Sierra turned to Josh, who was staring at her with a look of intense concentration.
She looked at the jewelry box, which she’d dropped on a nearby table. The expensive jewels winking in the firelight mocked her.
“Yes. I’m sorry I didn’t do it when Josh first suggested it.”
“It isn’t too late.” Big Jim motioned to his grandson. “Why don’t you call Everett and ask him to stop by for some pie and ice cream, Josh?”
Josh nodded. “As long as that’s what Sierra wants.”
“I do. But do you want to bother the police chief now? After hours?”
“Everett doesn’t have hours. He does his job around the clock.” Josh plucked his cell phone from his pocket and dialed.
Minutes later he said, “Chief Fletcher said that he’d even drive to Casper and back as long as he was promised a slice of Phoebe’s apple pie. He’ll be here in an hour.”
While the others enjoyed their dessert, Josh noted that Sierra’s lay forgotten while she sipped her coffee, allowing the others to carry on the conversation that swirled around them.
Chief Everett Fletcher was as good as his word. He stepped into the Conway family’s great room, greeting the family warmly before being introduced to Sierra. Afterward he cheerfully accepted a huge slice of apple pie smothered in vanilla ice cream.
“Thank you, Phoebe.” He stretched out his long legs toward the warmth of the fire and dug in to the heavenly confection. “My mouth watered all the way here just thinking about this.”
Sierra had been expecting a stern, businesslike lawman, and was pleasantly surprised to find him welcomed with affection like a member of the family.
Big Jim’s voice warmed. “This big, tall athlete was the pride of Paintbrush High. When he played for the football team, he led Paintbrush to a state championship.”
He slapped the chief on the back.
Everett smiled. “It was an experience I’ll never forget. My best season ever, until an injury in college ended my chance to turn pro.”
“Oh. I’m sorry.” Sierra shot him a look of sympathy.
He smiled broadly at her obvious concern. “After college I poured all that energy and athletic aptitude into a career with the state police.”
“I bet you were good at your job.”
He nodded. “I became a sharpshooter before returning to Paintbrush when they offered me the position of chief.”
“Six feet of pure muscle,” Big Jim said proudly. “And from the looks of you, I’ll bet you could still fit into your old state police uniform.”
Everett laughed. “Probably. Though now I deal mainly with drunks and petty criminals.”
“The chief knows everyone in town and most of the outlying ranchers by name. In turn they know him to be a good man, fair and honest, who takes pride in his work.”
“Don’t we all love our work?” When the chief had devoured his pie, and washed it down with two cups of steaming coffee, he set aside his cup and turned his attention to Sierra. “Now, Ms. Moore, why don’t you tell me why you asked to see me.”
“I guess I should begin with this.” She dug out the crumpled note that she’d been carrying in her pocket and handed it to the chief. “After hiking the Tetons, I found this note in my rental car.”
He read it aloud. “ ‘Did you think you could just walk away from me?’ ”
Around the room, the others simply stared at her in silence. It was another bit of mystery that she hadn’t, until now, shared with them.
Chief Fletcher tapped a finger on the wrinkled paper. “Do you know who wrote this?”
Sierra nodded. “His name is Sebastian Delray. And
tonight, he had this delivered here at the Conway ranch for my signature.”
She handed over the jeweler’s box and the note that had been inside the wrapped package.
Everett whistled as he lifted the jeweled bracelet and very carefully placed the two earrings in his big palm. “Expensive taste.” He dropped them into the box and read the note before looking up. “He forgives you? For what?”
Sierra shrugged. “There’s nothing to forgive, except for the fact that I left him without saying good-bye or telling him where I was going.”
“Sebastian Delray.” The chief peered at her. “I’ve been running that name through my memory bank.” He tapped a finger to his temple. “It sounds vaguely familiar. Who is he?”
“An international financier. His family owns blocks of valuable real estate in London, Paris, and Rome, including several art galleries.”
Everett shook his head. “I don’t follow international finance or art. What else does he do?”
“He gets his photograph in newspapers and magazines.” Sierra sighed. “You’ve probably seen pictures of him escorting rich and famous women to important events like royal weddings and worldwide movie premieres.”
