Stockyard Snatching (16 page)

He mentally shook off the thought, focusing on Stacy instead.

“Thank you so much for the beautiful flowers.” She motioned toward the bouquet on the side table.

Dallas nodded and smiled.

“Did they catch those guys?” she asked.

“Afraid not,” he said. Tommy had promised to call or text the moment they were in custody, and so far, Dallas hadn’t heard anything. Whoever was behind this had sophisticated ways to disappear when they needed to and that set off all kinds of warning bells for Dallas.

It had also occurred to him that Susan could’ve gotten herself into some kind of serious trouble. Now that his investigator was dead, there was no one chasing her trail aside from Tommy. And the problem with that was the fact that his friend wouldn’t be able to share a whole lot of information about a murder investigation in progress.

So Dallas needed to come up with a plan of his own without stepping on the sheriff’s toes.

“Did you get a look at the men?” Dallas asked. He’d been able to give a basic description to law enforcement of dark hair and medium build, before Stacy had blocked his view, which didn’t rule out a lot of people in Bluff.

“No, it was a blur,” she said. “Everything happened so fast. All I remember seeing was the end of a gun and then a blast of fire, followed by a burning sensation in my shoulder. Once I put two and two together, I honestly thought I was going to die.”

Dallas could see why she’d focus on the barrel, given that the gun was fired at her a moment later. “I want to catch these bastards but I need your help,” he told her.

“What can I do?” Her gaze bounced from him to Kate and back.

“I’d asked about secret files before. I know you’d never want to betray Wayne’s trust, but I need to see mine and any others he has.”

“If he had files like that, I didn’t know about them.” She glanced down, which usually meant a person was lying or covering.

“What about his laptop?” Dallas asked.

“It was in his car,” Stacy said, which meant Tommy or one of his deputies was already tearing it apart.

Dallas paced, trying to think of another way to come at this, because he was fairly certain Stacy was holding back. Since his straightforward approach was bringing up an empty net, he needed to take another tack.

“It’s okay if you don’t know,” Kate assured her. “He just wants to find the guy who did this to Wayne.”

Stacy glanced at Kate and the softer approach seemed to be baiting her. “Isn’t the sheriff already working on it?” she asked.

“Yes, he is. And we would never do anything to get in the way of that. But these guys are dangerous and they might come back for you if they think you know something,” Kate said calmly. “And I think we can help with the investigation.”

Stacy stared at the door.

Dallas turned to look out the window, because whatever Kate was doing seemed to be working.

“They have his laptop from the office,” Stacy finally started, “but that’s not where he would keep a secret file, because it would be the first place people would look if he was subpoenaed.”

“He’s smarter than that, isn’t he,” Dallas said, turning toward her.

Stacy half smiled and a deep sadness settled in her hazel eyes. “Yes. He was.”

Dallas gave her a minute to recover. “I lost someone very important to me a few months ago,” he finally said. “Actually, two people.”

“I remember reading about your parents in the newspaper and thinking it was a tragic accident,” Stacy said wistfully. “I’m real sorry about that, because I’d always heard they were fine folks. Real down-to-earth types. It must’ve been hard to lose both of your parents like that and especially…”

She glanced up at him with an apologetic look on her face but couldn’t seem to finish her sentence without breaking down.

“Thank you,” he said. “I know what it’s like to have people taken away before their time. And, yes, the upcoming holidays make it worse. Believe me, very soon, once the initial shock wears off, you’re going to be angry.”

Stacy nodded, blowing her nose into a wadded-up tissue.

“You already want answers and so do we,” Dallas said. She was getting close to trusting him; he could tell by the change in her demeanor. “You already know that I could have a child, a son. And I need to know if Wayne found something that got him in trouble while working on my case.”

Shock registered on her face, but to her credit she recovered quickly.

