CHAPTER TEN
“That was a smoother ride into work than I thought we’d have. What with the blizzard blowing in nearly two feet of snow last night,” Bobby said as she climbed out of the cab of her husband’s gigantic truck.
Okay, it wasn’t really gigantic, more like large. Of course when your spouse was six-feet-three inches tall and you were just five-feet-four, and had to use the special flip down step he’d installed just for you to climb in and out of the cab, the thing felt mammoth.
“Jason said André slept the night here and the pair were out early, making sure the main roads into and out of town were clear. Personally, I’m glad they added our street to the necessary list,” Gage said, taking her hand to walk over the mound of snow and onto the partially cleared sidewalk. “Steady here, the sleet that came in first is frozen beneath the packed snow.”
Glad for the thick work boots that were part of her deputy’s uniform, she held tight to his hand with one of hers, the other laying over her lower abdomen as they walked to the office door. Normally she wouldn’t care about a little fall, especially since she had extra padding in her lower half, but since she was pregnant with their first child, neither of them wanted to risk a fall this early on.
At the door, she let out her breath and he leaned down to kiss her. “Safe and secure.”
“I always am with you.” She smiled at him, letting her free hand rest on his chest a moment as he opened the door for her.
“So, why did Jason go out with André to clear roads?” she asked as they entered the warm sheriff’s office and started stripping out of their winter gear.
“In case André ran into any stranded motorists or accidents, I’d be there to help him,” the youngest member of the deputy division said, coming into the main room munching on a breakfast sandwich in one hand, a to-go box from the café in the other. “Pete had ham and biscuits this morning over at the café. I brought back a dozen.”
“You’re a good man, Jason,” Bobby said as she took the box of sandwiches from him. Despite yogurt and fruit with her coffee this morning, she was ravenous.
“Because he thought to go with André to search for stranded people? Or because he brought you food?” Gage asked, pouring himself a mug of coffee from the full pot in the corner of the office.
“Both.” Bobby grinned before taking a bite of the flakey biscuit and salty cured ham. Heaven. Pete was definitely Lorna’s secret weapon over at the Peaches ’N Cream.
Gage laughed and sat at his desk. “Okay, Jason, did you and André come across anyone stranded out in the snow?”
“Luckily, no sir. At least not on the highway or any of the main streets. A few of the long-haul truckers made it into town before the roads got completely unpassable. Lorna’s had them tucked in at the café last night. They’re hoping to get back on the roads this morning, but I doubt they’ll be going anywhere soon. Roads east of town are pretty bad.” Jason laid several papers in front of him. “Those are the logs of calls that came in. The powerlines are down on the outskirts of town.”
A moment later, the office door opened again and the large form of Deputy Cleetus Junkins entered. “Morning everyone,” he said, stamping snow from his boots over the mat at the door. “Sorry I’m a bit late. I wanted to make sure Sylvie was okay before I came in.”
“And is she?” Bobby asked with a wink.
A delightful blush pinked her friend’s cheeks. “Up and busy worrying about her clients. Afraid some of them, the elderly ones especially, will try to get to the salon even in this weather. Insisted I bring her to work early, just in case. I assured her Westen’s old timers had more sense than that.” He snatched one of the biscuits from the box by the coffee maker where Bobby had set them, then took his seat. “By the way, saw Doc Clint shoveling the snow over at the clinic on our way into town. He said Harriett called him that she’d be late getting to the clinic due to no electricity out her way.”
“Doesn’t she live up the river road beyond where Wes has his cabin?” Bobby said from her desk, already logging into her computer.
“About a mile up the road,” Gage said. “The cabins there are fairly remote. Too bad Wes is out of town. He could help her dig out. It’ll be days before the power company or the road crews can get in there. They’ll want to make sure the town is set and probably the new housing developments first.” He paused a moment, as if far away.
“What is it?” she asked. When he got that look, it usually meant he was playing with an idea.
“Westen hasn’t had a snowstorm like this since before Dad and I moved to town. There’s a lot of elderly folk that live out on the farms and in the outlying areas. We’d best be trying to contact them.”
“How are we going to do that if the power’s out, boss?” Cleetus asked. “A lot of the old folks still have land lines. Won’t the snow have knocked them down, too? And how will we know who to call?”
“I bet Libby can get us a list of the senior citizens from the Senior Center, since she’s the county social worker and on the board of the center,” Bobby said, already getting her phone out. Libby was also the wife of Gage’s best friend and the town’s fire chief, Deke Reynolds.
“My mom knows a lot of the folks who are elderly in her church congregation over at First Baptist,” Jason said. “She and the pastor’s wife, Mrs. Miller, are good friends with Mrs. White, the Presbyterian minister’s wife and Father Kowalski from St. Anthony’s. The four of them are on several local church charity committees together. I bet they’d be willing to help.”
