Lawman's Perfect Surrender (10 page)

“Gemma…”

She couldn’t meet his eyes.

He debated telling her he’d just gotten a call about Jed. “What’s the real reason you’re up at this hour?”

Slowly, she met his gaze, timidity and reluctance clear in her eyes. “Lacy told me about your wife.”

That was like a firecracker going off in his face. Anger and resentment quickly followed.

“You asked her about my wife?” Here he’d thought she’d so graciously given him space when she’d likely known all along that she could go to Lacy for all her unanswered questions.

“No. I—I didn’t.”

He wasn’t sure if he should believe her.

“Lacy told me. I didn’t ask her.”

“Why did she tell you?”

Her hands fidgeted again.

“Why?” he demanded.

His sharp tone made her jolt. “I—I don’t know. She thought maybe you weren’t good for me right now. With all your…all your…the way you lost your wife.”

He caught a flash of hurt before she recovered and it faded into her struggle to remain strong against this obstacle and his domineering confrontation.

His temper eased. This was about losing his wife. She felt insecure because of that. He almost reassured her before he stopped himself. How could he reassure her? This didn’t change anything. He didn’t want to get serious with her. The way they’d been together on the stairs, what it did to him, what it meant, pushed him away. The way she was reacting to Lacy’s revelation intensified that instinct. Did she want more than he could give?

Hell. “We can talk more later. Right now I have to get going.”

That’s when her insecurity changed to curiosity. “Why? Where do you have to go?”

“Bo called.” He wasn’t sure he should tell her why just yet.

“Something happened?”

He passed her on the way to the door. “I don’t know how long I’ll be.”

Without looking back, he shut the door behind him. Getting into his Escalade, he drove across town to the Stillwater Inn, alternating thoughts of his wife and Gemma plaguing him all the way there. He didn’t know what he’d do, but tonight could make the decision for him. If Gemma had killed Jed…

Flashing lights lit up the tree-filled landscaping and the log structure of the inn. Pulling behind Bo’s black Escalade, Ford climbed out and approached the throng of law-enforcement officers.

Ford entered the inn and a policeman directed him up the stairs. At the door of a third-floor room, he went inside and spotted Bo. And then the body hanging from a log beam across the ceiling.

“McCall,” Bo greeted him. The Chief’s eyes always looked as though he had allergies.

“Chief.”

“I guess this means you don’t have to stay with Gemma anymore.”

“How’d he get up there?” Ford asked, ignoring his comment. Leaving Gemma had its complications.

“Someone used a baseball bat on him first, knocking him out and then winching him up.”

“What have you got so far?”

“Not much evidence to go on. No prints. Hotel staff found him.”

He looked around the room. Nothing was out of place. “No struggle?”

Bo shook his head. “Must not have seen the bat coming.”

“When was he killed?”

“Tonight. We’re estimating time of death around two hours ago.”

Recent. Gemma entering the house as he’d headed for the door nagged him. “Who called it in? Which staff member?”

“One of the desk clerks. Said he saw the room door open. He went to see if he should close the door and found the body.”

“He entered the room?”

“That’s what he said.”

Ford looked back at the door. It wasn’t the kind that swung closed. It stayed open. Why enter the room if all he was doing was checking to see if he should close the door? A maid he’d buy, but a desk clerk? What was a desk clerk doing up where the rooms were? He’d keep that question to himself. Bo might be involved somehow.

“We did find this, though.” Bo held up a clear plastic bag that contained a bracelet, an expensive one. Sapphires and diamonds dangled from its circumference. He recognized it immediately.

“Gemma’s name is engraved in it.”

Mind spinning, Ford struggled with the apparent confirmation of his suspicion. Gemma had said she was looking for the bracelet tonight. She’d been outside in the dead of night. Had she sneaked away and driven here to kill her ex-husband? Why? Revenge? To get him before he got her? Or was something else at play here? He glanced up at the man’s body hanging from the beam. Could tiny Gemma have hefted that weight up? Winching him might make it possible. He turned to Bo, who watched him with cunning scrutiny.

