Small-Town Face-Off

The little girl asleep and hidden beneath the poncho, held up by Mara’s arm, didn’t help matters.

“I do remember that you’re the sheriff,” she said. “And, you’re right, I should have called there, but—” Mara had rehearsed a speech in the car explaining the exact reason she had driven back to Carpenter, back to his house, instead of just calling. Now, however, the words just wouldn’t come. All she could find were his eyes, ever searching for an answer. “Well,” she started again, trying to find a stronger voice. “It seemed too important to not talk about face-to-face.”

Whatever reply Billy had been brewing behind those perfect lips seemed to stall out. His brows pulled together, his nostrils flared and then, just as quickly, his expression began to relax. He took a deep breath.

“Fine,” he finally said. “But make it quick. I just got called out.”

That was as warm as she’d bet the man was going to be, so she nodded. The simple movement shook water free from the bright yellow poncho covering her. She tried to give him an apologetic look.

“I didn’t have an umbrella,” she explained.

“You never did,” he said, also, she believed, on reflex. Like the nod, it was such a simple statement that Mara wondered if he’d even registered he’d said it at all. “Here, let me help with that.” Billy reached out and took the bag from her shoulder. Any mother might recognize it as a diaper bag, though it was designed to look like an oversized purse, but she could tell Billy Reed hadn’t caught on to it yet.

Or the bulge beneath the poncho.

She must have really thrown him for a loop.

“Thanks. Do you have a bag or something I could put this poncho in?” She motioned to the very thing keeping their conversation from diving headlong into the foreign topic of kids.

“Yeah, give me a sec.” He set her bag on the entryway bench and headed toward the kitchen. It gave Mara a moment to take two deep breaths before letting each out with a good shake.

It had been two years since she’d seen Billy Reed. More than that since she’d met him in a bar, ready to do her best to help him take down the only family she’d had left. Now here she was, standing in his house, dripping on the hardwood.

“This is all I have to put it in,” he said, coming back. His smile was still gone but at least he wasn’t stone-faced.

“Oh, thanks,” Mara said to the Walmart bag he extended. She didn’t take it. “Actually, I’m going to need your help with this one. I don’t want to drop her.”

And, just like that, Billy Reed must have finally looked at her—really looked at her—taking in the large bulge beneath the poncho. Wordlessly, he helped her pull it off. He stood there, eyes wide, as the dark-haired little girl came into view. She wiggled at the sudden light but, thankfully, stayed asleep. One little blessing that Mara would more than take.

“This is Alexa,” Mara introduced her. She watched as his eyes widened. They swept over the little girl with attention she knew he was proud of. For a moment she forgot why she’d come. So many times over the last two years she’d thought about this meeting. Would it happen? What would he say? What would she say? However, Mara reminded herself that she hadn’t come back to Carpenter because she’d decided to. No, a man and his threats had made that decision for her. Mara cleared her throat. It was now or never. “Billy, meet your daughter.”

Chapter Two

Billy, bless him, didn’t say a thing for a good minute. Though his eyes ran the gamut of emotions.

Mara took a tentative step toward him, arm still holding their daughter up, and opened her mouth to speak, but Billy’s phone went off in his pocket, ringing too loudly to ignore.

He shook off the spell he’d fallen into, though when he spoke, his voice wasn’t as strong as it had been before.

“Please, hold that thought. I have to take this,” he said, pulling his phone out. He didn’t look at the caller ID as he answered. “Reed.”

Mara’s mouth closed as a woman’s voice filled the space between them. She didn’t stop for breath as she relayed whatever she needed to the man. Slowly his attention split and refocused on the new information. His brow furrowed and his eyes took on a look Mara knew all too well.

This was Work Billy and she’d come at a bad time. That much was clear.

“Okay, thanks,” he said when the woman had finished. “I’ll be there in twenty.”

Mara’s stomach fell as Billy ended the call. She didn’t know what she had expected of the man she’d left with no more than a note on his pillow and no hint whatsoever that she was pregnant with his child. But his taking a work call hadn’t been on the list of possibilities. She straightened her back. Alexa squeezed her little arms around Mara’s neck in her sleep. The slight movement wasn’t missed by Billy. He looked at his daughter before his eyes cut back to her.

