Texas Law
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Barb Han
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HarlequinChapter One
Sheriff Colton O’Connor took a sip of coffee and gripped the steering wheel of his SUV. Thunder boomed and rain came down in sheets. Seeing much past the front bumper was basically impossible. He’d had three stranded vehicle calls already—one of those cars had been actually submerged—and the worst of this spring thunderstorm hadn’t happened yet. The storm wreaking havoc on the small town of Katy Gulch, Texas, was just getting started.
On top of everything, Colton’s babysitter had quit last night. Miss Marla’s niece had been in a car crash in Austin and needed her aunt to care for her during her recovery. The spry sixty-five-year-old was the only living relative of the girl, who was a student at the University of Texas at Austin.
Colton pinched the bridge of his nose to stem the thundering headache working up behind his eyelids. His mother was pinch-hitting with his twin boys, Silas and Sebastian, but she was still reeling from the loss of her husband, as was Colton and the rest of the family.
A recent kidnapping attempt had dredged up the unsolved, decades-old mystery of his sister’s abduction, and his father was murdered after deciding to take it upon himself to take up the investigation on his own again. Colton was just getting started untangling his father’s murder.
Considering all that was going on at the ranch, Colton didn’t want to add to his mother’s stress. As much as his one-year-olds were angels, taking care of little ones with more energy than brain development was a lot for anyone to handle. His mother had enough on her plate already, but she’d convinced him the distraction would be good for her.
And now a storm threatened to turn the town upside down with tornadoes and flash floods.
So, no, Colton didn’t feel right about leaving his mother to care for his children, although Margaret O’Connor was strong, one of the toughest women he’d ever met.
He took another sip of coffee and nearly spit it out. It was cold. Bitter. The convenience-store kind that he was certain had been made hours ago and left to burn. That tacky, unpleasant taste stuck to the roof of his mouth.
This might be a good time to stop by the ranch to check on his mother and the twins. He could get a decent cup of coffee there and he wanted to check on his boys. His stomach growled. A reminder that he’d been working emergencies most of the night and had skipped dinner. He always brought food with him on nights like these, but he could save it for later. It was getting late.
Colton banked a U-turn at the corner of Misty Creek and Apple Blossom Drive, and then headed toward the ranch. He hadn’t made it a block when he got the next call. The distinct voice belonging to his secretary, Gert Francis, came through the radio.
“What do you have for me?” He pulled his vehicle onto the side of the road. At least there were no cars on the streets. He hoped folks listened to the emergency alerts and stayed put.
“A call just came in from Mrs. Dillon. Flood waters are rising near the river. She’s evacuating. Her concern is about a vagrant who has been sleeping in her old RV. She doesn’t want the person to be caught unaware if the water keeps rising, and she’s scared to disturb whoever it is on her own.” Mrs. Dillon, widowed last year at the age of seventy-eight, had a son in Little Rock who’d been trying to convince her to move closer to him. She had refused. Katy Gulch was home.
Colton always made a point of stopping by her place on his way home to check on one of his favorite residents. It was the happiest part of his job, the fact that he kept all the residents in his town and county safe. He took great pride in his work and had a special place in his heart for the senior residents in his community.
He was a rancher by birth and a sheriff by choice. Both jobs had ingrained in him a commitment to help others, along with a healthy respect for Mother Nature.
Colton heaved a sigh. Thinking about ranching brought him back to his family’s situation. With his father, the patriarch of Katy Bull Ranch, now gone, Colton and his brothers had some hard decisions to make about keeping their legacy running.
“Let Mrs. Dillon know I’m on my way.” Actually, there was no reason he couldn’t call her himself. “Never mind, Gert. I’ve got her number right here. I’ve been meaning to ask her how she’s been getting around after foot surgery last week.”
“Will do, Sheriff.” There was so much pride in her voice. She’d always been vocal about how much she appreciated the fact he looked after the town’s residents. The last sheriff hadn’t been so diligent. Gert had made her opinion known about him, as well.
