Lingerie and Lariats (Rough & Ready#7) (3 page)

Another stop sign flashed by as Jerry pulled onto the highway. The truck’s tires squealed on asphalt as he gunned the big motor.

At the last minute she saw oncoming lights and she shouted, “Watch out!

Jerry yanked the wheel to the right and the truck swerved. The tires slid off the side of the road.

The next thing Renee knew the truck was rolling.

She screamed as the truck flipped over and over. Metal crunched. Glass shattered. Her body was tossed like a rag doll even as her seatbelt held her tight. Everything happened so fast yet she felt like the truck was moving in slow motion.

The truck came to a hard stop. Renee blinked, dizzy and disoriented, and realized that she was hanging upside down. Her heart pounded and she heard the rush of blood in her ears. Her breathing came hard and fast.

A groan from her right told her that Jerry was alive. She looked at him and saw that he was upside down, too, but the steering wheel was against his chest. The airbag on his side had deployed and was now deflated over the wheel.

“Jerry, are you okay?” Her voice shook as she spoke.

“What the hell do you think?” he said as he looked at her, a scowl on his face.

He didn’t ask her how she was. Instead he’d given her a sarcastic response when she’d asked him if he was all right.

She heard the sound of voices and then someone was down on the ground and peering in through the passenger door window frame that no longer had any glass. She couldn’t see the person, but she recognized the voice the moment he spoke.

“Renee?” Dan said with concern. “We’re going to get you out of here.”

A feeling of relief went through her. She was alive, Jerry was alive, and help was here.

Blood was rushing to her head and she braced one hand on the top of the cab and worked her seatbelt buckle with her other hand. She dropped hard in the midst of crumpled metal and shards of glass.

She heard the sound of someone trying to open the door, but it wouldn’t budge. At the same time she heard people working on Jerry’s door and talking to him.

“Can you crawl out here?” Dan peered in again. She could see him as he looked through the window now that she wasn’t hanging upside down any longer. “The door is jammed.”

She eyed the mangled opening. She was small and it shouldn’t be too hard to wriggle her way out. “I can make it.”

Dan brushed away glass so that no jagged edges were sticking out. She shouldered her way through the window frame and shifted so that she could work her body out of the truck’s cab. When her shoulders were through, two strong hands clasped her upper arms and helped her slide the rest of the way out of the vehicle.

When she was standing, she saw blue and red lights flashing from Dan’s official sheriff’s department SUV and lights from two other parked cars—one of which was likely the vehicle they’d almost hit. Two people stood and watched while three others worked to open Jerry’s door.

“Are you all right?” Dan grasped her by her upper arms as he looked her over. “You need to sit down. You might have internal injuries and you could have hurt your spine.”

“I feel fine.” Her hair was in her eyes and she pushed it out of the way. “Just shaken up. Jerry’s the one who needs help right now.” She glanced up the embankment. “Was anyone else hurt?”

“Thank God no other vehicle was involved.” Dan put his arm around her shoulders and led her up the bank of the ditch that they’d rolled down. Someone handed him a blanket and he put it around her before leading her to his SUV and putting the tailgate down. “Lie here and don’t move. Understand?”

She nodded as he made her lie down. He gave her one last concerned look then jogged back down the incline to where the truck had settled after its roll.

Everything had a surreal feel to it as the SUV’s red and blue lights flashed off of the other cars and the truck, illuminating everything. Someone shone a bright light onto the driver’s side door as they worked to get the door off.

They were so far out in the San Rafael Valley, far from the closest emergency services, that it would take some time before paramedics and deputies from the sheriff’s office arrived. Dan must have left the Camerons’ home not long after she and Jerry had headed off for the bed and breakfast they were staying at in Patagonia.

She shivered and held the blanket closer as she watched the men. Despite Dan’s orders, she pushed herself to a sitting position. She felt fine considering the accident they’d just been in.

Metal crunched and then the door was jerked away. A few moments later, Jerry was being helped out of the truck. Two men half carried him to the soft grass at the side of the road.

Jerry shook off the men. “I can walk,” he said.

