Cowboy Above The Law

Egan shrugged. “Maybe to make us believe you’re innocent and knew nothing about it.”

“I am innocent,” she practically yelled. Rayna stopped though and peered at the mess in the living room. “But maybe my intruder is behind what happened in town and what happened to that woman, as well. He could have arranged to have your father shot, killed her, and then he could have come out here to attack me. His prints could be on the lamp. It’s what he used to bash me over the head.”

Court looked at her, and for a split second, she thought she saw some sympathy in his intense gray eyes. It was gone as quickly as it’d come, and he stood there, waiting. Maybe for an explanation that would cause all of this to make sense. But she couldn’t give him that.

Rayna huffed. “If I was going to do something to fake an assault, I wouldn’t have hit myself that hard on my head or cracked my ribs. And I wouldn’t have broken my grandmother’s lamp.”

It sickened her to see it shattered like that. In the grand scheme of things, it wasn’t a huge deal, but it felt like one to her. It was one of the few things she had left of her gran. And now it was gone—much like what little peace of mind she’d managed to regain over the past year.

“Who do you think would have done something like this?” Court asked, tipping his head toward the living room.

“Bobby Joe,” she answered without thinking. She knew it would get huffs and eye rolls from them, and it did. “You think he’s dead, that I killed him. But I know I didn’t. So, that means he could still be out there.”

Court didn’t repeat his huff, but she could tell he wanted to. “So, you think Bobby Joe set you up for my father’s shooting and then came out here and attacked you? If he’s really alive, why would he wait three years to do that?”

Rayna gave it some thought and didn’t have an answer. However, she wouldn’t put it past Bobby Joe. At the end of their relationship, he’d threatened to kill her. Maybe this was his way of doing that. Bobby Joe could be toying with her while also getting back at Warren McCall, who hadn’t managed to get her convicted of murder.

But there was something else. A piece that didn’t seem to fit.

“Tell me about the waitress,” Rayna insisted. “Who was she, and why did she take the picture of the woman in the parking lot?”

“Her name is Janet Bolin,” Court answered. “She said she took the photo because she thought you...or rather the woman...was acting strange.”

Egan groaned. Probably because he was agreeing with her theory of an ill-fitting puzzle piece. “I’ll get a CSI team out here to process the place.” He pressed a button on his phone and went onto the porch to make the call.

“You know this waitress?” Rayna asked Court.

He shook his head. “She’s new, has only been working there a week or so, but I’ve seen her around. We’ll bring her in for questioning.”

Good. Because it meant Rayna was finally making some headway in convincing Court that she hadn’t fired that shot or had anything to do with that woman’s death.

She hesitated before asking her next question. “How’s your father?” Warren was a touchy subject for both of them.

A muscle flickered in Court’s jaw. “He’s out of surgery but still unconscious. We don’t know just how bad the damage is yet.”

He might have added more, might, but a sound outside stopped him. Sirens. They were from the ambulance that was coming up the road. Since her house was the only one out here, they were here for her.

“I don’t want an ambulance,” she insisted. “I’ll go to the hospital on my own.” And it wouldn’t be to the one in McCall Canyon. She would drive into nearby San Antonio.

“That’s not a very smart thing to do.” No pause for Court that time. “We’re not sure what’s going on here. Plus, your ribs could be broken. You don’t need to be driving if they are.”

She couldn’t help it. Rayna gave him a snarky smile before she could stop herself. “Worried about me?”

That earned her another glare, but this one didn’t last. And for a moment she saw something else. Not the sympathy this time, either. But the old attraction. Even now, it tugged at her. Apparently, it tugged at Court because he cursed again and looked away.

“I just wanted to make sure I didn’t hurt you when we fell on the floor,” Court said.

“You didn’t.” That was probably a lie, but Rayna was hurting in so many places that it was hard to tell who was responsible for the bruises and cuts.

Court’s gaze came back to her. “Was there anything...sexual about the assault after you got hit on the head?”

“No.” Thank God. That was something at least. “In fact, I’m not even sure he intended to kill me. I mean, he could have shot me the moment I walked into my house—”

“Maybe he didn’t have a gun. He could have been robbing the place and got spooked when you came in.”

