by B. J Daniels
She shuddered and rose to her feet. Embarrassment and humiliation heated her cheeks as, with trembling fingers, she pulled up her bra and reached for her T-shirt where he’d tossed it. Turning her back to him, she pulled it on. She was still breathing hard, still fighting more tears.
“I’m so sorry.”
“You have nothing to be sorry about,” he said hoarsely. “That was all my doing. I shouldn’t have... Mariah?” He touched her shoulder, turning her to face him. She saw surprise and puzzlement in his gray eyes. “Has no man ever done that to you before?”
Tears welled again. She shook her head as she said, “Darby, I can’t—”
“You’ve never made love, have you?”
Her throat constricted. She made angry swipes at her tears as she shook her head and then saw his expression.
He looked so surprised, so confused. “It’s all right,” he whispered.
For a while, she’d forgotten who she was, why she was on the run, what she had to fear. This cowboy was her mark. He knew her as a thief who was only here to get her bracelet back. What she’d just done... What she was feeling...
“No, it’s not,” she cried. “Darby, I’m... I’m married.”
He’d had a hand on her shoulder, but he withdrew it in surprise. She hurriedly slipped past him. Grabbing her backpack, she shot out the door. For an instant, she thought about going after her bracelet. But it was pitch-black in the stand of pines and without a flashlight, she’d never be able to find it.
Nor did she have time. She’d have to let it go. Right now, it was the least of her problems. She just needed to get away from here. From Darby. Her chest ached with a well of emotion at just the thought of him.
She ran to her motorcycle. Leaping on, she cranked up the engine and hit the throttle. The bike practically jumped out from under her.
Mariah hung on, taking off in a cloud of dust and gravel.
She didn’t dare look back. Could never look back. Her bracelet was gone, but that was the least of her heartache. She kept remembering the way Darby had touched her, the way he looked at her, the way he’d held her. She shivered at the memory and felt racked with guilt and shame. She had let him touch her like that, knowing the cost.
The motorcycle’s headlights cut through the darkness. Ahead the road was nothing but a black hole. She roared toward it.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
FLINT PUT DOWN the phone. The results weren’t back on his father yet and Ely was giving everyone at the hospital trouble. Nothing new there.
But he didn’t have time for this. He raked his fingers through his hair in frustration. There’d been another break-in. This time some jewelry was taken.
He sighed as he looked across his desk at his undersheriff. “I’m trying to figure out how they pick their targets. These kids are in school all day. How are they finding out who is going to be away from home and when?”
Mark shook his head. “Maybe they just stake out the house.”
Flint couldn’t imagine how they could have done that. “You see three girls like Tori Clark, Wendy Westbrook and Laralee Fraser standing outside your house, you’re going to be suspicious. No, the homeowners would have noticed. This is small-town Montana where people keep an eye out for their neighbors. These girls have a method. They know what house they’re going to hit and that no one is home.”
Mark looked skeptical. “They’re kids. I’m willing to bet they don’t even get good grades in school. You really think they have thought this through to the extent that they have a way of knowing which houses are safe to hit?”
“I do. Otherwise they would have been caught by now. They’re taunting us. These kids are smart. Also with technology they have easy access to each other.”
“If we could get a warrant for one of their phones...”
Flint shook his head. “Even if the judge would allow it, I doubt they would keep anything incriminating on their phones.”
“I don’t get it. If you’re right and Tori Clark and Wendy Westbrook are involved, I have to wonder why. These are kids from rich families by Gilt Edge standards. They don’t need anything that they’ve taken.”
“Exactly. It’s sport for them. Which begs the question of why Laralee Fraser would be involved. She doesn’t hang out with them at school. That much I do know. They’re from completely different backgrounds.”
Mark sighed. “You’re thinking bullying.”
“It’s crossed my mind. It seems Tori and Wendy were with Laralee when she bought her sneakers. The clerk thought the other two might have been making her buy them since Laralee had to part with what appeared to be hard-earned cash. I need to talk to Laralee and her parents, but if I’m right, she isn’t going to tell me what’s going on if it’s bullying. She’ll be more afraid of Tori and Wendy than the law.”
“If you’re right, then they don’t really want what they’re stealing, so they won’t be stupid enough to hang on to it either,” Mark said.
“Anyway, getting a search warrant would be next to impossible with Wendy’s grandfather being a judge. We need to catch them in the act.”
He’d written down the houses that were hit, what time, what was taken. He pushed the paper across to Mark. “Do you see a pattern I’m missing?”
The undersheriff studied the sheet for few minutes before shaking his head. “It’s so random. You would think they would have been caught by now. You have Harp watching out for them, right?”
Flint groaned. Deputy Harper Cole. The man was a thorn in his side. But not for much longer. “Who knows if Harper is paying attention to anything other than the new waitress down at Sue’s Diner. These thieves should have been caught by now. We’re missing something.”
“If we just knew where they would hit next.”
“Or how they’re picking the houses to hit.” His phone rang. It was the lab about the fingerprints he wanted run on Mariah Ayers.
