Justice Inked (Cowboy Justice Association 7) (22 page)

S
pending the day in bed with Rayne had sounded good but he had a mountain of work on his desk and a veritable crime spree in his little town to investigate. He’d left Rayne tucked up into bed and put a deputy on the front door. Now he was leading his men in searching the area around Rayne’s shop for any place that Moulson or his friends might have hidden a load of cash. Tanner was helping out by loaning him some of his own deputies since Dare had already lost one guarding Rayne.

“Do you think they’ll find anything?” Dare asked Tanner as they walked a gridline into the trees behind the shop. It was a chilly but sunny day and they couldn’t ask for better weather to be conducting a search. “We’ve been over this once before.”

“It’s worth a try, but I also think we should search around Miss Dunn’s home as well since they so lovingly tossed it last night. How is she doing, by the way? She’s got to be pretty shaken up about all this.”

Rayne was shaken up but had a spine of solid steel. She might have shed some tears and let her fear give her a nightmare but when he’d left this morning she’d looked brave and even defiant. She wouldn’t let this situation get her down.

“She’s fine. She had a rough night but this morning she was better. She’s tough.”

Tanner’s eyebrow lifted and a smile played around his mouth. “She spent the night with you. That’s…interesting.”

To anyone who didn’t know the carnal pleasures Dare had shared with Rayne, it shouldn’t be interesting at all.

“She needed protecting and the easiest way to do it is to have her close.” Dare shrugged as if it was no big deal. Because it wasn’t. Having Rayne at the house didn’t have anything to do with his feelings. “It was the most efficient choice.”

“Sure, that’s why you did it,” Tanner smirked. “It wouldn’t have anything to do with the fact that she’s kind of hot? That wouldn’t have factored into it would it?”

“It did not,” Dare growled, already tired of this conversation. “She might be in some danger and I’m protecting her. That’s it.”

Clearing his throat, Tanner nodded sagely. “If she’d been ugly you would have done the same, I’m sure. But let me tell you, my friend, it’s easy to see that you have feelings for her. It’s written all over your grumpy-ass face, so get over it. You actually look happy for once in your miserable life.”

The ribbing from Tanner was harmless enough but Dare didn’t like the idea that his short association with Rayne had changed him. Or at least the appearance of change. Deep down he was the same guy whether he smiled more or not. He wasn’t the type to be able to make a woman happy for the long term because he couldn’t be happy. Not truly. He danced around the edges but ultimately he wasn’t a man who took joy in life. He’d long ago come to terms with it.

“Rayne is a nice girl but that’s it. I’m not looking for a relationship or anything.”

A woman like Rayne would eventually get tired of Dare’s bullshit issues so there was no sense in getting serious. He wasn’t the type to make a woman happy, at least not long-term.

“The love of a good woman is a rare thing. If one offers it to you, you’d be a fool to turn it down. It’s the best thing in life, my friend.”

“We’re not in love,” Dare denied, the muscles in his shoulders and back stiffening. This whole thing was getting out of hand. If Tanner could see how much Rayne was beginning to mean then she probably could as well. That wasn’t good. He didn’t need her feeling sorry for him.

Damn, was this morning just a pity fuck? Feeling sorry for the asshole sheriff who was never happy so she’d thrown some pussy his way?

“I didn’t say you were, but I remembering meeting her at Jared and Misty’s wedding and I liked her. She seems like a good person with a good heart. You know she didn’t let Jared give her any money to help rebuild her business. She kept saying it wasn’t his fault.”

Dare hadn’t known that but it sounded like Rayne, always putting others before herself. Last night she’d actually suggested she stay in a motel as if he’d let her be alone when she was hurt and scared. All because she didn’t want to be a bother.

“Rayne and I are just friends. I seriously doubt I’m her type.”

He vividly remembered dancing in the rain with her. The way she laughed and smiled. Her face upturned along with her hands lifted towards the heavens. Raindrops had slid down her smooth cheeks and shoulders and she’d spun around and around, giggling like a little girl. It had felt like his heart stopped beating for the longest time and then it suddenly felt too big for his chest. He’d never seen a more beautiful woman than she was at that moment. And she had no idea that she was. She thought she needed purple stripes and ink to make herself stand out.

“What do you think is her type?”

Dare stopped in his tracks at the question, the answering burning a hole in his gut. He’d known he wasn’t the man for Rayne, but to say it out loud made it feel so real. And final.

“A man that will put her happiness first. The kind of guy who likes going out and having fun, maybe dancing or seeing a movie. A guy who comes home every night for dinner and doesn’t work strange hours with stranger people. The kind that smiles and laughs at her jokes and her friends think is a catch. That’s the kind of guy Rayne should be with.”

Tanner pursed his lips, seeming to ponder Dare’s description. “What about a man who would protect her? Put his life on the line? What about a guy who would never look at another woman and tell her she was beautiful every day? Those things are important too. A woman doesn’t need a court jester, Dare. And you wouldn’t believe the hours she’ll put up with as long as you show her she’s the most important thing in the world to you. You’re selling yourself short.”

Dare couldn’t take this personal crap any longer. This wasn’t the kind of conversation that he relished and he wanted to put a stop to it sooner rather than later.

“I’m fucked up, Tanner,” he growled, exasperation in his tone that he couldn’t hide and frankly didn’t want to. “Let me repeat that. Fucked up. Hell, my issues have problems. I’m no good for anyone and that’s the God’s honest truth. If Rayne Dunn had a lick of self-preservation she’d run from me faster than the roadrunner from the coyote. I don’t even know how to be happy, for fuck’s sake.”