True. But that didn’t feel right. Neither did the spot on her ribs, and Rayna had another look. Too bad that meant pulling up her top again, and this time Court examined it, too. He leaned in, so close that she could feel his breath hitting her skin.

“It looks like a needle mark,” he said. “And you mentioned something about passing out?”

She nodded. “But the man was gone by the time that happened.” Of course, he could have come back. Heck, he could still come back.

That made her stomach tighten, and she gave an uneasy glance around the front and side yards. There were plenty of places on her land for someone to hide.

“You’re sure it was a man?” Court asked. He was using his lawman’s tone again. Good. That was easier to deal with than the old attraction. “You said you didn’t get a look at the person, so how do you know it was a man?”

“I’ve had a man’s hands on me before, so yes, I’m sure he was male.” She immediately hated that she’d blurted that out, even if it was true. But Rayna didn’t like reminding anyone, especially Court, of just how wrong she’d been about Bobby Joe. After all, she’d let Court go to be with him.

“After he clubbed me with the lamp,” Rayna added, “he hooked his arm around my throat. My back landed against his chest, so I know it was a man.”

Court took a moment, obviously processing that, and he looked at the lock on the front door. “There’s no sign of forced entry. Was it locked, and did you have on your security system?”

Everything inside her went still. With all the chaos that had gone on, it hadn’t occurred to Rayna to ask herself those questions. “Yes, it would have been locked, and the security system was on. I never leave the house without doing that.”

“Even if you were just going to the barn?” Court immediately asked.

“Even then.” She gathered her breath, which had suddenly gone thin again. It always did when she thought of the woman she’d become. “I honestly believe Bobby Joe is alive and that he could come after me.”

Court looked ready to grumble out some profanity, but Rayna wasn’t sure if that was because he felt sorry for her or because he thought she was crazy for being so wary about a man he believed was dead.

“The front door was unlocked when I got here,” Court continued several moments later. “Is it possible your intruder had a key?”

“No. And I don’t keep a spare one lying around, either.” She kept her attention on the ambulance that stopped behind the cruiser. “Plus, he would have had to disarm the security system. It’s tamperproof, so he couldn’t have simply cut a wire or something. He would have had to know the code.”

With each word, that knot in her stomach got tighter and tighter. She had taken all the necessary precautions, and it hadn’t been enough. That hurt. Because she might never feel safe here again in this house that she loved. Her gran’s house. That didn’t mean she would leave. No. She wouldn’t give Bobby Joe the satisfaction of seeing her run, but Rayna figured there’d be a lot more sleepless nights in her future.

Egan was still on the phone when the medics got out of the ambulance and started for the porch. Rayna went out to tell them they could leave, but she spotted another vehicle. A familiar one.

Whitney’s red Mustang.

“You called her?” Court asked.

Rayna shook her head, but it didn’t surprise her that Whitney had heard about what happened and then had driven out to see her. They’d been friends since third grade, and even though that friendship had cooled a little after Rayna had gotten involved with Bobby Joe, Whitney had usually been there for her. Whitney was also one of the few people who’d stood by her when Rayna had been on trial.

Her friend bolted from the car and ran past the medics to get to Rayna. Whitney immediately pulled her into her arms for a hug. An uncomfortable one because Rayna felt the pain from her ribs, and she backed away.

“I came as fast as I could get someone to cover for me at work.” Whitney’s words rushed together. “My God, you’re hurt.” She reached out as if to touch the wound on Rayna’s hand, but she stopped. “It must be bad if the ambulance came.”

“No. They were just leaving.” Rayna made sure she said that loud enough for the medics to hear.

“They’re not leaving,” Court snapped, and he motioned for them to wait. No doubt so he could try to talk Rayna into going with them.

Whitney volleyed puzzled looks between Court and her. “Is, uh, anything going on between you two? I mean, you’re not back together, are you?”

“No,” Court and Rayna answered in unison, but it did make Rayna wonder what Whitney had picked up on to make her think that.