“After I make this call, I need to check out for a little while to stop by the ranch and see about things there,” he informed her.
“Sounds like a plan, sir.” More of that admiration came through the line.
Colton hoped he could live up to it.
“Be safe out there,” Gert warned.
“You know I will. I better ring her now.” Colton ended the call. Using Bluetooth technology, he called Mrs. Dillon. She picked up on the first ring.
“I hear you have a new tenant in the RV. I’m on my way over.” Colton didn’t need to identify himself. He was pretty certain Mrs. Dillon had his cell number on speed dial. He didn’t mind. If a quick call to him or Gert could give her peace of mind, inconvenience was a small price to pay.
“Thank you for checking it out for me. This one showed up three nights ago, I think.” Concern came through in Mrs. Dillon’s voice. “I know it’s a woman because MaryBeth’s dog kept barking and I heard her tell him to shush.”
“Well, if she stays any longer you’ll have to start charging rent,” he teased, trying to lighten the mood.
The older woman’s heart was as big as the great state they lived in.
“If I started doing that, I’d end up a rich lady. Then all the young bachelors would come to town to court me. We can’t have that, can we?” Her smile came through in her voice.
“No, ma’am. We sure can’t.”
“I hope she’s okay.” She said on a sigh. “Not a peep from her. I wouldn’t have heard her at all if it hadn’t been for MaryBeth’s dog.” Mrs. Dillon clucked her tongue in disapproval. Normally, her neighbor’s dog was a thorn in her side. This time, Cooper seemed to have served a purpose.
“Sounds like we have a quiet one on our hands. I’ll perform a wellness check and make sure she gets out before the water rises.”
“I always complained to my husband that he put the parking pad to the RV way too close to the water’s edge. But do you think he listened?” Her tone was half-teasing, half-wistful. Mr. and Mrs. Dillon had been high school sweethearts and had, much like Colton’s parents, beaten the odds of divorce and gone the distance. The Dillons had been schoolteachers who’d spent their summers touring the country in their RV. Anyone who knew them could see how much they loved each other. They were almost obnoxiously adorable, much like his own parents had been.
Losing Mr. Dillon had to have been the hardest thing she’d gone through. Colton’s heart went out to her.
“I just didn’t want her to be caught off guard. If this storm is as bad as they say it’s going to be, the RV will be flooded again.” She heaved a concerned-sounding sigh. “I probably should’ve gotten rid of that thing ten years ago after the first time it flooded. But Mr. Dillon loved his camping so he could throw out a line first thing with his morning coffee.” Her voice was nothing but melancholy now at the memory.
“He was one of the best fishermen in the county.” Colton swerved to miss a puddle on the road that was forming a small lake. Flash flooding was a real problem in the spring. This storm was just beginning to dish out its wrath. Mother Nature had a temper and it was becoming apparent she was gearing up to show them just how angry she could become.
“That he was,” she agreed.
“Who is driving you to Little Rock?” He changed the subject, hoping to redirect her from a conversation that would bring back the pain of losing her husband. After seeing the look on his mother’s face at hearing the news her husband was dead, Colton didn’t want to cause that kind of hurt for anyone, certainly not for someone as kind as Mrs. Dillon. His second grade teacher deserved more brightness in her day, and especially after putting up with him and his brothers when they were young. They’d been good kids by most standards. And yet they’d also been a handful. After having twins, Colton was more aware of the responsibility and sacrifice that came with the parenting job.
“Netty. You know her from my knitting club. She’s heading that way to stay with her daughter, so I’m hitching a ride with her.” He could almost see the twinkle in Mrs. Dillon’s eye when she said the word hitched.
“Tell Netty to drive safe.” He could barely see in the driving rain and needed to close the call in order to concentrate on the road ahead.