Gage nodded. “Give her a call. Tell them to coordinate with Bobby and Libby. Anyone we can’t get a hold of, those are who we send someone out to check on.” He pointed a finger at the young man who’d been up all night. “Then you get home and get some sleep. We may have more accidents later today as people start trying to get out and about. I may need you to come in early tonight.”
“Will do, sir,” Jason said, pulling out his phone.
“I could take some or the phone list over to the Dye Right,” Cleetus volunteered. “I know Sylvie and Ms. Twylla would be happy to help. Give them a chance to check up on their clients.”
“Good idea, Cletus,” Bobby said. “I’ll give you half the list that Libby sends me.”
Gage’s cell phone rang. He noted the caller ID before answering, then rubbed his forehead right between his eyes. “Morning, Tobias.”
Bobby tried not to laugh. Tobias Rawlins was Westen’s Mayor. He’d been in school with Gage, Deke and Cleetus. For some reason he tended to get on Gage’s nerves, but Bobby knew that despite his occasional misstep into professional politician-mode, the mayor did have the welfare of Westen’s citizens at heart. Besides, he was one of the men who helped dig Gage out of the cave-in last year. That fact alone won her loyal support forever.
“Jason was on duty last night. No, he’s already gone home,” Gage said, motioning for the deputy to get out the door. Jason, tossed on his coat as he was still talking to his mother on the phone and headed out the back of the office, a grin on his face. “I can be over at your office in a few minutes. I’ll bring the reports with me. Actually, my staff is already on top of that. I’ll give you details when I meet with you.”
He hung up and gave Bobby a bland expression, lips pressed tightly and exhaling through his nose.
She struggled and failed at hiding her smile at his discomfiture. “What did Tobias want?”
“He wants a condition assessment report. His exact words. Apparently, the governor is calling a state of emergency for the entire state and wants information about things here.” He reached for his coat and hat. “He asked about the elderly in the outlying areas. I told him we were working on that. Deke and Harold Russett are meeting with us. André gave Harold a report of the roads this morning.”
As the county engineer, Harold was in charge of all road maintenance and repairs in the area.
“Anything I can do?” she asked, coming over to give him a hug.
“First. Stay here. I don’t want to worry about you falling on the ice,” he said, kissing her quickly. “Cleetus can be your gopher if you need anything. Call Daniel, too. I know he’s on the evening shift, but if he can come in a little early. I think we’re all going to be on overtime, until things are back to normal. And if you can get ahold of the power companies that feed the area, I need an idea of how many are without power and when they might have it back on.”
“Aye-aye, boss,” she said with a quick salute.
“I mean it, Bobby.” He gave her the I’m-in-charge look. “You stay here.”
“I promise. I’ll make your calls, then I’m going to try Chloe again.” First thing this morning she’d talked to Dylan, who’d slept at the hospital since the sleet had hit Cincinnati about the time she got off shift. The snow that blew in overnight had her stranded, leaving her to cover a shift on her day off. But when she’d tried Chloe’s cell it had gone straight to voice mail. “It’s not like her to not have her phone close by.”
Gage gave her another hug, then started for the door. “Try not to worry about her. She’s a grown woman and can take care of herself. You raised her that way, remember? Besides, I’m sure she’s safe, wherever she is.”
* * * * *
“If I knew who was stalking me, I’d have gone to the police already,” Chloe said, not even trying to hide her frustration.
“I didn’t ask who was stalking you. I asked who you thought a was likely candidate,” Wes said with a practiced patience that made Chloe’s teeth grind. Then he laid his hand on her knee, the warmth of his touch seeping through her jeans and dousing some of her building irritation. Too quickly he moved his hand and settled them back on his keyboard. “Just give me a starting place to begin searching.”
Unfolding her arms, she rubbed the palms of her hands together back and forth slowly as she pondered his question. “Last night I was asking myself the same question.”
“When you were here for the wedding, you mentioned Bolden Construction had been one of your firm’s clients.”
“You remembered that?” The man really did pay attention to things. She’d forgotten they’d talked about it.
“While Gage and Bobby were gone on their honeymoon, I had a little to keep me busy, besides making sure his crazy ex stayed locked up.” He typed on his laptop, then stopped to read something. “Ray Bolden, owner of Bolden Construction was tried for negligent homicide in the death of two of his construction workers due to his use of materials not up to code and lack of safety protocols. He’s currently serving twenty to life for each death.”
“That’s him.”
“Why would you think he’d be angry enough with you to stalk you or in this case hire someone, since he’s locked up? You’re a junior partner and not on the trial team.” Wes fixed that intense stare on her, making her squirm a little in her seat. “What did you do?”
Damn, he was way too perceptive. She shrugged. Stared back into his eyes unashamed. “Some records of the arrogant bastard’s expenditures and invoices for his materials used on the project, may have somehow found their way into a junior DA’s files one day.”
