Taming Deputy Harlow

by Jennifer Morey

  “I know you’re not the same.” She would never make the comparison. “It’s only the situation that has similarities. I have dreamed of being sheriff of Never Summer for years.”

  “And I would never ask you to give that up.” Although he would hope she could see she was made for more, for DAI.

  “In a way you are. You just took a job for my father, who lives in Wyoming. You can’t live here and work there. Besides that, I don’t ever want to hurt you the way I’ve hurt others, so maybe it is time to cool things off.”

  Now he strode over to her, intense, masculine and full of outrage. She had to stop herself from stepping backward.

  Standing close, he put his hand on her chin, cupping it with his thumb and palm. She met his fiery eyes, but they didn’t show anger. It was determination.

  “Don’t be mistaken,” he said in a low, gravelly voice. “There may come a time when you convince me you’ll never accept what we have together. You’re a woman who doesn’t know her own heart. I’m still here because I haven’t given up hope you’ll decide to learn.” He dropped his hand and stepped back. “You’re not the only one with a decision to make, Reese.”

  Each well-planted word sliced through her with lancing truth. She could only stand there frozen in singed shock as he turned and left.

  Chapter 14

  Kadin asked them to stop by his cabin. He hadn’t explained why and Jamie suspected it was to get Reese to come and see him again. Jamie walked toward the front door a little ahead of Reese.

  She wasn’t as tense as she had been the first time she’d been here. She was quiet for another reason. He didn’t feel like talking to her right now, anyway. Finding out her stubbornness would stand in the way of their happiness really got to him. When he’d come to Never Summer, he didn’t think anything Reese could say or do would either deter him or make him mad. Well, she had.

  She didn’t want to hurt him. She’d hurt others before him. And she’d rather let him go than alter her course. Right or wrong.

  He wasn’t sure if he was angrier with himself or her. She chose to stay blind to the love the two of them were building. He hadn’t experienced betrayal from a woman before. He hadn’t been around long enough, nor did he go into a relationship without being completely honest about the time he could and couldn’t offer. But he had experienced betrayal. He trusted Stankovich when he shouldn’t have. Reese made him feel like that again, like he should have known better than to trust her, trust that she’d outgrow her stubbornness or lack of insight to change. She didn’t want to change and there was nothing he could do about it.

  Jamie rang the bell. In his peripheral vision, he saw Reese glance at him once. His mood might trouble her, but he didn’t care unless she had more to offer than sex.

  Kadin let them in. He was cleanly shaven but with stubble showing, and wore jeans with a big belt buckle and flannel shirt. No hat.

  He eyed them as they passed. “Lovers’ quarrel?”

  Jamie ignored him and greeted Penny, who held the baby in one arm and a bottle with the other. She wore leggings and a black ruffle-sleeve kimono over a white-and-black patterned T-shirt. The baby was in a blue-and-black outfit with Mom’s Home Run printed on the front of the long-sleeved T-shirt.

  The moss rock wall and fireplace dominated the living room and the gold furnishings and wood floor gave it warmth. The kitchen was a little brighter with a rock base island and lighter granite countertops, but the dark cabinetry carried the aura of romantic lighting.

  Penny took a seat at the dining room table adjacent to the living room. Jamie went there with Kadin, Reese joining them last, sitting on the last chair.

  “How’s the investigation coming?” Kadin looked at Reese. “You haven’t called.”

  Her eyes lowered before meeting his. “We think we know who killed Ella Neville, aka Eva.”

  Jamie listened as she narrated all they knew. Virgil’s falsified identity and the timing of the change. The not-so-coincidental robbery by masked men.

  When she finished, Kadin looked at Jamie. “Anything else?”

  Jamie shook his head.

  “Your home was burglarized in Rock Springs,” Kadin said.

  While that didn’t come as a shock to Jamie, it did come with a good dose of dread. His suspicion was right.

  “What aren’t you telling me?” Kadin asked, his wife looking up from feeding the baby.

