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Back to the matter at hand. “So do you know any places for rent?”
Sue tapped one temple like she was trying to dislodge a thought. “I know of a few on wheels that I wouldn’t recommend to my worst enemy. But the Wooley’s old farmhouse on the outskirts of town is vacant. I’m not sure Gabe has done much to it since his mama went into the nursing home about a year ago, so it might not be livable.”
Chase knew the place well, and if it wasn’t too rundown, it would be perfect. The house sat well off the road, giving Jess privacy and Danny a lot of room to roam. “I’ll call Gabe and see if he’s interested in renting it out. Thanks.”
She gave him a toothy grin. “You’re welcome, Deputy. Anything else?”
Chase shot another look at Danny over one shoulder. “Yeah. Could you take the boy into the break room and get him a snack? He doesn’t need to see his mother upset.”
“Sure,” she said. “Are you going to answer the phone?”
Chase leaned around her to see Barkley seated at his desk not far away. “Only if Bobby Boy gets swamped with calls, and around here, that’s not likely.”
Sue rolled back her chair and stood. “You never know, Chase. We’ve had a lot of shoplifting calls lately.”
That didn’t surprise him in the least. When times were tough, people got by any way they could, even if it meant stealing what they needed.
Chase watched as Sue held out her hand to Danny and after a brief pause, he took it and allowed the woman to lead him away. A few seconds later, the conference room door opened and Jess stepped out, looking like she’d been run through the mill twice. She’d always been fair-skinned, but Chase had never seen her quite so pale.
After his dad emerged wearing his patent sheriff’s scowl, Chase joined them in the hallway, ready to offer support and an explanation when Jess looked around, obviously concerned over her son’s absence. “Where’s Danny?” she asked, a touch of alarm in her tone.
Chase pointed down the corridor. “Sue took him to the break room. Third room to the right.” After Jess hurried away, Chase faced his dad. “Is she free to go now?”
“Not until I talk to the boy,” Buck said. “I need to hear his version of the story because I’m not buying the bill of goods I just got from his mother.”
Chase resented his dad for continuing to treat Jess like some hardened criminal. “The kid’s still in shock. Maybe you ought to wait another day or two before you harass him like you did Jess.”
“I’m just following procedure, son, like I would with anyone else who’s involved in a questionable incident.”
And that’s what irked Chase—his dad viewing Jess like someone he’d never met before, not the kid who used to call him Daddy Buck. “Did she give you any reason to think that this was anything other than an accident?”
Buck rubbed his stubbled chin. “I don’t know any more about what went on than I did before the interview. I do know she’s holding something back.”
Chase clung to his control before he blew a verbal gasket. “You’ve been in this business so long everyone starts to look guilty to you. Jess is only guilty of marrying the wrong man.”
“And marrying into the wrong family. But she did marry into that family and that makes me wonder if she didn’t learn a thing or two along the way.”
“Like what?”
“Like how to lie to cover your ass.”
Fact was, Chase worried Jess might be lying. Or at least not telling the whole truth. But he had no intention of letting on that he had his suspicions, especially around his dad. “Look, giving the boy a couple of days to calm down isn’t going to hurt a damn thing. Besides, Rachel called this morning and said Dalton’s awake and talking.”
“I know,” Buck said. “And as soon as I get the go-ahead from the doctors, I’m going to have a talk with the victim about his recollections of last night.”
Chase couldn’t think of Dalton as a victim no matter what had transpired. “He doesn’t remember what happened, and even if he did, like you said, the Wainwrights know how to cover their asses. He might just point a finger at Jess for spite.”
“And that’s all the more reason to question the boy,” Buck added. “But I’ll make a deal with you. If Dalton regains his memory and he backs up Jess’s accident story, then I won’t involve the kid. But if he tells a whole different tale, then I have no choice but to question Danny. He could be the key to the truth.”
Chase stuck out his hand for a shake. “Deal. In the meantime, I’m going to get Jess settled in. She’s going to need some of her things from the house.”
