The Cowboy and the Cop

by Christine Wenger

  “No. I’m not. But three times?”

  “As you know, but I’ll tell you again, he busted up the bar three times. They called to complain three times, and I took action three times. Each time, it got a little more serious because he didn’t get it, Luke. He just didn’t get it. Haven’t we gone over this a couple of times? What aren’t you saying?”

  “That maybe you didn’t look too hard at your father and brothers recently because they might be guilty of cattle rustling and that might ruin your potential new job.”

  “Oh, so that’s what’s got you thinking? You think I’m ignoring what my family might be doing because it’ll look bad for me when the time comes?” she asked. “And by the way, I looked at the jars they had in the house and they were empty.”

  “You just spot-checked the top row and just assumed they were all empty. True?”

  That was true, but how did he know?

  Oh, darn it. Luke was probably right. She just didn’t want to believe that her father and brothers were up to no good. She stopped walking and bit back angry tears. “Look, you don’t need me to accompany you to see your father. You go ahead. I’ll wait in the car. And then maybe we can drive to a car parts store and get you a battery for your truck. And how about calling around to hotels? Maybe they have some vacancies by now.”

  “I’m sorry if I hit a sore spot.”

  “Here’s your father’s room. Give him my best, won’t you?” She turned and left him standing there. “I’ll give you fifteen minutes, then you can call a taxi.”

  “Okay.”

  She left as fast as she could without disturbing the patients and nurses in the hallways. She had to get away from Luke before she said something she’d regret. But, oh, she got her message, though.

  But so had he.

  Finally she was in the lobby and out the door. She unlocked her car and slid into the driver’s seat.

  She punched the steering wheel. That hurt.

  Amber felt unhinged, off-centered.

  She’d just basically told Luke to get out of her car and get out of her apartment.

  She was going to miss him. She’d cared for him forever. They’d kissed, for heaven’s sake. They’d really kissed.

  Was there some truth in what Luke said?

  No. Impossible.

  * * *

  WHAT THE HELL just happened?

  He’d just made a simple suggestion that Amber might be a little—what was the word?—biased. As far as her family was concerned, maybe she didn’t want to face the truth.

  He wanted to ask his father to give Amber a break and not hold his arrests against her because she was only doing her job, but Big Dan was fighting sleep and he didn’t want to stress him out by having a fight.

  “Close your eyes, Dad. I’m leaving.”

  “You still fixing up the ranch?”

  “You know I am. I have two crews working on it and some other paid help. Others have refused pay...like Amber, Slim Gomez and a bunch of others.”

  “Humph! Where’s all this money coming from?”

  “From Reed, Jesse and me, and from a historical grant that’s been in the works for months,” Luke said.

  “Historical grant? Better the taxpayers should save their money.”

  “Let’s not hash this out anymore. Get some sleep. I’m going to say goodbye now.”

  “Then say it and go!”

  “Great to see you, too, Dad.”

  “Humph.”

  Luke left the room and checked his watch. The clock was ticking to catch a ride from Amber.

  Just his luck; the elevators were shut off and getting mopped. He hit the stairs, prepared to go down eight floors.

  He didn’t know why, but stairs always made him dizzy.

  Hurrying down, he had to pause on the landing and stop his head from spinning. He was only on the fourth floor.

  He had to catch his breath again in the lobby. He checked his watch. Twenty minutes had gone by and Amber had only given him fifteen.

  Oh, for heaven’s sake, she’d wait an extra five minutes, wouldn’t she?

  He checked the parking lot and, in particular, the space where she’d parked.

  Her car was gone.

  Dammit! She wasn’t kidding.

  He went back into the lobby, where the numbers of the two taxi firms in Beaumont were posted. He called the first one. Fred’s Cab.

  Fred’s wife Mavis said that he was attending a culinary class at the community college. “Do you think he wants to drive a cab for the rest of his life?”

  “Uh...maybe not, Mavis, but his number was posted in the hospital lobby.”

  “I’ll take care of scratching that out. Call Evan Volney. He loves the business.”

  “Thanks, Mavis.”

  He punched in the number for Evan Volney. Evan was nearby and would be at the front of the hospital “in a sec.”

  Luke paced the sidewalk outside. He found a shadowy spot and decided to burn off some nervous energy. He did some yoga stretches, which he swore helped his riding, and did a hundred pushups. Then he ran in place until Evan arrived.

  “I don’t know the exact address, but it’s over the Happy Tea Pot or something like that,” Luke said.

  “Sergeant Amber Chapman’s place?”

  “You know it?” Luke asked.

  “Sure. We had a couple of dates, but she’s too cop-ish. She noticed that my registration was expired and so was my license. She told me that if I put another person in my cab before I took care of both items, she was going to arrest me.” He chuckled. “Real romantic, huh?”

  “That sounds like her.” Luke chuckled and sat back in the seat, satisfied that Amber would be great in her new state police job.

  “Hey, Evan. What’s the hotel situation now? Are they still packed?”

  “Still packed. Now there’s graduation at Beaumont Community College and OSU.”