Whitney released her breath as if relieved. Maybe because she knew Rayna wasn’t ready for a relationship. Especially one with Court McCall.

“What happened here?” Whitney asked, glancing inside.

“Someone broke in,” Rayna settled for saying. She planned to give Whitney more information later, but her friend filled in the blanks.

“And you think it was Bobby Joe,” Whitney concluded. But she immediately shook her head after saying that. “It seems to be more than that going on. I mean, what with Warren being shot.”

Court made a sound of agreement. “Do you have a key to Rayna’s house? And no, I’m not accusing her of anything,” Court quickly added to Rayna. “I’m just trying to figure out how the intruder got in.”

“No key,” Whitney answered. “Bobby Joe wouldn’t have one, either. Rayna changed all the locks after she was acquitted. She had the windows and doors wired for security, too. Did she tell you that she has guns stashed all around the house?”

Rayna gave Whitney a sharp look to get her to hush. But it was too late. After hearing that, Court was probably even more convinced that she was about to go off the deep end.

“So, are you coming with us?” one of the medics called out. He sounded, and looked, impatient.

Rayna knew him. His name was Dustin Mendoza. A friend of Bobby Joe’s. Of course, pretty much every man in McCall Canyon in their midthirties fell into that particular category.

“No,” Rayna repeated.

She figured Court was about to do some repeating as well and insist that she go. He didn’t. “I’ll drive Rayna to the hospital. I need to ask her some more questions about the break-in.”

Dustin didn’t wait around to see if that was okay with her. He motioned for his partner to leave, and they started back for the ambulance.

“I also think you should consider protective custody,” Court said to her. “The intruder obviously knows how to get in your house, and he could come back.”

That had already occurred to Rayna, but it chilled her to the bone to hear someone say it.

“You can stay with me,” Whitney suggested. “In fact, I can take you to the hospital.”

It was generous of Whitney, and Rayna was about to consider accepting, but Court spoke before she could say anything. “That could be dangerous. For Whitney. If this intruder is still after you, he could go to her place while looking for you.”

That drained some of the color from Whitney’s face. Obviously, it wasn’t something she’d considered when she’d made the offer.

“It’s okay,” Rayna assured her. “I can make other plans.”

She didn’t know what exactly those plans would be, but she might have to hire a bodyguard. And put some distance between her and the McCalls. Whatever was going on seemed to be connected to them. Rayna didn’t think it was a coincidence about the timing of Warren’s attack, the break-in and the dead woman.

Egan finally finished his call, and the moment he turned to walk toward them, Rayna knew something was wrong.

“Is it Dad?” Court immediately asked.

Egan shook his head. “It’s the waitress. Janet Bolin. She’s dead. Someone murdered her.”

Chapter Three

Another murder. Two women killed only hours apart. There was no way Court could dismiss them as not being connected.

But connected to what?

Rayna. His father. Or maybe both.

He put on a clean shirt that he took from his locker and thought about that possible connection while he made his way back into the squad room, where Rayna was waiting. Or rather where she was pacing. He nearly reminded her that she should probably be sitting down. That was what the doctor had wanted anyway when he’d come to the sheriff’s office to examine her. Rayna wasn’t having any part of that though. And he couldn’t blame her. It was hard to sit still with all this restless energy bubbling up inside him.

“Anything?” she asked the moment she saw him.

Court took a deep breath that sounded as weary as he felt. “There’s no gunshot residue on your hands.” He’d swabbed her hands as soon as they’d gotten to the sheriff’s office but hadn’t been able to run the test right away because of all the other calls.

And changing his shirt.

Court had figured he’d worn his father’s blood long enough and no longer wanted it in his sight.

Rayna didn’t huff, but it was close. “Tell me something I don’t know. Of course there wasn’t gunshot residue on my hands, because I didn’t fire a gun.”

He almost pointed out that she could have cleaned up afterward, but plain and simple, that probably hadn’t happened. And it wouldn’t explain how she’d gotten all those wounds. So, Court did as Rayna asked and gave her something she almost certainly didn’t know.

