Читать книгу High Desert Hideaway - Jenna Night - Страница 13

TWO

Lily sat down in the driver’s seat of her car, stretched across the passenger seat and stuck her hand down between the seat and the door, digging around for loose change so she could buy some gasoline and get home.

Deputy Cooper had taken her statement. She’d told him everything, from overhearing bits and pieces of a conversation between strangers to being chased here to the Starlight Mart and held at gunpoint. She’d explained to him that she hadn’t even heard enough to understand what the men were talking about, and she’d given him the name and location of her new employer, though she didn’t have her phone with her and couldn’t remember the phone number. Finally, the deputy handed her his card and told her he’d follow up with her tomorrow morning.

Now she had her car pulled up to the gas pumps outside the Starlight Mart. She worked three part-time jobs and typically got her lunch at a fast-food drive-thru window. Sometimes she dropped her change on the floor or tossed it onto the passenger seat when she was in a hurry. Maybe there was enough to buy the gasoline she needed to get her home. If not, she’d have to walk back into the Starlight Mart and try to borrow the money from somebody.

Home. That’s all she wanted to think about right now. The comfortable old house she’d grown up in. The dogs. And most of all, her mom. Mom would help her hold herself together.

She didn’t want to think about what had just happened to her in the Starlight Mart, or what might have happened if that biker hadn’t shown up. She absolutely didn’t want to dwell on the terrifying possibility that the gunman and his accomplice might track her down tomorrow or the next day. The second time they found her they’d probably drag her out into an isolated expanse of scrub brush and finish the job without witnesses or anyone getting in their way.

She would let herself process what had happened to her after she got home. Right now she would swallow her fear because that’s what you did with fear. Lily had learned that at a young age. When trouble comes—and it always does—you choke back your fear and you take care of the job at hand. You do your crying later.

That’s what Lily’s mom, Kate, did all those years ago when Lily’s father died. She’d pulled herself together. And she kept doing that in the years that followed because money was tight and trouble was never very far away.

Lily only found a couple of dimes in the space beside the seat, so she sat up and opened the glove box. She shoved aside her car registration, a few aged ketchup packets and a collection of plastic forks from fast-food restaurants, and finally found a few more coins. Altogether they totaled less than three dollars. Not nearly enough to get her where she wanted to go.

One of the terrified sobs Lily had choked back while that gun bit into her skin rose up in her throat and escaped as a cross between a hiccup and a gasp. Tears burned her eyes. Her body began to tremble.

No, she commanded herself. You will not do this. Not now.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

The sound of the biker’s voice startled her and she dropped her coins. They rolled under the seat. Fear turned into fury in an instant. She’d been terrorized and pushed around more than enough today.

She got out of her car and slammed the door shut, then turned and glared up at the biker. He was definitely big. He’d taken off his dark glasses and she could see his eyes. Cold, unemotional steel-gray. Why was he even talking to her? She didn’t want to know him. And he certainly wasn’t going to keep her from going home. Not after all she’d been through tonight. It didn’t matter how big he was.

She held his gaze for several seconds and then felt her anger drain away just a little. The man had saved her life, after all. She should probably thank him for what he’d done. Unfortunately for him, she wasn’t in a particularly generous mood at the moment. “What do you want?” she snapped, just barely managing to sound civil.

He crossed his arms over his chest and tilted his head slightly. “You look like you’re trying to leave. Sheriff Wolfsinger arrived a few minutes ago. You need to stay and talk to him.”

“I already gave my statement.”

“If you talk to him maybe you’ll remember some new details.”

Lily scoffed. “What are you, a cop?”

“As a matter of fact, I am.”

He couldn’t be serious.

Apparently he was.

He took out an ID from his back pocket, complete with an Oso County sheriff’s department badge, and showed it to her.

“‘Nathan Bedford,’” she read aloud from his ID. “That name sounds familiar.” She turned back to him. His eyes narrowed, as if he didn’t believe her. She didn’t care if he did or not. But his cynical expression goaded her. And then she remembered how she knew him. “Cottonwood High School. You hung out with Joseph Suh.”

His hardened expression gave way just a little. “I was friends with him for a long time,” he said. “You look familiar. What’s your name?”

“Lily Doyle. And I wasn’t exactly friends with him. I tutored him in English composition.” She’d hung around with a totally different crowd than Nate and Joseph when they were all in high school. And every day after school, she’d had a job stocking shelves in a grocery store. If she wasn’t in class or at work, she was either studying or sleeping. She hadn’t had much time for friends.

“Pip-squeak,” he said after a few seconds.

“I beg your pardon?”