  “Maybe I can sleep in my barn,” Luke muttered. “Or put up my tent.”

  Just as he said that, the skies opened up and it started raining. Pouring.

  Evan pulled in at the back of the Happy Tea Pot and Luke paid him and gave him a nice tip. Then he took a deep breath and climbed the stairs to Amber’s apartment, not knowing what to expect.

  * * *

  BY THE TIME Amber got to the door and opened it, Luke was soaked.

  “Amber, I came to pick up my stuff and then I’ll get out of your hair.”

  “Where are you going?” she asked. “Not that it’s any of my business.”

  “Don’t know yet, but would you mind if I get my gear? It’s in your spare bedroom.”

  Amber nodded. “Of course. Go ahead.”

  She’d been tempted to toss his stuff out the door and onto the lawn, but she’d answered enough domestic calls to realize that the stunt was too juvenile.

  She’d brought Luke Beaumont here; she should give him a place to stay, no matter how mad she was at him. He’d said something like that before, about her being biased, and she’d even questioned herself, but this time, it had just gotten to her.

  The man had gotten to her, and normally she wouldn’t give a hoot, but she cared for Luke and his opinion.

  Luke came out of the bedroom just as she was making herself a meatloaf sandwich with lettuce and mayo. He looked at it as if it was prime rib.

  “Luke, before you start drooling, would you like a sandwich?”

  “To go?”

  “You can eat it here.” Amber put it on a plate and added a dill pickle.

  “I’ve been dreaming of this meatloaf,” he said, taking a big bite then walking over to the kitchen table and taking a seat.

  He watched as Amber made another sandwich and realized he was eating what Amber
had made for herself.

  Amber was a thoughtful and caring woman, and he should shut up about her family. He wouldn’t hurt her for the world, but he should really pay attention to what he was saying.

  “Amber, I apologize. I shouldn’t have said what I did. Let’s call a truce. I really want to work with you on my cattle rustling tomorrow. Remember I was going to loan you a horse and we were going to go out in the morning and check tracks? But then there was the Bull Riders’ Ball and then my dad’s heart attack, and, well, we haven’t made much progress on the investigation.”

  She was silent, as if she was weighing the pros and cons of accepting his apology. He waited, shifting on his feet, hoping that they’d be back to where they were before he opened his big mouth.

  “Okay, Luke. We’re good. And I’m all for a truce. Stay here, because I know there’s no other place for you to stay in town. I made some calls and found out that there are still no rooms. And, yes, I need a horse, so I suppose I have to let you come with me.”

  Luke let out a deep breath. “Good, it’s settled, then. Status quo. Thanks for the place to stay.”

  “Quit thanking me and all that... You’re just so...”

  “Nice?” he supplied.

  “Uh-huh.”

  Luke snapped his fingers. “Do you mind if we go bright and early in the morning to the Auto Palace? I’ll get the battery for my pickup. I can put it in. This will be the last trip lugging me around.”

  “Good. Then you’ll have your own wheels.”

  “About time, huh?”

  She shrugged. “About time.” If truth be told, she liked the company.

  “I have to go to work now, so see you later. Lock up, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  * * *

  THE NEXT MORNING they had plans to hit the road for the Auto Palace for Luke’s battery.

  Luke was sleeping on the couch, shirt off, one arm over his head, one at his side. When she wasn’t looking at his muscled riding arms, she was staring at his chest.

  Finally, after tearing herself away, she made herself a cup of jasmine tea.

  As soon as she could find the time, she really should check all those boxes at her father’s place. Just to ease her own mind and to prove to Luke that her father was innocent.

  Not that she had to prove anything to Luke. He had his own problems with Big Dan’s issues.

  She just didn’t feel the same toward Luke since their altercation over their fathers and which one was the most trouble.

  Sheesh. It was like they were in grammar school.

  They were both more mature than that.

  She was going to forget about it and concentrate on who was rustling Luke’s cattle. When she solved the case, she’d leave Beaumont County. It would probably be the last important case of her career here.

  And she couldn’t wait to get started at the Beaumont Ranch and solve the rustling case.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Luke leaned on the weather-damaged wood that circled the corral and looked over the horses in his remuda. He picked out two.

  “Amber, I haven’t had a chance to ride these myself, but Slim Gomez swears that they are perfect saddle horses.”

  “I can ride. Don’t worry about me.”

  Luke shook his head. “It might be hopeless to find tracks. We’ve had nothing but rain for the past couple of days. A lot of rain.”

  “I know, but maybe we can find something.”

  “Let’s go, then. Slim said he’d saddle them up for us.”

  They walked into the barn and found two quarter horses saddled and ready to go. They were both stunning—a chestnut with a shiny brown coat with red highlights, and one with a mottled gray coat.

  Amber was floating on air. It’d been a long time since she’d been riding and now she was getting the best of the best.

  Judging by the grin on Luke’s face, he was thinking the same thing she was.

  “It seems like forever since I’ve been on a horse.”

  “And these are beauties. Do you know their names?” Amber asked.