“Janet was killed with a single shot to the head at point-blank range. Her body was in the alley behind the diner, and it doesn’t appear as if she was moved after she was shot. No ID yet on the other woman.”

But the two had something in common. There’d been no defensive wounds, which meant their killer had gotten close enough to deliver the fatal shots without alarming the women.

“No one in or around the diner heard the shot?” she pressed.

“No. But she had her purse, and Pete, the cook, said she had three more hours on her shift. She didn’t have a cell phone on her, but maybe she’d made arrangements to meet someone.”

And that someone had killed her.

That could mean Janet was in on his father’s shooting. Or maybe she’d just been duped into taking the photo that had almost certainly been meant to frame Rayna.

“There aren’t any surveillance cameras back there,” Court added. That pretty much applied to most of the town. Simply put, there hadn’t been much need for them.

Until now, that was.

There’d been only two murders in the past ten years. A drunken brawl at the local bar and Bobby Joe’s. But now they had two unsolved homicides, an attempted murder, breaking and entering, and an assault. It was no wonder Egan had been tied up in the past three hours. His brother was at the first murder scene, and that was why Court had been manning the phones along with keeping an eye on Rayna.

Court hadn’t mentioned it yet, but she was now a key witness, since she might be able to recall something about the man who’d attacked her. She was almost certainly in grave danger, as well.

“It doesn’t make sense,” Rayna mumbled.

It was something she’d said multiple times after Court had insisted that she come to the sheriff’s office. Well, first he’d tried to talk her into going to the hospital, and when he’d failed at that, he’d brought her here instead. It was far better than her being at Whitney’s, and both Rayna and she had finally agreed on that. Rayna had also agreed on the doctor seeing her.

“How are your ribs and your head?” Court asked.

“Fine,” she answered, practically waving off his concern.

But he knew there had to be some pain. The doctor didn’t think her ribs were broken, but there was a deep bruise, and a second one on her head where the intruder had hit her.

“The doctor drew blood,” she added, rubbing the inside of her arm. “Whatever the thug slammed into me might still be in my system.”

Yeah, but it might not give them any new info to catch him. Still, it was something they needed to know so they could make sure it didn’t have any serious side effects.

He tipped his head toward Egan’s office, which was just off the squad room. “There’s a semicomfortable chair in there. Some bottled water, too. You could sit and wait while I call the lab and push them to get an ID on the first woman.”

Rayna stopped pacing and made eye contact with him. “You’re being nice to me.”

Was he? Court lifted his shoulder. “I just figured we could call a truce and try to get through this hellish day.”

Rayna kept staring at him a moment before she nodded and headed for the office. Court was right behind her, but he glanced around the squad room first to make sure all was well. There was only one other deputy, Thea Morris, who was taking a statement from another waitress who worked at the diner. The other four deputies were out at their three crime scenes.

“If you want to go to the hospital to see your dad,” Rayna said, “please do. I know you’d rather be with him.”

He would. But his father was still unconscious, so there was nothing Court could do. Plus, his mom, Helen, and his sister, Rachel, were there. Along with a Texas Ranger, Griff Morris, who Warren had practically raised. He was like family, and he’d call Court if there were any changes in his father’s condition. Or if any more trouble surfaced. Right now, Court would do his dad more good by trying to figure out who’d put that bullet in him.

“You don’t have to babysit me,” Rayna added.

He did indeed have to do just that, and Court didn’t bother to pull any punches when he looked at her.

“Oh,” she said, and Rayna looked even more unsteady when she sank into the chair across from the desk.

“It’s not personal,” he added because he thought that might help. Help who exactly, Court didn’t know. It certainly felt personal. And it couldn’t. He couldn’t let their past—either the good or the bad parts—play into this.

He made the call to the lab, promptly got put on hold, so while he was waiting, Court took a copy of her statement that he’d printed out and passed it to her.

“Look this over and try to fill in any gaps in details,” he instructed. “For instance, do you remember hearing the sound of a vehicle when your attacker fled?”

“No.” Rayna sounded steady enough when she said that, but when Court gave her a closer look, he saw that she was blinking back tears. Waving them off, too, when she realized he’d noticed.