* * *
DARBY HAD TOSSED and turned until the wee hours of the morning. Married? And yet the way she’d reacted to his touch... He couldn’t make sense of it. If she was married, how was it possible that she’d never made love?
When he’d finally fallen asleep, it had been like dropping into a bottomless well. He’d come out of it with a start, not sure what had awakened him, until he’d heard someone banging on the door downstairs.
Bleary-eyed, he stumbled downstairs to find the sheriff at his door.
“Flint?” His mind raced. Was he here about Dad? Or someone else in the family? Or Mariah? His heart began to pound. “What is it?”
“One of the lab techs dropped that glass before we could get fingerprints off it,” his brother said. “Mariah worked yesterday, right? Any chance...”
He swung the door open wider. “You can check in the bar.”
“Didn’t mean to wake you this early,” Flint said, eyeing him standing there in his boxer shorts. “I didn’t interrupt anything, did I?”
Darby groaned. Lillie and her big mouth. “No, you didn’t. Just give me a minute to get dressed.” He turned on his heel and raced back upstairs. Now his whole family would think that he and Mariah were an item. Just the thought of her and what had happened made him shake his head. He’d never felt so confused about his own feelings—let alone about what was going on with Mariah.
“Fortunately, I found a couple of dirty ones that had been missed last night as if your waitresses had a drink last night after the bar closed,” Flint said when he found him behind the bar. He was balancing a dirty glass. “If you don’t mind I’ll take both of these. Maybe we’ll get a hit.”
“You’re still suspicious of Mariah?” Darby asked.
“Aren’t you?”
He said nothing, hoping his brother was wrong about her—while fearing Flint was not. Just the thought that there might b
e something in Mariah’s past worse than a pickpocketing charge—and a marriage—scared him.
Flint had packaged up two bar glasses when his cell phone rang. “It’s the hospital.” He took the call, listening and nodding. When he disconnected, he finally turned to Darby to say, “That was the doctor. He’s releasing Dad. But he wants to talk to a couple of family members before he does. Want to come along?”
* * *
MAGGIE FELT AS if her feet hadn’t touched the ground since her date with Flint. She found herself humming as she opened the beauty shop. It was her day off. The shop was closed, but she wanted to finish that paperwork she’d started last night.
If she could keep her mind on work. Flint had called her later last night and again this morning.
She wondered if they were still taking it slow? Mostly she wondered if they would ever get around to making love?
“I want it to be special the first time,” Flint had said. “No pressure.”
She’d agreed, knowing then why he wanted to wait. The one time they’d tried to move to the next level in their budding relationship, Celeste had interfered and they’d broken up. Maggie blamed herself for overreacting, and yet Flint was the one who’d dropped everything—her included—when Celeste crooked her little finger.
But she felt that this time they might work through it. Where before Flint had refused to believe that Celeste was so manipulative that she’d purposely try to keep them apart, now he wasn’t so naive. Still, Celeste was always on their minds. Maggie knew Flint must be like her, waiting for Celeste to find out they were together again, waiting for that other shoe to drop.
Not that she thought Celeste was going to be able to keep them apart this time. What could the woman do that she hadn’t already done? She smiled as she unlocked her shop. Where they were now was so much better than before. It was as if they’d come through a storm and were stronger because of it. In fact, Flint had invited her to his sister and Trask Beaumont’s wedding as his date.
“It’s informal, mostly family,” he’d said. “I want you there.”
She’d readily agreed. She still hadn’t worn that blue dress she’d bought. It was one that Celeste had caught her trying on. The woman had tried to talk her out of buying it, saying she had one just like it—in a smaller size of course.
Maggie laughed when she thought of it. She’d almost put the dress back. But Celeste had said something else that day. She’d said that she thought Flint would like it on her. Maggie thought at least that had been the truth. So she’d bought it—just hadn’t had a chance to wear it for Flint. But she would now.
Flint asking her to his sister’s wedding, well Maggie saw it as a commitment of sorts. They were a couple. Even though it was still weeks away, she wasn’t worried. Before she would have been concerned about what Celeste might do to keep her from going.
After years of being in love with Flint and waiting for him to get over his ex-wife, Maggie had to pinch herself. Was it really happening this time?
She turned on the light and started back toward her station—and froze. A scream rose in her throat as she frantically dug for her phone.
* * *
“GOOD NEWS,” THE DOCTOR said when Darby and Flint walked into Ely’s hospital room. They’d already heard that their father had been causing problems, certain he was fine and ready to go home. “There appears to have been minimal damage done by the strokes.”
Ely instantly looked relieved—just as Darby had been when the doctor told him. “But?” his father asked.
“But, there is a chance that next time it might be worse, more debilitating.”
“If you’re talking surgery—”
“Listen to what he has to say, Dad,” Flint interrupted.
“Mr. Cahill, you’re in great shape for your age.”
“I get plenty of exercise.”
The doctor nodded. “The concern is your diet. I understand you don’t smoke but what about your alcohol intake?”