“Whoa.” Wes leaned back in his seat, astonishment written all over his face. “Isn’t that a little against the code of ethics for lawyers?”
“Yes. Normally, I would turn a blind eye because we were the defense team. However, when our senior partners asked me to do a financial background on Bolden to confirm they could get a large fee from him, I stumbled upon evidence that proved he’d knowingly put those two men and others at risk, as well as anyone in the building should it have collapsed.” She turned her head to one side, letting the joint in her neck crack. “Again, I should’ve kept the information in house, except I happen to hear Bolden ridiculing the dead men for not knowing to be careful. When Mr. Berger, the most senior partner in the firm laughed along with him, I had to make a decision. Do what my bosses would expect or do what was fair and just for the dead men, their families and any potential victims in the future.”
“You chose justice, even if it meant you’d get disbarred if anyone found out.”
It wasn’t a question.
She nodded. She’d just confessed to a deputy sheriff. Her career could end at that very moment.
“Good for you,” was all he said, before returning to his computer once more.
Slowly, she let out the breath she’d been holding.
“How about anyone at your firm?” Wes asked.
“There’s Dale Napier,” she said, glad to be on another possible suspect. “He’s a senior partner and my immediate boss. You met him last night.”
“Mr. let-me-get-you-alone-and-try-to-intimidate-you in your office? I could see why he’d be on your list, for that reason alone. A male chauvinist of the first order. Any other reason he stands out on your radar?”
Chloe couldn’t help a chuckle at Wes’s description of her leach of a boss. “Three months ago he made a pass at me when no one was in the office to hear him.”
“Bastard.” Wes said, all teasing gone from his features. His lips pressed into a tight line, the muscle on the left side of his jaw twitching and his eyes hot with anger.
Wow. The man could give intensity a scare. Then it hit her. He was angry for her. Angry that her boss would try to manipulate her into a compromising position. Other than Bobby and Dylan, she didn’t think she’d ever have someone who wanted to defend her.
“I quickly shut him down.”
His fingers already typing on the keyboard, he gave her a nod. “Good for you. How’d you do it?”
“I asked him if he really wanted a sexual harassment suit. He’d backed off immediately.”
“I bet he did.” The admiration in the former secret government operative’s voice, sent a shiver of pride through her.
“In fact, until last night, he’s been very circumspect about not being alone with me.”
“Really?” Wes paused in his typing. “What was different about yesterday?”
What had been different yesterday? Well, for one thing, Wes had walked back into her life. She was pretty sure he wasn’t talking about them or the few days they’d spent together two weeks earlier.
“You mean besides you showing up unannounced and sitting like a guard dog in the lobby?”
The corner of his mouth twitched, but he didn’t say anything. Obviously, he wasn’t going to bite on that comment. He simply waited for her to move on.
“I had a morning meeting with a merger case I was the lead counsel on.”
“Who with? Or can you tell me without crossing client confidentiality?”
She arched a brow his direction. “You mean if I tell you, I’d have to kill you?”
Again with the twitching of the lips.
Somehow teasing him brightened her mood. The fact that he was amused, helped her relax. Most men found her intimidating and her comments more confrontational than flirtatious. Good God. Was that what she was doing? Flirting with Wes? She couldn’t remember the last time, if ever, she’d flirted with a man.
Quickly shoving the idea out of her mind, she focused on his question. “No, I can tell you, it’s public record. My client is Dawes Mechanical Gears. A larger company, Hinkley Global, wants to buy them out. I had to go to their offices for the meeting yesterday. It was an intimidation tactic on their part.”
“Intimidation?” That seriously protective sound was back in his voice.
“Not physically. They have a very prestigious firm handling their contract negotiation. They assumed if they dragged in the female junior partner of our smaller firm to sit across from ten of their people, I’d buckle, and capitulate into accepting their client’s offer without a fight.”
“Didn’t work, did it?”
She grinned at him. “Damn straight it didn’t. Mr. Dawes built that company up from scratch. He’s ready to retire and wants to spend time traveling around the country with his wife in an RV. I want them to enjoy their golden years. After yesterday’s manipulative display of Hinkley Global’s arrogance, I intend to see that my reasonable settlement for my client becomes a little more expensive to the conglomerate people just because they’re trying to low-ball him.”
“Do you think this corporation could have someone acting like a stalker to throw you off your game?”
“Like a form of strong arm tactics?” She pondered his suggestion a moment, then shook her head. “I suppose they could, but…”
“But?” He paused, fixing that steely-eyed blue gaze of his on her once more. The one that said, trust me with the truth.
She huffed out some air. “But this feels too personal for that.”