  Luke petted the taller of the two mares. “I haven’t gotten around to finding that out yet, but I will.”

  He got on his horse. “I think I’ll call her Chestnut for the time being. It’s obvious, but I like the name. How about yours?”

  “Irma,” Amber said. “After my first boss when I worked in the steno pool of a law firm.” Two hops and she made it on top of Irma.

  “Your horse reminds you of Irma?”

  “She has Irma’s grayish hair color.”

  Luke laughed. “Where would you like to begin?”

  “Can you find a trail to the northeast pasture?” she asked.

  “My memory might be foggy, but I think I can.”

  All the pounding of the hammers was making Chestnut and Irma nervous.

  “Let’s get out of here. Then we can stop and talk.”

  Luke took off at a trot and Amber tried to keep pace with him. He was born in the saddle; she’d infrequently ridden the horses of various friends.

  Amber had begged her parents for a horse when she was young. When that hadn’t worked, she’d prayed to God and Santa Claus every Christmas for a horse. Then when her mother left, she’d asked her father again, but he’d said he didn’t have room for a horse. He needed the room for his junk car parts.

  That was when she’d really started to hate the junkyard. Up until then, it was just something the kids in school teased her about. She’d hated the teasing, but her mother told her that someday she’d go to college and be away from the rusting mess.

  She and her mom had both gotten out of the junkyard. Amber went to college, and her mother worked in the college’s main cafeteria. They were roommates at a nearby apartment, and it was the best time of Amber’s life. She’d gotten to know her more, and they talked like mothers and daughters should. Above all, she realized how much her mother loved her father.

  Both of them still hated the junkyard because it was a blight on the pretty town of Beaumont, and because it surrounded the once pretty little bungalow where Amber and her brothers grew up.

  Luke slowed Chestnut to a walk and Amber listened to the creaking of the leather saddle. She hadn’t heard that in a long time, and she’d missed it. It was a small thing that only she identified with, but it reminded her of an earlier time in her life.

  Now her sounds were the rasp of handcuffs, the howl of sirens and the metallic banging of cell doors.

  “A penny for your thoughts, Amber.”

  “There’re not worth that much.”

  “Tell me anyway.”

  “I was just thinking about how I wanted a horse when I was younger. I mean, who didn’t want one when they were a kid? Every day, I saw yours grazing in the pasture and I used to pretend that they were mine. I was partial to palominos or pure white ones, or the black ones with white socks.” She laughed. “I wanted them all, and you had them all. You and your brothers were the luckiest kids on earth.”

  “I know. I know. We had a great childhood. The whole ranch was our playground.”

  “Who are you kidding? The whole town of Beaumont was your playground!”

  “I know...and we were incorrigible.”

  She tried for a stern expression. “You sure were, but that was a long time ago. Now you, Jesse and Reed are all big-shot, professional bull riders.”

  “Who would have thought?”

  She smiled. “I did. I remember how good you were on the high school rodeo team.”

  “You came to the events to watch me?”

  “Yes—I mean no. I mean, I came to watch everyone. Not just you.”

  Her face had to be flaming. He’d caught her off guard.

  She had gone to see e
veryone ride, but it was Luke that made her heart race every time he rode. And she’d held her breath when he’d slid onto the back of his bull and didn’t let it out until he was safe.

  Amber still did that, even while watching Luke ride on TV.

  They rode side by side across a field. The wind kicked up, making the wheat sway to its own rhythm, but at least it wasn’t raining again.

  She changed the subject. “The swaying wheat is hypnotizing.” She yawned. “I don’t think I got enough sleep last night.”

  “Were you thinking of our fight?”

  “It’s probably for the best that we don’t discuss it anymore,” Amber said.

  “That has my vote.” Luke leaned forward in the saddle and looked down the narrow dirt road. “But we should discuss it, Amber. I don’t want anything hanging between us, so you go first.”

  “I figure that in order to steal ten cattle, he—or they—would have had a truck. Like a stock transport. It’s pretty flat here, but with the extra weight of the stock, the tracks might be somewhat intact.”

  “Just what I’ve been thinking,” he said. “Better yet, the wheat might be crushed. That would show the route the truck would have taken.”

  They walked their horses and Amber scanned the area for some kind of clues.

  “What’s that?” she asked. “Over there. On that bush. That black cloth.” Amber pointed. “It looks familiar. If I’m not mistaken, it has little American flags on it. Right?”

  Luke walked over to the object and was about to dislodge it from the bush when Amber yelled, “Don’t touch it. I have gloves. I’ll do it.”

  “Little American flags are on it.”

  The look on his face had Amber realizing that he’d seen it before, too.

  “It’s a bandanna,” he said. “The kind the bikers wear around here. The Beaumont Bombers.”

  Then it hit her and her stomach started to churn. “No way. It can’t be. Must be a mistake.”

  “Sorry, Amber, but we both saw your brother Ronnie wearing it when we had barbecue at your dad’s house. Then again when he came to work on my pickup and yet again when he helped on the ranch house.”

  “Like you said, it’s common to the Beaumont Bombers. It could be anyone’s.”