Cheyenne gasped. “Oh, my gosh! I’ve seen that name.” Her eyes rounded as the light dawned. “A royal wedding in Monaco. He was there with an Italian actress.”
Sierra nodded. “Sebastian enjoys the spotlight.”
“Which shines on him as long as he’s dating beautiful women.” The chief frowned. “In other words, using them to enhance his own image.” He looked over. “Who introduced the two of you?”
“He introduced himself. At a showing of my work in one of his family’s galleries. He’s very brash. I guess, at first, that’s what I liked about him. But I didn’t understand why he bothered with me. I don’t travel in his circle. I’m not royalty, or a celebrity. I don’t live a glamorous lifestyle. I’m a working woman just trying to carve out a career.”
“So you’re a starving artist?” the chief asked with a smile.
“Not starving, by any means. But I’m certainly not famous.”
The police chief crossed his hands over his midsection and leaned back. “You say you met him in Paris, Ms. Moore. You don’t sound like a French woman.”
“I’m an American. But educated in England.”
The chief nodded. “That would explain the accent. I couldn’t place it.”
“In England I was teased for sounding too American. Here at home, I’m teased for sounding too British.”
Everett gave her an encouraging smile. “And now you’re here by way of Paris. Which you left rather quickly after ending a relationship with Sebastian Delray.”
Sierra shook her head vehemently. “I told him I wasn’t interested in any kind of a real romantic relationship. You see I have this career—”
“But he tried to persuade you otherwise, isn’t that right?”
Sierra flushed. “He was persistent. He had an uncanny way of showing up at places where I happened to be with friends.”
“Could he have had some inside information?”
She raised an eyebrow.
Patiently, Everett said, “Didn’t it ever occur to you that
he may have befriended people who knew you, just so he could learn more about you?”
It was clear from her look of surprise that she hadn’t thought about that possibility. “I don’t see why he would go to all that trouble. I let him know that I wasn’t going to change my mind.”
“So you became a challenge he couldn’t resist?”
She stared hard at the floor, mulling his words. “I hadn’t thought of it that way. I suppose so.”
“Who won the debate?”
“Debate?”
“About whether or not you’d see him.”
Another flush stole over her cheeks. “In the beginning, I guess he did. At first, I agreed to dinner. But only dinner. And then he took me to an old classmate’s wedding. There were a few gallery showings. And just like that, he decided that we were a couple, and he became—” she shrugged, searching for a word “—controlling and possessive.”
The chief’s tone sharpened. “In what way?”
“He started complaining about the time I spent with my friends. He started insinuating himself into every aspect of my life. I was feeling smothered.”
“Did you ask him to stop?”
She nodded. “He excused his behavior by saying that he couldn’t bear to be away from me for even a few hours. But I told him I needed my space.”
“Did he back off?”
“No. It got worse.”
“How much worse?”
“He started calling me dozens of times a day. When I wouldn’t answer his calls, he started showing up at my apartment. The final straw was when he persuaded my
apartment manager to let him in while I was out with friends. I arrived home to find him sitting there in the dark, my apartment filled with dozens of flowers. On the coffee table was a jeweler’s box. Inside was a…” Her gaze flew to the jewels spilling out of the box on the table. “A diamond necklace.”
Everett Fletcher turned to study the jewels. “I guess that would turn a girl’s head.”
“That’s what my friend Janine said. She told me I was crazy to pass up a catch like Sebastian Delray. But all I could see was a man who thought he could buy me, and I ordered him to leave. After the apartment manager escorted him out, I called Janine and asked if I could stay the night at her place, because I was afraid he would come back.” She took a deep breath. “I loved that apartment, but I couldn’t go back.”
“You moved out?”
She nodded. “I went to Janine’s. The next day I contacted the leasing agent and terminated my lease.” She chewed her lower lip. “It cost me a fortune to pay the balance in full, along with the closing and cleaning fee because of the short notice.”
“You were that afraid of him?”