“You could have some serious damage to your neck and spine,” Dan said. “We need to have you lie down.”

“No.” Jerry sounded surly and pissed off. “There’s nothing wrong with me.”

Dan glanced at Renee and saw her sitting up and frowned. In the distance she heard the sound of sirens. Dan approached her as the sirens came closer. “It’s not smart to be sitting up after being in an accident like that.”

“I feel fine.” She gripped the blanket tighter. “Really.”

“That’s the adrenaline talking.” Dan sat beside her on the tailgate. “You’re going to feel it real soon.”

“Don’t worry so much,” she said as she looked at him.

“Something tells me that I’ll never be able to stop worrying about you,” Dan said then frowned like he’d said something he hadn’t intended to.

She felt warmth in her belly. His concern for her was so different from Jerry just thinking about himself. Jerry clearly hadn’t cared whether or not she’d been hurt.

“Think you can make a statement now?” Dan asked.

Prickles ran up and down her spine. She hadn’t thought about having to make a statement and what that might mean. The accident had been Jerry’s fault. How could she tell the sheriff that Jerry had run the stop sign and swerved into oncoming traffic?

How could she not?

She cleared her throat. “I’m not sure what happened. It all went so fast.” She rushed her words. “I saw oncoming lights and then we were rolling.” That was the truth. She just hadn’t mentioned the running the stop sign part of it. As long as no one else was hurt, then who needed to know?

Dan studied her. “You’re leaving something out.”

She lowered her gaze before looking at him again. “That’s what happened.”

He gave a nod. “I need to get Nelson’s statement now.”

The ambulance and fire truck arrived along with two deputy’s cars. Paramedics immediately went to both Jerry and Renee. She had a cut on her cheek but no other outward signs that she’d been in an accident. She was likely to be bruised from being tossed around and from the seatbelt. The paramedics wanted to take her to the hospital but she declined.

Jerry refused to go to the hospital, too. He made it to the SUV where she was still sitting and he eased onto the tailgate beside her.

“What did you tell the sheriff?” he asked.

She swallowed and reiterated what she’d told Dan.

“That’s it?” Jerry asked.

She nodded.

“I need to see your driver’s license,” Dan said to Jerry as he came up to stand beside them.

Jerry scowled. “You don’t need to see anything. We were in an accident and no one else was involved.”

“You lost control of your vehicle and you were in a serious accident.” Dan had a hard look in his eyes. “You had a passenger who could have been killed or another vehicle could have been involved. If you don’t give me your license, I’ll have to take you in.”

Jerry hesitated then slipped his hand into his back pocket and brought out his wallet. With a glare he pulled out his license and handed it to Dan.

Renee frowned. What was the big deal about giving the sheriff his driver’s license?

Dan gave a nod as he took the license before leaving and going to the front of his SUV. Jerry had his arms crossing his chest.

A few moments later Dan returned, his expression grim as he looked at Jerry. “There’s a warrant out for your arrest.”

Tingles prickled Renee’s skin and her eyes widened. A warrant for his arrest?

Dan handed Jerry his driver’s license. “Looks like you’ve got over a hundred unpaid parking tickets.”

Jerry shrugged. “Just haven’t gotten around to paying them.”

“Law says I have to take you in,” Dan said.

“I’m not going anywhere.” Jerry folded his arms across his chest again.

“One way or another you’re heading down to the county jail,” Dan said. “Either you come willingly or I add the charge of resisting arrest.”

Jerry glared at Dan who studied him with an unflinching stare.

The whole time Renee watched the interaction, she couldn’t believe what was happening. First an accident that was entirely Jerry’s fault, and then this?

“Sit tight,” Dan said, then called over a deputy and explained that Jerry was to be taken to the county jail.

Dan told Jerry to stand and the deputy cuffed and escorted Jerry to one of the deputy’s cars. When Jerry had slipped into the back seat of the car and disappeared from view, Renee let out her breath. He was going to be so angry over the whole incident, especially since it was Dan who’d arrested him. Jerry wasn’t going to be pleasant to live with once he was released.

