Outlaw Lawman (6 page)

“Old joke.” A smile bent her mouth just a little. But she didn’t share either the reason for that smile or the joke itself.

Cursing again, he was about to shove his phone back into his pocket when it buzzed, and it wasn’t one of his brothers’ names on the screen. However, it was someone he recognized.

“Ranger Griffin Morris,” Harlan snarled, and he let the call go to voice mail, where the Ranger would no doubt leave a message, adding to the others he’d already left.

“Morris,” Caitlyn repeated. “The guy investigating Webb’s murder. He’s interviewed you?”

“Several times.” And then it occurred to Harlan that the Ranger had almost certainly interviewed Caitlyn, too.

“Yes, I’ve talked to him,” she confirmed. “He thinks one of us helped Sarah Webb kill her husband.”

Harlan waited for more, but she didn’t add anything. “What’d you tell him?” he came out and asked.

“The truth.” She didn’t hesitate either. “That I hated Webb just like the rest of you did, but I didn’t help put a knife in him.”

“Morris believed you and your alibi?”

Now there was some hesitation. “I think so. Again, I told him the truth—that I was with you. Why?”

“Because he sure as hell doesn’t seem to believe me. I guess he figures I was big enough to help Sarah haul a dead body down a flight of stairs.”

“You were.
Are,
” she corrected. Caitlyn paused, then huffed. “And I guess because of my history, I’m not exactly reliable in the eyes of the law.”

Probably not. Even though her juvie records were supposed to have been sealed, the Rangers had likely discovered that Caitlyn had spent some time in reform school, and she’d been in more than a fight or two both before and during her stay at Rocky Creek Children’s Facility, where Webb had been murdered.

“My bad-girl past is coming back to haunt us,” she mumbled. “I’m sorry about that.”

Despite the mumble, he heard the sincerity, and he didn’t want her apologizing for her past. Especially when part of that past was a facade.

“You weren’t a bad girl,” he reminded her. “You just wanted everyone to think you were.” Harlan tossed her a look, daring her to argue with that fact.

After all, she’d been a virgin when they’d had sex.

“You’ll always be my first,” Caitlyn said under her breath.

Normally that wouldn’t have caused a chill to snake down his spine, but it did now because it was the exact wording in one of the threats. He’d given it plenty of thought, but he wasn’t any closer to figuring out who had written those threats. However, Caitlyn was right about one thing—whoever it was either knew them or knew someone who’d been spying on them that night at Rocky Creek.

That was just one of the puzzling things about their situation.

“Why me, Caitlyn? Why give yourself to me?” Harlan hadn’t actually meant to say that aloud, but it just popped out of his mouth. It figured. He’d been saying and doing a lot of dumb things since Caitlyn had broken into his house the night before.

She lifted her shoulder as if the answer were obvious. “I really liked you and knew you wouldn’t just use me.” She glanced at him. “And for the record, I know it wasn’t your first time, but the
you’ll always be my first
was a nice touch. Made it feel special.”

She made
nice touch
seemed like a ploy or lip service. It hadn’t been. He’d blurted it out much as he’d just done his question. And even though it grated on him to have her believe he’d used that as some line, this time Harlan kept his mouth shut.

Sometimes the memories should just stay buried. Especially since they had so many other things to work out.

He took the turn toward Blue Creek Ranch, and he tried to remember all the things he had to do. Calls he had to make. Security arrangements. Updates on all the moving wheels of this investigation. The list was growing by leaps and bounds, but he needed to add something important.

Find Sherry Summers.

The missing former Rocky Creek resident might have answers about what was happening to them now. Of course, Sherry might not be alive. The killer might have already gotten to her.

In addition to Sherry, Harlan also needed to go through the list of suspects who could have helped Sarah Webb kill her SOB of a husband.

The Rangers had Caitlyn and him on that list.

But there had to be someone else, someone who’d actually done the crime.

“Who’s your best guess for Sarah’s accomplice?” he asked Caitlyn.

“Rudy Simmons,” she answered right off the bat.

