Speed Trap (9 page)

“If I offer to double that salary for tonight will I be guilty of bribing an officer of the law?”

He'd actually made a joke. She smiled in return. “Six bucks an hour. That's tempting. Lucky for you I left my handcuffs at the office.”

 

Garrett knew he'd been right. Her smile made her more than pretty. It made her downright beautiful.

Even the bruises on her face couldn't detract from a beauty that was more than skin-deep. Her eyes sparkled in the lamplight. Her hair, loose about her shoulders, caught and reflected the light with a dozen subtle highlights, the same palette of colors the prairie wove into the grasses in the fall.

It wasn't only that she was pretty. There was something special about her. Something that made him wish he knew about love and what it was like to be loved in return.

It was a foolish wish. Love was a thing that happened to ordinary people, not to the likes of him.

A faint blush tinted Mandy's face. She dropped her gaze to the baby and Garrett realized he'd been staring. She softly began to run her fingers through Colin's curls.

What would it be like to be touched so gently?

A longing, powerful in its intensity, caught and held him within its grasp. It stole his breath as he watched her hand feather through his son's hair. In his whole life, he couldn't remember anyone touching him with such kindness.

Wiley padded in from the kitchen and sat near Garrett's boot. Yawning widely, the dog reminded Garrett of his own lack of sleep. He was bone-tired. Maybe that was why he was being so illogical.

He pushed up off the sofa. “I should get back to work on the crib before he wakes up again.”

Looking at the pieces spread around the room, she said, “It can't be that hard. Where are the directions?”

“I can usually figure things out on my own.”

“If that isn't just like a man!” She rose to her feet. “Let me see them. This will go faster if we both work on it. I don't want Colin spending the night on the floor.”

It was plain she was used to bossing people around. Garrett picked up the booklet but didn't give it to her. “I don't need help.”

She held out her hand. “Put your wounded male ego aside and give me the instructions.”

He surrendered the papers. “Trust me, they don't make sense.”

Leafing through the diagrams, she opened to a center page. “They do if you read the ones in English.”

“You'll think it's Japanese by step four.”

Thirty minutes later, Mandy was kneeling beside him, an edge of exasperation in her tone. “It says slot F goes into slot D, right? This is F. This is D. Why don't they fit?”

Garrett sat back on his heels and tapped the handle of his screwdriver against his thigh. “Because we did something wrong.”

“We didn't do anything wrong. We followed the directions exactly. I'm a college-educated woman, I should be able to put together a crib.”

“Then the directions are wrong.”

“That's not likely.”

Wearily rising to his feet, he took a step back. “Then we're overlooking something.”

She stood beside him, her hands fisted on her hips. “What?”

He studied the collection of parts on the floor. Realization dawned as he saw the tip on one wooden leg lying under the edge of the box. “Okay, I see it.”

“What? Where?”

He pulled the piece from the pile of parts. “This is part F. The one we have is part C.”

“Are you sure?” She snatched the instruction book from him and stared at the drawing. The pieces were similar, but he was right.

“Sometimes, it helps to take a step back and look at the whole picture,” he said with a small grin.

Mandy slanted a glance his way. It was good advice for more than crib assembly. Had she been letting her own guilt, fears and suspicions color her perception of the man? If she took a step back and looked at him anew, what would she see?

Besides an attractive man, she saw callused hands used to rough work. She saw a man who didn't smile easily or trust easily. A man used to a solitary life, but who was willing to turn that life upside-down to take in a son he'd only just learned about.

There were a lot of things to like about Garrett Bowen, but one nagging question remained unanswered. His ex-wife, who may have known him better than anyone, didn't want him raising their child. Why not?

What did Judy know, or fear, about Garrett that made her decide strangers were better suited to raise her child? Mandy liked answers, not questions.

Grabbing the right part, Garrett fitted the pieces together and grinned at her when they fit perfectly. “It should go faster now.”

Twenty minutes later they laid the bare mattress on the springs and stepped back. Mandy checked the front rail. It latched securely in each position and slid up and down easily. “It works.”

“We should test it before we put Colin in it.” Garrett's eyes lit on Wiley sitting beside Colin on the blanket. He snapped his fingers and the dog hurried over, his tail wagging.

Garrett lifted him into the crib and pulled up the side. “He weighs more than Colin. If it holds him, it'll hold the baby.”

Wiley clearly didn't enjoy being locked in. Quick as a wink, he leaped to the top of the rail and jumped out. Scampering back to the blanket, he dropped to his belly beside his charge.

Mandy giggled. “Hopefully, it will be a while before Colin learns to do that.”

“No kidding.”

“Do you have sheets?”