“That’s the nickname Joseph gave you. Because you were a couple of years younger than us and kind of small.”

“Oh.” Had Joseph really called her Pip-squeak behind her back? She’d had fond memories of working with Joseph. He’d told her she needed to lighten up and he was always trying to make her laugh. He came from a nice family. His mom made sure Lily had a snack whenever she came to their house to tutor him.

“Joseph said you did a good job,” Nate added. “His mom made him sign up for peer tutoring and he was mad at first, but if it wasn’t for your help, he might not have graduated.”

Lily felt a lump in her throat. For some reason, now that Nate was speaking to her a little more kindly, it was harder to keep her emotions in check.

“I haven’t seen Joseph in a long time,” Lily finally said. “I know he enlisted in the army. I hope he’s doing okay.”

“Deployed to the Middle East three times,” Nate said evenly. “Made it through two of them.”

“Oh.”

The barrier Lily had built around her emotions dissolved in an instant. Tears collected in her eyes and then ran down her cheeks. Her shoulders started to shake and her nose started to run. She wiped at her face with the back of her hand.

Nate grabbed a paper towel from the dispenser attached to a pole between the gas pumps and handed it to her. The thick brown paper was meant for cleaning windshields and it was rough on her nose. She used it anyway.

Leaning against her car, she let the tears fall because this time she knew she couldn’t stop them. Part of her choking emotion was simply the terror of the day catching up with her. But sharp sadness over the death of Joseph pushed her over the top. What a horrible reminder that terrible things happened to people all the time.

Finally she calmed down a little, took a breath and sighed. She wadded up the paper towel and tossed it into a trash can. Nate quickly got her another one. She didn’t really need it, but just throwing it away seemed spiteful so she put it into her pocket.

Trying not to be obvious, she stole another glance at him. Nate Bedford had always been easy on the eyes. But she didn’t ever remember him looking this scruffy. And now he was a deputy sheriff? She would have been less surprised to learn he was an inmate somewhere.

“Thank you,” she finally said. “Thank you for saving my life in there.”

Nate nodded. “You’re welcome.”

He looked past her shoulder into the darkness surrounding the Starlight Mart.

A chill wind kicked up and Lily rubbed her arms.

“It’s cold out here.” Nate flipped up the collar on his leather jacket and turned to her. “Are you ready to go back inside the store to talk to the sheriff?”

“Yes.” Since he was asking instead of telling her, Lily figured she could work with him.

“Good. Try to remember every single detail you possibly can. You never know what might help. I’ll see if I can join in the hunt to track down those two idiots and make them pay for what they did.”

* * *

Inside the Starlight Mart, Oso County Sheriff Ben Wolfsinger had taken up his usual role as the calm center in the midst of the storm. A slender, bronze-skinned man with gray shot through the black hair at his temples, Wolfsinger wasn’t a physically imposing man. But his confident demeanor and calm voice lent him a presence that drew people’s attention.

Wolfsinger saw Nate and quirked an eyebrow. “Bedford. I heard you were here. Why aren’t you at home in Painted Rock getting some rest?”

“I decided to go to the ranch instead. I stopped here to get something to drink on the way.” He introduced Lily to the sheriff.

“You’re the lady we’ve been hearing about from our eyewitnesses.” Wolfsinger reached out a hand and rested it on her shoulder. “I’m so sorry about what happened to you.”

Nate watched Lily look into Wolfsinger’s eyes, take a deep breath, exhale and relax her shoulders a little. She had scratches on her neck and a bruise darkening the top of her right cheek. Thin red lines across her forehead and chin marked spots where something sharp, perhaps shattered glass from the cooler, or pieces of broken lightbulb, had sliced across the surface of her skin.

Thinking about the creeps who had hurt her made Nate’s stomach tighten.

As an elected official, Sheriff Wolfsinger could pull out some impressive political skills when necessary, but he was also a decent and compassionate human being. Which was probably why he kept getting reelected without doing any actual campaigning.

A few minutes later they were sitting in the store’s office. Nate and Wolfsinger listened to Lily finish telling her story of what had happened. Nate was intrigued.

Lily worked at a trucking company—Torrent Trucking.

A sophisticated theft ring had been stealing cargo trailers along the highways crisscrossing Oso County for quite a while. It was a multistate problem and an interagency task force had been formed while Nate was away. Nate already knew he would be attached to the task force when he returned to duty, thanks to the specialized training he’d received as a military policeman investigating large-scale theft of military property. He was itching to get started.