  Stankovich was looking for Jamie’s insurance. But Kadin suspecting something else was at work didn’t change Jamie’s reason for not telling anyone.

  “Telling you will put more than myself in extreme danger,” he said.

  “At the risk of sounding arrogant, look who you’re talking to,” Kadin said. “Nobody is going to hurt me or anyone close to me.”

  Jamie looked at Reese. He hadn’t exactly been referring to Kadin.

  Reese lifted her brow at him, a dare to say what she must know was on his mind.

  She lightened his mood. He grinned at her sass.

  “Just tell us, Jamie,” she said impatiently.

  He leaned back against the chair. “Back when I cleared my name and wiped any false evidence Stankovich had on me, I also planned to get something dirty on him, sort of as an insurance policy if he ever decided to get at me again. I didn’t think he would. I’d caused him enough grief. And by then he should have known I wouldn’t tolerate any of his control tactics.” He stopped. Revealing more would put them all in jeopardy. He looked at Reese, and then at Penny and the baby. He could never live with himself if anything happened to the innocent.

  “Go on,” Kadin said.

  Maybe it was too late for secrets. Maybe not. “First you have to understand this isn’t only information on Stankovich. It involves someone else, an entire organization. A big, scary one. Stankovich is a tiny flea compared to this raptor.”

  Kadin sat still a moment, now comprehending the purpose of extreme secrecy. He turned to Penny, who narrowed her eyes and said, “Don’t even ask me to leave the room. If someone could come after my husband I want to be armed with all the information so I can fight if I have to.” The baby made mewling sounds and reached his tiny hand toward his mother. She bent down and kissed his fingers, eliciting laughter and abandonment of the bottle.

  “I’m an officer of the law,” Reese said. “Stankovich committed a crime in my county. I should know everything I’m up against.”

  Jamie turned to Kadin and they exchanged a look that showed their mutual sense of defeat.

  At last, Jamie said, “All right. But no names. To get what I have on Stankovich, I had to talk to a few people to find out about his latest activities. I knew he’d have some dirty ones. That’s how he operates. If he can make money, he takes opportunities, no matter the cost, innocent or not. I followed a couple of his closest men and heard they planned to travel to Crimea for an arms deal. I trailed them and took photos of them stealing arms from a warehouse. I then learned of a plan to take the arms to Syria and sell them. I trailed them there, too, and took photos of them selling the stolen arms to rebels. I later learned who owned the weapons—a Russian mob leader.”

  “He sounds like a real charmer.” Penny stood with the baby, who’d begun to fuss. She moved over to Kadin and bent to kiss him. “Catch him, honey.”

  Kadin kissed her back. “We will.”

  Jamie watched how the easy exchange of love once again captivated Reese. She must not have seen her adoptive parents kiss like that, much less look at each other the way these two did.

  He could feel her thoughts. Did she kiss Jamie that way? Did she look at him that way? Was she looking at him that way now? He began to smolder with stirring desire. She looked at him the way Penny looked at Kadin. Did that mean she loved him?

  “How did Stankovich find out you had photos?” Kadin asked.

&
nbsp; Reese jerked her gaze away.

  Jamie turned his focus to Kadin’s question. “My inside man must have told him I knew about the arms.” He wouldn’t have to be told there was evidence. He knew Jamie wouldn’t have intercepted them without recording something. And the man who’d kept him informed wouldn’t have willingly talked. He must have been forced and, presumably, was now dead.

  “So now Stankovich wants the photos.” Reese stated the obvious. “Is that why he kidnapped me?”

  “If we hadn’t rescued you before he could carry out his plan, yes, I don’t doubt that’s what he’d have done. My first phone call would have been a demand for the photos in exchange for you.”

  He watched Penny walking the room with a slight bounce that had rocked Clayton to sleep.

  “Virgil might have capitalized on making a chance deal with Stankovich, but he’s the least of our concerns,” Kadin said. “We have to find Stankovich.”