“You have a world of explaining to do,” he started, voice low. He had finally landed on an emotion. Anger. “First you just up and leave, then you don’t talk to me for two years, and now you’re saying that—” He stopped his voice from going any louder. Without breaking eye contact he reached for the raincoat on the wall next to them. “A body has just been found and I need to try and get to the crime scene before this rain messes everything up. If it hasn’t already.” He slid into the coat. “I’m sorry.” He ran his finger across the brim of his hat. “It’s been a long day and I didn’t expect to see you.” His eyes trailed down to Alexa before meeting Mara’s again. His expression softened, if only a little. “I would ask you along, but I don’t think a crime scene in the rain is a good place to have this talk.”

“I’ll agree to that,” Mara said. Before she could add anything the sheriff’s expression changed again. It became alert, ready.

“Wait, you said you needed my help?” he asked. The angles of his face seemed to go tight. While Mara had no doubt he was ready to listen to her with all of his attention, he was also still thinking about the crime scene. The sound of pounding rain probably wasn’t helping.

“I can wait until you’re done,” she said. The urgency that had driven her from their home that morning had ebbed considerably, especially now that she was there, standing in Billy’s house. Maybe she had been foolish to leave so suddenly and come running back to Carpenter.

And its sheriff.

“Are you sure?” She could see his resolve splitting. She nodded.

“I can go check in to the hotel off Miller Street, if you think it will be a bit.”

“Why don’t you just wait here? It’s not like you don’t know your way around.” Heat rushed up to Mara’s cheeks at the comment. She doubted he’d meant to stir up old memories. He was just stating a fact. She did know her way around, having spent countless hours there trying to plan a way to stop her father. A pursuit that had had unexpected outcomes.

“Oh, I wouldn’t want to intr—”

“Mara.” Billy’s voice took on a low edge. “Stay.”

An easy command for any smart woman to follow from Billy Reed.

Alexa stirred in her arms.

“Okay,” she relented. It would be nice not to have to run Alexa back out into the bad weather. Plus, she doubted after the information she’d just hit him with, Billy would leave his house until he had the whole story. She couldn’t blame him. “I’ll wait until you get back.”

An expression she didn’t quite understand flashed across Billy’s face, but when he spoke his voice was normal, considering everything.

“Help yourself to any food in the fridge,” he said. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Mara thanked him and moved out of his way as he went out into the storm. The Billy she’d known years before hadn’t changed. Justice and protecting those within his jurisdiction still prevailed.

“Well, Alexa,” Mara said once she’d heard his Tahoe leave. “This is the Reed family home.”

A little uncertainly, Mara slipped off her shoes and padded through the entryway and into the living room. Surprisingly, or maybe not, nothing seemed to have changed since the last time she’d been in the house. The old dark hardwood grounded a room that had been the heart of the Reed family for two generations. Sure, some of the furniture had changed—the black leather couch certainly hadn’t been Billy’s mother’s choice, and neither had the plasma flat-screen—but the cozy feel of a house well loved and well lived-in hadn’t diminished one bit.

Mara kept on her tour with a growing smile. From the living room she went to the kitchen, the dining room and the open office. She was looking for clues that might tell her what had happened to Billy since she’d left Carpenter. The family pictures of the Reeds still dotted the walls, including some new additions and marriages, while other pictures specific only to Billy also popped up occasionally. Mara stopped and smiled at one in particular that caught her eye.

Standing in front of a crowd of Riker County residents was the dark-haired man, moments after he’d been officially elected sheriff.

The old affection began to break through an emotional dam she’d spent years building. Then, just as quickly, she was back to that morning, when she’d stood on her front porch across from the stranger who had threatened her life and the life of her child. If anyone could deal with the mystery man it was the Riker County sheriff.

Alexa moved in her arms. This time she woke up.

The cold that had started to spread in the pit of Mara’s stomach turned to warmth.

“Well, hello there,” she whispered.