“We need to talk to Bryan Torrent,” Nate said to the sheriff. The owner of Torrent Trucking was well known in Copper Mesa. His parents had started several enterprises that Bryan inherited. Torrent Trucking was the only one still in business.

“I will talk to Bryan Torrent,” Wolfsinger said, turning to Nate. “You go on to the ranch. Tell Bud and Ellen I said hello. Take your week off. Get some rest. There’ll be plenty for you to do when you report back to work.”

“Yes, sir.” Nate stood. “Are you going to talk to Bryan Torrent tonight? He must know the two guys we’re looking for.”

“Maybe not,” Lily said slowly.

Nate turned to her, a quicksilver flash of suspicion squirming in his gut. “Why do you say that?” What did she know and what was she hiding?

“I’ve only been working there a few weeks. Part-time. But I’ve never seen Mr. Torrent in the office. He doesn’t come around much.” She crossed her arms and let out a small, deflated laugh. “I thought working there would be a great opportunity.”

She glanced down for a minute, then looked directly into Nate’s eyes. “Torrent Trucking doesn’t just dispatch trucks and drivers. There are warehouses on the property. Sometimes truckload deliveries are brought in, the pallets are broken down and the items are delivered locally. Sometimes semis bring in an entire trailer full of freight that’s kept in storage until it’s picked up by another driver, who will complete the delivery.

“There are all kinds of drivers in and out of there. Most of them aren’t Torrent Trucking employees. Drivers are welcome to take a break in the break room, where there’s hot coffee and some vending machines. The men I overheard talking, the ones who chased me here to the Starlight Mart, were in that break room.” She pressed her lips together and shook her head. “If they actually worked for Torrent Trucking, I would have seen them before.”

“I’ll call Mr. Torrent in a few minutes and find out what he knows,” Wolfsinger said. “We’ll go to his business and talk to as many people as we can.” He got to his feet and turned to Nate. “If the men we’re looking for are not employees, then we’ll get a list of all the drivers who’ve been in and out of there in the last month.”

Someone knocked on the office door and called out to the sheriff.

“I need to get back out there.” Wolfsinger turned to Lily. “I’ll have a deputy drive you home.”

“I can drive you home,” Nate said to Lily a couple of minutes later as they walked out of the store and into the parking lot.

“No thanks, I can drive myself.”

“I can bring you back tomorrow to get your car.” Despite her brave front, her nerves had to be shattered after what she’d just been through. This wasn’t a good time for her to be driving. And maybe Nate felt a little bit of a personal connection to her now because she had known Joseph.

Growing up, Joseph was the only friend Nate had who didn’t make jokes about how drunk Nate’s mom got or how crazy she acted. Joseph and his family were always warm and welcoming. Maybe it was a stretch, but it felt as if seeing Lily safely home would be a way of doing something for him.

Nate was heading toward Copper Mesa to get to the ranch, anyway. He was also looking forward to sleeping late for the first time in weeks, but he would get up early in the morning and drive into Copper Mesa to get Lily and take her back to the Starlight Mart to fetch her car if that’s what she wanted. And that would be the end of it. No further personal involvement or obligation.

“You’ve been through a lot,” Nate said. “I think it would be wise for you to let me take you home. I’m heading in that direction anyway.”

She looked as if she was going to argue, but then blew out a breath. “Maybe you’re right. Let me go move my car so it’s out of the way.”

Nate held out his hand. “Give me your keys. I’ll move it for you.”

Inside Nate’s truck, Lily sat pressed so close to the passenger-side door that he was afraid she might try to jump out. The apparent shock that had helped her keep herself composed after that one brief crying jag earlier was starting to wear off. He could tell by her slumped shoulders and the pinched expression on her face.

Thank You, Lord, for getting us through this. Nate couldn’t always pray in the midst of trouble, but he always prayed eventually. For help. For healing. For guidance or to give thanks. He couldn’t do his job without it.

Before turning left out of the parking lot and heading toward Copper Mesa, Nate glanced right toward the intersecting highway that led to Painted Rock. His apartment was in Painted Rock. He’d been exiled to the substation up there several months ago. By the time he left for his assignment in Phoenix, he’d managed to make a few friends and develop a fondness for the little town. But he still wasn’t anxious to return to his empty apartment there.

“So, you’re a cop now,” Lily said after they’d pulled out onto the highway and driven a few miles in silence. “From what I remember in high school, I would have expected you to end up on the other side of the law.”

“Yeah, there was a time when I would have expected that, too.”

The highway they followed passed through a stretch of scrubby flatland. In the wash of headlights, it looked like the bottom of an empty sea.

