a pretty spot with spruce and pine trees on either side. The water cheerfully gurgled over rocks, and Lani sighed as she took in the peaceful surroundings.

  She had a feeling what she was about to say was just the opposite of peaceful, but she was compelled to ask anyway. “Who’s Alexis, and why did you leave the Denver Police Department?”

  A dark look slid into his eyes and a muscle tightened in his jaw.

  “You don’t beat around the bush, do you?”

  “No point. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t curious.” She stared at him. “So what brought you back to Montana?”

  “Let’s just call it irreconcilable differences.”

  “The reason most often given for a divorce and just as empty of personal details.” She shook her head. “Come on, Russ. Something happened. What made you leave—”

  He reached out a finger and traced it over her mouth, a smoldering look in his eyes. Before she could regroup and finish asking her question, his mouth was on hers. The contact was like a zap of electricity and just as effective in frying her thoughts. Heat poured through her, pooling in her belly. His arms came around her, snuggling her closer, pressing her breasts against his chest.

  He threaded his fingers into her hair, cupping the back of her head, holding her still while his tongue caressed the inside of her mouth and dueled with hers. He kissed her for a long time, sweetly, tenderly, gently, thoroughly, completely messing up her head.

  Finally, he pulled back and fortunately didn’t remove his arms, because she was fairly certain her weak legs wouldn’t support her weight. The only sounds were their ragged breathing mingled with the babbling stream rushing past them.

  Lani blinked up at him, and rational thought slowly returned. “So... As a distraction technique, that was pretty effective.”

  The corner of his mouth curved up nearly to adorable territory. “Did it work?”

  “I got the message, if that’s what you’re asking. You don’t want to talk about it.”

  “Smart girl.”

  “At least this time you picked a decent setting to kiss me. This is leaps and bounds better than the Ace in the Hole or a jail cell.”

  “I aim to please.”

  “No, you don’t.” If only. “Your goal was to avoid opening up about your past.”

  “There’s no point.” It was a surprise that he didn’t deny the accusation. He let her go and stared at the gurgling stream. “Water under the bridge.”

  “I get the feeling it’s a dark and twisty story.” She saw his mouth thin and held up a hand. “I won’t push. Don’t worry.”

  “I appreciate that.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  It cost her a lot to hold back the questions. If she wasn’t starting to care about him, she would have asked whatever she wanted and damn the consequences. But she was starting to care about him a lot and didn’t want to rock the boat. At least not yet.

  * * *

  He’d lied to Lani.

  Russ had kissed her because he couldn’t resist. He hadn’t done it to distract her from asking about his past, but couldn’t argue that stopping the questions was a happy by-product of his actions.

  It was now Friday night, almost a week since taking her to the farm. Every day they’d chatted on the phone to compare notes about the investigation, and he always managed to keep her on longer because she made him laugh.

  He liked her. More than he wanted to.

  For the weekend he was taking a break from the investigation and patrolling the annual carnival for Rust Creek Falls Elementary School. Traditionally, this fund-raiser was held soon after Labor Day, when classes started up again. This year was no different, although the mayor and town council had urged the sheriff to be more vigilant after what happened on the Fourth of July. This was another public gathering, and there would be food and drinks, which put everyone on edge.

 
So here he was in the park. He stopped by the infamous fountain where he and Lani first clashed and saw her not far away in the bake-sale booth. Stalls were lined up parallel with the parking lot and contained various games and activities designed to make money that would fund school supplies, computers and extracurricular programs.

  Lani was wearing a red apron that said Rust Creek Falls Elementary School in white letters, and her hair was pulled back in a sassy ponytail. She took a bill then smiled and gave a woman a plastic bag containing sugar cookies. That smile went straight through him, cranking up the tension already coiled tightly inside him every time he saw her or thought about her.

  Through everything that happened in Denver, his professionalism had never slipped, but it was now when all he could think about was kissing Lani Dalton. As much as he would like to trust her, he had to focus on rebuilding his career, making up for the time he’d lost. He couldn’t afford a distraction, to blindly put his faith in another woman—especially a woman with a secret.