“Yeah.” He left the room and returned with a pale blue fitted cotton sheet. Mandy was pleased to see he'd already washed it. It proved he'd made more than cursory preparations for Colin's arrival.

As he covered the mattress, Mandy glanced down at Wiley. “What's with that dog's tail?”

“The vet said it healed wrong after it was broken.”

“How'd he break it?”

Garrett turned to face her. “I don't know. It happened before I found him.”

She crouched beside the dog to scratch his head. “Poor boy. Where did you find him?”

“He was scavenging for scraps outside a sale barn in Tulsa. He looked kinda down on his luck. A couple of cowboys said he'd been hanging around for a few weeks. I gave him the rest of my cheeseburger and when I came out of the sale, he was waiting for me.”

At the mention of food, Mandy's stomach growled loudly.
She pressed a hand to her midsection. “A cheeseburger sounds good about now. I didn't have lunch.”

Wiley exploded into the air, yipping wildly. Mandy jerked away in surprise, lost her balance and toppled backward.

“Wiley, quiet.” At the command from Garrett, the dog settled on his haunches, an eager expression remaining on his face. Colin fussed for a second, then went back to sleep.

Extending a hand, Garrett helped Mandy to her feet. He pulled her up easily, proving he was every bit as strong as he looked.

Unexpected warmth surged up her arm at his touch. Her eyes met his. Their gazes locked. An arc of awareness passed between them.

He felt it, too. She read it on his face before his odd blank look replaced it.

Mandy pulled her hand away. Just when she thought she was beginning to understand him, he retreated where she couldn't follow.

“Sorry about the dog.” He spoke to a spot just over her head. “He goes nuts when he hears it's mealtime. He didn't mean any harm.”

She dusted off her jeans. “No harm done. I've got plenty of padding back there.”

His gaze shifted to her face. The hollow look in his eyes gradually faded.

Mandy held up one finger. “Agree with that statement and you'll find yourself under arrest.”

A ghost of a smile lifted the corner of his mouth. “Then I'd better exercise my right to remain silent.”

“Excellent plan.”

An awkward moment filled the space between them. Mandy used it to glance at her watch. “I should get going. It's getting late.”

“Let me put this little fellow in his new digs, and I'll walk you out.”

Tenderly, he picked up Colin, cuddling him against his chest briefly before transferring him into the crib. Wiley settled himself on the floor under the bed.

Mandy moved to stand beside Garrett. She laid a hand on Colin's head. She'd grown terribly fond of him. She wasn't quite sure how she was going to cope without visiting him every night at the hospital, without rocking him to sleep before returning to her own quiet, empty house.

Softly, she whispered, “Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. May angels watch me through the night and keep me safe till morning's light.”

She cleared her throat, knowing Garrett had heard the catch in her voice. With one last pat on Colin's back, she turned and headed for the door.

Outside on the porch, she stopped to fish her keys out of her pocket. Beside her, Garrett said, “I know you stopped in tonight to make sure Colin was okay because you were worried about him being with me.”

“I was concerned about you, too.” It wasn't a total falsehood. She had wondered how he was coping. She felt a blush creep up her neck and was glad the darkness hid it.

“My son is safe here, Sheriff. In spite of what you think, I'd never hurt him, and I didn't kill his mother.”

Whatever closeness they'd shared slipped away. Mandy was back to being a cop.

“It's my job to be concerned about the people of this county. All of them, not just Colin. But for what it's worth, I don't think you'd harm him.”

“You just think I killed his mother.”

She studied his face in the porch light. “No. I don't believe you did.”

The defiance on his features changed to stunned surprise. Turning away, Mandy walked out to her truck.

Glancing up at the starry heavens, she prayed,
Let me be right, Lord. For Colin's sake, let me be right this time.

F
riday was Mandy's morning off and she was ready for it. Although she normally worked Monday through Friday, once a month she covered a weekend evening shift to give her part-time staff a break.

The week so far had been a busy one with two new thefts of fertilizer from outlying farms and a burglary in town.

The break-in had been solved when she arrested a pair of teenagers for reckless driving and found some of the stolen items in their car. They were both high. It was clear they'd been stealing for drug money, but neither was willing to name their supplier.

She'd failed to keep two more children safe.

Shaking off the depressing thought, she poured the last dollop of hazelnut creamer into her coffee and glanced around her kitchen. Her days off were normally reserved for the exciting things in her life. Like shopping, laundry and dusting.

It was almost more fun than a girl could stand.

Taking a sip of coffee, Mandy realized she could easily ignore the dust on the television. What she couldn't ignore was how often her thoughts turned to Garrett and Colin. The emotional attachment she'd developed for the baby seemed to be expanding to include his father.