Yeah, the caretaker was on Harlan’s suspect list, too. But so far, there’d been no evidence pointing to the man. Plus, Webb and Rudy had actually been friends. Maybe Webb’s only friend.

“Kirby,” Caitlyn mumbled.

He hated to hear her mention his foster father’s name in the context of a murder, but Kirby could have indeed done it, especially after the beatings that Webb had given Harlan and his foster brothers. Kirby knew about the abuse, had been working hard to try to stop it, but maybe his foster father had reached a boiling point.

“Rocky Creek was supposed to be closing,” Caitlyn continued, “but there were rumors that Webb had found a way to keep it open. If Kirby thought he couldn’t get any of you out...”

She didn’t finish. Thank God. Because that was indeed a huge motive, one that made his stomach tighten and churn.

“I’m worried about Declan’s alibi,” Harlan confessed.

Or rather his lack of an alibi. Declan should have been in the infirmary that night, since Webb had given him a hell of a beating earlier that day. But no one had seen Declan there, and so far his foster brother wasn’t volunteering any information in that department. Of course, Harlan hadn’t pushed too hard either, because if Declan did confess, then Harlan would be duty bound to do something about it.

Declan knew that, too.

“There are plenty of other suspects,” Caitlyn went on.

It sounded as if she were dismissing Declan as the accomplice. Maybe because of that warm and fuzzy hug. But Harlan couldn’t argue with her. Declan had been barely thirteen at the time and small to boot, and there was a long list of people who would have gladly helped Sarah squash a monster.

Including her own son, Billy Webb.

“Neither the Rangers nor any of us has had any luck finding Billy. What about you?” Harlan asked.

“None. I know he tried to commit suicide, so God knows what Webb did to him to mess up his head. I’m sure the routine beatings didn’t help. Webb gave many of us enough physical and psychological scars to ruin us for life.”

And Billy and Declan weren’t the only ones on the receiving end of those beatings. Webb had come after most of them—including Sarah and even Caitlyn.

She made a
hmm
sound. “He had a wicked punch,” Caitlyn mumbled, rubbing her jaw. “He was the first man who ever hit me, and I swore he’d be the last.”

That tightness in his gut moved to his chest, and it didn’t matter that all of this had gone down sixteen-plus years ago. It still stung to know what Caitlyn had gone through.

What they all had.

He hated that this attack had brought so many of those old wounds to the surface.

“I have to get some things out of my car,” Caitlyn said when they passed the vehicle she’d left parked near his house.

“I’ll have one of the ranch hands do it.” There were plenty of trees and shrubs just across the road from her car, and he couldn’t rule out that someone could hide there and take a shot at her.

He came to a stop in front of his house and was glad to see his brother Slade on his porch. Harlan was equally pleased to see the two armed ranch hands in the pasture between his place and the main house. That meant Slade had already taken some security measures.

There’d need to be more.

Seated in one of the white rocking chairs, Slade was armed with a rifle and his Glock in his waist holster. He looked like an Old West outlaw in his battered jeans, boots and black shirt.

“Harlan,” Slade greeted when they got out of the car.

Then Slade’s dark blue eyes landed on Caitlyn. No huggy welcome like the one Declan had given her. Slade wasn’t the huggy type, and besides, like Harlan he was still pissed off about that article—which seemed close to being petty considering all the other crud that was going on now.

“Inside,” Harlan instructed. And he didn’t waste any time getting Caitlyn on the porch and through the already open front door. “Has the house already been processed for prints and evidence?”

Slade nodded. “Nothing so far, but it’ll take the lab a while to work on everything they collected.”

No doubt. Harlan was also betting they wouldn’t find anything useful. He’d caught only a split-second glimpse of the man who’d used the Taser on them, but he was pretty sure the guy had been wearing gloves.

“All the ranch hands are armed,” Slade continued. “And Wyatt’s on his way back from the hospital with Kirby and Stella.”

“The hospital?” Caitlyn and Harlan asked in unison.