  Checking his watch, he realized it was time to put his cop skills back to work, because he wasn’t being paid to look at Lani. It was getting late, and tonight’s activities were almost over. Only a few people were milling around, and most of them were shutting down the booths until tomorrow morning.

  The food was closed up and secured. Most of it was prepackaged, making tampering difficult. Everything else was being supervised by the school principal. If anyone started acting weird, he would know who to question.

  Lani was counting money and didn’t notice him right away. When she glanced up, the automatic smile that normally came so easily to her disappeared.

  “Hi,” she said.

  “Evening.” He slid his fingertips into the pockets of his jeans. “Everything quiet?”

  “If you mean has anyone spiked the cupcake icing, the answer is no.”

  Her voice was a little cool, and he could understand why. Taking her to meet his family sent a certain message, one he hadn’t meant to send. Everyone had told him how much they liked her, but he wasn’t after their approval. He didn’t need it, since there wasn’t now and never would be anything serious between him and Lani. But then he’d kissed her and claimed it was nothing more than a distraction. As mixed messages went that was a doozy.

  “Good. Nothing out of the ordinary.” He nodded. “After what happened on the Fourth, we can’t be too careful.”

  “Do you really think it could happen again?”

  “My gut says no, but until we find the creep who did it, there’s no way to know for sure.” Shadows lurked in her dark eyes and made Russ want to protect her from whoever had messed with the punch that July day. It was a given that guarding everyone in town was part of his job, but with Lani the feeling was very different. Intense. And more personal than he cared to admit. “Are you finished for the night?”

  She nodded. “I just have to give this money to Carol Watson, the parent coordinator in charge of this whole thing.”

  Just then an attractive brunette walked up beside him. “Hi, Russ. It’s so reassuring to have a law enforcement presence.”

  “Carol.” Russ had met her during a final logistics meeting for this fund-raiser. Like everyone else in town, she was nervous about any community event since the wedding. “Everything is quiet.”

  The woman nodded. “Lani, how was business?”

  “Good. Almost everything sold out.” She handed over a blue zippered cash bag.

  “Excellent. I’ve got volunteers lined up for Saturday and Sunday to donate more baked goods. Fingers crossed that the volume of customers keeps up.”

  “I’m pretty sure it will,” Lani said. “Takes more than a little spiked punch to scare off the people of this town. Traditionally, folks in Rust Creek Falls support their school.”

  “From your mouth to God’s ear,” Carol said. “What happened on the Fourth was shocking and could scare even our resilient citizens off.”

  “We’ve been spreading the word that the sheriff’s office has an increased presence,” Russ said. “Everything possible is being done to make sure this fund-raiser goes smoothly.”

  “I know. And your vigilance is appreciated.” She smiled but it was tense around the edges. “Lani, thanks for pitching in.”

  “No problem,” Lani said. “My sister Paige teaches at the school and can be very persuasive in encouraging Dalton family volunteerism.”

  “Still...thank you.” She nodded at both of them. “Good night.”

  Russ watched Lani put the few remaining cookies, cupcakes and brownies into a pink bakery box before grabbing her purse. She looked at him. “Good night, Russ.”

  He wasn’t ready to say good-night. “I’ll walk you to your car.”

  “I left it at home. Didn’t want to deprive a paying customer of a parking space, since my house isn’t that far from here.”

  “Then I’ll give you a ride home,” he said.

  “That’s all right.” She exited the rear of the booth and came around to where he was standing. “See you around.”

  “Just a second.” He loosely curled his fingers around her upper arm to stop her. “You’ve been on your feet all night. Might feel good to sit.”

  “I’m used to standing.”

  The outdoor park lights illuminated her tight expression. “What’s bugging you, Lani?”

