Only By Your Touch (41 page)

The instant Chloe saw the gun slide out of Bobby
Lee’s reach, she was on her feet. Running, running. The rifle. She had to get to the rifle. She felt as if she were pushing against a headwind. It was like one of those awful nightmares where she tried frantically to hurry and moved like a slug.

When she finally reached the gun, she grabbed it, threw the butt to her shoulder, and flipped off the safety. “Diablo, stop!” she cried. “Diablo, stop!”

To her horror, she saw that the wolf was now at Bobby Lee’s throat. Bobby Lee screamed—a horrible, terrified scream—as he pushed frantically at the dog. Chloe didn’t care if the deputy died, but she did care about what might happen to Ben’s wolf if it killed a man.

“Diablo!” Chloe cried. She remembered the Shoshone words she’d heard Ben use. “
Kiss,
stop!
Suvate,
it’s finished.”

The words worked like magic. With a low whine, Diablo aborted the attack and backed away. Bobby Lee just lay on his back, head pointed downhill, incredulous gaze fixed on Chloe. She could see blood at his throat, but she didn’t believe he was seriously injured.

“Arms above your head,” she yelled. “One false move, Bobby Lee, just one, and you’re a dead man.”

He stretched his arms up. Chloe kept the weapon trained on his face, where she knew she could take a fatal shot. It was her only option. A .22-caliber bullet might not do enough damage to stop him, otherwise.

“Diablo, help me watch him,” Chloe added, not entirely sure the wolf would understand, but praying he did. Never taking her eyes from Bobby Lee, she said, “Nan?”

“I’m here.”

Relief made Chloe’s legs feel weak. With Nan, one never knew. Stress, Chloe had noticed, seemed to
worsen the older woman’s dementia. “Get my cell phone. Call the sheriff’s department.” Chloe gave Nan the number. “Tell the dispatcher to get two cars out here, on the double. They have a murderer to come fetch.”

I
t seemed like forever before the first sheriff’s vehicle arrived. Chloe had sent Nan off into the trees with her son and Methuselah, just in case anything went wrong, and she stood guard over Bobby Lee alone, with only Diablo to lend assistance if the supine man tried something. The wolf positioned himself beside her, his eerie golden eyes fixed on the man, his shoulder pressed against her hip. The contact, Chloe knew, was Diablo’s way of reassuring her.

Remembering her terror of the wolf the first time she’d seen him, Chloe could only wonder at herself now. The creature’s absolute love for Ben and anyone connected to him had saved their lives tonight.

When the county vehicles turned onto the rutted road leading to the log deck, Diablo moved to stand on the uphill side of Bobby Lee again. Chloe understood. The wolf was positioning himself to defend her, just in case another enemy had arrived. He wanted the advantages of height and gravity.

The police lights sent out spiraling flashes of red, yellow, and blue over the clearing, lending everything a surreal brightness that made Chloe feel dizzy. Diablo snarled when the deputy climbed from the car and started up the slope. Afraid that the wolf might attack,
Chloe searched her numb brain for the word Ben used to tell him all was well.

“Toquet,”
she said softly.

The wolf sat and stopped growling.

“He going to jump me?” Frank Bower asked.

“No, it’s safe.”

Frank came up the incline. “For God’s sake, Chloe, don’t accidentally pull that trigger. You’re shaking like a leaf.” He reached for the gun. “Come on, honey. I’ll take it from here.”

Chloe tightened her grip on the weapon and kept it aimed at Bobby Lee’s face. She’d had quite enough of trusting the law to take care of her. “No, Frank. You cuff him first.”

“I’m not even sure what he’s done yet. The dispatcher said something about him being the one who killed Jimmy. That’s just plain crazy, Chloe. I know you have reason to dislike Bobby Lee, but he’s no killer.”

“I’ll tell you what’s crazy, and that’s letting a snake like him be free to spread his poison while you’ve got a man like Ben locked up. In that hole there, you’ll find the weapon used to bash in Suitor’s brains. It’s Bobby Lee’s billy club.”

“Don’t listen to her, Frank,” Bobby Lee whined. “She’s crazy about Ben Longtree. She’ll say or do anything to save his neck. I didn’t kill Jimmy. Use your head, man. Remember that day I came up here with the ODF and W boys? I left the club here accidentally. Forgot all about it until tonight. She planted it, trying to cast the blame on me. You’ll find Longtree’s prints on it.”

“Liar!” Chloe cried. “He tried to kill us! All that stopped him was Ben’s wolf.”

“Us, who?” Frank asked, scanning the clearing for other people.

“My son and Nan are off in the trees. I sent them away for fear Bobby Lee might try something. Would you please get the cuffs on him? He’s dangerous.”