“Kirby was just there for his cancer treatment, but as soon as they’re back at the house, Wyatt will lock up and set the burglar alarm.”

Good. Kirby was too weak to fight off a killer, and while Kirby’s fiftysomething-year-old friend Stella was a decent shot, Harlan didn’t want to test her marksmanship if someone managed to get onto the ranch. He considered taking Caitlyn to the main house as well, but he figured Kirby had already had enough upsets for the day.

“Stella?” Caitlyn asked. “The one who used to work at Rocky Creek?”

The very one. Harlan settled for a nod, but he saw that little flicker go through her eyes. Caitlyn had been pretty close to Stella in those days, but the bottom line was the woman was still a suspect as accessory to Webb’s murder. Not in Harlan’s mind. But apparently in everyone else’s.

Including Caitlyn’s.

“How long has Stella been here?” Caitlyn pressed.

“Not long.” And this wasn’t a subject he cared to discuss. Not with other things that needed to be done. “I want the road watched,” Harlan told his brother, glancing back up at Caitlyn’s car.

“Got two men heading out there now,” Slade answered. “More will cover the back fence.”

Yeah. Because that was the most vulnerable part of the ranch. The pastures had been designed to hold and feed livestock, not to ward off gunmen, and there were plenty of places where someone could climb the fence and gain access to the ranch.

“Any sign of our missing attacker?” Harlan asked, sweeping his gaze around the house and grounds.

Slade shook his head and opened his mouth, but he stopped when they saw an SUV approaching. A vehicle that Harlan recognized, thank God. It pulled to a stop in front of Harlan’s house, and he spotted his brother Wyatt at the wheel. Stella was riding shotgun and a sickly-looking Kirby was slumped in the backseat.

Slade’s phone rang, and he went out to the porch to take the call while Harlan went toward the SUV. So did Caitlyn, and before she even got there, Stella stepped out. The women greeted each other with open arms and squeals of delight.

“Girl, you are a sight for sore eyes,” Stella declared.

“You, too. And you haven’t changed a bit.”

Stella touched her fingers to her graying auburn hair. “You and Wyatt could always lay on the sweet talk, but I’m a shallow woman and bent by flattery.” She smiled at the joke, but the humor didn’t quite make it to her weary eyes.

Caitlyn’s attention landed on Kirby.

“Marshal Granger.” Caitlyn’s voice was clogged with emotion, probably because it looked as if the man was critically ill.

And hell, he might be.

One of Harlan’s biggest fears was that Stella and Kirby were trying to keep the bad news about Kirby’s prognosis to themselves.

“Caitlyn.” Kirby managed a thin smile but didn’t move from his position on the backseat. “Does this mean Harlan and you are back together?”

So no one had told him about the attack. Good. Harlan wasn’t opposed to holding back some bad news, too, especially since it would only worry Kirby.

“Caitlyn’s just visiting,” Harlan settled for saying.

Kirby studied them both. Shook his head. “That’s not a just-visiting kind of look on her face. Always thought you two were more suited for each other than you were willing to let on.”

Harlan wasn’t sure he liked this turn in the conversation, and he wanted to remind Kirby about the article Caitlyn had written, but behind them Slade cleared his throat and tapped his cell phone.

Oh, man
. Not more bad news.

Harlan helped Stella back into the SUV. “You best get Kirby home.”

Wyatt and Harlan exchanged a glance, and even though he’d call Wyatt to remind him about taking some extra security measures, his brother and he were no doubt on the same page.

“Was that call about Jay Farris?” Caitlyn asked Slade the second the SUV drove away.

Slade shook his head. “Don’t know anything about Farris yet.” He looked at Harlan. Then Caitlyn. “No. This bad news is about the two of you. The Rangers have sworn out a warrant for your arrests. They’re on the way here now to take you both into custody.”

Chapter Six

Caitlyn stared at Slade and mentally repeated the bombshell he’d just dropped. It didn’t get any more clear the second time it went through her head.