“Fine, as long as you escort her.” Buck inclined his head and studied him a moment. “You gonna keep her at the cabin?”
His dad’s tone sounded like he planned to hold Jess hostage. “No. I’m going to find her another place to rent.”
“Good. I wouldn’t want folks around here thinking you’re in cahoots with a suspect. That wouldn’t be proper behavior for a peace officer.”
Chase gritted his teeth and spoke through them. “Best I recall, we don’t name a suspect unless we know a crime’s taken place.”
Buck hitched up his pants. “True. You still don’t need to be too friendly with her, just in case.”
“She is a friend, Buck, and has been for as long as I can remember.” Even though that friendship had suffered in the past few years, thanks to his stupidity.
Buck gave him a condescending pat on the back. “Look, son, people change. Jess just might not be that girl you used to know.”
Chase wouldn’t even make an attempt at denial because he acknowledged his dad was partially right—Jess wasn’t the same. Neither was he.
Without further comment, he spun around and headed toward his office to take care of some pressing arrangements. He made a quick call to Gabe Wooley, who was more than happy to have someone renting the old home place until the family decided whether they wanted to sell it.
Satisfied he’d done something constructive today, Chase made his way to the break room to find Jess and Danny sitting at the small round table in the corner, looking like they could both use a friend.
And that’s what he intended to be to them both—a friend. To hell with propriety.
“Let’s go,” he said when Jess looked up.
“Is it Danny’s turn?” she asked in a voice barely above a whisper.
“Not today.”
Her shoulders sagged from obvious relief. “We can go?”
“Yeah.” Chase didn’t have the heart tell her it might only be a temporary reprieve.
Jess stood and pulled out Danny’s chair. “Let’s go, sweetie. We need to look for a place to stay.”
“I’ve got that covered.”
Jess and Danny exchanged a look before Jess asked, “Where?”
“You’ll see.”
JESS COULD ONLY SEE overgrown trees and knee-high, winter-dry grass as Chase maneuvered the department’s SUV up the narrow road. But she’d recognized the area immediately as soon as they turned off the highway. Many times she’d accompanied her mother to the place to deliver supplies to widowed Nita Wooley, whose health had declined in recent years. The same place where Nita and Gabe Sr. had raised five children on a limited income but a lot of love.
Once Chase stopped near the front door, Jess glanced back to see Danny staring out the window with curiosity. She could only imagine the thoughts running through his mind—his mother was taking him from a custom-built, modern multilevel semi-mansion to a small, weather-worn, single-story farm house.
As far as Jess was concerned, if the place was relatively clean, furnished and warm, they would make do. At least there was plenty of privacy and enough room for Danny to play. She even spotted a tire swing tied to an ancient oak in the front yard that would provide a much-needed diversion for her child. Yes, this would definitely do, at least for the time being.
Chase slid out of the driver’s side and Jess followed suit, opening the door for Danny, who refused to take her offered hand. Maybe after they’d settled in, he’d be more himself again. Maybe he’d even talk to her again.
Chase lifted the dusty welcome mat and retrieved a key that anyone with any sense could have found and helped themselves to whatever remained in the house. But in Placid, crime was low and life was simple. Most people had very few possessions that anyone would deem valuable.
The minute Jess stepped onto the scuffed hardwood floors, she was overwhelmed by the musty smell and the amount of stuff scattered about the small living room. Numerous trinkets, along with portraits of children and their children, sat out on various tables and stationary shelves lining the walls. A family’s legacy proudly on display.
Chase turned and handed her the key while Danny remained at the door. “Gabe said you’ll find everything you need and then some.”
She tucked the key into the pocket of her jeans while she continued to survey the living room and its personal treasures. “No kidding. I feel like I’m in a museum.”
“He also said Millie comes over now and then to clean the place but she hasn’t been here in a while.”