She watched the deputy’s car leave. “I suppose I should go down and pay his fines.”

“The earliest he can be released is tomorrow.” Dan met her gaze. “He’s just going to have to spend the night in jail.”

Renee bit her lower lip and looked down.

“Hey.” Dan touched her chin and raised her head. “This was his own doing. He should have paid those tickets instead of ignoring them.”

“I know.” She sighed. “It’s just that he’s going to be so angry—” She snapped her mouth shut. She shouldn’t be talking about anything personal when it came to Jerry.

Dan frowned. “Does he hurt you?”

She shook her head.
Not physically, just with words
, she thought but didn’t say aloud.

“You can tell me.” Dan held her gaze. “I want to know if he hurts you.”

“No.” She shook her head. “He doesn’t hit me.”

Dan’s expression was hard to read and she was thankful when he changed the subject. “If you won’t go to the hospital, I’ll give you a ride to where you’re staying.”

The truck was now being pulled out of the ditch with a tow truck. She shivered. Things could have turned out a lot worse.

She turned her attention back to Dan. “That would be great. Thank you.”

Dan had to take care of a few things before they left so she sat on the tailgate of the SUV and watched. Aches and pains were starting to make themselves known. She wasn’t going to get out of this without some consequences from being banged up. Once the truck was on the side of the road, Dan retrieved her purse for her.

When he was ready to leave, he helped her into the passenger seat then closed the door and went to his side. He started the vehicle, pulled onto the highway, and headed to Patagonia.

He glanced at her as he drove. “Sure you don’t need to go to the hospital to get a thorough examination? I’ll drive you.”

“No, thank you.” She shook her head. “I’m fine.”

He frowned but didn’t try to argue with her.

She sank against the seat, feeling weary to the bone. “I didn’t realize how tired I was until now.”

“You’ve been through a lot tonight.”

She nodded but wanted to change the subject. “How long have you been sheriff?”

“Five years,” he said then answered questions she asked of him about what it was like being a sheriff and what kinds of things he did in a normal workday.

“You mentioned that you’re currently unemployed.” He glanced at her. “What did you do before?”

“I was an office manager for an advertising agency.” She ran her fingers over the purse she held in her lap as she spoke. “When my stepfather passed on I was the sole heir of his business. I sold the watch shop and wanted to come back here for a visit. Jerry’s business trip was the perfect opportunity.”

Dan looked at her for a moment before turning his attention back to the road. “It’s good to have you back, Renee.”

She thought about the day and seeing and talking to old friends. She looked at Dan’s profile. “It’s good to be back.”

When they arrived at the B & B, Dan walked her up to her room and she unlocked the door. They paused outside and she looked into his eyes. She felt a stirring inside her that she knew she shouldn’t be feeling. Not while she was attached to Jerry and he was sitting in the county jail.

Dan reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet. He drew a business card from it. “Do you have a pen?”

“Yes.” She dug in her purse and pulled out a pen and handed it to him.

He scribbled a number on the back of the card and handed it to her along with her pen. “That’s my personal cell phone. You call me if you need me for anything.”

She looked down at the card. On one side it had a star with the sheriff’s department logo along with his name and a couple of phone numbers. On the back was the number he’d written. She slipped both the card and the pen into her purse.

“Thank you for everything.” Impulsively she rose up on her toes and kissed Dan on the cheek. His stubble was rough against her lips and his scent surrounded her.

Her breathing quickened and she stepped back. “Goodnight, Dan.”

He studied her a long moment, as if trying to decide something. “Goodnight,” he finally said, but didn’t move.

She slipped in through the door and closed it behind her. The latch clicked and she put her forehead against the door and closed her eyes while she listened to his boot steps as he walked away.

Chapter 3

“What did you do after the deputy took me in?” Jerry spoke in a cold voice as he walked into the room at the B & B while Renee held the door open for him. The hiking boots he always wore thumped on the floor as they walked in. He slammed the door behind him and stared at Renee.

She swallowed. “I came straight here and went to bed.”

He narrowed his gaze. “How did you get here?”

She tried to give a casual shrug. “The sheriff gave me a ride.”