“Arrest us?” she asked. “Why?” And that was the real question, because none of this was making sense right now. “We were the ones who were nearly killed.”

Slade’s eyes were already an intense steely-blue, but that darkened them even more. “This doesn’t have anything to do with the attack. At least I don’t think it does. Someone anonymously sent the Rangers so-called
proof
that you two are responsible for the disappearance of Sherry Summers and the murder of Tiffany Brock.”

A lot more things went through her head—including a
good God
or two. It had to be a joke that anyone would think she or Harlan had anything to do with what had happened to the two women, but Slade wasn’t the joking type.

“Proof?” Harlan questioned.

Slade immediately shook his head. “The Rangers haven’t shared it with the marshals, so I don’t know what they have. All Ranger Morris would say was that you’d both be taken into custody. I’ve put out a few feelers, and maybe someone will know what’s going on.”

Harlan scrubbed his hand over his face. “Then I guess I’ll have to see what Morris has when he arrives.”

“Probably not a good idea for you to be here much longer,” Slade warned. “As far as the Rangers are concerned, you’ve gone rogue and are on your way to being a full-fledged outlaw.”

Caitlyn saw the slight flinch Harlan made, but she figured that reaction was just the tip of the iceberg. This had to cut him to the core, because if there was one thing he wasn’t, it was a rogue lawman. She doubted Harlan had ever even had a parking ticket.

“And since they plan to charge you both with murder, there won’t be bail,” Slade continued. “They’ll throw both your butts in jail.”

Mercy. That didn’t help Caitlyn deal with this. She tried to understand everything Slade had just told them, but it didn’t make sense.

“First of all, there’s no proof that Tiffany was even murdered,” she said, trying to latch on to anything that would shed light on this. “I talked to her fiancé, Devin Mathis, and he said she died in a car accident.”

“A suspicious one,” Slade supplied.

And Caitlyn couldn’t argue with that. Devin had indeed believed the accident had been staged, even though at that time the police hadn’t been able to find any evidence to prove foul play. Maybe they’d found something now, but Caitlyn couldn’t see how it would be linked back to Harlan and her. She hadn’t seen or heard from Tiffany in years.

Then there was Sherry’s disappearance. It fell into the suspicious category, too. In fact, it was Caitlyn’s former roommates’ circumstances that had made her believe Harlan—or someone else—could be trying to off residents of the Rocky Creek Children’s Facility.

She was, of course, leaning to her
someone else
theory now.

“I also talked with Sherry’s business partner, Curtis Newell,” she continued. “And he doesn’t think Sherry’s away on some impromptu vacation. The hard drive on her computer has been wiped clean, and there’s no money or clothes missing. Only her. He’s thinking foul play, too. In fact, he hired a P.I. to try to find her.”

Caitlyn turned to Harlan to get his take on this, but he just shook his head. “Whatever the Rangers have must be fake. We’ll have to talk with them and sort it out.”

Slade stepped in front of Harlan when he started to go inside. “Didn’t you hear me? If you stay, they’ll arrest you, and God knows how long it’ll take to clear your names. It’d be a heck of a lot easier if you could figure out what’s going on, and that won’t happen if you’re in Ranger custody.”

Harlan didn’t seem overly concerned with that, but Caitlyn sure was. She’d spent some time in jail before being transferred to juvenile hall and then reform school, and she didn’t want to go back. Especially because someone had manufactured evidence against them.

“Can you talk to the Rangers again and try to find out what they have before they get here?” she asked Slade.

Harlan and Slade exchanged glances, and even though Slade didn’t look too hopeful, he took out his phone and made a call. Harlan looked around the grounds again as if searching for bogeymen, and he nudged her inside. She had no idea how much time they had before the Rangers arrived, but they needed to make every second count.

“I need a phone,” she insisted. Caitlyn glanced around but didn’t see a landline or a cell. “I can try to track down Farris. He’s the one who probably sent false evidence to the Rangers.”

