OUTLAW LAWMAN

by Delores Fossen

  Slade stayed quiet a moment. “Most people know that it’s hard as hell to retrieve a fingerprint from a body.”

  “Hard but not impossible. All I need is for Sherry’s killer to have enough concern that he’ll try to do something to cover up that print.”

  And not something that involved Caitlyn and him either. Nor anyone in his family.

  “Guess this means you’ll want someone watching the morgue?” Slade clarified.

  “Oh, yeah. And I don’t want the ME or anyone else in the building.”

  “No one’s over there anyway this time of night. Not even a security guard, but they do have an alarm.”

  “Keep it on and have someone in place to watch all entrances and exits before you send out the leak. You got the manpower for that?”

  “I can find it.” Slade didn’t hesitate. “I’ll call you when I have something.”

  Caitlyn got to her feet and scrubbed her hand down the side of her jeans. “If it’s Farris, he’ll hire someone to destroy the evidence.”

  Harlan agreed. Billy likely would, too. And that left Devin and Curtis. He didn’t know them well, but if they were behind these deaths, he doubted either would want evidence to convict them.

  Of course, even if they managed to make an arrest, it still meant unraveling all the threatening notes, Farris’s computer-hacking adventures, Tiffany’s car accident, their own kidnapping and the shootings.

  “What now?” Caitlyn asked.

  “Now we wait.” Harlan checked the time. “You should get some rest,” he reminded her again. Reminded himself, too.

  But he didn’t move. Couldn’t. And he swore that someone had cemented his feet to the floor.

  “Do we really want to do this?” she asked, her voice all warm and breathy.

  Since he was a guy, his body wasn’t going to let him think long and hard about a question like that. So he just jumped right into the mistake they’d be making no matter how much thought he gave it.

  Harlan reached out, hooked his arm around her waist and pulled her to him. The problem was she didn’t even put up a token resistance or offer any other questions that might force him to think. Then he kissed her and forgot all about questions and common sense. Forgot all about the other things he should be doing.

  Hell, he forgot how to breathe.

  Everything hit him at once. The feel of her in his arms. The way she fit against his body. Her taste. Yeah, especially that. Some women just tasted good, and Caitlyn tasted better than good.

  She made a little purring sound deep in her throat that stalled his breath, and she coiled her arms around him. Soon they were plastered against each other. Until his body started to remind him just how much better this kiss would be if he stripped off Caitlyn’s clothes and kissed every inch of her body.

  Caitlyn clearly had the same idea, because she went after his shirt. And she wasn’t very good at it. She tugged, pulled, catching his chest hair. It didn’t cool him down one bit, and he finally let go of her for just a second so he could shuck the shirt off over his head.

  Her eyes lit up, she smiled and she looked at his chest as if she planned to have him for dinner. Harlan figured he was looking at her the same darn way.

  While she kissed his chest, touched him and generally made him hot and crazy, Harlan rid her of her own top. Her bra was lace and white. Barely there. But it was too much between them, so he quickly rid her of it and did some payback. He dropped lower and kissed her breasts.

  A lot.

  “Yes,” she mumbled. “And so help me, you’d better not call this off when your conscience kicks in.”

  He lifted his head so he could give her a flat look, took her hand and pressed it to the front of his jeans. “Does it feel like I’ll call it off?”

  Her next smile had a touch of the devil in it. “No.” She shoved down his zipper and put her hand inside. Not just inside his jeans either. She might have fumbled with the shirt, but she found her way into his boxers without a problem and latched on to his erection.

  Harlan was sure his eyes crossed.

  “Hell,” he muttered. And while he could still walk, he scooped her up and headed for his bedroom.

  “Not up for sex on the floor?” she teased. Tormented, too, because while his hands were occupied with carrying her, she kept touching him. Kept driving him crazy. Until he dropped her onto the bed, yanked off his boots and settled on top of her.

  Harlan grabbed her jeans and pulled them off. Panties, too. He saw the tiny white scars on her belly and some letters tattooed on her left hip.

  She followed his gaze to what had snagged his attention. “I had navel rings. Relics from my wild-child days.”

  Now all hidden away for him to rediscover. That sent a rush of fire through him, but he stopped when he looked at the letters again.

  H. M.

  “Harlan McKinney,” she provided.

  “You had my initials tattooed on your body?” He felt his mouth drop open.

  “Hey, a girl’s first time is a big deal, and I didn’t have enough money to put your whole name there.”

  He was touched. And sad that she’d obviously thought so much of him.

  “No trips down memory lane,” she insisted, and kissed him so hard and deep that memory lane vanished.

  Harlan kissed her right back. Not just her mouth either. But her breasts again. Her belly. Yeah, the tat. Before he went even lower and kissed her in the hottest, wettest part of her body.

  “We didn’t do this at Rocky Creek.” She made a sound of pleasure and wound one hand into his hair. Her other hand clamped onto the bedding as if she was trying to anchor herself.

  “We didn’t do a lot of things.”

  Like go back for seconds, something that Harlan thought he might like to do tonight, especially since it was clear that this wasn’t going to last nearly as long as he wanted.

