Small-Town Face-Off

“Stay here instead,” Billy said before he realized he’d even thought it. Mara’s eyes widened a fraction. Her cheeks darkened slightly. “The guest bedroom is free, the sheets are clean and you don’t have to drive in the rain to get there. Plus, Miller’s parking lot looked pretty full. Probably lousy with in-laws and extended family members that no one wants in their house.”

He grinned, trying to drive his point home. It didn’t work.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” Mara said, eyes straying from his. He wondered if she knew he was thinking about her naked and against him. It was a fleeting thought, but by God it was there. “I’ve already upset your life enough by coming here.”

Billy cleared his throat and tried to clear the feelings of attraction he was currently wading through. He needed some space from her, but he wasn’t about to let her leave without a fight, either. Something he wished he could have done two years before.

“Then stay in the guesthouse,” he offered.

Mara met his gaze.

“I finished it last summer,” he explained, remembering she hadn’t known he’d thrown all of his spare time into finishing the apartment that used to be the detached garage. It had been less for his mother when she came for long visits and more of a distraction. “Come on, Mara,” he continued when she still seemed to be weighing her options. He moved closer but stopped when the floorboard squeaked. It earned a small movement from Alexa. Billy let himself look at the little girl before fixing her mama with a look he hoped didn’t show how hard it was to just talk to her. “Please, Mara. Just stay.”

Mara shifted Alexa so she was more firmly on her hip. A wisp of a smile pulled up her lips but it blew away before she answered.

“Okay, we’ll stay in the guesthouse if it really doesn’t bother you.”

Billy nodded and moved to grab her bag. His eyes lingered on Alexa but he didn’t ask to hold her. He couldn’t be a father right now. Not when things in Riker County were starting to heat up. Not when Mara had attracted the attention of a mysterious man who had no problem threatening children. Not when he’d been in contact with Mara for less than an hour and was already having trouble focusing on anything else. He shouldered the bag and led the two down the hall and to the back door, grabbing an umbrella in the process.

It wasn’t raining as hard as it had been, but it was enough to warrant pulling Mara close to him to stay dry beneath the umbrella. She didn’t move away or argue as she folded into his left arm and against his side. The inner war he was fighting was downright impossible to ignore as they walked in silence along the stone path that led to the guesthouse door. Billy pulled the keys out of his pocket and unlocked it.

“Here you go,” he said, voice low, even to his ears.

He watched as she stepped inside and wordlessly looked around the living space. A kitchenette, three-piece bathroom and a small bedroom made up the rest of the apartment. He’d built on to expand it but everything was still small. At least it was private.

And far enough away from him that he’d never know if she left.

“Oh, it’s beautiful, Billy,” Mara said after a moment. “You did a wonderful job.”

Billy would have taken the compliment with pride if anyone else had given it at any other time. But Mara’s words flipped a switch within him. He felt his body stiffen, his expression harden. The pain of finding her note on his pillow came back to him in full.

“I’ll come get you at seven,” he said. He stepped back out into the rain but didn’t look away from those dark eyes that made him crazy. “And, Mara, try not to leave this time. Once we get this guy you’re going to tell me exactly why you kept my daughter a secret.”

Chapter Four

Mara and Alexa were up and ready when Billy knocked on the guesthouse door the next morning.

“You’re late,” Mara greeted him, a hand on her hip. She nodded to the clock on the wall behind her. It was ten past seven.

“I thought I’d give you some wiggle room,” he admitted. He looked down at Alexa, who was, for the first time, wide-awake since they’d shown up on his doorstep. Her attention stayed on the stuffed dog in her hands as she played on the floor.

“There’s no such thing as wiggle room when you have a toddler,” she said with a smirk. It was meant as a quick comment, but Billy couldn’t help but wonder about the foundation it was born from. When had Mara learned that lesson? Whenever it was, all he knew was it was without him.

Mara’s smirk sank into a frown. She cleared her throat, humor gone.

“Listen, about Alexa,” she started, but Billy was already a step ahead of her. He held his hand up for her to stop.