“Farris wasn’t at Rocky Creek,” Harlan reminded her. “And so far, everything seems to connect back to that.” He paused, shook his head again. “And yet it doesn’t connect at all.”

“Unless Sherry or Tiffany saw something to do with Webb’s murder.” Caitlyn hadn’t tossed that out there off-the-cuff. She’d had days to go over every single scenario, and that was one of them. “If they did, then maybe Sarah’s confession brought this all back to the surface, and now her accomplice is trying to tie up loose ends.”

Harlan didn’t disagree. Nor did he make any move to give her a phone. “Maybe Farris is behind Tiffany’s car accident and Sherry’s disappearance. He could have done that as a way to draw you out.”

Maybe. She had practically been in hiding prior to that. Always moving and working mainly from home. And the threats and suspicious activity had indeed brought her out into the open. It sickened her to think that Farris could have used her old childhood connections to do that.

“I need a phone,” she repeated. “I can find out when Farris left the private institution.”

But even the timing might not give him an alibi for these crimes. With his money, he could have hired someone to kill Tiffany and stage it to look like a car accident.

But that didn’t make sense.

“If Farris had killed Tiffany to draw me out, he would have wanted me to know it was murder. It’s the same for Sherry. A disappearance doesn’t have the same emotional punch as murder.”

Harlan made a sound of agreement, and he looked at her. Their gazes connected, but she hadn’t needed that connection to know he was exhausted and frustrated. Just as she was. He forced out a long, weary breath and ran his fingers down the length of her arm.

It was far more comforting than it should have been.

So was the gentle grip he put on her wrist before his hand slipped into hers. Despite the mess they were in, she managed a weak smile.

And that was how Slade found them when he stepped into the entry with them. His expression stayed stony, but his eyebrows rose a fraction.

“Reliving the past?” he asked, and the tone of his voice wasn’t friendly.

Caitlyn and Harlan moved away from each other. Not that they could go far. The entry was small, barely five feet across.

“I’m guessing you have something to tell us?” Harlan snapped at his brother.

“Yeah. Any chance either of you was near the site of Tiffany’s car wreck?” Slade asked.

“No,” Caitlyn and Harlan answered at the same time.

“Didn’t figure you were, but someone sent the Rangers two eyewitness accounts that say otherwise.”

“The eyewitnesses are lying.” Which might be easy to prove if she and Harlan had solid alibis. Judging from Slade’s expression, though, that wasn’t all the news he had for them. “What else do the Rangers have?” she asked.

“My source says there are emails. Lots of them. From both of you to Sherry. And in those emails, you threaten her to stay quiet.”

Despite the bone-weary fatigue, that sent a roar of anger through her. “Stay quiet about what?”

Slade shook his head. “Not sure, but I’m betting it has something to do with the Webb investigation.”

Yeah, it almost certainly did. “But I didn’t send any emails. In fact, the only reason I tried to contact Sherry was because of the threats I’d received.”

“And I haven’t been in touch with her at all,” Harlan confirmed. “In fact, I didn’t even know she was missing until Caitlyn showed up at my house in the middle of the night.”

“I’ll get someone on the emails,” Slade explained. “And disproving those two eyewitnesses. Still, I think you should both lie low—away from the Rangers— because someone’s clearly trying to frame you, and it’s my guess they’re doing that to take you out of commission.”

So they couldn’t investigate whatever the heck was happening to them.

She looked at Harlan to see what his take was, but his phone buzzed before he could say anything. “It’s Sergeant Tinsley from Cross Creek.”

Caitlyn immediately shifted her attention to the call, and she hoped like the devil that it was good news. Maybe they’d even managed to catch the ski-masked guy who’d shot at them.

“Marshal McKinney,” Harlan answered, and she could hear the hope in his voice, too. They so needed a break.

But it wasn’t exactly relief or good news that she saw in Harlan’s body language. Caitlyn couldn’t hear what Tinsley had said to make Harlan’s forehead bunch up, but she figured it meant their attacker was still at large.