“I will do it, Sheriff. Thank you for checking on my tenant.” He could envision her making air quotes when she said the last word.
“You’re welcome. In fact, I’ll head to your house now.” After exchanging goodbyes, he ended the call.
The rain was so thick he could barely see the end of his vehicle now, let alone the road. The weather had definitely turned in the last couple of minutes since he’d started the conversation.
It was a miracle he could see at all. His headlights were almost useless. If he didn’t know the area so well, he’d pull over and wait it out. These kinds of storms usually came in waves. Radar didn’t look promising on this one.
As he turned right onto Mrs. Dillon’s street, a flash of lightning streaked across the sky, and a dark object cut in front of him so suddenly he couldn’t stop himself from tapping it with his service vehicle.
A thunk sounded and then a squeal. The noise was quickly drowned out by the driving rain.
Colton cursed his luck, wondering if he’d been struck by debris. He hopped out of his vehicle to check. Rain pelted his face. He pulled up his collar and shivered against the cold front, praying whatever he’d hit wasn’t an animal. Deer sometimes cut through town. At least he was on his way to the ranch. He could scoop it up, put it in the back and see what he could do about nursing it back to health.
Pulling his flashlight from his belt, he shined it around the area. It was next to impossible to see. Hell, he could barely see his hand in front of his face for the rain.
Squinting, he caught sight of something moving a few feet from his passenger-side bumper. Hell’s bells. He hadn’t nicked an animal at all...it was a person.
Colton dashed to the victim. He took a knee beside the woman, who was curled in a tight ball. Her dark clothing covered her from nearly head to toe. She was drenched and lying in a puddle.
“My name is Colton O’Connor. I’m the sheriff and I’m here to help.” He knew better than to touch her in case she was injured.
“I’m okay. You can go.” He didn’t recognize the voice, but then it was next to impossible to hear over the sounds of the rain. She kept her face turned in the opposite direction, away from him.
Considering she seemed anxious to not show her face to him, he wondered if she had something to hide.
“I’m not going anywhere until I know you’re okay. And that means being able to stand up and walk away from here on your own,” he said, figuring she might as well know where he stood.
“I already said that I’m okay. Go away,” the woman shouted, and he heard her loud and clear this time. Her voice was somewhat familiar and yet he couldn’t place it.
He dashed toward his vehicle and retrieved an umbrella. It wouldn’t do much good against the torrent. Water was building up on the sidewalk and gushing over faster than the gutter could handle it. But it was something and might help with some of the onslaught.
And he believed that right up until he opened the umbrella and it nearly shot out of his hands. A gust of wind forced him to fight to hold on to it and keep it steady over the victim. Finally, it was doing a good job offering some shelter from the rain.
“Like I said, I need to see that you can walk away from here on your own and answer a few questions. I’m the one who hit you and there’s no way I’m leaving. What’s your name?” He bent down lower so she could hear without him shouting at her.
She didn’t answer and that sent up more warning flares. Anyone could see she was injured. She’d taken a pretty hard hit. She might be in shock or maybe suffering head trauma. From his position, it was impossible to see if she was bleeding, and because of the way she’d fallen, he couldn’t rule out a broken arm or leg.
Colton stood up and walked around to where she was facing. He dropped down on his knees to get a better look. Rain was everywhere—his eyes, his ears, his face. He shook his head, trying to shake off the flood.
“I’m calling an ambulance. I’m going to get some help.” He strained to see her face, still unable to reach back to his memory and find a name that matched the voice. In a small town like Katy Gulch, Colton knew most everyone, which meant she was someone who’d passed through town.
She lifted her arm to wave him away.
“No can do. Sorry.” He tilted his mouth toward the radio clipped to his shoulder. With his free hand, he pressed the talk button. “Gert, can you read me?”
There was a moment of crackling. He feared he might not be able to hear her response. And yet going to his SUV wasn’t an option. He didn’t want to leave the woman alone in the street in the soaking rain again. She looked like she needed a hand-up and he had no plans to leave her.