That wasn't something she had expected. The rational part of her mind told her to steer clear of Garrett, but another part of her longed to know him better. She wasn't sure what to do. That was an uncomfortable and unfamiliar sensation.

No matter what she felt, she couldn't, wouldn't let those feelings interfere with her job.

By the time she finished her coffee, she'd convinced herself that she had a handle on her emotions as far as Garrett was concerned. She also came to the conclusion that dusting could wait. Food was her top priority.

Fifteen minutes later, she left her side of the duplex, shopping list in hand, with the intention of filling her frighteningly empty refrigerator and cupboards. On the way to the grocery store, she caught sight of a hand-lettered yard sale notice tacked to a telephone pole at the end of her block.

The words
baby clothes
jumped out at her from the list of items being offered.

They probably won't have anything in Colin's size.

Still, what would it hurt to stop and look. It wasn't like the grocery story was going anywhere.

She turned left instead of right and that was how she ended up at a four-family garage sale on Maple Street with the cutest pair of blue bib overalls and a matching hat in Colin's size in her hands instead of fresh produce.

The outfit was simply too adorable to resist. She added it to the stack of equally precious infant outfits draped over her arm and resumed her search.

The sounds of small-town chitchat, laughter and occasional price haggling made her smile. Cars pulled up and stopped along the poplar-shaded street disgorging eager bargain hunters and simple browsers. It promised to be another warm day, but not unpleasant. It was, Mandy decided, small-town living at its best.

As long as her pager didn't go off, signaling she was needed for some emergency.

A pretty green sweater caught her eye just as a white delivery van with a blue globe painted on the side double parked in the street, blocking traffic.

Mandy blew a strand of hair away from her face in mild exasperation. A clear traffic violation was taking place right in front of her.

To ticket or not to ticket, that was the question. She had her summons book in her truck.

Hopping down from his seat, the driver strolled to the first apartment with a white-and-blue box under his arm. The door opened and Donna Clareborn eagerly accepted her package.

Mandy smiled. No doubt her dispatcher, a self-proclaimed TV shopping addict, would be sporting a new purse or new shoes in church on Sunday.

The driver moseyed back to his vehicle, but instead of pulling away, he emerged with an additional package leaving his truck still double parked. He knocked at another apartment, but got no answer. Leaving the box propped against the door, he returned to his vehicle.

The flow of traffic was now at a standstill. An impatient driver began honking.

The woman who was running the sale added more items to an already-crowded table beside Mandy and said, “You should give that jerk a ticket, Sheriff. He's always blocking my driveway.”

Skeptical of what she assumed was an exaggeration, Mandy said, “I wouldn't think there would be
that
many deliveries. There are only ten units in the complex.”

“Four or five times a week he parks right there and takes his own sweet time about it. Twice last week I was late pick
ing up my kids from school because of him. I've even called the main office to complain, but it hasn't helped.”

Mandy held out the clothes she'd picked up. “If you'll hold on to these for me, I'll go speak to him.”

The deliveryman was certainly going to get a warning. She hadn't made up her mind about the ticket.

Walking across the street, Mandy noticed two teenagers loitering in the stairwell at the end of the complex. She recognized the redhead first. It was Luke Holt, Ken's younger brother. His buddy was one of the kids who'd heckled her during her speech at the high school. They saw her at the same time. They both turned and walked away with their heads down.

Little warning bells started going off in the back of Mandy's mind. She scanned the area, but saw nothing else suspicious.

Meanwhile, the van driver stopped at an apartment several doors down from Donna's with a third parcel. Cedric Dobbs answered the knock. The principal grabbed the package out of the deliveryman's hands, then slammed the door in his face.

The driver shrugged and started toward his van. As he approached, Mandy reached for the badge in her hip pocket and held it up. The young man came to an abrupt halt, his eyes wide.

She said, “You do know it's illegal to park like that, don't you?”

“I'm sorry, Officer. I'm gonna move right now. Please, my boss will kill me if I get a ticket.”

“I understand you make a lot of deliveries to this address.”

“Yeah.”

“Anything unusual about the packages you bring here?”

He scowled. “Unusual how?”

“That's what I'm asking.”

“Look, Sheriff. I just deliver the stuff. I don't get nosy.”

Another horn blast from behind the van convinced Mandy to send him on his way. “All right. Go, but don't let me see you blocking the street like this again.”

“No, ma'am. Thank you.” He jumped in his seat and drove away.

Mandy pulled her cell phone from her pocket and called the office. When one of the part-time dispatchers answered, Mandy said, “Who's on duty today?”

“Ken and Benny are both here.”

“Let me talk to Benny.”

When he came on the line, Mandy said, “I need you to do me a favor, Benny. Run a check on a delivery service called Global Shipping. See if anything odd pops up. I'll be in shortly, so leave anything you find on my desk.”