Alexa looked up at her mom. Just shy of fifteen months, the toddler might not have known much about the world, but that had never stopped her beautiful green eyes from being curious.

Just like her father’s.

* * *

IT TOOK FIFTEEN minutes to get to the ditch that held Bernie Lutz’s body. Billy could have taken three hours—hell, three days—and still not have been able to completely process what had just happened. A herd of elephants could have stampeded alongside his Tahoe as he navigated the muddy back road and it wouldn’t have distracted him. Mara’s sudden reappearance alone would have stunned him. But this? Alexa? Mara Copeland on his doorstep with a baby?

His baby.

“Get a hold of yourself, Billy,” he said out loud. “You’ve got a job to do first.”

Had Mara been wearing a wedding ring? Billy shook his head. He needed to focus on one thing at a time. He needed to put everything that wasn’t Bernie Lutz out of his mind. At least for the moment.

He sighed.

Yet, there Mara had been. Staring up at him through her long dark lashes, asking for help.

And he’d just left.

His phone went off, dancing on the dash before he answered. This time it was Matt Walker, currently Riker County’s only detective, thanks to the retirement of his former partner. Like Suzy, Matt was direct when he spoke about work.

“Henry got a tarp up, Billy,” he yelled over the weather. “But the road runoff is washing everything away. I went ahead and called in the county coroner.”

Billy swore.

“It hasn’t rained in weeks, and the one time we need it dry is the one time all hell breaks loose.”

“It could be worse,” Matt said. “We could be the body in the ditch.”

Billy nodded.

“You’re right,” he said, sobering. “I’m a few minutes out. If the coroner gets there before me, go ahead and load him up. Maybe if we act fast enough we can salvage some evidence.”

“Ten-four.” Billy started to hang up but Matt cut back in. “And Billy? Just from looking at him, I’m going to say that his girlfriend might have been telling some kind of truth. He’s beaten pretty badly. His death wasn’t fast, by any means. See you when you get here.”

He ended the call.

Thoughts of the past half hour were replaced by the need to solve a murder.

* * *

IT WAS JUST before midnight when Billy unlocked his front door. The storm raged on. Every part of him was soaking wet, and his boots and jeans were more mud than anything. He didn’t even try to keep the floor clean. Instead, he sloshed inside and stripped in the entryway.

It wasn’t until he was starting to pull off his shirt that he spotted the bright yellow poncho sticking out of a Walmart bag. He froze as his brain detached from work life and zipped right back to his personal one.

Mara.

With more attention to the noise he was making, he left his shirt on and, instead, got out of his boots. Only one light was on. He followed it into the living room. For one moment he thought it was empty—that Mara had left again, this time with his daughter in tow—but then he spotted a mass of dark hair cascading over the arm of the couch. Coming around to face it, he was met with a sight that used to be familiar.

Mara was asleep, body pulled up so that her knees were close to her stomach, making her look impossibly small. It wasn’t the first time he’d come home after work to find her in that exact spot, lights still on, waiting for him. Even when he’d tell her not to wait up, Billy would come in after a long day to find her there. She’d never once complained. Seeing her lying there, face soft and unguarded, Billy took a small moment for himself to remember what it felt like to come home to her. But it didn’t last.

There had been too many nights between then and now. Ones where he’d come home to an empty house, wondering why she’d gone.

I’m sorry, but it’s over.

Billy shook his head at the one sentence that had changed everything between them and looked at the one idea he’d never entertained after Mara had gone.

Alexa was tucked within her mother’s arms, simultaneously fitting and not fitting in the space between. Her hair was dark, but still lighter than his, and it fell just past her shoulders and, from the looks of it, was as thick as her mother’s. Before he could police his thoughts, a smile pulled up the corners of his lips.

He might not have known her the day before, but that didn’t stop the affection for the little girl.

And, just like before, the feeling of warmth, however brief, was gone.

Why had she been kept a secret?

Billy took a step back. While he had questions, he didn’t want to wake either one, but the creak in the floor that had been there since his father was a child sounded under his weight. Mara’s eyes fluttered opened and immediately found him.

“I tried to be quiet,” he whispered.