Jess remembered Gabe’s wife, Millie, very fondly. She’d worked in the high school cafeteria to supplement Gabe’s farming income and she’d always sported a smile while serving questionable fare. Unfortunately, Gabe was about as crabby as they came. “As long as we have a roof over our heads, I can deal with tidying up. How much does he want for rent?”
Chase’s gaze faltered. “Nine hundred a month plus utilities. No deposit or lease required.”
Highway robbery as far as Jess was concerned, especially if her job was in jeopardy. She wouldn’t know for certain until after the first of the year, unless she happened to be indicted. Even if she was cleared of all wrong-doing, some would want her contract terminated immediately, namely Edwin. Then she would have no choice but to leave her hometown. “Does Gabe know I’m the prospective tenant?”
Chase brought his attention back to her. “Not yet. I told him I was asking for a friend and I’d call if we’re interested after we checked the place out. But he’s going to want to know who’s renting the house if you decide to take it.”
What choice did she have? “The price is a little steep but beggars can’t be choosers. And as far as Gabe knowing I’m renting the house, I imagine everyone’s going to hear about what happened last night sooner or later.” More than likely sooner.
“Okay. I’ll let him know and drop off the rent during my shift.”
That posed another problem. “My checkbook’s at the house.”
“I’ll take care of it.”
Jess already owed him too much. “I’ll pay you back as soon as I get the rest of my things. What about the utilities?”
Chase dropped down on the shabby blue sofa. “The electricity’s still on but the heat runs on propane and the tank’s empty. I’ll call Freddie and see if he can deliver some tomorrow.”
“It’s not supposed to be too cold tonight. We’ll manage.” Jess pointed at the pot-belly stove in the corner. “Or we could use that I guess.”
“I’ll see if I can find some wood before I go.”
Jess didn’t want him to go, but she also didn’t dare ask him to stay. “As long as we have blankets, we’ll be okay until tomorrow. What time are you on today?”
He came to his feet. “I work eleven to eleven.”
“A twelve-hour shift?”
“That’s what happens when you’re short on manpower.”
That meant he had little time left before he had to leave, and she probably wouldn’t see him again today. “I really need some extra clothes and my car from the house.”
“I’ll have to accompany you and I don’t have much time. If you have enough to get by until tomorrow, we can stop by first thing in the morning.”
“I guess we can make do,” she said, though she hated not having control over claiming her own belongings. “But we will need food.”
“I’ll send Sue over with some lunch as soon as I’m back at the department. She can bring you some groceries after work.”
Jess didn’t particularly care for that idea. “Again, I don’t have any cash and I really wouldn’t want to inconvenience anyone.”
“Sue won’t mind as long as I promise to cover the cost, which I will.”
“I have my own money, Chase.”
“I’m sure you do, and you can pay me back by making me dinner sometime. I could go for some mac and cheese or tuna fish sandwiches.”
He still thought she was the girl who couldn’t cook to save her life. Little did he know, she’d learned a lot in his absence. “Fine. But I still don’t want Sue to have to come all the way out here.”
Chase inclined his head and studied her a few moments. “If you’re worried she’ll tell someone your whereabouts, don’t. You can trust her.”
Jess’s concerns had more to do with shame than privacy. But her growing boy needed to eat and until she had her own transportation, she’d have to rely on the kindness of others. “Okay. As long as you promise I’ll have my car back by tomorrow.”
“I promise,” he said.
Jess noticed her son had taken a seat in the yellow-striped chair near the door, still stoic and silent. “Do you want to pick out your room, Danny?” she asked, hoping to somehow engage him.
He shook his head no and studied the toe of his sneaker.
“Well, I’m going to take a look around and you can decide later,” she said. “Don’t go anywhere unless you tell me.” Like that would happen since he still refused to speak.
Jess crossed the room into an adjacent hallway and came to the first door to her right—a small bathroom with a claw-foot tub on the opposite wall. When she heard heavy footfalls, she glanced back to see Chase filling the doorway. “This is great,” she said as she examined the tub that appeared to be clean and in decent shape except for a few nicks here and there. “Unfortunately, no shower. Is there another bathroom?”
