Settling an Old Score

by Delores Fossen

  Eli just stared at her and waited her out. It took her several moments, and she kept her gaze on the floor, but Ashlyn finally continued. “This might be easier if I really did hate you. I don’t.” She looked up at him, and yeah, their eyes locked.

  “It wouldn’t be easier,” he assured her. “I didn’t like you hating me.”

  She gave him that half smile again and brushed her hand down his arm. It wasn’t a flirty kind of gesture. More the signaling of some kind of truce.

  Despite that, it went straight to his groin.

  That wasn’t a good direction for any kind of feeling to go, and before Eli could talk some sense into himself, he slipped his hand around the back of Ashlyn’s neck, pulled her to him and kissed her.

  Eli grimaced at her taste. Not because it was bad but because it was damn good. Like a really nice present that he’d just unwrapped. A hot one, and that heat did a number on him when it slid right through him.

  Ashlyn moaned, her pleasure mixed with some hesitation. Which meant she was smarter than he was right now because he couldn’t muster up any hesitation whatsoever. None. Eli just hauled her closer and deepened the kiss until it was more than a mere slide of heat. There was need. An urgency. The kind of rush that upped the stupidity and made him remember being naked with her in his truck.

  Gunnar’s noisy yawn caused them to jerk apart—which Eli was certain he should see as a good thing. Once his body softened and the steam cleared in his head, that is. Gunnar lifted his head, glancing at them from over the back of the sofa. In that glance Eli got a reminder that Gunnar was a good cop, because he saw the realization in the deputy’s eyes. Gunnar knew what they’d been doing.

  “I’ll be back,” Gunnar mumbled, tipping his head in the general direction of the hall bathroom. That was no doubt an invitation for Ashlyn and him to continue the mistake they’d just been making. They wouldn’t. But Eli figured he’d be thinking way too much about doing it again.

  “I know you’re sorry that happened,” Ashlyn whispered. “There’s no need to apologize.”

  She didn’t give him a chance to even consider if he wanted to do that. Ashlyn went back to the fridge and took out one of the sandwiches that they’d picked up earlier from the diner. Apparently, kissing him made her hungry. He was hungry, all right, but not for food.

  “Were you able to find out any more about Dominick’s bank account?” she asked.

  He reminded himself that talking about the investigation was a good thing. Whether it felt like one or not. “Nothing. No suspicious withdrawals.” Of course, Eli hadn’t expected there to be, since Dominick had voluntarily given them access. “I called the prison, and the warden is setting up a phone call with Leon. I want to ask him about Oscar, about what he said.”

  She nodded. “It’s true that Oscar visited Leon?”

  “Yes. He’s been there three times since Leon’s conviction, but two of those visits have happened in the last month. The conversations were monitored, but the recordings of the visits have already been wiped.”

  Judging from her expression, she wasn’t any more pleased with the timing than Eli was. He was about to add that maybe they would get Leon to tell them what Oscar and he had discussed during those visits, but there was still way too much fog and heat cluttering his mind.

  “Look, I just want to get this off my chest,” he grumbled. “I didn’t kiss you so that you’d stop hating me. Or so you’d stop feeling as if I didn’t do my job the night Marta and you were shot. The kiss just happened.”

  He wanted to groan because that sounded about as stupid as the kiss itself had been. The fact that it was true didn’t make it better.

  She took in a breath and stared at him as if considering that. “I didn’t think that. It didn’t seem like some kind of ploy or test. It felt like, well, like what it actually was—lust.” She glanced in the direction of his zipper and actually managed a smile.

  That didn’t make it better, either, but Eli found himself wanting to smile, too. Thankfully, he was spared from doing that because his phone rang. Not the prison, but it was a call he’d been expecting.

  “It’s Marta’s dad,” Eli let her know, and he took the call on speaker so that Ashlyn would be able to hear.

  “Sergeant Slater,” Gus greeted. “I didn’t expect to hear from you.”

  And he didn’t sound especially happy about it. Eli couldn’t blame the man. Just hearing Eli’s voice likely brought back a slew of bad memories. Eli figured that would only get worse with this call.