He nodded, going back to his keyboard. “I agree. My gut tells me the same thing. I learned years ago to trust what it tells me. Just in case we’re wrong, though, we’ll put them on the list and do some background checking just to be sure they’ve not pulled this in other negotiations. I also learned that no small nugget of intel should be overlooked.”
Chloe watched him focus on the screen in front of him. She suspected he’d learned that last lesson on the operation he said had gone south. Whatever happened, it must’ve been bad. Bad enough to drive him away from a career she was beginning to suspect he’d been very good at.
“Anything else happen that’s been different? Anything that would make Napier think he could try coercing you again?” He asked, startling her out of her thoughts.
She considered her recent interactions with her boss. “Last Friday he suddenly brought this Richardson Merger case to me. He insisted that he needed me to double check all the figures with Justin, the other junior partner you met today. It was last minute and he swore I was the only one he trusted to do the work accurately.”
“Did he approach you yesterday about it? Try to move up the deadline?”
“Only to ask me to be sure to have the figures to him no later than Wednesday morning.” She gave a half shrug. “Guess he won’t be getting them anytime soon.”
“So, what else happened yesterday?”
“Well, not yesterday, but the night before.” She hesitated, not really wanting to talk about her pathetic panic in the parking garage.
“What happened?” he asked, giving her a little nudge.
“I left the office late. I’d been working on the numbers for the Richardson Merger most of the day and wanted to be sure I spent some time on the Dawes Merger before heading home since I was meeting with them first thing in the morning.” She paused and stared into the fire, the flames dancing around the wood. Wes laid a hand over one of hers, squeezing gently. “When I was in the parking garage, I had this creepy feeling someone was behind me. I’d look around and not see anyone. The feeling didn’t go away and I practically ran to my car. I didn’t relax until I was inside with the doors locked.”
“Then what happened?”
“Nothing. I drove home, double checking that no one was following me.” Here she hesitated.
“Don’t hold anything out on me, counselor. Even the smallest detail could be important. Even a text,” he said. Something in his voice and the slight tensing of the muscle in his jaw set her internal suspicion alarm off.
“How did you know I got a text?” she asked, then hopped off her barstool, moving backwards. “Oh, my God. You did something super-spy-ish to my phone, didn’t you?”
He didn’t move a muscle, simply sat watching her. “I cloned it.”
“You what?” She stared at him half in anger and half in disbelief.
“I cloned your phone.”
Her gaze pierced him with accusation. “Exactly what does that mean?”
He leaned back in his seat, one elbow lying casually by his computer on the counter. “When you spent the night here, I connected my phone to yours so I could see if you were in any danger.”
“You connected your phone to mine?” She paced in front of the fire, letting the information sink in, stopped and stared at him open-mouthed for a moment. “How could you do that?”
“I have an app…” He let the sentence drift off as if he was telling her what he’d done was no big deal.
“Don’t give me that,” she said, stalking back to stop a foot in front of him, pointing her finger into his chest. “You invaded my privacy. Hell, you invaded my client’s privacy!”
“I only focused on threatening calls or texts,” he said, as if that made what he did right.
“You expect me to believe that? How would you know the difference without listening to the calls or reading the texts?” She paced the space in front of the fireplace from the kitchen island to the far side of the cabin and back. “My God. Every one of my clients are going to have to be told. This is a nightmare!”
“No, they don’t.” Again, that aggravating voice of patience.
“Don’t expect me to be as duplicitous as you, Mr. Secret Agent. My whole career is built on people’s trust. Their trust to keep their secrets and to keep what happens between us private.” Again, she stomped back towards him, poking him in the chest. “Now with your little spy game, you’ve destroyed that trust and quite possibly my career.”
“No. I didn’t.”
“You were watching my phone calls and texts.”
“I only focused on those coming from unknown numbers.” He quietly said, wrapping his hand over the finger she’d left square in the middle of his sternum. “Your stalker wasn’t going to use a personal number you could trace, no one on your client list would use an anonymous number. Those are the only texts I read.”
The sincerity in his words and the steadiness of his gaze eased some of her ire.
“Why would you do that?”
“Because I knew client confidentiality would be important to an honest lawyer like you.”
She felt her cheeks heat at his words. “Thank you. But what I mean is why did you feel the need to try and help me?”
“Gage was out of town on his honeymoon. Bobby didn’t need the stress with the pregnancy. I saw how skittish you were when you were here for the wedding. Someone needed to keep an eye on you, even if it was long distance.” He slowly rubbed his thumb over her finger.
“But you don’t know me.”
“When I came to Westen I wasn’t looking for anything. Slowly, I became a part of the town. The town became my family. Especially Gage and your sister. So you’re family.”
With a gently tug on her hand he slowly brought her to stand between his legs. He wrapped his other hand around her back, pressing her closer. “Family takes care of each other,” he said before dropping his mouth to hers.