  “Other than someone who gets their kicks from watching a whole town get drunk? That’s not enough for you?” Her mouth pulled tight. “That really bugs me. People were trying not to be, but they were on edge tonight. This is supposed to be a fun and carefree event. It wasn’t, and that’s frustrating. Even working together we can’t figure out who did it.”

  Her clipped tone and the pinched look on her face were evidence that she’d been feeling the pressure of watching out for suspicious behavior. She wasn’t used to that, and it had taken a toll. Gently, he took the bakery box out of her hands.

  “I’m taking you home.”

  There was a moment of hesitation before she nodded. “Okay.”

  Side by side they walked across the grass to the parking lot, where his truck was one of the few vehicles left. Gage’s cruiser was still there, so he knew his friend was on alert. He opened the door for Lani and waited until she’d climbed inside. Then he went around to the driver’s side and deposited the box of baked goods on the rear seat before getting behind the wheel.

  Russ could practically feel the waves of anxiety rolling through her. “Talk to me, Lani.”

  “Everything is different since that day,” she said. “This carnival used to be fun for the kids and parents, but now it’s a big headache.” She glanced over at him. “How do I know I’m not selling a child a cupcake that will make them sick?”

  There was no way to be sure, but he wouldn’t tell her that. He put the key in the ignition, started the car and backed out of the space. Then he exited the lot and turned right toward her house.

  “Every precaution has been taken,” he said. “The sign-ups were completely controlled. Items delivered were checked off a master list. Nothing was accepted without being on that list. All of the names were run by Gage and the school’s administrative staff. We know who baked what and can cross-reference if anyone reports a problem. No one would try anything because the odds of getting caught are pretty high.”

  “But it’s not impossible.”

  “True.” He thought for a moment. “But the incident with the punch was different. No one expected it. No one was prepared. Now we’re watching. If there’s a tainted batch of cupcakes, it would be small-scale and easy to identify who did it. No one would take the risk.”

  “That makes sense.” She sighed. “But I hate this. One person is ruining things for everyone.”

  “Yeah.”

  “I can’t believe our investigation hasn’t turned up
a darn thing. We’re no closer to finding out the truth.”

  “Not yet.” If she’d noticed that he used their investigation as an excuse to see her Sunday then never brought the subject up, she didn’t mention it.

  “I’m not so sure anymore.”

  It bothered him that her fundamental trust in the goodness of people was shaken, and he wanted badly to reassure her. “I’ve been a detective for a long time. You never know when you’ll get a lead that will break a case wide-open.”

  “Maybe sometimes it’s necessary to do something to make things break your way.”

  Russ didn’t like the sound of that. “What does that mean?”

  “It’s time to shake things up and see what happens.” Those words were laced with a whole lot of stubborn.

  “Never underestimate the value of pounding the pavement and the interview process from a law enforcement perspective.”

  “That’s not working for me,” she said.

  He pulled the truck to a stop in front of her house, and the overhead light went on when she opened the door. Determination was written all over her face, and he had a bad feeling. “Whatever you’re planning to do...don’t.”

  “Brad Crawford won Old Man Sullivan’s ranch in a poker game that night. I believe you would call that motivation.” She met his gaze. “I’m going to get Brad to ask me out on a date, and then I’ll find out what he knows.”

  “No, Lani. It could be dangerous and—”

  She slammed the door and hurried into the house, effectively cutting off his protest. Frustration rolled through him, and he hit the steering wheel with the flat of his palm. Pain radiated up his arm but also cut through his irritation and let in a dose of reality.

  It wasn’t his detective instincts that were objecting to her going out with Brad Crawford. He didn’t want her alone with another guy.

  He was jealous.

  Chapter Nine

  Lani refused to give in to the yearning to turn and look at Russ driving away. She walked into the house, closed the door behind her then leaned her forehead against it. It occurred to her that he might be jealous at the idea of her going out with Brad Crawford, then she realized that was crazy and possibly a little pathetic. Darn him anyway. She swore he wouldn’t get to her, but somehow he always did. There was something about the confident way he walked, the cocky tilt of his head, that adorable smile—when he chose to use it.