  “Some questions have come up,” Eli started. There was no easy way to say this so he just put it out there as fast as he could. “The mortician who handled your daughter’s remains has been murdered. Marta’s file was stolen. Her hospital records are missing. All of that doesn’t add up to a solid conclusion, but I have to ask the question. Do you believe Marta’s still alive?”

  Silence. For a long time. “Is this some kind of sick joke?” Gus finally snapped.

  “No,” Eli assured him. “Do you believe she’s alive?” he repeated.

  “Of course not. I buried her. You know that.”

  Yes, he thought he did. Eli had gone to the funeral, but it’d been a closed-casket service. “Did you actually see Marta’s body?”

  “No, but—” There was another stretch of silence. “Tell me straight what’s going on,” Gus demanded.

  Because he figured he would need it, Eli first drew in a long breath. “Like I said, what I have isn’t close to being conclusive. A mortician’s dead, files are missing, and I had a person come forward who claims to have heard rumors that Marta might have faked her death to hide from some drug dealers. I just need to know if you think there’s any chance that happened.”

  There was another long silence. “I didn’t ask to see her body. I couldn’t.”

  Eli got that, but he wished that Gus had taken a glimpse of his daughter when he’d said goodbye. “I’ve done the paperwork to exhume Marta’s body.” Eli paused long enough to give the man time to object.

  Gus didn’t.

  “You really think she could be alive?” Gus asked, and Eli hated the hope that he heard in the man’s voice.

  “I have to rule it out,” Eli settled for saying.

  “Then get it done. In fact, if it’ll speed things along, I’ll pay for it. I want it done immediately.”

  Eli wasn’t sure he could make immediately happen, but he could press. “I’ll see what I can do,” he assured Gus, and he ended the call so that he could message Kellan to get him involved.

  When he finished the text, Eli saw that Gus wasn’t the only one with some hope. Ashlyn had it, too. Hell, so did he. But if Marta was alive, then it was going to pose a whole new problem for them. Such as—had Marta had any involvement in the attack from the hired guns?

  Before Eli could give that any thought, his phone rang again, and this time it was the prison. As he’d done with Gus, he put the call on speaker, and after several transfers, he finally heard the familiar voice.

  “Sergeant Slater,” Leon greeted. His voice was low and raspy. “Long time, no see. You’re alive and kicking, I guess?”

  “Any reason I wouldn’t be?” Eli countered, and he tried to make the muscles in his chest relax. Hard to do since this was the man who’d orchestrated an ambush that had killed one person and wounded Ashlyn.

  Well, wounded Ashlyn, anyway.

  With what he was hearing about Marta, he might have to amend Leon’s label. His lawyers would want an amendment, too, and if Marta was truly alive, they could use that to get Leon a much reduced sentence.

  “I heard about the trouble you had out at your place,” Leon answered. “Lots of gossip about it, and it was on the news. The details are a little sketchy, but it sounds like someone took some shots at you.”

  Eli didn’t doubt the news or gossip part, but that might not have b
een the reason Leon knew about it. He might have firsthand knowledge. “You’re sure you didn’t hire someone to kill me?”

  Leon laughed. “You have access to my bank accounts. Oh, wait. I don’t have any bank accounts because I don’t have any money. You also have access to any and all of my visits so unless you think my lawyer floated me a loan, then you know I didn’t hire anyone.”

  Yes, Eli did have access to those things, but that didn’t mean something couldn’t slip by. “You hate me. That means you might have found a way to come after me.”

  No laugh this time, but there was a heavy sigh. “I don’t want you dead. Didn’t want you dead that night, either. Drake said he needed to have it out with Marta, that he was going to convince her to quit ratting on him. You and Marta’s friend, Ashlyn, were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

  Ashlyn went a little pale again, and she was no doubt battling the flashbacks from that night.

  “So you didn’t want me dead, only Marta?” Eli said.

  “Didn’t want Marta dead, either,” Leon insisted. “I actually liked her, but Drake was paying, and I needed cash. It wasn’t personal, just business.”