  * * *

  Reese saw a stack of file folders on the table and noticed they weren’t the Neville case.

  “Are you working on another investigation?”

  Kadin leaned forward and slid the files closer to her. “It’s a serial murder case. No DNA. No prints. No fibers.”

  Reese opened the file and flipped through the pages and photographs.

  “All the women are assaulted and then stabbed to death, presumably with the same weapon. No witnesses. This killer is meticulous and knows how to avoid leaving forensic evidence. He’s been on the loose for an estimated six years.”

  A killer who had to be stopped. A deep urge expanded in her to catch the sicko. Her fascination didn’t help, either. Ever since her college criminal justice classes she’d discovered a talent and a natural interest in not only what makes a person cross the line into murder, but also the lives of their victims and the legal process to deliver a well-deserved punishment. Being part of that process gave her purpose. Was Jamie right when he said her job as sheriff wouldn’t be exciting?

  Kadin’s cell phone rang. The cabins were close enough to the highway and a cellular tower to provide service.

  He answered and Reese waited while he listened briefly. Penny disappeared to go put the baby down.

  “Thanks.” Kadin disconnected and then said, “The DNA we got from Eva is a match in Paula Kowalski’s case. She was killed by the same person. Jeffrey’s DNA didn’t match.”

  Reese expected Jeffrey’s test to come back with those results. She felt glad he’d be put back to rest with his reputation intact. But Virgil... Could he be the killer? He seemed an unlikely suspect, but more than forty years had passed.

  She barely listened as Kadin and Jamie moved on to a discussion on the candidates Jamie had interviewed and which ones to hire. They’d already hired some, and they all sounded like fearsome soldiers.

  She stood when they finished and went in for Kadin’s hug. She almost didn’t want to leave. If she stayed she could talk more with him, and not about murder cases. The hug made her stiffen. So did her desire to stay.

  “Call more often. Stop by whenever you want.”

  “Okay.” She put her arms around him and hugged back.

  This was an alien thing for Reese. She didn’t hug anyone. But the embrace with her real father began to warm into something she’d never felt before. She relaxed a little while she picked apart the gesture. He held her like a dad would. She felt his good intentions, his growth in getting accustomed to the fact that he had a living daughter.

  He must have his own struggles in that process. This hug was a milestone for him as much as it was for her.

  What had only been seconds felt more like minutes before he finally withdrew. He planted a kiss on her cheek and stepped back.

  “Say goodbye to my baby brother.” She beamed a smile she genuinely felt.

  “I’ll do better than that. I’ll give him a kiss for you.”

  This felt so like a family. She started to turn.

  “Hey.”

  Reese looked back at her father.

  “I almost forgot. I wanted to ask you if you have any pictures of when you were growing up. When you were a baby. Your first birthday. Holidays. That sort of thing. And anything else you have. Videos. Maybe when your case is solved you could tell me all about your life up until now. I’ve missed out on a lot.”

  She had to hand it to him. He’d waited until now to make such a request. He’d allowed her time to get used to him as her real father. And while they had a long way to go before either of them could say they knew each other well, they were off to a healthy start.

  “Yeah. Sure. Of course.” She nodded, that invisible space of hers threatened. Except now her resistance seemed kind of silly. Why wouldn’t she want to get to know her father? So it was different than what she’d had so far. What was wrong with different?

  “Take good care of her,” Kadin said to Jamie.

  “Always.”

  “And Reese?” She braced herself for some fatherly advice. “He’s not a bad guy. Give him a chance.”

  Reese could only gape at him.

  “I’m just trying to give my approval,” Kadin said.

  “Thanks, boss.” Jamie chuckled and guided Reese out the door.

  Reese smiled, having to make herself somewhat, but not willing to let go of the magic. “Dad.”

  His smile broadened and he lifted his hand for a wave.

  Outside, Reese walked in a daze toward Jamie’s truck, not sure what had just happened to her. Something significant.