Nate’s life had felt empty from the time he was a kid. He’d had one picture of his dad, a United States marine who was killed protecting an embassy in South America. Nate’s mother, Brenda, had turned to alcohol to deal with her grief. Oftentimes she went on benders and Nate wouldn’t see her for days at a time.

In his midteens he finally moved in with his Uncle Bud and Aunt Ellen at their ranch, the Blue Spruce. Bud and Nate’s mom were brother and sister. Bud offered multiple times to help Brenda sober up and get her life together, but she wasn’t interested. She didn’t want him involved in her son’s life, either. Eventually, against Brenda’s will but with the insistence of the state of Arizona, Bud got custody of his nephew.

At first it was hard living by Bud and Ellen’s rules. Nate was a kid back then, and nearly everybody acts like a jerk when they’re a teenager, but it was still embarrassing to think about how he’d behaved.

Nate cleared his throat. “It took a while, but I finally got my head on straight. I enlisted in the army and served as a military policeman. When my enlistment ended, I knew I wanted to come home and work as a cop.” It was the only way he knew to pay back the people who’d helped him over the years.

The highway rose in elevation and pine trees began to appear on the sides of the road. They rounded a bend and the town of Copper Mesa came into view. Streetlights gave it the appearance of a blazing crown in the darkness.

“All right, which way?” Nate asked as they got closer to town. He glanced in his mirrors. There’d been a couple of vehicles behind them for a while. Not much he could do but keep an eye on them. It could be nothing. If they followed his turns once he got into town, he’d know they meant trouble.

“Head toward Cottonwood High,” Lily said. “I’m living in the old neighborhood. I had to move back into my mom’s house.”

“Do you want to borrow my phone and call her?” Nate asked. He’d offered her the use of his phone earlier, but she’d turned him down.

“I don’t want to wake her up if she’s asleep,” Lily said. “She’s been battling bronchitis for a few days. She has asthma, so it’s kind of a big deal.”

Nate kept his eyes on the road, but he picked up his phone from where it was sitting on the bench seat and held it out to her. If the bad guys really were connected to the place where she worked, they might have access to her home address. He didn’t want to mention that possibility because he didn’t want to send her into a panic without reason. “I think you should call your mom.”

She hesitated, then took the phone and punched in a few digits. Soon she was talking to her mom and giving Nate hand gestures showing him where to turn. Hearing her mom’s voice seemed to relax her a little. It sounded as if everything was okay. She didn’t mention what had happened at the Starlight Mart, but he didn’t blame her. Some things were better shared in person.

Nate kept checking his mirrors. One car stayed on his tail, which worried him. But then Lily directed him to make a turn and the car behind them kept going straight.

“We’re almost home,” Lily said into the phone while pointing Nate toward a house at the end of the road. “I mean I’m almost home,” she quickly said into the phone. “I’ll be there in a couple of minutes.” She disconnected.

Nate pulled into the driveway of the house. The porch light was on and a couple of lights burned upstairs. It was in the older part of Copper Mesa, a little run-down-looking, and it backed up to the ravine that meandered through town.

Nate cut the engine and opened his door.

“What are you doing?” Lily asked, getting out.

“I’m walking you to your door.” He got out and came around to meet her.

“Thank you, but I’d rather you didn’t.” She bit her bottom lip for a few seconds. “It’s just that I’ve already put my mom through a lot lately. Seeing you might make her heart stop. Not in a good way,” she added with a slight smile.

Nate looked down at his leather jacket and torn jeans. He ran his hand over his beard. When he’d gotten the green light to leave Phoenix and go home, he’d just jammed. No cleaning up his appearance first, no haircut or shave. “I’ll tell her I’m a deputy sheriff,” he said. “Show her my ID.”

“I realize you think that would be comforting, but it won’t make her feel better. She’ll realize something bad happened if I need a cop to drive me home.”

“Okay.” Nate glanced up and down the street. “Sheriff Wolfsinger will have deputies driving by throughout the night while they’re on patrol. I’ll hang out here until the first one shows up so I can fill him or her in on the details. Let them know one of the guys they’re looking for should have soda can–sized bruises on the side of his face.”

Lily managed a small laugh despite her apparent exhaustion. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. Good night.” He watched her turn, walk up the garden path to the front door and step inside the house.

He got back into his truck, pulled out of the driveway, drove around the block and then parked midway down the street, where he had a good view of the house. The chilly, late-autumn wind started to pick up again, shaking leaves and branches around her house near the windows and the front door.

Something caught his eye. Movement by a corner window. He stared at it, trying to determine if it was something to be concerned about, or if it was just a shifting shadow.