The Accidental Sheriff (4 page)

“Oh, Neil.” Carolina laid a warm hand over his.

He didn’t flinch or withdraw, his usual reaction. Instead, he absorbed the sympathy she offered, letting it fill some of the hollow places inside him.

“I was suspended until the investigation was complete, basically for my protection. And Zoey’s. After I was cleared to return to work, the department was flooded with letters and phone calls, demanding I be fired. I saved them the trouble and resigned ten months later.”

“What did you do after that?”

“Went and got Zoey from her grandparents. I was a mess when Lynne died. Physically and emotionally. I thought I couldn’t take care of Zoey and that she’d be safer away from me and the city. Lynne’s parents live in upstate New York and adore Zoey. They were happy to have her.”

“Giving her up must have been really hard for you.”

“It was. I managed because it was temporary.” He paused a moment before making his most important point. “I don’t want Zoey growing up hearing the details of her mother’s death and my part in it. I’ll do whatever’s necessary to prevent it.” He ground out the last sentence.

“She doesn’t know how Lynne died?”

“Only that it was an accidental shooting.”

“It’s not my place to ask, but do you think that’s wise?”

“She’s too young to understand.”

“She won’t always be young.”

“I won’t have Zoey hate me because she blames me for her mother’s death.”

“You weren’t the one who fired the gun that killed Lynne. The Delivery Man did.”

“Because I went after him.”

“Zoey loves you. She won’t hold you responsible.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. I’m not taking any chances.”

“She may find out on her own one day. It won’t be hard. You’re all over the Internet. Are you ready for that?”

Carolina had just voiced Neil’s biggest fear. “You’re right about what you said earlier. It’s not your place to ask.”

“I apologize.”

“Zoey is everything to me. More important than my career. She’s the reason I quit the force, took a year off and rented an apartment in the same town as my in-laws so that Zoey and I could be close to them. When I stopped seeing Lynne’s blood covering the sidewalk every night in my dreams, I figured I was ready to go back to work. It took me another six months to find the job I was looking for.”

“Deputy sheriff?” Carolina removed her hand from his.

Neil wished she hadn’t. Her fingers had felt nice resting on his. “For a while I considered getting out of law enforcement altogether or going into a related field, like security. Then I’d remember Lynne and her commitment. She believed with all her heart we were making the world a better place. Me by catching criminals and her by processing the evidence that helped put them behind bars. I decided to stay in law enforcement to honor her.”

“She would be proud of you.”

“I couldn’t stay in the city. Zoey’s safety is my main concern.” He thought of the threatening phone call from the other day. Fortunately, there had been no more. “Rural law enforcement seemed like a good fit. Gila County has its share of trouble, but not like New York. I swore I would never put myself or my family in jeopardy again.”

“Is that why you don’t want to be acting Sheriff?”

Leave it to Carolina to figure him out.

“One thing I’ve learned, the higher profile the position, the greater the danger. There are too many wackos out there, and they tend to target those in charge.”

“I see now why you didn’t like being interviewed.”

“My relationship with the media isn’t a good one.”

“After what you’ve been through, no one could expect
differently.” She glanced away, then back at him. “I suppose I should explain myself.”

“Not if you don’t want to.”

“I owe you that much after everything you’ve told me.” She sighed. “You won’t like it. I sure don’t.”

“Try me.”

“I’ve been assigned to do a story on you.”

“I see,” he said flatly.

“My boss inferred that if I don’t do the story, my job could be on the line.”

Even though he’d already decided not to pursue a relationship with Carolina, he’d stupidly hoped her interest in him was personal. Well, this definitely clinched it. Steering clear of her would be much simpler from now on. If he weren’t sitting down, he’d give himself a swift kick in the rear. He pushed back his chair, well aware he was about to be rude but not caring. “I guess I’ve just given you everything you need for your story.” He was surprised at how much it angered him that Carolina was the one about to bring his world crashing down around him.

“No, Neil.” She reached over the small table for his arm, gripping it tightly. “You’ve just given me every reason to tell my boss exactly where he can shove this assignment.”

“You’d give up your job for me?”

“I have my integrity.”

Her eyes shone with sincerity and her voice rang with conviction.

So why did Neil feel he still couldn’t trust her?