“I hate this,” she said. “I’ve spent three years rebuilding my life, and now it feels as if it’s falling apart again.”

Court had no idea how to respond to that, so he stayed quiet, fished out a box of tissues from the bottom drawer and passed them to her.

“I took self-defense classes,” she went on. “Firearms training. I installed a security system and don’t go anywhere without a gun. Except here, of course.”

He would have liked to have told her there was no need for one here, that she was under the roof with two deputies, but since his father had been shot just yards from here, he doubted his words would give her much assurance. Plus, there was the part about her not trusting him.

“You did all of that because you were afraid of Bobby Joe returning?” Court tried to keep his tone neutral. They already had enough battles to fight without his adding some disbelief to that.

“Not afraid,” Rayna said in a whisper. “I wanted to be able to stop him if he came after me again. I learned the hard way that I can’t rely on others to help me with that.”

Court couldn’t help himself. It was a knee-jerk reaction, but he went on the offensive, something he usually did with Rayna. “I arrested Bobby Joe after you’d had enough of him and decided to press charges,” he reminded her.

“Yes, and he spent less than an hour in jail. After that, he threatened to kill me, stormed out and then faked his death to set me up.”

If that had truly happened, then Court felt bad that he hadn’t been able to do more. But that was a big if. Most folks had liked Bobby Joe and gotten along with him just fine.

Court wasn’t one of those folks.

Bobby Joe and he had always seemed to be bristling at each other. Maybe because Rayna and Court had dated through most of high school. Bobby Joe could have been jealous, and Court figured his own bristling stemmed from the fact that Rayna had crushed his heart when she’d broken up with him.

But that was water under a very old bridge.

“Are you ever going to at least consider that Bobby Joe could be alive?” Rayna asked.

He didn’t have to figure out what his answer would be because Clyde Selby, the lab guy, finally came back on the line. “Sorry to keep you waiting,” Clyde said. “I wanted to see what we had on the second woman before I spoke to you. Anyway, the first woman, the blonde, is Hallie Ramon. She is, was, a college student. She was in the system because of a drug arrest when she was eighteen. But she didn’t have any gunshot residue on her hands, so I don’t think she’s the one who shot your dad.”

Court felt the slam of disappointment. Whoever had done this was still out there.

He immediately pulled up everything he had on her. There wasn’t much. No record other than the drug possession. The woman was twenty-four and didn’t even have a traffic ticket. But then something caught his eye.

“She was a drama student.” Court hadn’t meant to say that aloud, but it certainly caught Rayna’s attention.

She moved to the edge of her seat. Court hated to disappoint her, but there likely wouldn’t be anything else from the lab. Any new info now would come from working the case, and that meant talking to Hallie’s friends to find out how she was connected to what had happened in McCall Canyon.

“You mentioned the second woman,” Court prompted Clyde.

“Yes. Janet Bolin. Egan sent me her prints, and there’s no match for her. Don’t know who she is because unlike the first woman, she’s not in the system. No driver’s license, nothing.”

Court groaned. That meant she’d lied when she’d applied for the waitress job. Had probably even used a fake ID. That was going to make it a whole lot harder. Because until they knew who she was, they wouldn’t be able to figure out how she was connected to this.

“Is she here?” someone yelled. “I want to see her now!”

Court instantly recognized the voice and knew this would be trouble. It was Mitch Hawley, Bobby Joe’s brother. And the she that he was yelling about was almost certainly Rayna.

She got right up out of the chair and whirled to face Mitch. And not just face him. She went straight out into the squad room. If she was the least bit afraid of him, she didn’t show it.

But she should have.

Unlike Bobby Joe, Mitch was not well liked, and he had a nasty temper. Court had had to arrest him on several occasions for fighting. That was why Court hurried to get between them. He didn’t mind arresting Mitch again, but he didn’t want the man hitting Rayna. Mitch was a big guy, around six-two, and he was heavily muscled. A build that suited him because he worked with rodeo bulls, but his fists could do a lot of damage.

“Why isn’t she locked up?” Mitch snarled.