“Again, I want to have this talk. I really would like to know why you kept my daughter from me,” he said, serious. “But not right now.” Mara opened and closed her mouth, like a fish out of water, trying to find what words, Billy didn’t know, but he didn’t have time to find out. “Right now we need to find Beck and figure out what it is he’s done and is trying to do so we can stop him,” he continued. “My first priority is to keep you two safe. You can tell me all about your reasoning for not letting me know I was a father later.” While he spoke with what he was trying to pass off as authority, he couldn’t help but hear the anger at the end of it.

He’d spent most of the night lying awake in bed, coming up with a plan of action for the day. In the plan was a large section related to how he wanted to handle Mara and Alexa. After hours of no sleep, he’d decided the best way to do his job—to keep everyone safe—was to detach himself emotionally from the dark-haired beauties in front of him.

However, maybe that was going to be harder than he’d thought.

“Okay,” Mara finally said. “I’ll follow you to the station.”

She grabbed her bag and scooped up Alexa. The little girl clung to her stuffed animal with laser-like focus. Billy wondered what other toys she liked.

“There’s a coffeehouse that opened up across the street that has pretty good breakfast,” Billy said as he locked up the guesthouse behind them.

“I actually packed enough cereal to last for weeks for this one,” Mara said, motioning to Alexa. “She’s a nut about Cheerios as soon as she wakes up in the morning.” Alexa swung her head up to face Mara and let out a trill of laughter. It surprised Billy how he instantly loved the sound. “Yeah, you’ve already scarfed down two helpings, haven’t you, you little chowhound?” Mara cooed at the girl. Together they laughed, bonded in their own little world.

One that Billy didn’t know.

He cleared his throat and Mara straightened.

“But,” she continued, expression turning to the same focus her daughter had worn before. “If they have good coffee, I won’t turn that down.” She smiled but it didn’t last long. “And, Billy, I know it’s not my place, but I noticed you didn’t have a tree or any Christmas decorations or lights...”

Billy sighed.

No matter what was happening in their lives, leave it to the women of the South to still care about Christmas decorations.

* * *

THE RIKER COUNTY Sheriff’s Department was located in the very heart of Carpenter but was by no means in an extravagant headquarters. That never stopped Billy from feeling a boost of pride when it swung into view. Placed between the county courthouse and the local television station, the sheriff’s department was two stories tall and full of men and women tasked with protecting their Southern home.

Wrapped in faded orange brick and concrete, its entrance opened up to a street almost every Carpenter resident had to drive along to get somewhere, while its parking lot around back butted up against a business park that housed a bistro, a coffeehouse and a clothing boutique called Pepper’s. Billy and Mara angled their cars into the assigned and guest parking, respectively, and headed straight to the coffeehouse. Billy had tried to convince Mara to ride with him but she’d pointed out his day could get hectic and she liked having the option of her own transportation. Not to mention the car seat was already in her car. Billy decided not to push the topic since she was a flight risk. Instead, he decided to act like everything was normal when they went into the coffeehouse. There they earned a double take from one half of the owner pair known as the Chambers. Becky, a bigger woman with short hair and an even shorter temper, was surprisingly tactful as she addressed them.

“Well, Sheriff, can’t say I was expecting to see you on your day off,” she started, then she switched her attention to Mara and Alexa. “And certainly not with two lovely ladies in tow.”

Billy ignored the affectionate part of the statement, along with what felt suspiciously like pride, and showed just how happy he was about being in on his off day with a frown.

“A sheriff’s job is never done,” he said solemnly.

“Not with that attitude.” Becky winked at Mara, but the dark-haired beauty’s gaze had been drawn to the corner booth.

“I’ll take my usual,” Billy said. “She’ll take one of your mocha iced coffee concoctions I always complain about.”

Becky raised her eyebrow.

“Does the lady not get a say?” she asked, voice beginning to thread with disapproval. Her changing tone must have snagged Mara’s attention. She turned back to them with a small smile.

“She definitely does, but this one here apparently hasn’t forgotten my guilty mocha pleasures,” she said. “With whipped cream, too, if you have it, please.”