After hanging up, Mandy returned to the yard sale and collected Colin's clothing from her grateful hostess.

Free to continue her shopping, Mandy happily browsed through stacks of secondhand goods and picked up another infant outfit she thought would be perfect for Colin.

Making her way around a tall garment rack filled with adult coats, she nearly tripped over a man crouched next to it examining a stroller. She only caught her balance by planting a hand on his shoulder. He looked up in surprise.

Mandy started to stutter an apology, but gasped instead when she recognized Garrett.

Warmth that had nothing to do with the bright sunshine spiraled through her body and brought a blush to her face. Quickly she withdrew her hand and stepped back. “Excuse me. I wasn't watching where I was going.”

As he rose, a flush crept up his neck and stained his chiseled cheeks a dull red. It appeared she wasn't the only one affected by the contact. The thought pleased her.

“Not a problem.” He tipped his cowboy hat back with one finger then slipped his hands in his hip pockets.

For a long minute, they stood gazing at each other like two tongue-tied teenagers.

She looked away first, checking the area near him. “Where's Colin?”

“Ina Purdy is looking after him. She owns the ranch two miles south of me.”

Mandy clutched her pile of clothing to her chest, trying not to look like she was dying for information about Colin and about Garrett. Nodding, she said, “I've had a few calls out to her place. The last time I was there, she promised she
wouldn't
vote for me in the next election.”

To say Ina was eccentric was putting it mildly. Well over seventy and still running her own spread, the widow frequently clashed with the rancher whose place bordered hers to the west, her brother, Henry. The two constantly squabbled over straying cattle, Russian thistle control, poor fences and everything in between. Not a month went by that the office didn't get an irate call from Ina.

The barest smile tugged at the corner of Garrett's mouth. It changed his face from reserved to downright pleasant. “She's prickly, but she's been a good neighbor to me. She was the first one to hire me as her cattle buyer. She's taken a real shine to Colin.”

That had to be the longest conversation Mandy ever heard from him. It seemed fatherhood was agreeing with him. “It's great that you have someone who can help. How are you and Colin getting along?”

“Good.”

“No problems at all? Adjusting to a new baby in the house can be very stressful.”

“I don't get as much sleep as I used to.”

Frowning, she tipped her head to the side. “Isn't he sleeping through the night?”

“Colin is, but Wiley wakes me up every time the kid turns over. The mutt's a wreck.”

Mandy chuckled. “You could banish him to the bathroom again.”

“And separate him from Colin? Not a chance. He howls the house down when I try.”

“It's hard to imagine Wiley in the role of a nanny.”

“Almost as hard as imagining me in the role of Colin's father?”

“I'm coming to grips with that,” she admitted.

Once again the silence lengthened. She struggled to find something to say that didn't sound inane.

Garrett rubbed the back of his neck. “I should get going. Mike Peters said he could weld a new hitch on my trailer if I got it over there this morning.”

“It's a nice stroller, don't you think?” she said quickly before he could leave.

She wasn't sure
why
she didn't want him to leave. Maybe it was because she'd been feeling lonely and a little lost. She'd been attributing her slump to missing Colin and her late-night visits with him. But if she were being honest, she knew this stalling tactic wasn't about Colin.
This
was about Garrett.

He was becoming important to her. She wanted to peek behind the emotional wall he presented to the world.

Part of that was because he was Colin's father, but part of it was because she found him intriguing and far too attractive for her peace of mind.

He nodded as he studied the stroller. “It looks like it's in good shape.”

She turned her attention to the baby carriage. “It's got all the bells and whistles.”

“Like what?”

She gripped the handle to demonstrate. “The sunshade comes up like this and if you push this button on the back, you can lay the seat down and make it into a bed.”

“That's kinda slick.”

“It has a place for carrying stuff underneath and it has a netting to keep the bugs off the baby. It even has a cup holder.”

“So you think it's worth the money?”

“It's a name brand. You'd pay a lot more for it new.”

“Guess I should take it. What treasures did you find?”

Don't be so delighted that he asked you a simple question.

But she was thrilled to share her finds. “I saw a couple of really cute outfits and I picked them up for Colin. They're only a dollar. Want to see them?”

“You don't have to buy clothes for him. I can take care of stuff like that.”

Why did he have to be so touchy? Miffed, she raised her chin. “I'm getting them for him because I want to. Would you like to see them or not?”

“Sure.”

Mollified by his limited interest, she held up the first one. It was a light green sleeper with a yellow sailboat on it.

He hunched his shoulders forward. “Kinda girly, isn't it?”

“It is not girly.” Offended, she laid it on the stroller handle and held up the next one. The overalls had blue and white checked cuffs and little metal buckles on the straps.