Speed Trap (14 page)

For her part, it hadn't, but she couldn't be sure what he was thinking.

“Your relief has arrived,” she said hoping to coax a smile from him. It worked.

“Just in the knick of time. I was about to fall asleep on my feet.”

“How's Joey doing?”

“Better than I expected.”

“Any luck getting another cow to adopt him?”

Garrett shook his head. “Not yet, but I haven't given up. I had the vet out to see him today. He confirmed that Joey's almost completely blind and that he'll be a dwarf. He's not sure how long the little fellow will survive, but he's doing okay for now.”

It wasn't the best news, but that didn't mean she was going to give up trying to save him. “What do you need me to do?”

“If you could watch Colin and feed Joey while I grab a few hours of sleep that'd be great.”

“I think I can manage that.”

A slow grin spread across his face. “I think you can manage just about anything you set your mind to.”

“Compliments will get you a long way in my book. Where is my human charge for the evening?”

Garrett nodded toward the door. “He's already in his
stroller, which has come in very handy since you talked me into buying the thing.”

“There you go. It pays to trust my judgment.” Mandy followed Garrett into the house and collected Colin.

A few hours later, she was seated on a bale of hay inside Joey's stall, laughing at the calf's wobbly attempts to frisk around the enclosure. He held his head turned slightly to one side, which made Mandy suspect he could see a little on that side. While he might thump into the wooden sides of the stall occasionally, his ability to find the bottle in Mandy's hand was unerring.

Colin and his canine guardian, Wiley, were parked just outside Joey's pen. Colin, leaning back in his stroller, was intent on grasping Wiley's wagging tail, but wasn't having much success. His happy giggle as the fringe of Wiley's crooked tail swept over his palm made Mandy smile, too.

Her feelings toward Colin were straightforward and maternal. Her feelings toward his father were anything but simple. She wasn't sure how she felt about her relationship with Garrett, or where she wanted it to go.

If it was a relationship.

Wiley suddenly darted toward the entrance, and Mandy saw Garrett walking toward her. The burst of happiness that swept through her made her smile as he approached.

Her head might tell her to be careful, that Garrett wouldn't easily share his life, but her heart was telling her that this man had become very special to her. There was a reason God had brought them together.

Colin, bereft of his playmate, began to fuss.

“Hey, little man, what's the problem?” Garrett stooped to pick up his son.

Instantly quieted by the sound of Garrett's voice. Colin grinned and patted his father's face. The love Mandy saw
shinning in Garrett's eyes melted her heart. The last faint reserve in the back of her mind vanished.

Father and son belonged together. They were going to do just fine.

 

Garrett felt Mandy's gaze on him. When he looked her way, he saw the soft sparkle of tears in her eyes. He frowned in concern. “Are you okay?”

She sniffed and rubbed her hands over her face. “I'm fine.”

Opening the gate, he walked in and took a seat beside her on the hay bale. Colin immediately reached for her and Garrett allowed her to take the child. “He likes you.”

Sniffing once more, she said, “The feeling is completely mutual.”

Joey, attracted by another arrival in his pen, came over to investigate. Not finding another bottle, he folded his legs and dropped into a heap in front of them and laid his head on Garrett's boot.

“You seem to have a way with babies, too,” Mandy observed.

“Are you trying to say I'm a soft touch?”

She laid a hand over his. “A sickly calf, a meal-obsessed dog, a motherless baby—call me crazy, but yes, I think you're a dyed-in-the-wool softy, Garrett.”

The sound of his name on her lips, the touch of her hand sent warmth spiraling through him. He couldn't remember ever feeling so alive, so full of hope. Mandy had given him that.

Was she the key that could lock his painful past out of his mind for good? He wanted that to be true as much as he'd ever wanted anything.

“If I'm a soft touch, you're just as bad. Look who's spoiling the baby?”

She ran her fingers through Colin's curls. “Maybe I'm
trying to make up for the fact that I haven't been able to discover who killed his mother. It's so sad that he'll never know her.”

“Kids survive.” Garrett tried to keep the bitterness out of his voice.