“Nope. But I can rig you a hand-held when I come back tomorrow.”
Funny, she’d gone from four fully-equipped baths to one. “I’d appreciate that.” She’d also appreciate it if he stepped back to give her some space.
When he failed to move, Jess brushed past him and continued her investigation of the premises. The first bedroom housed two sets of bunk beds, the second two double beds, all reminders that a large family had once lived there. At the end of the corridor, she came upon the largest room that held a dresser and another double bed with an iron headboard that looked to be as old as the house itself.
Again she turned to find Chase with a shoulder propped against the frame. “I assume this is the master bedroom.”
He sent her a half-smile. “Yep. The place where the Wooleys made all the little Wooleys.”
He could have gone all day without mentioning that. “Let’s hope the mattress has since been replaced. And speaking of that, I noticed all the beds have been stripped.”
“Gabe said there’s clean linens in the hall closet.”
At least she wouldn’t have to bring those from the house. “Good. What about the washer and dryer?”
“Washer but no dryer. Nita hung her clothes on the line.”
Jess felt as if she’d unwittingly stepped back in time. “I suppose that’s why they invented coin-operated laundries.” And the nearest one happened to be five miles away.
“The washer’s in a small room off the kitchen,” Chase said as he stepped into the bedroom, making the adequate space seemed too cramped for Jess’s comfort.
She clapped her hands together enthusiastically. “Let’s go see the kitchen, shall we?” When Chase laughed, taking her by surprise, Jess asked, “What’s so amusing?”
“For a minute there I saw the head cheerleader coming out in you.”
She hadn’t had anything to cheer about in years. “That girl went away a long time ago. If you don’t believe me, take a gander at my backside.”
Chase raked his gaze down her body and back up again. “You don’t look all that different, Jess.”
“Try telling that to Dalton.” She regretted the acid comment the moment it left her mouth.
Chase scowled as he always did whenever she mentioned his archenemy’s name. “You shouldn’t care what that bastard thinks.”
Old verbal wounds were hard to heal. “I don’t care about anything but seeing the kitchen.”
He stepped aside and made a sweeping gesture toward the hall. “After you.”
Jess once more passed through the living room where Danny was rooted in the same spot, still wearing his gray down jacket as if he had no intention of staying. As soon as she had some alone time with him, she’d explain this was only a temporary home. Yet she wasn’t certain he truly cared one way or the other. And if his demeanor didn’t change in the next day or two, she’d be forced to seek professional help for him. She prayed she could wait at least until the current legal storm blew over. If not, she’d have to trust that a counselor would be bound by patient confidentiality should Danny decide to reveal the events leading up to Dalton’s injuries. Right now she had to concentrate on getting her bearings so they could begin to move in.
With that in mind, she found her way into the kitchen with a small dining area housing a wooden table, benches on both sides and a chair on each end. She began opening cabinets and drawers to discover myriad pots, pans, dishes, glasses and utensils. When she heard Chase approaching, she turned and leaned back against the well-worn butcher-block counter. “There’s enough equipment here to feed an army.”
“That pretty much describes the Wooley family,” he said as he entered the room, dropped into one chair at the table and stretched his long legs out before him.
Jess was suddenly struck by his undeniable presence and authority, from the top of his cowboy hat to the tip of his boots. He portrayed old-West lawman to a T. Oddly, everything about him kept her off balance, as if she didn’t really know him at all. In many ways, that was accurate.
She moved to the massive farm sink that provided a nice view of the pasture from the window above it. “This is really a pretty place.”
Before Jess even realized he’d left the table, Chase reached around her and turned on the faucet, his body flush against her back. “The well’s supposed to be working, but Gabe says to check the water since we’ve had a fairly long dry spell. I can sure relate to that.”
Jess glanced back to see his half-smile and a hint of the consummate charmer he’d always been. “I have a hard time believing that.” Even if for some strange reason, she hoped it were true.