  There was no chance of Eli’s chest muscles relaxing with that. He wanted to reach through the phone and beat Leon senseless. “It was personal to me,” Eli said, his voice a low, dangerous warning.

  Leon stayed quiet a moment. “What’s this call all about? Because I doubt you’re just wanting a trip down that particular memory lane.”

  “It’s about Oscar. Tell me about his visits.”

  “Oscar,” Leon repeated, and he didn’t sound surprised. More like resigned that his old friend was going to come up in conversation. “You think he’s the one who hired the gunmen.”

  “Did he?” Eli pressed.

  Leon gave another sigh. “Maybe. I honestly don’t know for sure,” he quickly added before Eli could challenge his answer. “Unlike me, what happened with Drake is personal.”

  Everything inside Eli went still. “Explain that.”

  “Oscar and Drake were like brothers, and Oscar wasn’t happy when you killed Drake.”

  “Well, I wasn’t happy when Drake gunned down Marta, shot Ashlyn and then tried to kill me. I get testy when things like that happen. What the hell did Oscar say to you when he visited you in prison?” Eli demanded.

  “That he wasn’t happy about some honor that you got,” Leon answered after a short hesitation. “He got all worked up when you got a commendation last month.”

  Eli had indeed gotten that, because he’d tracked down a killer and saved the hostage that the killer had taken. The commendation had embarrassed him some since he’d just been doing his job, and now it had had this effect. But Eli hadn’t seen anything “worked up” about Oscar when he’d come into the sheriff’s office.

  “Oscar was angry about that?” Eli pressed.

  “Yeah, he said he didn’t like that you were getting on with your life when you’d cut Drake’s life short. And there’s no need for you to remind me that Drake was trying to kill you. Oscar doesn’t believe that. Oh, and he’s riled about Ashlyn, too.”

  Ashlyn’s eyes widened. “Why?” she asked.

  “Because Oscar heard you’d adopted a kid.” Obviously, Leon wasn’t surprised that Ashlyn had been listening to their conversation. “It’s that whole getting on with your life thing.” He paused again. “Look, I think Oscar would like it better if you two were wallowing in grief over what happened.”

  Maybe they weren’t exactly wallowing, but it was still haunting them. Worse, it could be the reason for the attack.

  “Why did Oscar come to visit you twice in the past month?” Eli went on.

  Leon groaned but also made a sound of dismissal. “He just wanted to rant, that’s all. He went on and on about Ashlyn’s kid and your medal. I told him to cool off, but it didn’t help much. He hates your guts.”

  “That’s it?” Eli didn’t roll his eyes, but that’s what he wanted to do. “He drove all that way there just to vent?”

  “That and he wanted to know if I’d kept in touch with any of my old friends.”

  Eli got that feeling down his spine, the one that told him that he was finally onto something. “What old friends?”

  “Just some guys I used to hang out with.” Leon’s tone was casual, but there was nothing casual about what Eli was feeling, and it wasn’t a feeling he intended to push aside.

  “Are you talking about criminal friends?” Eli pressed.

  “They’ve got records, yeah, but Oscar said he might needs some help at his pawnshop. I took that to mean he might need a little muscle or something like that. Maybe some protection in case he’d made some deals that could cause him problems.”

  “Criminal friends,” Eli flatly repeated. “Were two of those guys Charles Cardona and Abe Franklin?” Eli didn’t explain that those were the names of the two dead gunmen who’d tried to kill Ashlyn and him. He just waited for Leon to respond, and it didn’t take long.

  Leon cursed. “I think it’s time I called my lawyer.”

  And with that, Leon ended the call.

  Chapter Nine

  Ashlyn listened as Eli made the follow-up calls about Oscar and Leon. Calls that might hopefully link Oscar to the attack. Of course, Leon had already linked the man by what he’d told Eli and her, but they would need more than the hearsay of a convict to consider Oscar a real suspect.