Becky seemed appeased that Billy wasn’t rolling over Mara and went about making their drinks while they hung off to the side of the counter. Billy expected Mara to comment about his remembering her favorite caffeinated drink but the woman seemed focused on the corner booth again. So much so that she hardly noticed when he moved close enough to drop his voice so no one else heard him.

“What’s going on?”

Alexa looked up from her place on Mara’s hip and stared at Billy with an expression caught somewhere between inquisitive and concerned. He couldn’t help but stare right back into those green eyes. Like looking into a mirror when it came to the same green.

“That’s Donna Ramsey,” Mara answered, in an equally low voice. Billy broke his staring contest with Alexa and angled his body to glance at the other side of the room. True to her words, Donna Ramsey was sitting in the corner booth, head bent over the magazine and coffee on the table in front of her. He nodded.

“It is.”

Billy watched as Mara’s face grew tight. She furrowed her brow.

“Do you know Donna personally?” he asked, his own concern pushing to the forefront. Mara shook her head.

“I’ve only spoken to her once.”

“About?”

He knew Mara well enough to know that her thoughts had turned dark. From anger or sadness or something else, though, he couldn’t tell.

“About my father,” she answered, voice nearly lost amidst the clatter of the espresso machine. Mara lost her dark look and replaced it with something akin to nonchalance.

“Don’t worry,” she said. “It was before I left and nothing I didn’t already know.”

Becky bustled into view before he could question Mara further. She handed them their drinks and looked at Billy.

“Remember, Sheriff, complaining always makes problems ten times worse,” she said sagely. “So stop complaining and start drinking some of the best coffee this town has to offer.”

Billy couldn’t help but smirk.

“You got it, Becky.”

Mara waved goodbye while Alexa giggled, and soon the three of them were walking to the back of the station.

“I like her,” Mara commented.

“Next time you order from her, tell her that,” Billy said. “Suzy did and now she gets a discount.”

Mara laughed and Alexa started to babble. Billy craned his neck to look down at her face. Whatever she was saying must have been normal because Mara didn’t skip a beat.

“Suzy,” she started. “I—I haven’t seen her since you were sworn in.”

They had made it to the back door used by employees only. Billy pulled out his key and went ahead and addressed the elephant in their shared room.

“She’s still one of the few in the department who knows about us working together to bring down your dad. I never told anyone else about the other us. Or what we used to be,” he amended. With his key hanging in the lock he looked over his shoulder to the woman he’d been ready to spend forever with and then to their child. “I’ll leave it up to you what personal details you want to disclose to my staff. And I’ll follow your lead. But whatever you choose to do today, don’t think I won’t undermine it tomorrow if I need to.”

Then Billy opened the door and headed inside, mind already going into work mode. He had a murder to solve and a man named Beck to find.

* * *

IT WAS COMFORTING, in a way, to walk into the department alongside Billy. Because, unlike their lives in the last two years, the building hadn’t changed. At least, not any way that Mara could tell.

They took the back hallway that ran behind dispatch and the break room and turned the corner to where Mara knew offices lined one of the hallways that led back toward the lobby. Billy’s office was smack dab in the middle of the others. His nameplate shone with importance. Mara couldn’t help but feel some pride creep in at the sight of it.

“Walden, the sketch artist, said he’d be here by eight thirty,” Billy said, walking them past his office. “Until then I’d like you to officially make a statement about this Beck fellow. I’m going to double-check that no one fitting Beck’s description is a part of an open case with us or local PD.” He stopped two doors over and motioned her inside. It was the conference room and it definitely wasn’t empty.

Mara felt her cheeks immediately heat at the sight of mostly familiar faces. Alexa tucked her head into the side of her neck, suddenly shy. Mara didn’t blame her. Billy motioned to an open chair, one of many, around the long table in the middle of the room. Mara sat down with tired grace. Alexa’s sudden shyness didn’t help either one of them adjust from standing to sitting down.

“Most of you already know Mara, and Mara you know them.” Billy continued to stand. He motioned to Suzy, Matt Walker and Dane Jones. The last time she’d seen them Suzy had been a deputy along with Billy, Matt had been a deputy, too and Dane had been on his way to being sheriff. Now, sitting across from them, Mara doubted their titles were the same. She wondered what title Dane had now but she wasn’t about to ask for clarification.