She mulled that for several moments before saying, “Looking back, it sounds like a bad melodrama. But at the time, when I realized how obsessive he’d become, and had a taste of his anger…”
“Wait a minute. I think you glossed over something.” Chief Fletcher held up a hand to stop her. “Tell me about this anger.”
“It was the reason why the apartment manager showed up. The neighbors heard the breaking of glass when
Sebastian put a fist through the door after I refused to allow him to stay the night.” She swallowed. “At the time, I was afraid of his black mood. I was afraid that he would… force himself on me.”
“Did he threaten to?”
She shook her head. “No. It was just a feeling I had. He was in a full-blown, out-of-control fury.”
“Did you see him again?”
“No. I stayed with my friend Janine until I made arrangements to end my lease and purchase a one-way ticket out of Paris. I asked Janine to contact Sebastian after I was safely gone, letting him know that I had left the country and wouldn’t be seeing him again. I was certain that would be the end of it. He would cool off, get used to the fact that I’d left, and move on with his life, and I could do the same.”
“This note was the first you’d heard from him since then?” The chief stared down at the handwritten words on the paper.
“Yes. It was in my car. A rental, which I’d parked at the ranger’s station at the Tetons before I started my climb.”
“Why the Tetons?”
For the first time she smiled, and a light came into her eyes that caused her to glow. “I love climbing and hiking. I did a lot of it in Europe. I’ve always wanted to climb the Tetons. And since I’d had enough of big cities, and because I was craving some solitude, I thought the time was right. Besides, I’m an American. I wanted to come home.” She shrugged. “And like I said, I was confident that Sebastian would accept that I was gone for good and move on with his life.”
“Did you tell Sebastian Delray you were coming to Wyoming?”
Sierra shook her head. “I didn’t tell a soul except my best friend—”
The chief interrupted. “A best friend who may have been persuaded to reveal your whereabouts?”
When he could see that she was about to disagree, he held up a hand. “Think about this. An abject boyfriend comes to your best friend and says he really needs to apologize for his behavior. Would she think she was doing you both a favor by giving him one last chance to redeem himself?”
Sierra took a long, deep breath. “I can see Janine doing exactly that, and believing it was the right thing to do. She kept calling me a fool.” Her eyes grew stormy. “And I thought I could trust her with my secret.”
“So now he’s found you here and left his calling card so that you’d know that he knows where you are,” the chief added.
“That still doesn’t explain why he’s doing this. Why has he targeted me?”
“In case you haven’t noticed, Ms. Moore, you’re easy on the eyes. Along with that, you’re open and friendly and trusting, something that is extremely attractive to a man who likes to be in control. If that isn’t reason enough, I’d guess that part of this man’s obsession has to do with the fact that he can’t have you. You walked away from him, and he can’t accept that from a woman.”
“But he can have any woman he wants.” She shook her head. “He has the money, the connections—”
Everett Fletcher interrupted. “Not to mention the ego, to believe that he can pretty much do whatever he wants, without consequences. That sort of man can be dangerous.” The chief nodded slowly as he put his thoughts into
words. “Ego and obsession and anger can be a deadly combination, especially in someone with extreme wealth who feels entitled to live by his own rules.”
The chief leaned back in the comfortable chair. “I’m no psychologist, but my years as a police officer have taught me to read people. I think this speaks of a certain arrogance on Delray’s part. He needs to prove to himself that the relationship wasn’t fractured by anything he did, but rather by some failure on your part. So he’s generously offering to forgive you. And if that isn’t enough, he’s offering a reward, as well. A carrot, if you will, instead of a stick. Thus, those very flashy jewels. There are a lot of young, vulnerable women who would take him at his word, put the past aside, and begin again. Is that what you would like to do?”
Sierra’s eyes flashed. “I’d like to do whatever I can to see that he isn’t allowed to contact me again.”
“You’re talking about signing a restraining order.” The chief gave her a stern look. “I need to know that you aren’t being coerced in any way. Are you requesting this of your own volition?”
“I am.”
“I’ll be right back.” He got to his feet and walked outside to his car. When he returned, he was carrying a sheaf of documents.
With a click of the pen he filled out the top lines before handing them to Sierra to be completed.
When she handed them back he read them carefully, then signed and dated them.