Lawman's Perfect Surrender (17 page)

Was she being sarcastic? If so, she was making light of a serious situation, a situation that could affect the rest of Gemma’s life. Gemma didn’t appreciate that.

“Someone stole my bracelet. I’m being set up.”

“Oh, nobody thinks you killed him anyway. You’ll be fine, you wait and see.”

Taken aback, Gemma wondered what had prompted Lacy to say that. How could she know what everybody thought? And who was ‘everybody’?

“Where’s Ford?” Lacy leaned around her to look through the front windows. “I heard he was living with you again.”

Seeing that Lacy had spotted him outside in his SUV, Gemma didn’t respond.

“Is he?” Lacy asked.

“For now.” Gemma told her about the recording, watching her for signs of reaction. Lacy listened without a change in her demeanor.

“The forensics technician working on Jed’s laptop was murdered and now the laptop is missing,” Gemma said.

Lacy’s mouth opened with her surprise. “Are you kidding?”

Was she sincere or had she known about Michael’s murder? Gemma supposed it was possible she didn’t. “I’ll be charged with Jed’s murder without that evidence.”

Now Lacy batted her hand. “You don’t have anything to worry about, Gemma. As long as you stay objective about Ford.”

And there it was. Lacy did know something, even if it wasn’t about the technician. “What do you mean?” What did Ford have to do with this?

“He’s just been making a lot of waves lately.”

“By helping me prove my innocence?” Unbelievable. Lacy was against Ford.

“You don’t need him.”

She sounded as though she were sure. “Why? Do you know who stole my bracelet?”

Lacy’s lips twitched uncertainly, then she glanced around the coffee shop. Didn’t she want anyone to hear?

“It’s okay, you can tell me,” Gemma said.

Lacy put her hand on Gemma’s back and guided her toward the exit. “You shouldn’t be here.”

Abruptly, Gemma stopped and turned to face her. Lacy lowered her hand.

“I know about the email you sent Jed,” Gemma said, quietly enough that no one would hear.

If that caught Lacy off guard, her friend did a great job of covering it. “Whatever are you talking about, Gemma?”

She was going to deny it? Who else would send the email? No one that Gemma knew. No one would take the risk. “I know you sent it.”

“Gemma, if you would just leave well enough alone…”

“Well enough? Is being a suspect to murder ‘well enough’?”

Lacy stared at Gemma for several seconds. “Ford…he’s staying with you and he’s…” She couldn’t seem to find the words.

“Helping me.”

“He’s causing trouble.”

Gemma blinked in befuddlement a few times. “You encouraged me to be with him before. You said he was exactly the kind of cop this town needs.”

“That was before I heard he went behind Bo’s back.”

“So now you’re going to turn yours on me?”

Lacy sighed with exasperation. “What do you expect me to do?”

“Be my friend.”

Lacy’s lips pursed ever so slightly and her eyes wore an admonishing frown. “As long as you’re with him, you’re not one of us, Gemma.”

“One of whom?” A Devotee?

“I like you, I really do. But I have to be careful now.”

Lacy had to be careful with Gemma, because Gemma was with Ford, a cop who played by the rules. Rules that Bo and Samuel wanted to break. The sting of her friend’s rejection pierced deep.

“If Ford is going rogue you could be in so much trouble, Gemma. You have no idea.”

Her warning was clue enough. “Did Alan tell you about the computer?” He must have.

Lacy’s head jerked backward as though she was suddenly aware of the slip. “No. You’re all everyone is talking about right now, that’s all.”

“Rumors?” That was the best she could do? Lacy was lying.

“Yes. Of course. How else would I know?”

“Right. How else? Why don’t you tell me that, Lacy? And while you’re at it, why don’t you tell me why you warned Jed that if he didn’t leave town, he might be killed?”

Lacy’s head jerked again, her nonchalance faltering once more. “Gemma, you’re talking nonsense. I have nothing to do with your dilemma.”

“My dilemma?” This was getting more and more inconceivable by the second. Lacy was denying everything. Staying true to Samuel, even though her action in sending the email suggested otherwise. “What do you know about the computer?”

Lacy scoffed. “Oh, Gemma, stop. It’s nothing.”

Nothing. Gemma was being framed for murder and it was nothing. “You just told me I could be in trouble.”