“You know how it is around here, Jess,” he said. “Not a whole lot of people our age in Placid.”
She returned his smile. “Poor Deputy Reed. No one to irrigate his crops.”
He brushed a strand of hair from her cheek. “Don’t worry your pretty head over me. I get by.”
Getting by seemed to be the recent story of her life. Getting away from Chase seemed to be the better part of valor. The innuendo had begun to take its toll on her composure, especially when he remained so close she could trace a line around his lips with a fingertip with little effort. The fact that his proximity, his words, could affect her at a time like this was beyond explanation.
Right when she started to move away, Chase stopped her progress when he said, “Will you take a look at that?”
Jess turned her focus back to the window to see Danny seated on the ground, holding his hand out to a young tabby cat that stood a few feet away, back arched and tail sticking straight up. Not only had she’d not heard him leave the house, she’d inadvertently allowed him to come face-to-face with a wild animal. “Oh, heavens. That thing is probably feral and hasn’t had any shots. I need—”
“To leave him be,” Chase said as the kitten skittered away.
She sent him a look of sheer surprise. “Are you crazy? He could’ve been scratched or bitten and ended up with rabies.”
“But he wasn’t and he’s fine. Seems to me he just needs a little time to himself.”
Jess silently admitted Chase was probably right, but her motherly instincts at times commandeered her common sense.
“You know what else he needs, Jess?” Chase said.
“A friend?”
“A dog.”
Another memory, sharp as shattered glass, dug into her mind. “Danny had a puppy once when he was five. A Golden Retriever named Birdie. She chewed up a pair of Dalton’s Italian loafers, so Dalton gave her away to some hunter two counties over. Then he told Danny that she’d run away because he wasn’t a good boy.”
“That sorry son of a bitch,” Chase muttered, pure venom in his voice.
Jess had called him that very thing in her mind, but she’d never said it to his face…until last night.
Shoving aside the reminders, Jess planned to go to Danny just to make sure he’d been left unscathed, at least when it came to the cat. Yet when he took a stick and began drawing in the dirt, his mouth moving as if he were speaking to an imaginary friend, fascination kept her planted where she stood. At least that confirmed he could still talk, even if not to her. He could also still smile, she realized, when he grinned as he looked to his right to see the kitten had returned. A smile that always warmed her heart whenever his precious dimples came into view, the one on the left more prominent that the one on the right.
Overcome with the need to distract Chase, she side-stepped him. “I’m going to bring Danny in before he ends up on the wrong side of the cat.”
Chase checked his watch. “And I’m going to head out.”
Jess realized that after he left, she had no means to communicate with the outside world. “I left my cell phone on the charger at the house.”
“I’d give you mine but I need it for work. I’ll see if Sue can come up with a spare until we get yours in the morning.”
If Sue didn’t come through, that meant she’d spend the day wondering if Dalton’s condition had deteriorated. “Thanks again. For everything.”
“No sweat. That’s what friends are for.”
At least he still considered her a friend, or he could be playing nice out of pity. Only time would tell.
They walked side by side to the door and when they stepped onto the porch, Jess resisted the urge to throw her arms around him and ask him to stay a few more minutes. “Have an exciting day.”
He barked out a cynical laugh. “Sure. About the only excitement I’ll see is if I have to break up a bar fight.”
She shuddered at the thought of Chase throwing himself into the middle of danger, though that wasn’t unfamiliar territory. She’d had to live with that reality the whole time he’d been at war. “Tell Sue not to hurry on our account.”
“Sue doesn’t have any other speed.”
He sent her a smile, displaying his dimples to full advantage, touched the brim of his hat and said, “See you tomorrow, ma’am,” before climbing into the SUV and driving away.
As Jess rounded the house to join Danny, a cool breeze blew across her face and brought with it a sudden chill that had nothing to do with the mild winter weather. She longed to be around Chase, yet she realized the possible peril in that. The more time he spent with her child, the greater the risk that he might begin to suspect what she’d suspected—and denied—for years.
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