“At least you'll be able to fill in some of the blanks for him when he's older.”

“If he asks.”

She looked at him sharply. “Of course he'll ask. Why wouldn't he? You must have asked your father questions about your mother.”

Garrett tensed. “What do you know about that?”

“Just that your mother left when you were small. I didn't mean to upset you.”

His head began pounding. “I'm not upset. I didn't need to ask about her. She was gone and that was that.”

Rising to his feet, he lifted Colin out of her arms. “I should get him to bed.”

“Okay.” Her puzzled tone told him he'd overreacted.

He tried to repair the damage. “I'm sorry, I'm just tired. I guess the nap wasn't enough to take the edge off.”

“How are you going to manage tonight?”

“Joey's doing well enough that I won't have to spend the night with him. I'll just get up for a couple of feedings. If worse comes to worst, I can make a place for him in the house.”

She stood. “Well, if you have it figured out, I should probably get going.”

They left the stall and began walking toward the front of the barn. Colin had fallen asleep in Garrett's arms. At Mandy's truck, they both paused by unspoken consent. Twilight had fallen and the stars were beginning to appear.

He didn't want her to leave. Having her near made every
thing seem possible. “Thanks for helping out today, Mandy. I mean that.”

“I was glad to do it. I'll see you after work tomorrow.”

“You don't have to do that.”

“I want to. Besides, raising Joey is my hobby, remember?”

He didn't care what excuse she used. He just wanted her to come back.

As Mandy drove away, he couldn't help but remember standing in the same spot, waiting for his mother to come home. Years later, it had been Judy he waited for. They had never returned.

Would it really be different this time?

M
andy slammed down the phone in frustration. “If they won't talk to me without a subpoena, I'll get them one.”

As much as it irked her to admit it, she knew she didn't have enough evidence for one at this point.

“Who was that?” Donna asked from the doorway where she stood with a stack of papers in her hands.

“That was the uncooperative corporate office of Global Shipping.”

Advancing into the room, Donna pulled open a filing cabinet and began inserting pages into folders. “Are you missing an order, too? They lost my red beaded evening bag with rhinestone clasp. Global claims it was never shipped, but the Shopping Warehouse insists it was. I bet I'll never get my money back.”

“I didn't call them about an order.” Mandy hesitated, then said, “I've got a hunch I wanted to follow up on, but the company won't give me any information without a subpoena.”

Donna turned around. “What kind of hunch?”

“The company has been making a lot of deliveries to your apartment complex. I want to make sure they're all legitimate.”

Donna's eyebrows shot up. “You think there's something fishy going on in my complex? Is it Mr. Dobbs? I've seen him
getting a lot of packages. Do you think it's pornography? I could start keeping the place under surveillance for you.”

Mandy almost chuckled at the eagerness in Donna's voice, but managed to stop herself. Donna might actually be able to help. “It wouldn't hurt to keep an eye out, note any suspicious goings-on.”

“I'll start a log. What should I do if see something?”

“Nothing. Just let me know.”

Mandy picked up the phone and began dialing Tom Wick's number. “I'm going to see what the county attorney thinks my chances of getting a subpoena are.”

Donna closed the file drawer. “You're like a dog with a bone when you get an idea, Sheriff.”

“I'll take that as a compliment, Donna.”

If determination could get her answers, Mandy had more than enough to spare.

 

“Where are you off to tonight?” Kathryn asked.

Mandy paused in the process of closing her front door. Her mother was seated on the nearby porch swing with her Bible in her lap.

“I'm going to check on Colin Bowen.”

“Seems to me you've been checking on that boy a lot.”

“I guess I have been.”

“Are you still worried his father isn't taking care of him properly?”

“No, it's not that. Garrett is doing a great job.”

“Then why all the visits?”

Sighing deeply, Mandy crossed the gray painted boards and sat down next to her mother. The scent of sage and roses from the flower beds bordering the walk tinted the warm afternoon air. Not much moved it in the summer heat except for a few bees flitting from flower to flower.

The creak of the swing chains filled the silence until Kathryn said, “I didn't mean to pry.”

“I know that.”

