CHAPTER 28
The wide scared eyes staring up at him matched the eyes of the girl in the picture. He didn’t want to believe it. Couldn’t believe it. Say something. But she didn’t. She just stared at him, a pained expression on her face, eyes deep dark pools of sorrow.
“What is this?” he gritted out. “Is this you?” Dammit, he wanted to hear her admit it. Own up to the extent of her betrayal.
He’d been shocked when Jeanine had placed the mailer on his desk not twenty minutes earlier. There was no way the woman in the picture could be his sweet, strong Elaine. And yet he’d recognized her instantly.
“I-It’s not what you think,” she finally uttered, barely above a whisper.
“Then you damn well better start explaining.”
She barely tilted her head, scanning the area. “Can we go someplace private?”
“Your mug shot is in the mailbox of every resident in the county and you want to go someplace private?” he barked. “Everyone’s gonna know your story before dinner hits the table tonight darlin’.”
She winced, pink flushing her cheeks.
Maybe that was too harsh, but at the moment he was too angry to care. She’d singlehandedly destroyed months of effort. Not to mention the thousands of dollars down the drain. His stomach churned at that. It would take him years to recoup his losses. He crossed his arms and glowered at her. “Well?”
Her eyes darted up, spearing him with a look of such pain that his gut twisted. But she would not play him again, and he tamped down the urge to soften. She’d slid under his defenses and it had made him weak. Compromised his judgment. God, it was Kandahar all over again. When would he fucking learn?
She looked down at the space between them and spoke so low he had to lean in to hear her. “Three years ago, Dax and I lived in Topeka.” Her voice came out in a monotone, devoid of emotion. “As you know, I was a high-school dropout. There weren’t a lot of employment options available to me, especially with a four-year-old. I ended up with a cocktailing job at a gentleman’s club called Naughty Nellie’s.”
Gentleman’s club, his ass. “You worked at a strip club,” he said flatly. A hot flash of jealous rage drove through him. The thought that creeps and criminals had seen her tits or worse, and had undoubtedly attempted to put their hands all over her had his vision spotting. The law enforcement community was very aware of Naughty Nellie’s. It had a well-earned reputation for being the favorite booty call joint for some of the slipperiest criminals in Kansas. Even drawing some of the rougher elements from Kansas City.
“I swear I never took off my clothes,” she rushed, a note of panic sounding in her voice.
“Let me guess,” he said sarcastically. “You just made introductions for the ladies who did?”
Her eyes flashed. “I had a child to feed. The DJ lived in my building and hooked me up with a job.”
“Interesting choice of words.”
She gasped, cheeks going from pink to red.
That was a low blow. One he might regret later when he was drowning his sorrows in a bottle of whiskey, but at the moment, he didn’t care.
She took a step closer to him, eyes flashing angry hurt. “I never did anything to be ashamed of. The only thing I’m ashamed of is–”
“The fact you got caught,” he finished for her.
“No.” She shook her head, voice vibrating in anger. “That I was too scared to level with you early on. But I… I couldn’t.”
“Bullshit,” he ground out. “I’m the goddamned police chief. You damn well should have leveled with me.”
“I wanted to put the past behind me. Coming to Prairie was a chance at a fresh start. The chance to be the person I wanted to be.”
“And it was all built on a lie.”
“I swear, Travis it wasn’t.”
“How’d it happen?” Maybe he was an ass for pushing this way, but she was in the wrong. “You accept a proposition in a sting?” The thought made him sick, and he hated himself for asking, but he had to know.
“No.” Her eyes glittered with unshed tears. “Why are you assuming the worst?”
“Maybe it’s because your mugshot is plastered all over the county with the words ‘guilty’ and ‘criminal’. You tell me. What the hell was it?”
She glowered at him. “There was a sweep. Hard drugs were found in my purse. But I didn’t put them there. I’ve never used. Not once. Not the hard stuff,” she amended. “Pot a few times before I got pregnant, but nothing since.”
“That’s what they all say,” he snarled. God, she was just like Colton. What a sucker.
A tear oozed from the corner of her eye and slid down her cheek. He would not soften. Could not. “Don’t do this, Travis. Please.” He barely recognized her voice through the tears. “I’ve worked hard to straighten out my life. I haven’t been anything but honest with you.”
“Except for this,” he snapped, gesturing to the mailer. “I broke all my rules for you. Every. Damned. One. How could you not tell me?”
“I should have told you,” she shot back angrily. “But I was afraid if anyone knew, that something like this,” she shook the mailer, “would happen and hurt your campaign. I didn’t want to bring you down.” She brushed at her eyes.
“How can you say you love me and keep secrets?”
“You keep secrets too,” she raised her voice.
“That’s different.” No one needed to know what really happened between him and Colton. He’d bear that burden alone.
She crosses her arms. “How so?”
“I shared my deepest secrets with you. Told you about my team. And this is how you repay me?” He might be deflecting, but he didn’t care. She’d wormed her way past his defenses. He’d let her see his soft underbelly, and then she’d stabbed him where he was most vulnerable. He couldn’t forgive that.
“This isn’t about repayment,” she countered, voice rising. “It was never a transaction. I did what I felt I had to do to feed and care for my son.”
“So you’re saying the only reason you took the job was for the money?” Pain knifed through his chest.