On the same side of the table was the one face she didn’t recognize, a pretty young woman with curly blond hair and a smile that looked genuine. Before Mara could stop the thought, she wondered if Billy found the woman pretty, too.

“Mara, this is Cassie Gates,” Billy said, making the introduction. “She’s training to be a dispatcher.” Mara couldn’t stop the confusion that must have crossed her expression as to why a dispatcher, a trainee dispatcher, was in the room with them when the woman answered the question herself.

“I’m the youngest of six siblings, most of whom have a kid or two under their belt, so I’m very experienced in the art of keeping little ones entertained when their mamas need to do something important,” she said, voice as sweet as her appearance. She flashed a quick smile at Alexa and addressed the toddler directly. “And what’s your name? I bet it’s something pretty.”

The entire room seemed to wait as Alexa peeked out at Cassie. There was nothing like waiting for a toddler’s judgment. Seemingly based on some unknown factor, there was no telling how a child would react to something new. That included people. However, instead of hiding away again, Alexa seemed intrigued. She looked back at Mara for a moment, as if asking for permission.

“This is Alexa,” Mara introduced them with a smile, showing Alexa her approval of the woman next to them. She might have been a stranger to her but she wasn’t to Billy. Mara trusted his judgment. And Alexa trusted Mara’s.

“Well, what do you know. That is a pretty name,” Cassie said, animation in her words. It reeled in Alexa’s attention. The blonde reached for a bag next to her. From her seat Mara could see it was filled with books and toys. Billy had prepared for the morning, despite short notice. “If it’s okay with your mama, how about we go next door and play in the sheriff’s office? You could even help me read this.” Cassie held up the children’s book Pat the Pet and Alexa nearly lost it.

“Dog! Dog,” she exclaimed, already trying to get off Mara’s lap.

It earned a surprised laugh from Cassie. Mara reached into her own bag and produced the same book.

“Welcome to her favorite book,” she said to the trainee. “She likes petting the dog the most.”

Mara gave Cassie permission to go next door and play, since Alexa seemed to have lost any doubt about the woman as soon as the book had come into view. Mara didn’t miss the way Billy’s eyes stuck to the cover of the copy Mara had brought along. With more than a twinge of guilt, she realized that, like the stranger who was Cassie, he hadn’t had a clue in the world what his daughter did and didn’t like.

But Mara couldn’t change what she’d already done and turned to face what was left of the group. The men each gave her a friendly smile. Suzy, on the other hand, gave her a stiff nod. While the other two had known about their working relationship, Suzy alone had known about Mara and Billy’s romantic one and her sudden departure. As one of Billy’s closest friends, Suzy probably knew better than even her how he’d handled it, too.

“Now, Mara,” Billy started, setting a tape recorder in the middle of the table. “If you could start at the beginning, when the man named Beck visited you.”

Mara repeated the story she’d told Billy the night before, making sure to give them as clear a picture as she could of Beck. Before she could finish describing his clothes and car, however, a man knocked at the door. Despite his dark complexion, Mara mentally likened his expression to “looks like he’s seen a ghost.”

“Excuse me, Sheriff, we have a problem,” he interrupted. Like fans passing on a wave in a football stadium’s stands, Billy and his staff became visibly tense.

“What is it?” The man hesitated and looked at Mara. “It’s fine. Tell me,” Billy added, showing that Mara’s presence didn’t bother them with whatever news he had.

Which wasn’t good news at all.

“We just got a call about two teens who are being taken to the hospital,” he started. “They were both overdoses.”

Mara’s eyes widened. She asked him what everyone else was thinking.

“Of what?”

Bless him, he didn’t hesitate in responding to her, though Mara would have been happier if it had been with a different answer.

“Moxy. They overdosed on Moxy.”

Chapter Five

Billy tried to not feel like he was suddenly several years in the past, staring at the deceased Courtney Brooks in her car. But there he was, sitting in a conference room and feeling exactly as he had then.

Sad.

Guilty.

Angry.