“Well, hell.” Frank stomped over to the hole and shone his light inside. “All I see is a pack.”

“It’s in there, Frank. Just take my word for it. I’m so tired of holding this gun, I’m about to drop it. Or accidentally pull the trigger.” She smiled sweetly at Bobby Lee. “That’d be fun. Poor, hysterical,
terrified
woman puts a .22 slug dead center between a man’s eyes. I’d never spend a night in jail.”

That got Frank moving. He rolled Bobby Lee over and cuffed him as he read him his rights. “If you’re wrong about this, Chloe, my ass is grass. You don’t arrest another deputy without damned good reason.” He swung away from the prisoner. “Now, would you lower that darned gun before someone gets hurt?”

All the starch left Chloe’s body. She not only lowered the gun but almost dropped it as well. It wasn’t a heavy rifle, but aiming it steadily for so long had made her muscles quiver and ache. “The club is there in the hole, just as I said,” she assured Frank. “Be careful as you lift the pack not to damage the evidence.”

“I guess I know how to do my job, Ms. Evans.”

“I’m sorry. From where I’ve been standing, that hasn’t always been glaringly apparent to me.”

“That isn’t nice.”

“I’m not feeling strongly inclined to be nice right now.”

Frank pulled his flashlight again and went to kneel next to the fresh mound of dirt. He carefully lifted the pack. Then he swore. “Well, hell, Bobby Lee. That’s your billy club, sure as rain. I recognize that gouge on the handle. Why’d you have it in for Jimmy?”

“He didn’t,” Chloe explained. “Jimmy just got in his way.”

The sheriff’s vehicle arrived just then in a flurry of dust that rose in the multihued play of lights. Lang strode wearily up the hill, looked in the hole, and asked Bobby Lee the same question Frank had just asked him. Bobby Lee wasn’t talking, and Chloe was saving her breath for a more important exchange.

The sheriff bagged the murder weapon and tagged it. Then he handed it off to Frank and approached Chloe. “You and yours all right?”

Fury—pure, unadulterated fury—restored Chloe’s flagging energy. She slapped the rifle at the sheriff’s chest, almost knocking him back a step. He caught the weapon in his left hand, shoved up the brim of his hat, and gave her a wondering look.

“All right?” she echoed, her voice trembling. “I very seldom get my Irish up, Sheriff Lang, but it’s definitely up now.”

“I see,” he said warily. “Well, I guess I can understand that. You’ve been through a difficult ordeal.”

“A difficult ordeal? That doesn’t quite say it. Let’s get this conversation off to a good start, shall we? I’ve got your dick in a crimping iron, and I’m about to turn on the heat.”

He blinked. “What?”

“You heard me. You’re not dealing with a local girl. I’m big city, and I’m big city pissed off.”

He rubbed his jaw. “I think you’re beside yourself.”

“You’ve got that right. And all I can say to you is, watch out.”

“I don’t see what you’re mad at me about. I’m not responsible.”

“Oh, yes, you are. And you have the
nerve
to ask me if I’m all right and if those I love are all right? Ben Longtree is in jail for a murder he didn’t commit!
And why? Not because you found one thread of evidence to pin the crime on him, but because he dares to be different, and you, along with most of the people in this town, distrust anyone who’s different. News bulletin: Different isn’t necessarily bad.”

“I’ve taken care of that mistake, Chloe.”

“Not fast enough to suit me. And you’d better see to it he gets chauffeured home the same way he left, only in the front seat this time.”

“I don’t usually make people hoof it when they’re released from jail. Trust me on that.”

“I don’t trust you on much of anything.”

The sheriff passed a hand over his eyes. “Calm down, Chloe.”

“Not likely. In answer to your question, I’m fine, Nan’s fine, and so is my son, but it is in no way your doing.”

“That’s not quite fair.”

“Oh, yes, it is. If you’d done your job when you should have done your job, Bobby Lee Schuck would have been behind bars, and this might never have happened. He threatened to kill my little boy the other night. Tonight he almost made good on the promise. The only reason—the one and only reason—I’m standing here telling you about it instead of being stuffed into a body bag is because that wonderful wolf over there came to our rescue and saved our lives. Hell of a note, isn’t it? Here you are, an
elected
official, being paid
handsomely
to do a job, and a dog has to do it for you.”

“I’m really sorry about that, Chloe.”

“About what? That a dog did your job?”

“No, about Bobby Lee being loose. I have to do things by the book.”

“Really?” Chloe darted a burning glance at Bobby Lee. “Your book almost got my baby killed.” She
crossed her arms against the chill of the night breeze that swept down the slope. “You know how I see this, Sheriff Lang? I think you owe me a couple of big ones.”