“Are you crazy!” Rachel looked stunned.

“I don’t usually agree with Rachel,” Vi said, “but seriously, kiddo, have you thought this through?”

“It so happens I have.”

Carolina took her older sisters’ criticism in stride. She’d expected nothing less than shock and outrage from her family when she’d informed them of the run-in with her boss after lunch with Neil. The only one of them who might have understood her reasons was Corrine. She, however, was still cruising the Caribbean with her new husband and wouldn’t be back for several more days.

“What if you lose your job?” Vi asked.

She was the oldest of the four sisters and the first to make their mother’s fondest wish come true by giving her a grandchild. A girl. No surprise there, the Tucker-Sweetwater clan was overrun with members of the fairer sex. Even their cousin Jake, the lone male in their generation, had produced four daughters. With Carolina and Rachel still single and Vi having trouble getting pregnant a second time, all hopes were now pinned on Corrine to break the trend.

“I won’t lose my job.” Carolina tried to convey a confidence she was far from feeling. Ward had made his displeasure at her defiance abundantly clear. She was still smarting from
his verbal reprimand. “If he was going to fire me, he’d have done it already.”

“Maybe not. He could be waiting.” Jake stepped out onto the redwood deck, carrying a plastic pitcher of fruit punch and a bag of potato chips. He’d invited his cousins over for a lazy Saturday afternoon of hanging out in his backyard and enjoying the spectacular mountain views. The girls had insisted on playing in the hot tub. Briana was recruited to supervise them in exchange for getting a day shaved off her punishment. She’d been grounded a month for the parking lot fender bender.

“Waiting for what?” Carolina sipped her iced tea. She’d contemplated asking for a beer but was afraid it might look as if she was drowning her sorrows.

“You to quit,” Jake said.

“Why would I quit?”

Jake set the fruit punch and chips down on a picnic table beside the hot tub. His three oldest daughters, along with Vi’s rambunctious preschooler, scrambled from the hot tub in a noisy, chaotic frenzy. Leaving a trail of puddles and wet footprints in their wake, they pounced on the snack as if they hadn’t eaten in days. The only one missing was Jake’s youngest. A year old, she was much too little to swim in the hot tub with her sisters and cousin. She and her mother had gone into town for some shopping, leaving Jake in charge of keeping the masses entertained.

“Here. Put these on before you catch cold.” Vi jumped up from her chaise longue and handed the girls towels, making sure to wrap up her daughter snugly.

“This isn’t Denver, Vi,” Rachel admonished. “It’s, what, seventy-two?”

Jake tipped his chair back and studied the thermometer mounted beside the door. “More like seventy-eight.”

“How quickly they forget.” Rachel laughed. “Fall in Arizona is like summer everywhere else.”

Carolina’s relief that the subject had veered from her current work dilemma didn’t last. Jake refused to let it go.

“Your boss might try and force you to quit,” he said, shooting her a quelling look, “by making your job a living hell.”

“Don’t swear in front of the girls,” Vi hissed.

“Sorry.”

“I doubt Ward would pressure me like that. It would be considered harassment, and the station has a no-harassment policy.” Carolina leaned forward and reached for a chip, promising herself she’d have just one. A half dozen magically jumped into her open hand.

“Not necessarily,” Jake answered. “Depends on how he went about it.”

“What would be the benefit of me quitting versus firing me?”

“He wouldn’t have to give you severance pay, for starters. And you probably couldn’t collect unemployment.”

“Humph. I’m not sure even Ward’s that devious. He’s more of an explode one minute and forget about it the next kind of manager.” More potato chips appeared in Carolina’s hand and made their way to her mouth. “That’s why I think if he hasn’t fired me by now, he won’t. Of course, I can forget about any more special assignments or promotions.” The last chip lodged in her throat as that dismal reality sank in, and she coughed to clear it.

“I think you should quit,” Vi said hotly. “You have way too much talent for that dinky station.”

Big sisters. Hate them one minute, love them the next.

“What would I do for a job? The other stations in town aren’t hiring or I’d have heard.”

“We’re shorthanded in the office.”

Jake’s suggestion earned him a disgruntled groan. “Work
for you? No, thank you. Helping Mom is enough.” Like most of the family members, Carolina split herself between the ranch and an outside job. In her case, she assisted her mother, Millie, who was in charge of their many and frequently elaborate weddings. “Besides, I like working at the station. Most of the time,” she added. “I’m not ready to throw in the towel yet.”