“Thanks for letting me know,” Harlan said to Tinsley. “And call me the minute you find him.” He ended the call and looked at her. “They got a print off the threatening note that was left on the steering wheel of the truck.”

That was the last thing Caitlyn had expected, especially since Tinsley had already told them the cab of the truck was clean—no sign of anything they could use to confirm the identity of their attacker.

“The print belonged to Billy Webb,” Harlan added.

Caitlyn didn’t even try to stop the sound of surprise she made. Billy—Sarah and Jonah Webb’s son. And a prime suspect as his mother’s accomplice in the murder. Better yet, he was the one suspect the Rangers hadn’t been able to find or interview.

“Billy,” Slade repeated. “This is the first time he’s surfaced since his father’s body was found.”

“First time he’s surfaced in years,” Harlan agreed. “He hasn’t been using a credit card or bank account. No current driver’s license either. Even his own mother claims she hasn’t heard from him. The guy’s been off the grid for years—so long in fact that I thought he might be dead.”

Yes, and that was why the attack and the threats didn’t make sense. “Why would he come after Harlan and me—especially like this?”

All three of them stayed quiet a moment, obviously giving that some thought. “Maybe he wants revenge,” Slade finally suggested.

Harlan’s gaze connected with hers, and she saw his
bingo!
moment.

“Maybe Billy didn’t want his father dead,” Harlan continued. “Maybe he’s going after people he thinks could have helped his mother. Sarah’s in a guarded room at the hospital,” he quickly added.

Probably because he saw the alarm in her eyes. If this theory about Billy was true, then he would want his mother dead—and Sarah was in a coma, unable to protect herself.

There was no love lost between Caitlyn and Sarah. The woman had never lifted a finger to stop her husband from beating the kids at Rocky Creek. Caitlyn included. But truth was, Caitlyn owed Sarah a huge favor. If she hadn’t knifed her own husband to death, then Harlan, his brothers and all the rest might have had to spend even more time in that hellhole.

“Why would Billy go after Sherry and Tiffany?” Slade asked—the very question that was on Caitlyn’s mind. “They both had decent alibis for the night of the murder.”

Decent but maybe not enough. “Billy might know something we don’t,” Caitlyn concluded. “There were a lot of people moving around the facility that night, and the window for Webb’s murder is wide enough that anyone could have done it.”

A chilling thought. Because maybe that meant Billy could be picking them off one by one. Still, Caitlyn wanted to know why he’d started with Tiffany. Maybe Sherry, too. And then moved on to her.

“Do you have a current photo of Billy?” she asked. “Because I wasn’t able to find one.”

Both Harlan and Slade shook their heads, and she knew exactly what that meant. Yes, Sergeant Tinsley and plenty of other cops would be looking for Billy, but without a current photo, it would make that search a whole lot more difficult—especially since, as Harlan had already pointed out, Billy had been off the grid for a while now.

Caitlyn heard the sound of a car engine, and all three of them turned toward the road. She couldn’t see the ranch hands Slade had said would stand guard there. But she did see the approaching bright red sports car.

Hardly the kind of vehicle a Texas Ranger would drive.

“Someone you know?” Caitlyn immediately asked Harlan and Slade.

They didn’t answer but moved in front of her like a curtain of solid muscle. Slade already had his rifle ready, and Harlan drew his gun. Caitlyn didn’t blame them. If she’d had her weapon, she would have pulled, too.

The car came to a noisy stop, the tires kicking up gravel and dust from the road, and the driver didn’t waste a second before she heard the car door open. She couldn’t actually see it, because both men were blocking her view.

“You know him?” Harlan asked his brother.

Slade shook his head.

Caitlyn came up on her tiptoes and looked at their visitor from over Harlan’s shoulder.

God.

Her heart dropped to the floor.

“Caitlyn,” the man said. Despite the wide smile stretching his mouth, he lifted his hands in the air as if surrendering. “Long time, no see.”

“Who is he?” Harlan demanded.

Caitlyn opened her mouth, but it took several moments to get her throat unclamped so she could speak. “Jay Farris.”