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Chapter Four

“Hey, Duke?”

Her deputy spun toward her on the stool he’d just discovered in the back storage closet of their hole-in-the-wall office. “Yep?”

“Tell me the truth. Do you think Austin Wright is responsible for the string of burglaries?”

As was his nature, Duke pondered that one for a moment. “I don’t want him to be. But what we want and what actually is don’t do either of us a lot of good, does it?”

After crossing the room—which meant she took five steps to the left and scooted around a line of metal filing cabinets—she slumped down in her chair. “No, it doesn’t.” Drumming the tips of her fingers on her desk, she looked at him sideways. “How do you want to handle things?”

“I already took a picture of the saddle you saw at Wright’s and sent it to Kevin Johnson. It’s his wife’s. And it had been stolen.”

She was afraid of that. Before she thought the better of it, she blurted what was first and foremost on her mind. “For the life of me, I just can’t imagine Austin stealing that saddle and then sticking it in his store.”

Duke chuckled. “That does sound pretty gutsy, even for Austin.”

It sounded stupid, too. And though Austin might have a lot of problems, stupidity had never been one of them. But she felt honor bound to play devil’s advocate. “I guess there’s always a chance he could be working with the thieves…”

After giving Zorro a brief scratch behind his ears, Duke turned to Dinah. “Want to know what I think?”

“Of course.”

“I think Austin bought it off a guy like he said he did. The people selling the merchandise are smart, Dinah. They’re not stealing and selling it to the public directly.”

“I hear you.” But like a dog with a bone, she couldn’t seem to move from her train of thought. “However, Austin could be more involved than he’s letting on. It’s a possibility.”

“But doubtful.” He paused. “You don’t think he had anything to do with Midnight being stolen, do you?”

She shook her head in a kind of knee-jerk reaction of sorts. “Austin wouldn’t do that. He wouldn’t steal our family’s prize stallion.” Her brother Ace had bid on Midnight at a horse auction a few months back, and nothing around Thunder Ranch had been the same ever since. Midnight had proven to be ornery and proud and wonderful.

Her brother Colt had shown them all that Midnight had a lot more rodeos left in him, too. And then the thieves had struck their ranch, stolen her dad’s beautiful saddle, some of Colt’s bridles…and Midnight had gone missing.

Duke relaxed. “Boy, I’m glad to hear you say you don’t suspect Austin of horse thieving. I can’t see him doing it, either, but I wanted to hear the words from your lips.”

She rolled her shoulders uncomfortably. Her feelings about Austin were knee-deep and confusing as all get-out. But there were some things she couldn’t bear to even imagine him doing.

Stealing Midnight was one of them.

“I’ll follow up on some of the leads we talked about before accusing Austin of anything.”

“That sounds like a good plan to me.”

Realizing that Duke didn’t sound all that interested in the conversation, she looked up from her notes. “Duke, you look pleased about something. I know it’s not saddles. What’s up?”

“Angie and me are going away this weekend.”

“What?”

To her amusement, her cousin’s cheeks flushed. “Remember, we discussed calendars a couple of weeks ago? Luke is going to stay the weekend with the family at the ranch. Beau wants to spend some time with him. While they’re bonding and such, I’m going to take Angie down to Casper, Wyoming.”

“What a great idea.” Both Duke’s trip with Angie and Beau spending time with Luke sounded nice. Since Beau and Duke were twins, Dinah was glad that the wilder of the two brothers was taking so much time to get to know his nephew.

“Oh, it’s not much, but it will be nice to get away. They’ve got a fall festival that’s real popular.”

“I’m sure anything you do will be fun.” Dinah knew Duke loved Angie’s little boy as completely as if he’d been his own son. But that didn’t mean he never craved a little alone time with his new wife. “Have a good time.”

“Oh, we will. And, Dinah?”

“Yeah?”

“I mean this in the best possible way… Don’t call me.”

She chuckled. “Don’t worry, Deputy. This sheriff should be able to handle things just fine for a few days on her own. Let’s just sit tight on this case for a couple of days.”

“Roger that. Besides, I don’t want you to deal with Austin on your own if we figure he is the man behind all our headaches.”

“That sounds good. There are plenty of other things going on.” Looking at the list of messages on her desk, Dinah knew that was practically an understatement.

There had been a rash of problems with some of the high school kids in the area. Nothing too serious—just some graffiti painted on the back of the bleachers of the football stadium, and a couple reports of underage parties in outlying areas.

Feeling vaguely like the pot calling the kettle black, she realized that the reports listed a lot of the same stuff she’d done during her junior year in high school. Only she might have been worse.

With a wince, she hoped Principal Marks didn’t bring it up during their scheduled meeting. Carol Marks had been a new teacher when Dinah graduated high school.

Dinah remembered her being slightly shocked at Dinah’s way of dressing and her behavior. Hopefully, though, Mrs. Marks would remember just how hard Dinah had worked her senior year to turn things around.

* * *

SHE WAS STUCK IN THE GROCERY store line behind a woman with way too many coupons when she spied Austin in the next checkout lane. As she was attempting to figure out how to say hi to him without making a big deal of it, he looked up and caught her eye.

While the lady’s grocery bill continued to slide, fifty cents at a time, she smiled his way.

He came over, a paper sack in his left arm. “Hey,” he said. “What’s shaking?”

She laughed that he’d used the same expression as Duke. “Just waiting my turn. What about you? This is the last place I’d expect to see you on a Saturday night.”

“I eat, too.” He tapped his bag. “I’ve got a chicken and some potatoes just calling my name.” Eyeing her groceries, displayed for all to see on the conveyor belt, he laughed. “If you eat any more of those diet dinners, you’re going to float away, Dinah.”

She felt her face heat. “Unlike you, I’m not much of a cook. And eating at the Number 1 all the time can get expensive.”

Finally the woman in front of her paid her bill and it was Dinah’s turn to check out. As the clerk started scanning and bagging, she turned to Austin again. “Hope you have a good evening.”

“You, too.” He turned, took two steps, then came back over to her side. “Want to come over?”

“For dinner?”

“Don’t act like I’m wining and dining you, D. It’s just chicken and potatoes.”

His idea sounded a whole lot better than a diet frozen dinner. And there was something brewing between them that was hard to deny. “I’ve got a salad in a bag. I could bring that.” Gosh, did she sound as lame as she felt?

“We’ll have three food groups covered right there. After you take your groceries home, come over.”

“All right. I will.”

After presenting her with a pleased-looking smile, he turned and walked away. Dinah’s eyes followed him, noticing that his jeans today were still awfully snug…and were faded and worn in all the right places.

“Thirty-eight twenty-five,” the cashier said.

As Dinah handed her two twenties, the cashier winked. “I thought I was going to have to bop you on the head, Sheriff.”

“And why’s that?”

“Austin Wright is just about the finest-looking man in these parts. Only a fool would turn down the chance for him to make her dinner.”

There was a flurry of replies on the tip of her tongue. But only one right answer. “I was kind of thinking the same thing,” she admitted.

And with that, she grabbed her bags and hurried out to her car, anxious to spend some time with Austin, just to see if her instincts had been right.