Lacy glanced around again.

“Afraid someone’s going to hear you?”

Growing angry, Lacy locked her gaze with Gemma’s.

Gemma didn’t back down. “Is Alan one of Samuel’s henchmen?”

Lacy’s anger intensified. “Take my advice, Gemma. Get away from Ford. He’s on his way down, but it’s not too late for you.”

“Is he?” And why was it not too late for her? Would Samuel look the other way if she became one of his followers? And would Samuel still feel the same if he discovered Gemma could be pregnant?

“He doesn’t fit in here. He’s against everything Samuel has built for this town.”

“Listen to what you’re saying. Do you really think the success of a town depends on one person? Samuel is over the top. He’s crazy.”

“I think it’s time you left.”

Was Lacy afraid or was she protecting her idyllic life by sidling under Samuel’s wing? “Did Alan kill Jed?”

“Leave.” Now Lacy pointed toward the doors.

“You’re the first friend I met here, Lacy. I care about you. And I’m worried
you’re
the one who’s in trouble.”

An eerie resignation seeped into Lacy’s eyes. “I know there’s no convincing you of the folly of staying with Ford, but I’m here to tell you that if you do—” her voice lowered to a whisper “—you’ll be cast out from this town. Or worse.” The last she all but hissed.

“Ford won’t let that happen. And we aren’t going anywhere.”

“You’re going to go up against Samuel?”

“If he’s setting me up for murder, yes.”

That eerie resignation deepened. “Then you and I can’t be friends anymore.”

Had Lacy chosen sides? She’d chosen Samuel? Heartache crushed Gemma. “If that’s how you really feel…”

Lacy held a steady face, breaking Gemma’s heart further. “Just go, Gemma.”

“All right.” Gemma turned, numb, and walked toward the door, suffocating beneath the stares of Cold Plains Coffee’s rich patrons.

Stopping at the door, she looked back. Lacy’s eyes narrowed and with a disgusted swat of her hand, she marched toward the back of the coffee shop.

Dismissed. As easy as that.

It didn’t seem possible. What about the email? What about their friendship? Hadn’t any of that meant anything?

Chapter 9

“P
ut yourself in her shoes, Gemma.”

Gemma looked up at Ford from where she sulked on her living-room sofa.

“She’s a Devotee. That means she’s inside Grayson’s most secretive circle. If she’s discovered things about him that are incriminating, he’ll kill her if she deviates at all.”

“Then we have to help her.”

He came to her and sat down, putting his arm around her. “We will, but it will have to be from a distance.”

She snuggled closer to him.

“We can’t put her in any danger.”

“Is that why she sent me away like that? Was she protecting me?”

“And herself. Maybe. She may also be genuinely loyal to Grayson.”

Gemma pulled back from Ford’s comforting embrace. Why didn’t he believe Lacy wasn’t completely under Samuel’s mind control? “She warned Jed he was about to be killed.”

“She liked you. You were her friend. She must have known about the bracelet and that you’d be a suspect because of it. I can see how she’d be torn enough to act. But now that Jed is gone and I kept key evidence hidden from Bo, she’s made her decision. You’re not part of Grayson’s cult. She is.”

And now they couldn’t be friends. As upset as that made her, she understood Ford’s point. He was right. Lacy was in too deep to find her way out. She was where she believed she was safest.

Sadness welled up and immersed Gemma’s heart. She would mourn the loss of a friendship that had meant so much to her. She’d also mourn the loss of Cold Plains, or her perception of it. All she had were her possessions, each one blissfully purchased. But even those didn’t matter anymore. There was nothing left for her here. Nothing except Ford.

Eyeing him, she saw his care and patience.

“Let’s leave, Ford. Let’s go away from here.” She didn’t mean it to sound as if they’d go together and live happily ever after.

“I’m not leaving Cold Plains,” he said, alleviating her concern and disappointing her at the same time. “I’m staying until Samuel Grayson is brought to justice.”

She should have known he’d say that. He’d stay and see that his hometown was purged of crime, lawman that he was.

“And you’re staying with me,” he added.

Wishing he was saying that for a different reason, she broke her gaze from his. In the next instant, she wished she could turn off the switch that made her desire to be with him. Unfortunately there was none, and she couldn’t stop the way she felt. And that would only get more difficult if she was pregnant.