Mara shook her head and slowly sat up while trying to disengage herself from the toddler.

“No, I’m sorry,” she whispered back once she managed to get free. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”

She followed him through the entryway and into the dining room, far enough away that they could talk in normal tones.

And, boy, did they have a lot to talk about.

“What time is it?” she asked, taking a seat at the table. She stifled a yawn.

“Close to midnight. I was gone a lot longer than I thought I would be,” he admitted. Billy took a seat opposite her. “This storm couldn’t have come at a worse time.”

Mara nodded, but the movement was sluggish. He was tired, too. It was time to stop delaying and finally ask the current question on his mind.

“Mara, why are you here?”

Chapter Three

“A man came to my house this morning and asked about my father,” Mara said, knowing full well that once the words were out there Billy wouldn’t forget them. Finding a way to take down her father—to catch him in the act—had been an emotional and physical drain on them both. The collective hope that Billy would save Riker County had pressed down heavily on him, while betraying the only family she’d had had never left Mara’s mind.

As if an invisible hand had found the strings to his puppet, Billy’s entire body snapped to attention.

“They wanted Bryan?”

But he’s in prison, Mara silently finished.

“The man didn’t want him,” she said out loud instead. “The guy wanted something important of my father’s and I needed to tell him where it was. I had no idea what he was talking about.”

Billy’s dark brow rose in question. “Something important,” he deadpanned.

“He didn’t say what, past that,” she admitted, recalling how the man had been careful when choosing his words. “But what really spooked me was when he said he wanted to take over what my father had built, my family’s business. And I don’t think he was talking about my dad’s old accounting job.”

Billy’s forehead creased in thought. She could almost see the red flags popping up behind his eyes.

“Moxy,” he supplied.

She nodded. “I told him I had no part in that slice of my father’s life, but he didn’t seem to care,” she continued. She twisted her hands together, and when she recounted what happened next her stomach was a knot of coldness. “Then he saw Alexa playing in the house behind me. He told me that I might change my mind if I had the right incentive.”

Billy’s body managed to take on an even greater tension.

“What did he want you to change your mind about?” he asked. “Telling him the location of something important or wanting nothing to do with your father’s past business?”

Mara sighed.

“I don’t know. After he looked Alexa’s way, I told him he needed to leave.” Mara let her gaze drop. “He didn’t argue, but he did say he’d be seeing me again soon.”

Billy’s chair scraped the hardwood as he pushed back. Mara could feel her eyes widen in surprise as she readjusted her attention to his expression.

Anger. And it definitely wasn’t meant for her this time.

“I’m assuming he didn’t give you a name,” Billy said, walking out of the dining room and disappearing. He was back a second later with a small notepad and a pen in his hands.

“Just a first name. Beck.”

“And did you call the cops?”

A burst of heat spread up her neck and pooled in her cheeks. Mara had thought about filing a police report, but the mention of her father had thrown her completely off-kilter. What she would normally have done went out the window. Instead, her thoughts had flown south to Riker County. And the only man who had ever made her feel safe. Suddenly, that feeling that had burned so strongly hours before when she’d packed the car and taken Alexa on a trip across Alabama seemed rash.

“No,” she admitted. “I should have but—well, I thought if someone was trying to start up my father’s business again that they would start it here. I thought that I should—I don’t know—warn you or something.” Again, her words sounded lame compared to what she wanted to say. But at least they were true. In his prime, Bryan Copeland had grown a drug network that nearly swallowed the whole of Riker County. His dealings had cost the lives of several residents, including teenagers. Not to mention a cascade of repercussions that were harder to measure. The fact that all of her father’s former connections hadn’t been found was one that had always made the man in front of her nervous. Part of her father’s business hadn’t been accounted for...which meant that if this Beck person was trying to start up again, it would only stand to reason he might have found the people law enforcement hadn’t. Or maybe that’s what Beck was looking for.

For the first time since he’d stepped back through the door, Billy’s expression softened a fraction. The lines of tension in his shoulders, however, did not.

“Could you describe to me what this Beck guy looks like?” He flipped open the notebook and clicked his pen. “And did you see his car?”