  “Good job in there,” Jamie said.

  “What?” Good job? As in, good job hugging your dad?

  “You actually hugged your father.” He opened the passenger door for her. “It’s okay if you feel a connection with your dad, Reese. Don’t be so hard on yourself.”

  Reese didn’t get into the truck. “I’m hard on myself?”

  “You keep what you feel locked away. Just then, you let some of it out and it was amazing. Maybe you should try letting it go more often. Let what you feel out.”

  Didn’t she already?

  * * *

  Virgil arrived at work on time the next day. He got out of the car with a paper cup of coffee.

  “We can use that if he doesn’t agree to a sample,” Reese said.

  “All right.” They’d reveal how close they were to catching him. What if he ran? Jamie didn’t think he would, not without his wife. And if she didn’t know about Eva’s murder...

  He approached Virgil with Reese.

  “Good morning, Virgil,” Reese said.

  Virgil stopped, looking wary of why they were there and talking to him.

  “Mind if we ask you a few questions? We’d like to bring you to the sheriff’s office if you don’t mind.”

  “For what?”

  “Eva Sinclair’s murder,” Reese said calmly, in a friendly tone.

  Virgil flinched ever so slightly. “Eva?”

  “Yes. If you’ll come with us?”

  “I can’t. I have to work.”

  Screw process. “We discovered you assumed someone else’s identity, Mr. Church,” Jamie said. “And the timing fits that of Eva’s murder. Paula Kowlowski’s, too. We have matching DNA on both crime scenes and would like to eliminate you as a suspect.”

  Virgil looked stunned at first and then a cool mask slid into place. “And if I refuse?”

  “We’ll consider you a suspect in both women’s murders,” Reese said. “I can arrest you for identity theft right now. But we just want to ask you some questions and get a DNA sample.”

  “I don’t have to talk to you.” Virgil started walking toward the hardware store. Turning his head over his shoulder, he added, “I didn’t kill anyone and I don’t know anyone named Eva or Paula.”

&
nbsp; Jamie stood with Reese and watched him go into the hardware store.

  “I was afraid it would go like that,” Reese said. “He seems guilty.”

  “He doesn’t want to talk. He must have something to hide.”

  “It’s almost sad,” she said. “He’s a much older man with a new life. He probably regrets what he did. He doesn’t have a criminal record.”

  “He killed two women. I hope they haunted him every day.”

  “I wasn’t saying what he did is all right. He lost control of weak emotions that turned violent and now he’ll have to pay the consequences.”

  Jamie could see through the front window and watched Virgil disappear toward the back of the hardware store. “Let’s go in when the store opens and see what he does with that coffee cup.”

  Fifteen minutes later, the owner unlocked the doors. He and Reese got out and crossed the street.

  “Morning, Reese,” the owner called from behind the counter. “I thought you were all finished with your renovations.”

  “Just a few touch-ups left.”

  Jamie walked with her through the hardware store, searching for Virgil and his coffee cup. She pretended to look over some curtain rods. Down the next aisle, they spotted him. He was putting containers of windshield washer fluid onto a display near the front window.

  He paused and drank from the cup, draining its contents and putting it on a nearby shelf. When he glanced their way, Jamie picked up a light fixture and showed it to Reese. Virgil looked at them again, with severe consternation. But he kept on working, seemingly secure that they weren’t going to make an arrest for murder. Not today.

  He and Reese stayed at the light fixtures awhile longer. Virgil finished stacking the containers and took his cup with him as he headed for the back. Jamie went to the end of the aisle and then walked to the last aisle closest to the back. As he approached the entrance, Virgil appeared abruptly, stepping to the corner of a countertop and tossing the coffee cup into a nearly full bag of trash.

  Jamie veered into the aisle and checked out a row of shovels. Virgil eyed him for a while and then walked back out into the hardware store. He walked toward the front, seeing Reese paying for a light fixture. The hardware store owner rang up her purchase and casually bade her goodbye.