  “I want you naked,” he heard her say a split second before she gave his hair a yank.

  That got him moving up her body again. Caitlyn used her hands and feet to slide off his jeans and boxers, and even with all that moving around and adjusting, she still managed to get in some pretty potent kisses. She also pulled him on top of her.

  Exactly where he wanted to be.

  But thankfully all his common sense wasn’t gone, because he fumbled in the nightstand drawer, located a condom and somehow managed to get the darn thing on even with Caitlyn pulling and tugging at him.

  “No virgin surprises this time,” he heard her whisper.

  But the jolt was still there when he pushed inside her. Pure pleasure. There went his breath again, and he didn’t care if he ever got it back. The only thing that mattered now was moving inside her and finding the release for the powder keg of pressure roaring through every inch of him.

  Caitlyn was clearly on the same page when it came to pressure and release. She lifted her hips. Dug her fingers into his back. And met him thrust for thrust.

  He felt the climax ripple through her body. Saw it, too, in the depths of her crystal-blue eyes. Heard it in her uneven breath. She mumbled something.

  His name, he realized.

  With his name still shaping her lips, she pulled him down to her. And kissed him.

  Harlan returned the kiss. Hard and deep. And with Caitlyn’s taste in his mouth, he let her take him to the only place he wanted to go.

  * * *

  CAITLYN WONDERED WHY she was still so wide-awake when she desperately needed sleep. She’d dozed on and off, but that was about it.

  Her body was slack from the great sex, and she had a nice little sexual buzz still going on. Plus, she was in Harlan’s bed snuggled in his arms while he snoozed away.

  It should have been a perfect recipe for sleep.

  If she could only turn off h
er mind.

  For the first time in days, it wasn’t the investigation that was weighing her down. Nor was it the sex or the anticipation of it. It was the consequences of sex that troubled her now. Harlan would regret it. Not the act itself, but he would likely feel as if he owed her something.

  Like dinner.

  Or dates.

  He knew that she wouldn’t expect anything from him. After all, she hadn’t so much as whimpered when they’d parted company sixteen years ago.

  Well, she hadn’t whimpered in front of him anyway.

  But she had spent plenty of nights sobbing her eyes out for a boy she thought was so far above her that she would only pull him down into the gutter with her. But now there was no bad-girl gutter, just the massive differences in their chosen careers.

  But after sex, even that didn’t feel like an obstacle.

  And that was why even if Harlan knew he didn’t owe her, he would feel as if he did. Because he was a good man to the very core. She’d known that sixteen years ago, and she certainly knew it now.

  “Don’t you ever stop thinking?” he mumbled.

  She looked down at him as he peeked out at her from one partially opened eye. “You can hear me think?”

  “Pretty much.” He hauled her closer, chest to chest, and tucked her head beneath his chin. “Other than your navel, what else did you have pierced?”

  Caitlyn couldn’t help it—she smiled. “You don’t want to know.”

  Harlan pulled back, met her gaze. “Now I really want to know.”

  Mercy, he was even hotter post-sex with that rumpled black hair and sleepy gray bedroom eyes.

  “I had my nose pierced.” Caitlyn touched the spot that had long since healed. “My eyebrow.” Also healed. “And my earlobes.” She still had double sets of those, but once there had been a quadruple line of piercings.

  He stared at her, obviously waiting. “Nothing else?”

  “Sorry to ruin your erotic fantasies.”

  “Nothing’s ruined.” He ran his thumb over her bottom lip. “So, what were you thinking so hard about?”

  Uh-oh.

  Here it came. The dreaded relationship conversation. Caitlyn figured Harlan wasn’t any better at this than she was. She also figured it was a conversation he didn’t even want to have. She sure didn’t.

  “I was planning our wedding.” And she didn’t crack a smile when she said it.

  That got his eyes wide-open.

  Now she smiled. “Wait. Did I say wedding? I meant our next round of this.” She slid her hand between them and touched, touched, touched. “Actually, I was thinking you’ve gotten really good at sex.”

  “So have you.” Harlan pulled her back to him for a kiss, and just like that she was all hot again.

  Sheez.

  She wasn’t a teenager, but she was acting and feeling like one.

  The kissing continued. Not fast and frantic like before. But slow and lazy. Oh, yes. This time there’d be foreplay, and even though she’d just had Harlan, she wanted him and the foreplay all over again.

  “Do I owe you an apology? A heart-to-heart talk?” Even with his mouth on hers, she could feel his smile. “Or an engagement ring?”

  She smiled, too. “I’ll settle for what you’re doing right now.”

  But the last word had barely left her mouth when Harlan’s phone buzzed.

  He cursed, got up and located his jeans on the floor. Not easy to do, since every item of their clothing was scattered around. Still naked, he took out the phone and jabbed the button to answer it.

  Harlan’s back was to her, but Caitlyn could see the anger over the interruption drain from his body. He turned and met her gaze, and she saw that the anger had been replaced by serious concern.

  “Who?” Harlan snapped. But he obviously didn’t get an answer, because he repeated it until he was practically shouting into the phone.

  That got Caitlyn moving, and while she tried to hear what was going on, she snatched up her clothes and started dressing. “What happened?” she asked the second Harlan ended the call. He, too, put on his jeans.