“Yes and yes.”

Mara spent the next few minutes painting a picture of the stranger named Beck until Billy was satisfied it was enough to try and look him up through the department’s database.

Mara thought it curious that Billy never asked where she was currently living. It made her wonder if he’d looked her up at all in the last two years. She hadn’t gone far, but far enough that Riker County had been firmly in her rearview.

“I want you to come to the station with me tomorrow,” Billy said, closing the notepad. “I’m going to see if the sketch artist from the state agency can come in and work with you. Maybe the new guy can draw us a good picture to work with if this Beck person isn’t on our list of people with warrants out on them.”

“So, you think Beck was serious?”

Mara sat straighter. The possibility of someone revitalizing Moxy, or any drug, within the community using the foundation her father had laid was finally sinking in. Just another reason for the residents of Riker County to despise her and her family. “You think he’s really going to try and start up where Dad left off?”

Billy let out a long breath. He ran his hands through his hair. How attractive she still found him was not lost on Mara. Looking at him now, a well-built, fine-tuned man with miles and miles of goodwill and good intentions, she could feel the stirring of feelings she needed to stay still. Not to mention the heat of attraction that always lit within her when Billy was anywhere near. But now wasn’t the time or place. If there was a chance he could forgive her for leaving, she doubted he’d forgive her for keeping their daughter a secret—a topic of conversation she was sure would take place once the cop side of him was done flexing his professional muscles.

The sheriff cleared his throat. His eyes hardened. He had something to say and she doubted she’d like it.

“We found Bernie Lutz in a ditch tonight,” he started. Mara felt recognition flare but couldn’t keep it burning long enough to connect. Billy helped her out. “He was one of the drug dealers your dad used who escaped the serious charges after Bryan went to court.” There it was.

“The one with the ex-wife tattoo,” she said. He nodded.

“This was never confirmed, but the story his girlfriend spun was that two men came to their house looking for something the other day. Whatever it was, Bernie didn’t know or didn’t tell. This could all be a coincidence, but you know me, I don’t believe in those.” Billy put his finger on the paper he’d just written on. He jabbed it once. “Not only do I think this mystery man is going to try to start up your dad’s old business, but I think he might have already started.”

* * *

BILLY WAITED FOR Mara to process everything and then excused himself to go to his room. He slipped into his attached bathroom and splashed cold water on his face. The night had thrown him several curveballs and he hadn’t hit one of them.

Even if he filtered out Mara’s sudden reappearance and the absolute bombshell that was their daughter, Billy still had Bryan Copeland’s legacy to worry about. Whoever this Beck person was, Billy would be damned if he was going to let him repeat what had caused Riker County so much pain years ago. Especially not during the holiday. That was no present any family should have to get.

Billy splashed another wave of water on his face. He stayed hunched over, resting his elbows on the edge of the sink, and kept his eyes closed. There. He could feel the weight of Riker County’s newest burden settling against him. It pressed down on his shoulders and kept going until it hit his chest. No, he wasn’t going to stand by while the residents of his county endured another Bryan Copeland incident.

Billy opened his eyes.

Not while he was sheriff.

He dried his face, and without changing out of his wet clothes, he walked out to find Mara, his mind already made up.

She was standing in the living room, Alexa asleep in her arms. Her bag was thrown over her shoulder and her expression was already telling him goodbye.

“You’re leaving.”

Mara’s cheeks reddened but her answer came out clear, concrete.

“Yes, but not town. To be honest, I don’t like Beck knowing where I live so I don’t want to go back there just yet,” she answered. “Plus, to be even more honest, I’m really tired. The faster we get to the hotel, the happier I’ll be.”

Billy wasn’t a complicated man. At least, he didn’t think he was. Yet, standing there a few feet from a woman who had left him in the dust, he knew he shouldn’t have felt any joy at her admission that she was staying. Or an ounce of desire from looking at her hardened nipples through her light pink T-shirt—the result, he guessed, from the AC he had turned up despite the cool they were getting from the storm—or how her jeans hugged her legs just right. But he did.