“Family has always been important to an O’Brien, and I’m no different. Losing my parents makes me value it even more,” he said. “I have selfish reasons for wanting to get that file. Wayne was most likely killed because of my case…because of something he found. If I know what that is, I have a chance at finding out if I have a son and nailing Wayne’s killer. Plus, the whereabouts of my son’s mother is unknown. She might be in trouble. You and I both know the sheriff may never figure it out since he has to work within the law. And even if he does, it might be too late.”

Dallas believed Tommy could dissect pretty much anything given enough time. But that was one luxury they didn’t have. As sheriff, he would have to go through proper channels and file paperwork that could take days, weeks or months to process.

“I hired Wayne,” Dallas said. “His death is on me. And I need to find out what he knew.”

A tear rolled down Kate’s cheek. She quickly wiped it away.

Stacy was already blowing her nose again. “He spoke very highly of you,” she said. “I didn’t know at the time that it was
you
. He referred to your case as Baby Brian. Now I realize it was because of O’Brien.”

“Help me find the jerks who did this to him, who shot him in cold blood,” Dallas said. “You have my word you’ll be the first to know when I do.”

Stacy sat there for a long moment, her gaze fixed out the window.

“Will you hand me my purse? It’s in the bottom drawer over there,” she finally said, motioning toward the nightstand near the bed. “The deputy brought it to me last night when he stopped by.”

Kate retrieved the Coach handbag and Dallas noted the designer brand.

Stacy glanced up at Kate and then Dallas as she reached for it. “This was a gift from Wayne.” She finally dropped the pretense that the two of them had had a strictly professional relationship.

Kate reached over and hugged her, and the woman sagged onto her shoulder.

“He was all I had,” Stacy said. “I never really had a family. He took a chance when he hired me five years ago, because I was nothing. I didn’t know a laptop from a desktop. He said he could send me to training for that. Loyalty was the most important thing to him. I could do that. Our relationship was a professional one for the first three years and then, boom, something happened.”

“You fell in love,” Kate whispered.

“It was like a lightning bolt struck one day and there was no going back,” she agreed. “We kept things a secret because Wayne was afraid of someone using me against him.”

Kate touched her hand and Stacy looked up with glassy, tearful eyes.

“I’m sure he wanted to do whatever was necessary in order to protect you. He must’ve loved you very much,” Kate said with calm reassurance.

More tears flowed, and even though Dallas was in a hurry to get information, he didn’t want to rush out of the room. He was glad that he and Kate could be there for Stacy, and especially since she’d lost her entire support system in one blow.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do now,” she said. “I don’t have a job or a purpose. Wayne showed me his will last year. He left everything to me, but what do I do when I leave here without him?”

There was a lost quality to her voice that seared right through Dallas.

“If you ever want to work again, there’ll be a job waiting for you at the ranch,” he said. “Once you get your bearings.”

“You would hire me without knowing anything about me?” Stacy looked almost dumbfounded.

“Wayne was a good man. I trust his judgment,” Dallas said. “Call my cell whenever you’re ready and let me know what you decide.”

He pulled out a business card and dropped it on the nightstand.

“And the soup kitchen always needs good people,” Kate offered.

“That means a lot,” she said. “I’m not sure what I’ll do at this point, but this gives me options.”

Loyalty was important to Dallas, too. And Wayne was right. An employee could be trained for pretty much everything else.

Stacy rummaged around in her purse until a set of keys jingled. She pulled them out and held them on her left palm. With her right hand, she picked through them until she stopped on one.

“This is the key to our house,” she said, locking eyes with Dallas. “I’ll write down the address for you.”

He nodded before she returned her attention to the keys and thumbed through a few more.

“I kept all the keys on one ring, but I also made a duplicate just in case.” She pulled out a piece of paper and pen, and then she scribbled the address.

“This little baby right here opens his office door at home,” she stated. “There’s a house alarm. I’ll give you the code. And another one for his office.”

Dallas would expect nothing less from an investigator of Morton’s caliber.

Next, she dumped the contents of her purse onto the bed. She had a matching wallet, a pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses, a pack of gum and sundry items like safety pins and paper clips.