“How’s that?”

“Let’s start with the fact that I was forced to quit a very good job with excellent benefits and a chance for advancement because one of your deputies tried to rape me.”

“Well, now, Chloe. That wasn’t really my fault.”

“He was on your payroll. He threatened me with my job and tried to force himself on me. When I told you what had happened, you chose to ignore me. In the big city where I hail from, women call that sexual harassment. It leaves a real bad taste in our mouths. And you know what else it does? It really,
really
pisses us off.”

“I’m real sorry it happened, Chloe.”

“Then,” Chloe went on, gaining momentum, “he staged an attempted burglary, gained access to my home, threatened to bash my child’s brains in, and would have raped me if I hadn’t smashed him over the head with a champagne bottle.”

The sheriff winced.

“And what happened when I reported it? Nothing. He never even missed a shift.” Chloe nodded. “No two ways around it, you owe me.”

“Are you threatening to go the news media with this?”

“Of course not. I’d never do such an underhanded, low-down, totally reprehensible thing to a fine fellow like you. All I’m asking is that you straighten this entire mess up and make things right.”

He pursed his lips. “How?”

“By getting Ben Longtree his permits, not just to
cage and treat sick or injured animals, but to turn this hundred sixty acres into a wildlife sanctuary.”

Lang swept off his hat and slapped it against his leg. “Hang on, now, Chloe. You gotta know I can’t do any such thing. I’m county, not state. I’ve got nothing to do with those permits and stuff.”

“This incident tonight proves beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the good-old-boy system is alive and well in Paulina County. If you’d been doing your job by the
book
, Bobby Lee Schuck would have at least been suspended until you could investigate further. I watch enough cop shows to know that much. Your careless disregard and your refusal to take action were mistakes that could have had tragic consequences for me and everyone I love.”

“You are threatening me.”

“No, I’m just thinking about turning that crimping iron on.”

While he thought about it, Chloe turned the heat up to warm. “Did you know that, on an average, more women vote than men?”

“Shit.”

She hadn’t been sure of that statistic until he paled at the reminder. “And do you know what gets women steamed faster than anything else?
Men
, taking advantage of some poor, defenseless single mother and putting her in jeopardy when all she’s trying to do is the most basic of things—put a roof over her child’s head. We don’t have any mercy for lawmen who play the game rotten, bending the rules to suit themselves.”

He winced. “Sweetheart, you can have your job back.”

“I don’t want the flipping job back, and don’t call me sweetheart.”

“What do you want, then?”

“I want you to see to it that Ben gets those permits, which should have been issued to him in the first place. I think Bobby Lee made a few phone calls to see that his applications were denied. I’m asking you to recognize that injustice and fix it. A word dropped here, a recommendation dropped there, and you would be absolutely amazed at how quickly permits are issued.”

“How long do I have?”

“A week sounds fair.”

“A
week?
I can’t get permits issued in a week. Be reasonable.”

“I tried reasonable, and that bastard almost put a bullet between my little boy’s eyes. A week. If you don’t deliver, my story about what
really
happened at your backwoods sheriff’s department will be in every newspaper between here and New York City.”

Ben had never felt so proud of anyone in all his life as he was of Chloe in that moment. Standing slightly downhill from her and the sheriff, he grinned like a fool as he listened to her give the lawman a piece of her mind. He grinned even more broadly when she went to work on Lang to get wildlife permits issued, posthaste.

Over the last few days, he’d remembered more than once his grandfather’s prediction that one day he would meet the woman who was to be his destiny. Now he knew for certain that the old man’s words had been prophetic. How fitting that He Who Walks With Mountain Lions should join hands with a vibrant, red-haired little lioness with so much spirit and heart. Watching her, he knew he would always be able to count on her, no matter what, and that she’d not only be there to guard his back when necessary, but also
to fight his battles when he was powerless to fight them himself.

That was a good feeling—an absolutely beautiful feeling. He felt like the luckiest man alive. “Chloe?”

She broke off from her rant to look down the slope. Ben wasn’t sure if it was incredulity at seeing him that momentarily paralyzed her, or if she was having trouble making him out in the shadows, but for a moment, she just stood there gazing at him with wide, beautiful eyes that reflected the lights flashing behind him. Her hair was a glorious mane of reddish gold that shimmered around her face.

Slowly a smile curved her sweet mouth. “Ben?” She laughed and came running down the hill. After the third step, she launched herself the remainder of the way, trusting him to catch her in his arms. “Ben!” she said again, laughing and crying at once as he hugged her close. “You’re home? I thought you were still in jail. How did you—? I don’t understand. We were only just now getting this mess unsnarled.”