“You’re right,” Tanner smiled easily. “You’re a mess. Not like me when I met Maddie. My life was completely smooth and totally under control. So was I, for that matter. In fact, I’m practically James Bond.”

Everyone knew how fucked up Tanner’s life had been so he was obviously pulling Dare’s leg. It didn’t change things though. There were degrees of fucked up and Dare was off the charts.

“I get it. You had problems. I have problems. It’s not the same thing.”

Tanner gave him one of those Yoda looks that all the guys talked about but never wanted to be on the wrong side of. Serious philosophy was about to spout from the man’s lips and Dare’s only choice was to stand there and take it like a man.

“I don’t know why you’re afraid to let yourself be happy, Dare, but I’m sure there’s a story there. Probably one that has to do with a painful childhood and terrible memories. You think you’re not good enough to be loved and so on. Well, whatever. Here’s the thing and listen very closely, okay? You’re not a child anymore. You’re a grown ass man. Whatever happened to you isn’t a valid excuse anymore. If it bugs you, get some help. If it doesn’t then put it in the past where it belongs. But don’t let it be a reason to take the easy way out. Relationships and love are hard. They’re work. It’s easier to be alone and feel sorry for yourself. Think about that next time you make some lame-ass excuse. Now let’s get back to work because all this personal bullshit is uncomfortable between two men, goddammit.”

Dare sure as hell wasn’t ready to bare his soul. Not even to Tanner. Instead he scowled and began to walk the grid again.

“Uncomfortable is an understatement, Tanner. Let’s decide to never discuss anything but football and beer ever again.”

But not talking about it didn’t change a thing. Dare wasn’t the right kind of man for Rayne and he was only setting himself – and her – up for heartache later on. It would be far kinder to end things now before she ended up hating him. He couldn’t stand for her to feel that way.

*   *   *   *

Tossing her gym bag on the bed in Dare’s spare room, Rayne grabbed her change of clothes and inspected what she had to work with this morning. A pair of white cotton panties, white cotton bra, blue socks, blue jeans, and a beige cable knit sweater with a boat-neck. It wasn’t high fashion but they were clean and presentable. At this point she couldn’t ask for much more. She was long overdue for a wardrobe makeover so she’d go shopping this afternoon. Buying clothes wasn’t her favorite activity so she tended to wear them until they were almost rags.

Folding her discarded clothes from last night, she shoved them back into the bag along with her travel toiletries, her fingers rubbing a scrap of paper at the bottom. Sighing at her habit of keeping receipts far past their useful life, she pulled it out intending to throw it in the small trash can next to the bed, but quickly realized this wasn’t a receipt. It was a drawing from the shop.

It wasn’t a complicated design although it was visually interesting. It looked like a shield with a line drawn down the middle. The right side was a drawing of an overflowing pot of gold while the left looked a little like a dartboard. But it was whom it belonged to that had her hand shaking and her heart racing.

This was the design she and the murder victim Patrick Moulson had discussed.

She’d thought he’d taken it with him when he left but somehow he must have slipped it inside her gym bag, which had been placed on the counter. She’d been hoping to make it to the gym but the shop had become too busy. Instead she’d thrown it in her trunk…and well, out of sight was out of mind. She hadn’t made it to a workout since.

Her stomach twisted in her gut but she knew deep down that this is what they’d been looking for. It had to be. There was nothing else he’d given her.

Now what did it mean?

Rayne tucked the drawing in her pocket with the intent to take it straight to Dare but her phone chimed instead.

Misty.

“Hey listen, I need to get to Dare. I found something that might help the case.”

Rayne continued stuffing her belongings in the gym bag and zipping it shut.

“What did you find?” Misty asked excitedly. “I was actually calling because I heard about last night. Are you okay?”

“Good news travels fast. I’m fine but my house isn’t. It’s a wreck and I need to meet the insurance adjustor there later this morning, but first I need to take this drawing to Dare. It’s the design for the shooting victim. It was stuffed in my gym bag and I didn’t find it until this morning.”

“Holy shit. Do you think that’s what they were looking for?”

“It has to be. What else is there? But it’s just a design for a tattoo. Why would anyone care about that? It isn’t worth any money or anything. It’s nothing to kill or die for.”

Misty giggled on the other end of the line. “You do make a good point. So send me a picture of the design. I want to see it.”

Perhaps Misty could make heads or tails of it. “Hold on. Let me take the photo and send it to you. Let me know when you’ve got it.”

Quickly, Rayne snapped the picture and attached it to an email. She waited without saying anything while it flew through cyberspace.

“Got it. Let me open it up and take a look.” More silence. “Hmmmm…kind of cryptic. It looks like a coat of arms actually from my history class in high school.”

“I’ll try and look up these symbols online. See if I can find anything on them.”

The cry of a baby pierced the air and Misty sighed. “I have to go. Lizzie has a cold and she’d been fussy the last few days, which means it’s only a matter of time before we get it too. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Call me when you know something.”

“Will do. Give her a big kiss from her Auntie Rayne.”

Hanging up, Rayne patted her pocket and grabbed the gym bag, heading downstairs. She needed to see Dare as soon as possible. Maybe he could tell her what was so important about a stupid drawing.

Chapter Twenty-Five