If he had been alone, he would probably have thrown something. Instead, the best he could do was toss a few expletives in the direction of Deputy Dante Mills, who, thankfully, didn’t seem to take open frustration personally.

“They were at the abandoned drive-in theater out past the town limits,” Deputy Mills continued. “The owner of the gas station across the street saw their cars hadn’t moved in a while and decided to investigate with her husband. Neither had ID on them. As far as their status, it was unclear how bad the damage was, other than they needed medical attention ASAP.”

Billy had heard enough. He turned to Suzy, who rose at the same time.

“We’re going to the hospital,” he told her. Then to Matt, “And I want you to go to the theater grounds and look around. Talk to the gas station owner, too.” Billy turned to Dane Jones and a look of understanding passed between them. For his own personal reasons, Dane had taken himself out of the running for sheriff and, instead, applied for Captain of Investigative Bureau within the department after Rockwell had retired. He preferred fighting the good fight from behind a desk instead of out on the streets. Billy couldn’t blame him after what had happened to the man years before. Some cases just went south and there wasn’t anything anyone could do about it. That was a lesson Dane hadn’t let himself learn yet.

“I’ll finish up here and see what we can do to find this Beck person. See if we can’t connect some dots to Bernie Lutz, too,” Dane said. “I’ll even give Chief Hawser a call and see if he’s had anything come across his desk.”

Billy nodded. It was a good idea to go ahead and touch base with Carpenter’s police department. Although Billy was sheriff of Riker County, the town of Carpenter and the city of Kipsy had their own police departments and anything that happened within those municipalities was their jurisdiction. Bernie’s body and the overdoses had been found just outside the town limits, which meant Billy was running the show. But he didn’t have an ego too big to not have an open dialogue with the local PD. He happened to be a fan of Chief Hawser, too.

Billy finally looked at Mara. Her expression was pinched and worn at the same time. He assumed the news had put her on the line between the present and the past, just as it had him, anger and guilt both squarely on her shoulders. He wanted to go to her, even took a small step forward, but caught himself.

“The sketch artist should be here soon,” Billy said. “You can wait in my office if he takes too long.”

Mara’s jaw tightened.

“As long as you figure out who’s doing this,” she said.

“Believe me. I will.”

Suzy wordlessly followed him to the parking lot and into his Tahoe as the rest of the department went on with their tasks. She kept quiet as he pulled away from the department and got on the main road that would lead them to Carpenter’s hospital. However, no sooner had they passed the first intersection when Suzy asked the one question Billy knew she would.

“Is Alexa yours?”

Billy had already resigned himself to following whatever lead Mara wanted to take about telling the department who the father was. But she hadn’t expressed herself one way or the other.

“Yes,” he answered, surprising himself. “I just found out last night.”

He cast a look over at his friend. Suzy, a mother herself, didn’t seem to pass any judgment either way on the information. Instead, she kept her gaze focused out the windshield.

“She’s a cute kid,” she said, as if they were talking about the weather. “I’m glad she didn’t get your nose.”

Billy laughed. He somehow felt better.

* * *

THE SKETCH ARTIST’S name was Walden and he very much looked like what Mara suspected a Walden would look like. Slightly rounded in the gut, thick glasses, a crown of blond hair around a shiny spot of baldness and a patient, even temperament, the man took his time in sketching out Beck.

“Is this close?” he asked when he was finished. He slid his notebook over to her. Alexa, who had taken a snack break next to her mother, peeked over at the drawing.

“That’s perfect,” Mara said, quickly moving the notebook out of Alexa’s line of sight. As if the man could do her harm from it. “You’re very good at your job, Walden,” she added, thoroughly impressed. He’d even managed to add in the sneer that had pulled up the corner of Beck’s lips as he said goodbye.

“I’d always wanted to be an artist, though even I’m surprised that I wound up here.” Walden motioned around the conference room but she knew he meant the department as a whole.

“I can understand that,” she admitted. “I used to dream of running my own interior design business. Now I work at a flooring company trying to convince people redoing their floors is the first step to a happy home.” Mara gave him a wry smile. Walden shrugged.