  “That was Billy. He said someone’s kidnapped him. The person dragged him from his car and took him to Rocky Creek.”

  Her stomach went to her knees. Not only because she was concerned for Billy but because she knew this meant Harlan had to respond.

  “Who did this?” she asked.

  But Harlan shook his head and tugged on his boots. “Billy said it was someone wearing a ski mask.”

  Which told them nothing, because it could be any of their suspects.

  Including Billy himself.

  “Billy said if I brought anyone else to Rocky Creek, the kidnapper warned him that he’d start shooting.” Harlan pressed a button on his phone, sandwiched the cell between his shoulder and ear and kept dressing at a frantic pace. As if every second counted.

  And it probably did.

  “It could be a trap.” But she knew Harlan had no doubt already considered that.

  “I’m sure of it, but I have no choice. I have to go.”

  It was his job, yes, but Caitlyn wanted to grab him and make him stay put.

  “Slade,” Harlan said when his brother came on the line. “We got a huge problem. Someone’s kidnapped Billy. And Declan.”

  “Declan?” Caitlyn said on a gasp. Oh, God.

  “Yeah, Declan,” Harlan verified and went back to his phone conversation with Slade. “We have to get out to Rocky Creek right away.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Everything inside Harlan was racing—the bad thoughts and the fear for his brother’s life. But he forced himself to think. He couldn’t go off half-cocked when all of this could be a trap. One that could get Caitlyn, Declan, Billy, him and God knew who else killed.

  First things first. He tried to call Declan, hanging on to the hope that this was all a hoax, that Declan would answer and assure him that he hadn’t been kidnapped.

  But the call went straight to voice mail.

  Next up, he tried the number Billy had just used to call him. No answer there either.

  That got Harlan moving even faster, and he grabbed some extra ammunition from the top shelf of his closet. An extra weapon, too, so he’d have a backup.

  “Declan’s really been taken?” Caitlyn asked. There was little color in her face now, and her hands were trembling.

  “Probably.” And Harlan could blame himself for that. “I shouldn’t have planted the lie about the fingerprint.”

  Her shoulders went back. “You had no idea this monster would go after Declan.”

  No, but he should have anticipated it. He’d counted heavily on the guy trying to destroy the so-called fingerprint evidence. And maybe that was still the plan. The killer could be using Declan as a distraction.

  Harlan made another call—this time to Slade. “Make sure you keep someone at the morgue.”

  Slade assured him that he would, and Harlan quickly ended the call so he could head out. “I’ll take you to stay with Kirby and Stella—”

  “I can help.”

  He took her by the arm and got her moving. “You can also get killed. Don’t argue, because this isn’t up for discussion. You’ll stay with Stella, Kirby and Wyatt. The ranch hands will be around, too, and all of them know how to shoot.”

  “You really think the killer would come here?”

  No. He didn’t. And that was why Harlan had come up with this plan to leave her here. There were a dozen ranch hands plus Wyatt. The main house had a brand-new security system, something that just about everyone in town was talking about. The killer would know this wasn’t the place for a showdown. Besides, killing them wouldn’t destroy the evidence.

  Unless the killer knew the fingerprint was fake.
r />   That put a hard knot in his gut, but Harlan didn’t back down on his plan. He led Caitlyn through his house and to the front door. His truck was parked just on the other side of the fence. Just a few yards away. But he didn’t go barreling out into the darkness. He took a few precious seconds to look around. He didn’t see anyone lurking in the shadows, but that didn’t mean someone wasn’t there.

  “Wait here,” he ordered and hurried out the door.

  He braced himself for shots. For anything. But nothing happened, thank God.

  Harlan jumped into his truck, started it and backed up enough so he could drive through the fence. The wood pickets went flying, and he stopped directly in front of the steps. He threw open the passenger door.

  Even though Caitlyn was visibly shaken, she got moving when he motioned for her to get in. The second she was on the seat, she slammed the door, and he sped away. Toward the main house that was about a quarter of a mile away.

  He took out his phone again to call Stella and tell her what was going on, but before he could press in her number, his cell buzzed, and he saw Billy’s number on the screen. That didn’t help the knot in his stomach. Yeah, he needed to talk to Billy, but he hoped like the devil that the man wasn’t about to deliver some bad news.

  “The kidnapper gave me a written message to pass on to you,” Billy said.

  “Who is he, and why the hell doesn’t he tell me himself?” Harlan fired back.

  “I don’t know who he is, but I think he wants me to talk to you so you won’t hear his voice. He says you have to bring Caitlyn with you.”

  Harlan didn’t even have to think about it. “No way.”

  “If you don’t, he’ll kill Declan.”

  It was a good thing he’d reached the ranch house and could come to a stop. “Tell the kidnapper to let me talk to Declan,” Harlan insisted. Because even though it wasn’t something he could accept, he had to know if his brother was still alive. “Now!” he added when he didn’t get an immediate response.

  There were some sounds of the phone being moved around, and the seconds crawled by. Caitlyn sucked in her breath and scrambled across the seat until her ear was pressed right to his.