Ely chuckled and shot a glance at Flint. “Don’t need to pussyfoot around me. I would imagine my son has mentioned that I’ve been known to go on benders.”
The doctor smiled. “He did mention that. The problem is we don’t know what caused your strokes. Or when they will hit again. If you’re up in the mountains—”
“I’ll be bear bait,” Ely said. “And damned proud of it. The mountains are where I plan to die, doctor. Somethin’ will get me sooner or later. If it’s a stroke, well then so be it. Now please get my clothes because I’m leavin’.”
* * *
LILLIE WAS WAITING for him at the kitchen table when Darby returned from the hospital. When he’d gone past Mariah’s cabin both coming and going from the hospital, her motorcycle had been gone. He’d known that one day she would leave. After last night... She was married. He still couldn’t get his head around it. Just as he couldn’t bear the thought that he might not see her again. It left him feeling bereft and helpless.
He had a crazy urge to go after her. Track her down and... And then what? She was married. With all his thoughts on Mariah, it took him a moment to realize something was seriously wrong with his sister.
“What is it?” Not their dad. The wedding? Or something to do with the saloon? Had Mariah come by and quit? He remembered that he still had her check.
Billie Dee, he noticed, was cooking, but she wasn’t singing, which in itself was unusual.
“What’s wrong?” he demanded, suddenly scared.
“There’s money missing,” Lillie said.
His heart dropped. Mariah had worked last night. When he’d found her in this very room, she’d had something she wanted to tell him. “You mean from last night?”
“No, we’ve been short for a while,” Lillie said looking miserable.
He stared at her. “Why didn’t you say something?”
“Because at first it wasn’t much. But lately...”
“How long has this been going on?” he finally asked, afraid he already knew the answer. He’d thought he’d been watching Mariah closely enough...
Lillie started to answer but stopped as their brother Flint walked in the back door.
“Is it Dad?” Lillie cried, jumping to her feet.
“Dad’s fine,” Flint said quickly, looking to Darby as if to say, “Haven’t you already told her?”
“I just got here. I haven’t had time to talk to her about Dad.”
“What about Dad?” she demanded.
“He’s fine,” Darby said. “The doctor released him. Flint took him home.”
“He’s as stubborn and irascible as ever,” Flint told her. “I’m not here about that.” Flint shifted his gaze to Darby. “Is there a place we could talk?”
Darby nodded, although he had no idea what this might be about. “We can talk later about the other thing,” he told his sister.
“Shouldn’t we tell Flint?” she asked as the two started out of the room.
“Tell me what?” their brother asked.
“Later. One thing at a time,” Darby said as he led his brother upstairs to the apartment and closed the door half expecting Lillie to have her ear to it soon enough.
“Love what you’ve done with the place,” Flint said sarcastically.
“What’s going on?” He didn’t have the time or the patience for idle conversation. He realized that he’d made up his mind. He was going after Mariah.
“I put a rush on the fingerprints from the bar glasses I took,” Flint said. “Didn’t want to lose the glasses or have them get broken again. The results came back a lot quicker than I expected.”
Darby sucked in a breath and held it as he braced himself for the news. He was finally going to know what Mariah might be running from. He was going after her, but he didn’t want the law after her too—unless it
already was.
“There were three sets of fingerprints on one of the glasses. Two of them didn’t bring up a hit,” Flint was saying. “You said Mariah and Kendall were working last night?”
He nodded, his stomach roiling.
“But the one set came right up because of a felony theft conviction and a dozen other miscellaneous charges, including fraud and embezzlement.”
Darby told himself he shouldn’t have been surprised. But he couldn’t help feeling disappointed nonetheless since against his better judgment he had feelings for Mariah. Feelings he shouldn’t have let happen, but couldn’t help.
“I guess it’s good that Mariah doesn’t work here anymore,” he said.
“Mariah? No. It wasn’t her. It was Kendall Raines, although that is just one of a half dozen different aliases she has used. How is it you didn’t know she had a record? Didn’t you run a check on her before you hired her?”
He stared at his brother. “Kendall?” He swore under his breath as the realization hit him. Not Mariah. Kendall. Mariah had no record at all.
Darby let out a relieved laugh as he opened the apartment door to call down to Lillie who quickly sprinted up the stairs. “How long did you say the money has been short?” he asked.
“Six months or so. Usually just a small enough amount that I didn’t worry about it too much. I thought one of the regulars might have been dipping into the till when one of us turned our backs.”
Darby shook his head. “It’s Kendall.”
His sister frowned. “What’s Kendall?”
“She’s the thief. That’s what Flint came to tell me. She has a record.”
Lillie looked from him to Flint and back again with wide eyes. “Kendall is a thief?”
Their perfect employee. Darby laughed again. “Who would have thought it?” All he could think about was Mariah—and going after her. It was a crazy thing to do. But for the first time in his life, his heart was running the show.
“Trouble is,” Flint was saying, “you’ll have a hard time proving it. I doubt you’ll be able to get that money back.”