“If you have something you'd like to talk about, I'm listening.”

“I'm not sure if it is something I want to talk about yet.”

“Then you're about the only person in Timber Wells who isn't discussing it.”

Mandy turned to look at her mother in surprise. “What?”

“Did you think it would go unnoticed that our sheriff, a single woman, is seeing a single man on a regular basis?”

“I guess I thought the people of this town had better things to talk about.”

“The price of wheat, the price of cattle, the price of gas and gossip. That's what gets talked about in this town.”

“There's nothing scandalous going on between Garrett and me.”

“I didn't think for a moment that there was.”

“Then why are we having this conversation?”

Kathryn laid a hand on Mandy's arm. “You sat down beside me.”

Her mother was right. Mandy did need to talk. “I like him, Mom. I like him a lot, but I can't get over the feeling that he's keeping something from me.”

“Something to do with his ex-wife's death?”

“I don't think so. I think it's deeper than that.”

“Okay, now you're scaring me.”

“Sorry. I see so many good things in Garrett, but I don't think he sees them in himself. He never talks about his childhood or about his parents. I know he must have been deeply affected by his mother's desertion, but he claims he wasn't.”

“How is he handling fatherhood?”

Mandy smiled. “He's so gentle with Colin. He never gets upset or loses his temper.”

“Which one are you more attracted to? The father or the child?”

“It would be easier to say the baby, but that wouldn't be the truth. I care for both of them. Very much.”

“That wasn't so hard to admit, was it?”

Mandy grinned. “No, it wasn't hard to admit. I just wish Garrett shared our faith.”

“He's not a Christian?”

“No, but I see a longing for God on his face when I talk about church and what it means to me. It's almost as if he is afraid to trust God.”

Garrett's lack of faith was the one thing that kept Mandy from allowing herself to imagine a future with him.

“Honey, if there is anyone whose light can shine the way for him, it's you. I'm going to pray for you both.” She opened her Bible again.

Rising, Mandy planted a kiss on her mother's head. “Thanks. There's no one I'd rather have put in a good word for me.”

“Will you be at Bible study class Monday?”

“I'm planning on it.”

“Why don't you invite Mr. Bowen? I'd like to meet him and his son.”

“I don't think he'll come, Mom.”

“Invite him anyway,” Kathryn said. “We might both be surprised. God nudges people in the right direction by many different ways.”

 

On Sunday morning, Mandy was seated in her usual spot in the last pew of the Prairie View Community Church. Knowing she might be called out at any time, she always sat closest to the back. That way, she wouldn't have to disturb
the rest of the congregation if she had to leave during the service.

At the moment, her thoughts weren't on the song the choir was singing so beautifully. It was her caseload of unsolved crimes that weighed on her mind. She'd been unable to get a subpoena for the shipping company records, but that didn't mean she'd given up. With Donna's help, she hoped to uncover a pattern of unusual activity that would be enough to convince a judge that her request was justified.

She had nothing new in Judy's murder. To make matters worse, both J. J. and the truckers who'd sideswiped Mandy's SUV were out of jail on bail.

She had extended her mother's invitation to Garrett, but he hadn't accepted. The best she got was his usual, “I'll think about it.”

The organ music swelled as the service was about to begin. Mandy reached for her hymnal to join in. The sound of the outside door opening made her glance over her shoulder. To her complete amazement, Garrett walked in with Colin in his infant seat.

Garrett's worried expression lightened as he recognized her. He nodded slightly. She took a step over, sending an unspoken invitation to join her.

He slipped into the pew beside her and set Colin on the seat between them. The baby was dressed in the red plaid vest with the little red bow tie she'd purchased for him at the yard sale. Mandy leaned toward Garrett and whispered. “I knew he'd look cute in it.”

Still seeming ill at ease, Garrett nodded and pulled at the collar of his own blue dress shirt. “Let's hope he stays cute and asleep.”

“There's a cry room if you need it. Or you could take him to the nursery.”

“That's good to know,” Garrett whispered back.

She handed him the song book. “I'm glad you're here.”

“It's all your fault.”