Chapter 5

T
he house was silent. It was beginning to get lighter outside the windows. Gemma hadn’t even tried to sleep after Ford left. His suspicion over why she’d been up and outside and his anger over Lacy telling him about his wife kept her anxious. And then he hadn’t told her where he was going or why. He’d acted as though he didn’t trust her. Had something happened regarding Jed? Ford wouldn’t have left her alone if he was worried. The fact that he had gave her a big enough clue.

Jed had been found.

But why hadn’t Ford told her? He’d left without answering her question. He was so closed off. More so than usual. He didn’t talk about his tragedies but he should have been able to tell her if he’d found Jed or not, and tell her where he was going.

If Jed was found, there would be no reason for Ford to stay with her anymore. No reason other than their intimacy, but that wouldn’t be enough for Ford. It would more likely chase him away. While that stung, she was glad something would put distance between them. She needed him to leave her alone. Her reality hadn’t changed. She wasn’t ready to dive headfirst into another relationship. Jed being found only solved one problem for her. He wouldn’t be able to attack her again. Her other problem would take longer. Forgetting him and all he’d done, getting back on her feet again, would take time. And she had to do that on her own. No matter how much she wanted Ford. She’d slept with him without getting to know him first. Their passion had swept them away. Well, that passion had to be controlled from now on. Stopped.

Hearing a vehicle pull into her driveway, Gemma sprang up from the living-room chair and peered through the blinds. Ford was back.

She wrung her hands as she waited for him to come inside. When he did, he stood there looking at her.

“What happened?” she asked.

“Why are you still up?”

“I couldn’t sleep.” Again. “I didn’t know where you went.”

He didn’t say anything, only studied her as though trying to decide what to say or how to say it.

After a slow blink, he said, “Come and sit down.”

Alarm chased through her. What had happened? Something, that was for sure.

“You’re scaring me.” She followed him into the kitchen and sat at her table while he leaned one hand on it and met her eyes.

“Your ex-husband has been murdered, Gemma.”

She sucked in a sharp breath and covered her mouth. After the shock of that eased, she realized she wasn’t grief-stricken. Shocked that he was dead, yes. She hadn’t expected that. Arrested, yes, not dead. And now she was partly relieved and partly sad. He wouldn’t be able to hurt her ever again, but he’d lost his life.

“There wasn’t much evidence at the scene,” Ford said.

“You don’t know who killed him?”

“Not yet.”

Who would want to kill Jed? No one knew him here in Cold Plains. “Where was he found? How…?”

“In his room at the Stillwater. He was knocked unconscious and then hanged.”

Who would do such a thing? “Did someone follow him here? Maybe he crossed someone back where we lived.”

“Do you know of anyone who might have a reason to do that?”

She thought hard, searching through their friends, his professional associates. “No. But then, I didn’t really know him that well when I married him, did I? If I had, I wouldn’t have married him at all. He could have made enemies. He was a monster.”

His observant eyes took in her face. “You feel strongly about that.”

She scoffed, her head jerking backward in disbelief. “Well, yeah. Who wouldn’t? He threatened to kill me.”

“Yes, he did. And he beat you while you were married and attacked you when you left him.”

Something about the way Ford was questioning her began to have an interrogative feel to it. She didn’t back down. “Monster.”

“He was angry that you took half his money. He probably never would have left you alone. He would have kept coming after you.”

Now her brow lowered. Was he actually
suspicious
of her? “Ford, why are you grilling me this way?”

He leaned over the table to move closer to her. “Did you kill him?”

She couldn’t believe it. “You’re serious.”

“Did you?”

Planting her hands on his chest, she shoved. “No!”

He straightened, no longer leaning over the table.

She hopped down from the stool and he stepped back to give her room.

“When did you lose your bracelet?” he asked.

She folded her arms. “Why do you want to know about that?”

“When did you lose it?”

Rolling her eyes, she said, “The Fourth. I’ve been looking for it ever since.”

“Including last night?”

“Yes, including last night. I forgot that I put it in my purse on the way home, but I remembered last night. It wasn’t there, so I thought maybe it fell out.” She was starting to get mad. “Why are you so fixated on my bracelet?”