As she turned the bag inside out, Dallas saw a glint of something shiny inside. Metal? A zipper?

“This purse was made special,” she said, unzipping it.

She shook the bag and a key fell out.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“This one unlocks a compartment in a book called
Save for Retirement
. It’s on the bookshelf behind his desk in his office, on the second shelf. It should be the second volume from the right. It works like a diary,” Stacy said, motioning toward the key. “There’ll be a flash drive inside. I never looked at it, wasn’t supposed to, so I didn’t. I can’t tell you what’s on that drive for certain. But whatever he found out about your case, I’d bet my life it would be there.”

She held out the keys toward Dallas.

“Thank you,” he said as he took them.

Kate hugged Stacy again and he could plainly see that she didn’t want to leave the woman alone.

“Mind if I send someone over to keep an eye on you while you rest?” Dallas asked. “I don’t like you being here without protection.”

“Guess I didn’t think about it, but you’re right. I’d appreciate that very much,” Stacy said.

Dallas made a quick call to Gideon Fisher to put the wheels in motion and then settled in to wait for backup to arrive. Fisher said he’d send Reece Wilcox.

Stacy was on medication, and even though she seemed wide-awake and alert, he didn’t want to risk her falling asleep and being vulnerable until Reece arrived.

Kate retrieved the remote and put on one of those home decorating shows to provide a distraction for Stacy. Mindless TV was the best medicine sometimes.

“Can I get you anything from downstairs?” Kate asked. “Or order out?”

“No, thanks. I’m fine. The food here isn’t horrible.” Stacy paused long enough to wipe at a tear. “You can’t know how much I appreciate you both.”

For the next twenty minutes, they all sat and watched a kitchen makeover in comfortable silence.

By the time Reece showed up, Dallas and Kate were due at the sheriff’s office.

They said their goodbyes to Stacy and promised to visit again as soon as they could.

In the parking lot, Kate put her hand on Dallas’s arm.

He stopped and turned to face her, but before he could speak, she pushed up on her tiptoes, wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. Hard.

* * *

K
ATE
HAD
MEANT
to brush a quick “thank you” kiss on Dallas’s lips, but her body took over instead and she planted one on him.

His arms looped around her and dropped to her waist, pressing her to his muscled chest.

Dallas O’Brien was the very definition of
hot
. But he was also intelligent, kind and compassionate. Traits she didn’t normally associate with a rich cowboy. He also had a down-to-earth quality that was refreshing. Her body seemed to take notice of all Dallas’s good qualities because heat flooded through her even though it couldn’t be much more than thirty degrees outside.

When he deepened the kiss, she surrendered.

Instead of fighting her feelings, she tightened her arms around his neck and braided her fingers together. The motion pressed her breasts against his chest even more and her nipples beaded inside her lacy bra.

Neither made a move to break apart when he pulled back a little and locked his gaze with hers.

They stood there, only vaguely aware that it was frigid outside, because inside their little circle was enough warmth to heat a room, and Kate’s heart filled with it.

She’d never known this kind of appreciation and acceptance from anyone.

Certainly not from her mother or father. During her childhood, when the two spent time with her, it had felt sometimes as if they were ticking off boxes on a duty list rather than spending real time with her. And then there was her failed marriage to Robert. He’d been handsome and they’d been attracted to one another, but she’d never felt…this, whatever
this
was. More than anything, he just seemed ready to take the next step when the time came. Had their relationship, too, been a box he’d needed to tick off at that point in his life?

Gazing into Dallas’s dark, glowing eyes, she saw something she’d never seen when looking into another man’s. Rather than analyze it, she kissed him again, because Dallas O’Brien stirred up emotions she didn’t even know how to begin to deal with.

And she lost herself in that kiss.

Dallas pulled back enough to whisper in her ear, “You’re beautiful, Kate.”

She loved the sound of her name on his lips. “So are you.”

He laughed at being called beautiful. But he was, inside and out.

His phone dinged, and he checked the screen and then showed it to her.

William Seaver had just checked in at the sheriff’s office.