“Just in case, I think you should give Howard a call,” Jake said.

Carolina frowned at the mention of the family’s attorney.

“What all did this new acting sheriff say that would make you go against your boss?” Vi asked.

Carolina reminded herself that her sister had moved away from Bear Creek Ranch almost ten years ago, and although she returned regularly to visit, she hadn’t met Neil yet.

“You wouldn’t ask that question if you saw him.” Rachel’s radiant grin spoke volumes.

“Oh.”

“Yeah,” Carolina concurred with a sigh.

“What?” Jake looked from one to the other, his expression befuddled. “Is this some sort of female code?”

“Neil Lovitt is hot,” Rachel translated for him.

“Seriously hot,” Briana chimed in, plopping down on the end of Carolina’s chaise longue. Her younger sisters, evidently reenergized from their snack, had returned to the hot tub, their little cousin in tow. “For, you know, an older guy and everything.”

“Old?” Jake recoiled. “What does that make me?”

Briana rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to Carolina. “I don’t blame you for refusing to do the story. He’s really nice and doesn’t deserve to have his reputation trashed.”

“He is nice.” Carolina smiled. “And not just because he cut you some slack with that ticket.” The things Neil had told
her about his late wife’s death and raising his daughter alone had deeply affected her. She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him since their conversation.

“Is that your only reason?” Jake asked.

“Absolutely.” Carolina instantly put up her guard. She and Jake weren’t merely related, they were good friends. He knew her as well as, if not better than, her sisters. “He’s a nice guy, as Briana says, with a sad past. What other reason do I need?”

“You forgot to mention hot.” Rachel, still grinning, rubbed sunscreen onto her bare arms.

Jake’s gaze narrowed on Carolina. “I know for a fact there are a lot of nice,
hot
people with sad pasts that you wouldn’t risk your job for.”

She didn’t answer him—which was a mistake because it became immediately obvious that everybody present over the age of ten suspected there was more to her motives for defending Neil than she’d admitted. Close families definitely had their drawbacks.

“Be careful,” Jake warned. “No reason to screw up your life for some guy you hardly know.”

“Language, please.” Vi glowered at Jake. Again.

Carolina pondered Jake’s point while he and her sister debated whether or not Vi’s daughter had already heard the words he’d used at preschool.

Neil wasn’t “some guy” as far as Carolina was concerned. She definitely experienced a connection with him, of the zing-clear-to-her-toes caliber. The connection could, she feared, be one-sided. He hadn’t exactly bubbled over with joy in the hospital cafeteria when she’d promised him she would defy her boss and not do the story on him. If anything, he’d appeared hesitant to believe her and had required considerable convincing on her part.

Carolina liked to think of herself as a good-hearted person,
but Jake was right. She wouldn’t lay her job on the line for just anyone. It prompted her to wonder exactly how strong her attraction to Neil was and what, if anything, she should do about it.

“Let me see how Ward acts on Monday,” she said, speaking over Jake and Vi’s silly argument. “He might not mention the story again. Depending on how it goes, I may call Howard.”

“Good.” Her declaration appeared to satisfy Jake. “I’ll be right back,” he said when the trill of a phone sounded through the partially open door. “Briana, watch the girls, please.”

Rachel waited until Jake was inside to pin Carolina down. “So, you going to ask him out?”

“No!”

“Why not? You want to go out with him.”

“She may
want
to go out with him—” Vi sent her sister a superior look reminiscent of when they were teens “—but that doesn’t mean she prefers to do the asking.”

Briana, who hadn’t returned to the hot tub, vacillated between watching the younger girls and observing the adult goings-on with starstruck fascination.

“You know me.” Carolina lifted one shoulder in a casual shrug. “If a man appeals to me, I have no qualms about making the first move.”

“That’s true,” Vi agreed, “if you don’t like him all that much. If you do, then you suddenly go from laughing in the face of convention to strictly traditional.”

Carolina winced. “I do not.”

“Come on, sis. When’s the last time you hesitated about taking the initiative?”