Their conversation, quiet as it was, drew a few scowls and curious looks from the people seated in front of them. Mandy smiled brightly and nodded in return. Nothing could temper the joy singing through her soul. Garrett had come to church.

She prayed that he would one day come to know Jesus as his Lord and Savior.

 

Garrett tried to keep his focus on the sermon, but it was hard with Mandy sitting so close. Her insistence that he should honor Judy's desire to have Colin raised in a Christian home had brought him here today. While he wasn't sure he needed God, he was willing to explore the faith both Judy and Mandy held in such high regard.

When the service was over, he followed Mandy outside. Some of the churchgoers left quickly, but many others had divided up into groups of family and friends and were visiting in the shade of the pear trees that lined the street in front of the church.

The sight was a pointed reminder that he wasn't welcome in their circles. He had no family and very few friends.

Mandy waved to someone and then grabbed Garrett's arm, preventing him from leaving. A woman in her early fifties and wearing a pale blue suit approached them with a speculative light in her eyes. Eyes the same shape and color as Mandy's.

“Mom, I'd like you to meet Garrett Bowen. Garrett, this is my mother, Kathryn Scott.”

Garrett's heart jumped into his throat and seemed prepared to stay lodged there. “Ma'am.”

“Mr. Bowen, I've been hearing good things about you
from my daughter. This must be Colin. Oh, he is cute.” She leaned toward his son, now awake in his carrier.

Garrett glanced at Mandy. So she had been telling her mother good things about him. He liked the sound of that.

Would that all change once Mandy found out about his past? He wanted to believe it wouldn't. He wanted to believe she would understand, but it was hard to. He was so used to being alone, relying on no one but himself.

A second woman approached. Garrett recognized her as the dispatcher who worked at the courthouse. “Mr. Bowen, it's nice to see you worshiping with us this morning.”

“Thanks.”

Donna turned to Mandy. “I noticed Fred wasn't in church this morning. Do you have him pulling some overtime?”

Mandy, too, had noticed his absence from the choir. “He's not working. It's Ken's turn to cover this weekend.”

Donna folded her arms. “That's odd.”

Kathryn Scott gave up tickling Colin's chubby cheeks and said, “Mr. Bowen, I was very sorry to hear about your wife's death.”

“Ex-wife, but thank you.”

“I'm sure my daughter will discover who is responsible. She's very tenacious.”

“Unfortunately, I don't have much to go on at this point,” Mandy admitted.

“The case has gone cold,” Donna added with a sad shake of her head. “We may never find out what happened.”

Garrett caught the faint frown Mandy leveled at Donna. “That's why I've decided to ask for the public's help. I'm running a piece in several area newspapers asking for any information. I've included a photo of Judy and a description of her car. I'm hoping someone saw her that morning and will come forward.”

“When did you decide this?” Donna asked.

“This morning.”

Looking over Mandy's head, Garrett saw Ina Purdy walking toward him. She had traded in her jeans and oversized work shirt for a navy pant suit. “I was just fixing to call you, Garrett. I'm surprised to see you here.”

“I'm a little surprised myself.”

“Guess our sheriff is having a good influence on you. Are you still planning on going to that Colorado sale?”

“If you're still planning on keeping Colin for me.”

The summer sale on the Conway ranch was the biggest sale in southern Colorado. Buyers from all over the country would be there. Besides his contracts with six Kansas ranchers to be filled, Garrett was going to buy cows for his own herd.

To produce the high-quality cattle he wanted to breed, he needed high-quality cows and the Conway ranch produced some of the finest Angus cattle in the business.

Garrett was building his son's legacy. He intended to do it right.

Ina waved one hand. “'Course I'll watch him. I've decided to let you pick up a new bull for me. That is, if the price is right.”

He rubbed his chin. “A Conway bull isn't gonna be cheap.”

“I know, but I trust you to find me a bargain.”

A measure of pride filled Garrett at her faith in him. “We can discuss your price range before I take off tomorrow.”

“You're leaving town?” Mandy asked, a faint look of concern on her face.

“Just for a couple of days.” Would she miss him? He was sure going to miss her.