With the wind, his umbrella was doing very little, but it was something.
The woman, who had been curled up on her side, shielding her face, pushed up to sit. “See, I’m okay. I’m not hurt. I just need a minute to catch my breath and I’ll be fine.”
Colton wasn’t convinced she was able to think clearly. Often after experiencing trauma, it took a while for the brain to catch up. That was how shock worked. She might not even realize it.
“What’s your name?” he asked again, trying to assess her mental state.
She shook her head, which either meant she didn’t want to disclose it or she couldn’t remember. Neither was a good sign.
Since she hadn’t answered his question, there was no choice but to have her cleared medically before he could let her go, even if she could walk away on her own, which he highly doubted at the moment.
“I’m just going to get somebody here to take a look at you, and if everything’s okay, you’ll be cleared in no time. In the meantime, you can wait inside my vehicle and get out of this weather.” He’d noticed that she’d started shivering.
He slipped out of his rain jacket and placed it over her shoulders.
The woman looked up at him and their gazes locked. His heart stirred and his breath caught.
“Makena?”
WATER WAS EVERYWHERE, flooding Makena Eden’s eyes and ears. Rain hit her face, stinging like fire-ant bites. She blinked up and stared into the eyes of the last man she’d expected to see again—Colton O’Connor.
Still reeling from taking a wrong turn into the road and being clipped by his sport utility, she felt around on her hip.
Ouch. That hurt. She could already feel her side bruising. Mentally, she tried to dust herself off and stand up. Her hip, however, had other plans, so she sat there, trying to ride out the pain.
“I just need a minute.” There was no other option but to get up and fake being well. She had no job, no medical insurance and no money. And she couldn’t afford to let her identity get out, especially not on a peace officer’s radio. Then there was the other shock, the fact that Colton was kneeling down in front of her. How long had it been?
“Not so fast.” Colton’s eyebrow shot up and he seemed unconvinced. He was one of the most devastatingly handsome men she’d ever met, and her body picked that moment to react to him and remind her. This was turning out to be one red-letter day stacked on the back end of months of agony. One she’d survived by hiding and sliding under the radar.
“I don’t want you to try to move. We need to get you checked out first.” He snapped into action, tilting his chin toward his left shoulder to speak into his radio. She could hear him requesting an ambulance. For a split second, she wondered if she could run away and get far enough out of sight for him to forget this whole situation. Wishful thinking. It was so not good that he knew her personally. Granted, he knew her before she’d become Mrs. River Myers, but still...
Panic squeezed her lungs as she tried to breathe through the building anxiety. She couldn’t let her name go down on record. She couldn’t have anything that would identify her over the radio.
“I promise that I’m not broken. I’m shaken up.” Before she could say anything else, he put a hand up to stop her.
Water was dripping everywhere, and yet looking into those cobalt blue eyes sent her flashing back to her sophomore year of college. The two of them had been randomly hooked up as partners in biology lab. Even at nineteen years old, it was easy to see Colton was going to be strong and muscled when he finally filled out.
Now, just seeing him released a dozen butterflies in her chest along with a free-falling sensation she hadn’t felt since college. She could stare into his eyes for days. He had a face of hard angles and planes. Full lips covered perfectly straight, white teeth.
Looking at him was like staring at one of those billboard models. The man was tall. Six feet four inches of solid steel and ripped muscle. The only reason she noticed was the survival need at its most basic, she told herself. She was in trouble and had to assess whether or not Colton could defend her.
Icy fingers gripped her spine as she thought about the past, about her past. About River. Stand still long enough and it would catch up to her. He would find her.
Colton might look good. Better than good, but she wouldn’t let her mind go there for long. There were two things that would keep her from the attraction she felt, other than the obvious fact they’d had one class and a flirtation that hadn’t gone anywhere. A badge and a gun.