She could pinpoint the day exactly. It had been on her disastrous double date with Neil. She’d hoped he would pick up on her attraction to him and respond in kind. Luckily, she hadn’t shared the details of that night with her sisters. Or not luckily, she thought, after hearing Vi’s next remark.

“It was Lonnie, right?”

Not that Carolina was having fun in the first place, but why did her sister have to bring up the dreaded ex-fiancé?

“I’m sure there’s been someone else I’ve hesitated to ask out since him.” There
had
to be. Carolina racked her brain and came up blank. Uh-oh. Her sisters were right. She really did like Neil. Damn!

“I think one of the girls got water up her nose,” she said, but her plan for distracting the four unwavering stares fixed on her failed. “I can’t concentrate with all this pressure.”

“See?” Vi sat back in her chair. “Told you.”

“Aunt Carolina’s crushing,” Briana said in a singsong tone.

“I’m not crushing on Neil.” Carolina was afraid it might be far worse. Like total and complete infatuation.

“So, prove us wrong and ask him out.”

Jake’s timing couldn’t have been better. She’d never felt so glad to see him come through a door.

“Hey, you’re—” she began to say, but the disturbed look on his face stopped her midsentence. “What’s wrong?”

“That was Gary on the phone,” Jake said, referring to their manager of guest amenities. He started picking up damp towels and hanging them on the railing to dry. “Come on, girls, we have to go inside. Party’s over.”

“Aw, Dad,” his daughters chorused.

“Sorry. Something important came up.”

Sensing his urgency, Carolina rose and began to help. “What did he say?”

Gary had been an employee for over thirty years and knew the operation of the ranch better than anyone except the immediate family. For him to phone Jake at home signaled a serious problem.

“Little José was on the north ridge this morning where it butts up against federal land checking the high trails before
the weather turns.” Clearing trails of debris was a task the ranch hands regularly performed every March and October. “He found something. Gary drove out there this afternoon to verify it in case Little José was wrong. He wasn’t.”

“Jeez, Jake.” Rachel jumped up and also started helping. “You talk like he discovered a dead body.”

“No, not that.”

“Thank goodness.”

“It was evidence of illegal mining.”

“L
OOK FOR A NUMBERED
marker around the next bend.”

“Gotcha.”

Neil downshifted into a lower gear and floored the gas. The Jeep bounced and banged over rocks and rain washes with every foot of rugged mountain terrain they covered. Veering sharply to the right, he narrowly avoided a sprawling ponderosa. As it was, a low-hanging branch scraped across the Jeep’s canvas top. The noise was momentarily deafening.

“Take it easy, will you?” Neil’s deputy, R.J., flopped around in the front passenger seat. Clutching the grab bar, he jammed the soles of both feet into the floorboard. “I’d like to get there with all my bones intact, if you don’t mind.”

Neil shifted again as they crested the top of a small hill. The trail they’d taken was minimally maintained, narrow and designed for horses or ATVs, not full-size vehicles. The fact he and R.J. had made it this far was a testament to the Jeep’s sturdiness and, Neil liked to think, his ability as a driver.

He’d discovered a passion for off-road driving soon after moving to Payson, never having encountered anything like it in New York City or the outskirts of Schenectady, where he’d grown up. The sheriff’s department’s standard issue Jeep didn’t compare to his own tricked-out, four-wheel-drive pickup, but he still pushed the older vehicle for everything it had, relishing the rush of adrenaline surging through him.

Challenging himself with an almost unnavigable trail had the added benefit of keeping troublesome thoughts at bay—like Carolina and her promise not to do the story on him. He still didn’t know whether he could believe her or not. And her warning that his daughter would learn the part he’d played in her mother’s death was disrupting his sleep, dulling his appetite and affecting his mood. He’d have to be more careful in the future. Just this morning at breakfast Zoey had asked him if anything was wrong. He hated lying to her, but what choice did he have?

“Are you on a suicide mission or what?” R.J. swore as the GPS device he’d been holding went flying.

“This is nothing,” Neil answered. And it was.

“Says you.”

“Hang on!” He cranked the steering wheel hard to the left.

Thankfully, the old Jeep didn’t let him down. Its tires hugged the ground, sending dirt and small rocks spraying in every direction. The sense of power revived Neil, and he wished he could control everything in his life with the same ease he did the Jeep.