She shook her head, eyes dull. “You don’t get it, do you?” Her voice caught. “I thought you had more faith in me than this. More faith in us.” She narrowed her eyes, a muscle in her jaw ticking. “I see I was mistaken. Well you can take my resignation on the spot, Chief Kincaid. And don’t bother paying me the rest of my salary.” She started to rip the mailer. “In fact, I will bring you a check tomorrow for all of it, minus Dax’s school things and the clothes I bought. I will pay you back for those out of my tip money. Consider it a campaign donation.”
She tossed the pieces of the mailer to the ground and spun away.
The burning in his chest grew as he watched her disappear behind the food truck, shoulders slumped. He made the walk back to the police station in record time. “Weston,” he roared as soon as the door had shut behind him. “Weston.”
Weston came around the corner, another mailer in hand, jaw set. “You know you’re well and truly fucked.”
“Yep.” All that time, all that money, gone in a mailer. Judging from the size alone, one that cost significantly more than fifteen grand.
“Did you talk to Elaine?”
He nodded curtly.
“Did you tell her we’ll do what we can to shield her from the fallout?”
Travis stilled, a finger of guilt needling him.
Weston groaned. “Jesus. Don’t tell me you were an asshat.”
“She lied to me.”
“By keeping deeply personal information personal?”
“We’re LIVING together, for fucks sake. She should have told me.” He had to hold onto his anger. It was all he had left, now. He was right, dammit.
“It’s not exactly the kind of embarrassing information you volunteer to someone you’re crazy about. To someone you’re afraid might judge you.” Weston folded his arms. “You could have vetted her.” His voice became hard. Clipped. “Are you pissed at her or yourself?”
Travis scowled at the wall.
“Could you or could you not have run a background check on her?” Weston asked harshly, raising his voice.
“Not without her consent and you know it,” he bit out.
“You know there are other ways.”
“Yes, and I also said I’d never use them.”
Weston got in his face, eyes blazing. “You realize that Lawson did? To get at you? That guy’s a sick sonofabitch. You want to be pissed at someone? Be pissed at him. He’s not only ruined your campaign, he’s ruined her life.”
Weston turned and paced the length of the hall, before stalking back and jabbing him in the chest. “Did you think about that even once in your righteous indignation?”
He opened his mouth but Weston held up a hand. “Save me your sob story. I’ve known you for years, man. I know what pushes your buttons and you need to get the fuck over yourself. What kind of man are you that you’re in here sucking your thumb while you’re letting a single mom with not much safety net, and who you love, spin in the wind?”
There was that finger of guilt again, poking at him. “But I broke the rules for her.”
“Fuck your goddamned rules, Kincaid,” Weston shouted, mouth tight. “Haven’t you learned anything from seeing Dr. Munger? Your rigid rules are a fucked-up coping mechanism that are destroying you and any opportunity you have at happiness.”
“TRAVIS KINCAID,” roared Dottie from the other end of the hall.
He couldn’t win today. Why had Jeanine let her in?
“What on God’s good green earth did you do to that poor woman? She’s beside herself.”
Travis snatched the flyer from Weston and handed it over. Maybe now she’d climb down off her high horse. “Maybe you’ve seen this.”
Dottie’s eyes widened then narrowed as she shifted her gaze to him. “Tell me you were gentle with her.” She raked her gaze over him with a mother’s ferocity. The finger of guilt turned into a fist. How was it she could reduce him to about twelve-years old with a scathing glance?
She crossed her arms, mouth pinched into a line. “I see you haven’t learned a damned thing, have you?”
His chest burst into flame, crawling up his neck.
“You’ve judged that sweet thing by the same harsh standards you judged your brother, Colton. I always disagreed with you kicking him out of the house when he was seventeen, but I wasn’t there when it happened and figured you’d ask for help from Teddy if you needed it.”
Why was she dredging up the past now? And in front of Weston?
Dottie barged ahead. “But you never did. And now it’s you all alone at that ranch. Your daddy would be rolling in his grave to see how you’ve let the Kincaid legacy dwindle to nothing. I had high hopes when Elaine finally moved in with you that you’d made a step in the right direction.”
He had to make her understand. She of all people should understand. “Do you know what she did Dottie? She was caught up in a drug sweep in one of the most notorious titty bars in Topeka.”
That would shock her into siding with him. She knew about Colton’s drug and alcohol problem in high school.
“I know that,” she railed. “How do you think she ended up here? I’ve worked with probation cases in the past, giving people second chances. Some worked out. Some not. Elaine was a dream come true. And yes, surprise, surprise – she was human and made mistakes. Mistakes she’s paid dearly for. She’s done everything right to get her life back on track. Now don’t ruin it for her.”
She ripped the flyer in two and shoved it back at him. “I should have stepped in years ago, and I regret that I didn’t. Someone shoulda told you to get off your high horse when it came to Colton. I know you were young and full of yourself, running off to those missions, doing your duty to your country.” She scowled. “But you had a duty here too. Everyone but you could see that boy was hurting, and all you did was come at him with crazy rules. So I’m gonna tell you what I shoulda said then.” She gave him a blistering gaze. “You fix this Travis Kincaid. You fix it. And don’t come around until you do.” She spun on her heel and marched back down the hall.