The Sheriff Gets His Lady. Dani Sinclair
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me a moment, Ms. Diamond.”
He walked to the door and stepped into the corridor with the agitated woman. The door didn’t close all the way and the woman’s frantically whispered words floated into the room.
“One of the maids just found a maintenance worker downstairs in an empty room. He’s dead. She says his throat was slit. There’s blood all over the place.”
The security man uttered an oath. “Follow procedure. I’ll be right there.”
Sky wasn’t surprised when she was hustled to the front desk. A bellman was summoned to collect her bags and bring them downstairs. By the time she finished filling out the paperwork for the car that was delivered, a surprising number of uniformed police officers were trooping through the lobby. At 5:33 a.m. it seemed highly unlikely the early risers were going to believe the police were here for a conference.
Not her problem. Sky tipped the deliveryman and walked outside, her briefcase firmly under her arm. This time she checked each piece of luggage carefully as it was being loaded into the trunk of the luxury car. Two men she’d bet were plainclothes policemen strode past the unfazed doorman.
“All set, ma’am. Come back and see us.”
Not if she could help it. In her opinion, the Grand’s reputation was highly overrated.
Only after she was inside the car with the engine running did she shrug off the morning’s frustration and allow anticipation to hum through her body. There was nothing she could do about the computer right now. The loss couldn’t override her main reason for being here in Texas.
Somewhere down the road her daughter was waiting, even if the girl wasn’t aware of that fact. In her mind, Sky had held countless conversations with the faceless young woman. She’d rehearsed all sorts of opening gambits. Yet she still didn’t know what she was going to say when the time finally came. More and more she wondered if she was doing the right thing at all. She had no rights here. But even if she didn’t tell her daughter who she was, Sky needed to see her, maybe watch her and hear her speak. It was that simple and that complicated.
She opened her map, took a quick look at the printed directions she’d made for herself, and set out into the early-morning traffic.
Finally, after all these years, maybe—just maybe—she could convince herself that she’d done the right thing after all.
* * *
DINNER WAS nearly ready. His daughter would be home from work soon, Noah thought in satisfaction. Having Lauren around always brought the tiny ranch to life. The place was going to feel so empty once she moved away for good. Lauren had a way of comfortably filling even the silences with her good-natured presence. It had been bad enough this past year and a half with her away at school most of the time, but at least there had been vacations and semester breaks to look forward to. Soon it would be periodic visits instead.
Letting go might be part of the parenting process, but he didn’t have to like it.
The telephone rang, pulling Noah from his introspection. He rinsed his hands and reached for the instrument.
“Hello?”
“Noah? Zach Logan.”
The name from his past raised his eyebrows. Zach Logan had been his boss when he worked for the Dallas Police Department fifteen years ago. He hadn’t seen the man since last April when one of Zach’s cases had reached into this part of Texas and Noah lost a deputy.
“Hey, Zach, what’s new?” Noah cupped the phone under his chin and finished drying his hands on the dish towel as he checked the water boiling on the stove.
“I called to give you a heads-up.”
Noah turned down the heat as he slid the pasta into the boiling water. “On Francis Hartman?”
“You heard they released him?”
“I dropped a prisoner off last week. The warden told me.”
“Then do you know Hartman disappeared from view yesterday?”
Noah’s muscles tensed then relaxed. “Francis Hartman is a brainless thug.”
“Who apparently carries a mean grudge.”
Noah swore.
“Yeah. While I agree he doesn’t have the brains God gave rodent dung, it’s a good idea to watch your back all the same. The brainless ones are often more dangerous than we expect.”
“Point taken. Thanks for the warning, Zach. I’ll alert my people. Any wants or warrants?”
“Not yet.”
“Well, I’m not overly worried. Hartman will stand out if he makes the mistake of showing up here in Darwin Crossing. I think he’s just barely smart enough to recognize that.”
“Good point. You aren’t exactly a bustling metropolis out there, are you?”
“We like it that way.”
“Uh-huh. Guess that means coming back to work for me again is out of the question, huh?”
For one tiny second, Noah hesitated before rejecting the offer. Once Lauren was happily married, his initial reason for leaving Dallas was gone. He’d loved the undercover work he’d done for the Dallas P.D. On the other hand, he was older now. Old enough to know it was a young man’s game.
“Thanks anyhow, Zach.”
“Just remember, the offer stands anytime you want. How’s your daughter doing? I hear she’s engaged.”
Noah smiled. “She picked herself a nice guy. He’s about to graduate from veterinary school.”
“Isn’t that what Lauren is studying?”
“Yeah. She intends to go into partnership with him. They’ve already talked to the vet over in Trueblood about buying into his practice in a couple of years. He’s getting ready to retire.”
“That’s terrific. So Lauren’s away at school right now?”
“No, actually, she’s doing this semester via some new computer courses. She’s determined to save money before the wedding and this lets her work part-time as a veterinary assistant for our vet here in Bitterwater.”
“Independent as ever, huh?”
Noah’s grin widened. “That’s Lauren.”
“Still bringing home strays?”
“Afraid so.” He eyed the three dogs and one battered old cat sprawled on the kitchen floor. Each one had been a rescue that had ended up costing him a fortune in vet bills. Lauren was always bringing home strays of one sort or another. Long ago, he’d accepted the defeat of that particular battle.
Zach chuckled. “Glad to hear she’s doing so well. Just to be on the safe side, you should probably warn her to be careful. Listen, Noah, there was another reason I called.”
“Figured as much.”
“Could I use your office to set up a meeting? We’ve got an undercover operation that I don’t want to see compromised. I figure you’re far enough from anywhere that we can make sure no one sees the meet.”
Noah ran a knuckle across his jaw, remembering what had happened the last time he’d gotten involved in one of Zach’s operations. His deputy had been a year from retirement when a pair of thugs from a baby ring ran him down. It hadn’t been Zach’s fault, but Noah still felt the loss.
“I guess I can arrange that.”
“Good. I’ll let you know the particulars as soon as I do.”
“All right.” The dogs suddenly scrambled to their feet and dashed down the hall. Lauren was home. “I’ve gotta run before I burn dinner, but thanks for the call. It was good to talk with you again.”