His demeanor softened. “I remember you putting it there.”

The bracelet must have something to do with Jed’s murder. “Jed bought it for me when we first met. It’s expensive and beautiful. I wear it as a very painful reminder not to make any more mistakes with
men.
” She drilled him with a pointed look.

“It was found at the crime scene.”

All the blood drained from her face. She breathed to compensate for another jolt of shock that rocked her. “What?”

“Bo showed it to me.”

“I didn’t kill Jed.” Was someone framing her?

“I believe you.”

“W-what?” He did? Why had he put her through all his questions? He’d doubted her until he remembered she’d put it into her purse.

“You couldn’t have hanged Jed. You’re too small. Someone stole the bracelet. Someone who wants to make this look like you killed your ex-husband.”

“You think someone stole it?”

“It’s the only explanation.”

It was. But the bracelet had been in her purse, downstairs near the front door on the small table there. The intruder had been inside the house while they were in bed. She exchanged an unspoken acknowledgment with Ford. They’d been too engaged with having sex and the chaotic emotions that elicited to hear anything.

Someone had stolen her bracelet…

“Why?” This was getting to be too much. First she lived in fear of Jed attacking and killing her, now she was being framed for his murder. “Why would anyone do that?”

“You live in Cold Plains, sweetheart.”

Somehow his sarcasm grounded her. She was beginning to see what he meant about this town. Looking into his eyes, Gemma felt warmth consume her.

“You really believe me?”

“It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

“But you didn’t at first.”

“I had to be sure.”

And now he was.

“What’s going to happen now?” The police would name her their prime suspect.

“I’m going to find out who’s doing this.”

Her protector again. The warmth swimming around in her expanded.

She stepped closer. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.” She moved her hands over his chest, feeling the metal of his badge under her palm. He put his hands on her hips, his thumbs on her lower belly. His fire lured her. Leaning against him, she slipped her arms around his neck. Then, closing her eyes to the smolder that had begun in his, she pressed a kiss on his mouth. No thought went into it. A whirlpool of relief, gratitude and fear compelled her. That and a deep-seated need to feel safe. Ford made her feel safe.

His hands slid around her and he kissed her back. It felt so good. She angled her head and met his sparring tongue. So incredible.

His arms held her tight against him. She felt his gun, his phone, all his cop gear, and melted into hot butter. She lifted her leg and he held it up, sliding his other hand to her rear for a licentious glide.

She let her head fall back in ecstasy.

He swore almost inaudibly, a gruff venting of passion, and kissed her arched neck. She began tearing at his shirt. Buttons flew and tapped onto the hardwood floor. He yanked at his belt. She moved back just long enough to unfasten her jeans and kick them off her legs. She’d already taken off her shoes, thank God.

In the next instant, she found herself on the stool she’d vacated and him between her bare thighs. She held on to his shoulders while he found her moist and ready, kissing her hard as he shoved into her with frenzied strokes. The chair rocked unsteadily.

With his hands on her rear, he lifted her and strode into the living room, turning at the now-infamous stairs. She’d never look at them the same way again.

Gently he rested her butt on the fourth one and moved back long enough to take off his pants, his gaze raking over her. She put her heels wide apart on a step. With a moan of desire, he knelt in the space between and reentered her, sliding easily and deliciously into her wetness. She put her hands up as she had before when he began thrusting, falling into a storm of marvelous pleasure. He held himself up by his hands on each side of her waist, his feet on the floor below. His weight pushed down and up as he drove deep inside her and eased off as he withdrew.

The corner of the step dug into her back. Ford slid his arm underneath her, as if reading her. He arched her back more, intensifying the unbearable friction as he plowed his hard erection into her.

Gemma cried out and Ford answered with a kiss. Then he moved his mouth down her neck to her breasts, slowing his movements to spend time there and keeping her orgasm hovering on a precipice.

But then he put his foot up on a step, lifting her leg and increasing the friction as he thrust into her. He strummed her to sizzling release.