  Eli was just finishing up those calls when Owen and another deputy, Raylene McNeal, arrived. Ashlyn hadn’t expected the second backup, but she was pleased about it. They had the ranch hands keeping an eye on the place, but she preferred having two trained law enforcement officers guarding her daughter while Eli and she were at her place.

  “Oscar’s not answering his phone. It went straight to voice mail,” Eli told her, and he filled in his brother, Gunnar and Raylene while Ashlyn did a quick check on Cora to make sure she was still asleep.

  She was.

  Maybe they could make it back from her house before the baby woke up. Then she could spend some time with her while she helped Eli unravel this thread that Leon had given them.

  When she went back into the living room, Gunnar and Eli were already at the door. Owen, too, and she heard him lock the door as soon as Gunnar, Eli and she were out and heading to the cruiser.

  “Is there any reason for Leon to lie about this?” Gunnar asked once they were inside. It was a good question and something that Ashlyn was already considering.

  “Maybe Leon’s just ticked off at Oscar about something and thought this was the way to get back at him.” Then Eli shook his head. “But if that were true, Leon would have already figured out a way to get in touch with me so he could blab. What he told us felt more spur-of-the-moment.”

  Ashlyn made a sound of agreement. “And Leon’s worried that he could be considered an accessory after the fact for the attack.”

  That got nods from both Gunnar and Eli, and while she knew they’d heard every word she’d said, they both had their attention on their surroundings. It was all rural property between her place and the Slater ranch, which meant there were plenty of places for a hired gun to lie in wait.

  “When SAPD and the Rangers were investigating Marta’s murder, nothing came up about a connection between Drake and Oscar?” Gunnar asked. He was behind the wheel, and he made brief eye contact with Eli in the rearview mirror.

  “Oscar was interviewed, but so were nearly a hundred others.” Eli cursed under his breath. “It was a connection I should have made.”

  Ashlyn huffed to let him know that there was no way he should put this on his shoulders, and then she realized the huff was a sympathetic show of support. Something Eli wouldn’t want. Something that was a by-product of the kiss in the kitchen.

  A kiss that had changed everything.

  Actually, the change ha
d started before that, around about the time she’d realized they were in this together and that they needed to trust each other. But the kiss had sealed the deal, and no matter how Ashlyn spun it in her head, it had reminded her of a man—or rather a boy—that she’d once loved enough for him to be her first.

  Now she wanted him all over again.

  She huffed again at that, causing Eli to look at her. Gunnar gave her a glance in the mirror, but thankfully she didn’t have to explain herself because Gunnar took the final turn to her place.

  Ashlyn automatically moved closer to the window when her house came into view. Before the attack, there’d been only good memories here, but now she could hear the sounds of those gunmen. Feel the hit from the stun gun. And the terror. Most of all, she remembered the absolute terror of them taking Cora.

  She jolted when Eli slipped his hand over hers. Obviously, she was past being just on edge. Ashlyn had never had a panic attack before, but she was worried that it might happen now.

  “We don’t have to do this,” Eli said, his voice a soothing whisper. She wanted to latch onto it. Onto him. So she gripped his hand harder and steeled herself.

  “I hate them,” she murmured. “The gunmen. Even though they’re dead, I hate them for bringing this to my home.” She shook her head to try to clear it. “I won’t let them take this away from me.”

  “Good.” Eli’s voice wasn’t so soothing now. “Don’t let the SOBs take away anything from you. You’re tough. Hell, you survived getting shot. And you can get through this.”

  She looked at him to see if it was lip service. But it wasn’t. She could tell that from his fierce expression and his eyes. Ashlyn was about to say he was wrong, that she wasn’t tough, but she rethought that. She would do anything—anything—to keep her daughter safe, so that meant she could get through this.

  Gunnar pulled to a stop in front of her house and looked back at Eli and her. “Why don’t I check on the horses? I can make sure they’re fed and have water. Ashlyn, you can pack the things you need.”

  Considering that Eli agreed so quickly, it meant Gunnar and he had likely already worked this out so that she’d be in the house and not out in the open. Ashlyn didn’t argue, but she hoped she got at least glimpses of the horses so she could see for herself that they were okay.