Reaching for her, he touched her face, turning her head toward him and bringing her gaze back to him. “Everything will be all right. I’ll make sure of it.”

What about them?

As they continued to fall into each other’s eyes, she felt their increasingly familiar chemistry fire to life. Ford ran his thumb over her mouth.

“Don’t look so sad, Gemma. I want to see your smile again.”

“I want to see your badge again.”

With a single, breathy laugh, he angled his head and kissed her. What he’d likely intended to be a casual response morphed into more. Immediate passion erupted. Gemma parted her lips to seek more of him and he pressed harder for a deeper kiss.

Sliding her arms around him as he leaned toward her, she lay back on the sofa. He climbed over her, giving her room to move her legs up and onto the sofa. She opened her knees and he fitted himself between them, coming down for another fervent kiss. Everywhere his body came in contact with hers, a burning fire blazed.

“Gemma,” he rasped. “Gemma.”

“Make love to me,” she said.

He groaned as his cell phone once again interrupted. Ignoring it, he continued kissing her, heating her up until she felt flushed with need.

His cell phone rang for the third time.

Ford lifted his head and stared down at her.

She wanted him so badly. But his ringing phone had spared them from making another mistake.

He retrieved his phone and put it to his ear as he rose to stand.

“McCall.” As he listened his face lost all traces of passion. “We’re on our way.”

He disconnected.

“Who was that?” she asked.

After a brief hesitation, he said. “Hawk Bledsoe. An FBI agent working with a task force to bring Grayson down. He may have found Felix Taylor.”

“You’re working with the FBI?”

“We need to meet him. Let’s get going.”

Gemma tried not to put too much importance on the fact that he’d told her who his secret friend was. He’d told her who Hawk Bledsoe was because he had to, but he hadn’t admitted to working with him.

* * *

“How did you find out about a John Doe in a mountain town like Shady Meadow?” Hallie asked with a shaking voice.

Sandwiched between her distraught grandmother and Dillon in the back seat of Ford’s Escalade, Hallie was tense, her emotions on the verge of erupting.

“I gave his picture and name to a friend of mine, who entered it into a database. When I met with him yesterday, he said he got a call from the sheriff there and gave me the specifics of the crime scene.”

“Do you think it’s my dad?”

Martha turned stark, reddened eyes toward him from her dreadful stare out the window.

“I don’t know.”

Either Hallie or her grandmother would have to identify the murder victim. Hallie realized that and exchanged a look with Martha.

“We’ll be there with you,” Gemma said, her heart breaking for them both.

“H-how did he die?” Tears brimmed her lower lids.

“We don’t know for sure if it’s your father,” Ford reminded her.

“Just tell me.”

Ford glanced at Gemma and then into the rearview mirror. Seconds later, he finally and slowly said, “He was hanged, but his body was found along the side of a highway.” The rope had still been around his neck, Agent Bledsoe had said.

Gemma felt the raw emotion inside the vehicle.

“S-somebody dumped him there?” Her voice shook again.

“Yes.”

Martha resumed her awful, silent stare through the window. She must know they’d find her son at the county morgue. Despondently, Hallie leaned on Dillon, who put his arm around her and pulled her closer.

Ford drove to a stop in front of the county coroner’s office. Hallie walked with her grandmother and Dillon trailed behind as they all entered the small building.

After a receptionist phoned in their arrival, a medical examiner emerged from a hallway. Average in height and in an open white medical jacket, he stepped toward Ford, seeing his badge.

“Dr. Owens.”

“Ford McCall.” They shook hands. “This is Hallie and Martha Taylor.”

The medical examiner regarded them with empathy. “I know this is difficult, so why don’t we just get to it?”

Hallie nodded, sniffling and wiping her eyes.

The man led them down a gray, cold hallway. Gemma took Ford’s hand and he gave it a squeeze. She didn’t have a father, but facing identifying the body of anyone close to the heart had to be daunting.

The medical examiner pushed open a door and walked into a long, narrow room full of refrigerated coffin drawers. One was pulled out and a body covered in a white sheet lay there.

The medical examiner stood on the other side of the flat drawer. “Are you ready?”

Martha covered her mouth and began crying.

“Go ahead,” Hallie said bravely. “Grandma, close your eyes.”